5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book summaries courtesy of WorldCat.org
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
101 Dalmatians
Smith, Dodie
101 Dalmatians (1961)
Pongo the Dalmatian and his wife Missis undertake a
daring expedition to rescue their fifteen puppies from the
clutches of the vicious Cruella de Vil.
G
The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn
(NewSouth Edition)
Twain, Mark
The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
A 19th century boy, floating down the Mississippi River on
a raft with a runaway slave, becomes involved with a
feuding family, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and
Tom Sawyer's aunt, who mistakes him for Tom.
PG
Stormbreaker
Horowitz, Anthony
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
(2006)
After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian,
fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his
uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency,
MI6.
PG
Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland
Carroll, Lewis
Alice in Wonderland (1947)
A little girl falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a world
of nonsensical and amusing characters.
G
Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, Lucy Maud
Anne of Green Gables (1985)
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live
with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince
Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible
impression on everyone around her.
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