Intermediate Books 2013-2014
In June of 2002, a very unusual ceremony begins in a farflung village in western Kenya. An American diplomat is
surrounded by hundreds of Maasai people. A gift is about
to be bestowed on the American men, women, and
children, and he is there to accept it. The gift is as
unsought and unexpected as it is extraordinary. A mere
nine months have passed since the September 11 attacks,
and hearts are raw. Tears flow freely from American and
Maasai as these legendary warriors offer their gift to a
grieving people half a world away. Word of the gift will
travel news wires around the globe. Many will be
profoundly touched, but for Americans, this selfless
gesture will have deeper meaning still. For a heartsick
nation, the gift of fourteen cows emerges from the
choking dust and darkness as a soft light of hope_and
friendship. Master storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy hits all
the right notes in this elegant story of generosity that
crosses boundaries, nations, and cultures. An afterword
by Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah_the Maasai warrior at the
center of the story_provides additional information about
his tribe and their generous actions. Thomas Gonzalez_s
stunning paintings, which are saturated with rich hues of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13G0CdgV9Yo oranges and browns, and blues and greens, capture the
modest nobility of the Maasai people and the distinctive
landscape of the African plain.
 The events of September 11, 2001 changed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75xL69MHJHc
the world forever. In the fourth
installment of the Actual Times series,
Don Brown narrates the events of the day
in a way that is both accessible and
understandable for young readers.
Straightforward and honest, this account
moves chronologically through the
morning, from the plane hijackings to the
crashes at the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon, and Pennsylvania; from the
rescue operations at the WTC site to the
collapse of the buildings. Vivid watercolor
illustrations capture the emotion and
pathos of the tragedy making this an
important book about an unforgettable
day in American history.
 Ted and Betsy Lewin’s
illustrated travelogue of
their trip to southern India,
where they meet Balarama,
the lead Royal Elephant who
will make his debut in the
traditional parade that
concludes the celebration of
Dasara in the city of Mysore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5FPLEKQH-8
Tessa and Cammie, the
president's daughters, investigate
when a diamond is mysteriously
missing from their dog's collar.
Hold onto your hats! It's windy on the
Danish island of Samso. Meet the
environmentally friendly people who now
proudly call their home Energy Island. At a
time when most countries are producing
ever-increasing amounts of CO2, the rather
ordinary citizens of Samsø have
accomplished something extraordinary--in
just ten years they have reduced their carbon
emissions by 140% and become almost
completely energy independent. A narrative
tale and a science book in one, this inspiring
true story proves that with a little hard work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quuXLIUkqIk
and a big idea, anyone can make a huge step
towards energy conservation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iihPvaeJSy0
Friendship, family, and high-stakes
Scrabble come together in this
compelling novel from a bestselling
authorDuncan Dorfman, April Blunt,
and Nate Saviano don't seem to have
much in common. Duncan is trying to
manage his newfound ability to "read"
with his fingers. April is striving to be
accepted by her family of jocks. And
Nate is struggling to meet his father's
high expectations. But when a Scrabble
Tournament brings them together, their
stories intertwine. Driven by
competition, drama, and just a touch of
magic, the story will have readers flying
through the pages, anxious to discover
who will be the real winners . . .
Rune Drexler, Big Bad Wolf Jr., and
Countess Jezebel Dracula are students
at Master Dreadthorn's School for
Wayward Villains. It's like military
school for the children of famous
villains; it's where you learn to be bad.
But Rune is failing at his villainous
studies, so when he lands himself in
detention (again), Master Dreadthorn
assigns him a Plot. In one week, Rune
and his friends must find a henchman,
steal a baby, kidnap a princess, and
overthrow a kingdom. There's only one
problem: Rune's not very evil. In fact,
his behavior seems suspiciously heroic.
.
In 1841 a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is
forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where
they are rescued by a passing American ship.
Japan’s borders remain closed to all Western
nations, so the crew sets off to America, learning
English on the way. Manjiro, a 14-year-old boy, is
curious and eager to learn everything he can
about this new culture. Eventually the captain
adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in
New England. The boy lives there for some time
and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold.
After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only
to be imprisoned as an outsider. With his hardwon knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a
unique position to persuade the emperor to ease
open the boundaries around Japan; he may even
achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9sxpIgtARc
samurai.
 “Do not let a mop sit overnight in
water. Fix things before they get too
big for fixing.” Fifth-grader Mattie
Breen writes it all down. She has
just one week to convince Uncle
Potluck to take her on as his
custodial apprentice before school
starts. As his apprentice, she’ll have
important work to do during lunch
and recess . . . work that will keep
her safely away from other fifthgraders. But when Mattie’s plans
come crashing down, she ends up
with a friend who is hound dog
true.
 For all the ten years of her life, Ha has
only known Saigon: the thrills of its
markets, the joy of its traditions, the
warmth of her friends close by, and the
beauty of her very own papaya tree. But
now the Vietnam War has reached her
home. Ha and her family are forced to flee
as Saigon falls, and they board a ship
headed toward hope.
 This is the moving story of one girl's year
of change, dreams, grief, and healing as
she journeys from one country to another,
one life to the next.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgu813dDczo
 Irena Sendler, a Polish
social worker, helped
nearly four hundred Jewish
children out of the Warsaw
Ghetto and into hiding
during Wold War II.
 Mammoths and mastodons roamed
the earth for more than a million
years, and then suddenly went extinct.
What was everyday life like for these
colossal cousins of the modern
elephant? What did they eat? How
did they fit into their Ice Age
landscape? Why did they disappear?
 These questions and more are
answered in this fascinating book that
presents the latest research, drawing
on the recent discovery of a fully
frozen baby mammoth—which has
allowed scientists to learn more than
they ever could have known just from
studying bones and fossils.
Caitlin has Asperger's. The world
according to her is black and white;
anything in between is confusing. Before,
when things got confusing, Caitlin went to
her older brother, Devon, for help. But
Devon has died, and Caitlin's dad is so
distraught that he is just not helpful.
Caitlin wants everything to go back to the
way things were, but she doesn't know
how to do that. Then she comes across the
word closure- and she realizes this is what
she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin
discovers that the world may not be black
and white after all.
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 In this evocative collection of
poems illustrated by beautiful
handmade quilts, Anna
Grossnickle Hines explores
peace in all its various and
sometimes surprising forms:
from peace at home to peace on
a worldwide scale to peace
within oneself. Pondering the
meaning of peace and its
fleeting nature, this book
compels each of us to discover
and act upon peace ourselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36FYHfDMzs
When Alice's Aunt Polly, the Pie Queen of
Ipswitch, passes away, she takes with her the
secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or
does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to
her extraordinarily fat, remarkably disagreeable
cat, Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care
of Alice.
Suddenly, the whole town is wondering how you
leave a recipe to a cat. Everyone wants to be the
next big pie-contest winner, and it's making
them pie-crazy. It's up to Alice and her friend
Charlie to put the pieces together and discover
the not-so-secret recipe for happiness:
Friendship. Family. And the pleasure of donig
something for the right reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9iMHuMExgU
Look up in the sky! It's a BOLD new graphic
novel about SUPERHERO PETS!
Captain Amazing, superhero and savior of
Metro City, is getting old. He's out all hours
battling arch-villains, catching thieves, and
helping little old ladies cross the street. He
doesn't even have time for his house full of
pets. He needs - a SIDEKICK!
Captain Amazing's four pets agree. But each
one of them thinks HE should get the sidekick
spot - and a chance for one-on-one time with
the Captain. Get ready for sibling rivalry
royale as pets with superpowers duke it out for
the one thing they all want - a super family.
A BOLD and BRILLIANT graphic novel romp
by whiz kid Dan Santat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgb0MJCZxdM
Raina just wants to be a normal sixth
grader. But one night after Girl Scouts
she trips and falls, severely injuring
her two front teeth. What follows is a
long and frustrating journey with onagain, off-again braces, surgery,
embarrassing headgear, and even a
retainer with fake teeth attached. And
on top of all that, there's still more to
deal with: a major earthquake, boy
confusion, and friends who turn out to
be not so friendly.
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Zitlally's family is undocumented, and
her father has just been arrested for
speeding and deported back to Mexico.
As her family waits for him to return—
they’ve paid a coyote to guide him back
across the border—they receive news
that he and the coyote’s other charges
have been kidnapped and are being held
for ransom. Meanwhile, Zitlally and a
new friend find a dog in the forest near
their trailer park. They name it Star for
the star-shaped patch over its eye. As
time goes on, Zitlally starts to realize that
Star is her father’s “spirit animal,” and
that as long as Star is safe, her father will
be also. But what will happen to Zitlally’s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOmnXO2185Y dad when Star disappears?
When eleven-year-old Olive moves into
a crumbling Victorian mansion with her
parents, she knows there's something
strange about the house - especially the
odd antique paintings covering the
walls. And when she puts on a pair of
old spectacles, she discovers the
strangest thing yet: She can travel inside
the paintings, to a spooky world that's
full of dark shadows. Add to that three
talking cats, who live in the house and
seem to be keeping secrets of their own,
and Olive soon finds herself
confronting a dark and dangerous
power that wants to get rid of her by any
means necessary. It's up to Olive to save
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0ayT5Ly3Ogthe house from the dark shadows,
before the lights go out for good.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were
good friends with very different
personalities. But their differing views
on how to run the newly created United
States turned them into the worst of
friends. They each became leaders of
opposing political parties, and their
rivalry followed them to the White
House. Full of both history and humor,
this is the story of two of America's
most well-known presidents and how
they learned to put their political
differences aside for the sake of
friendship.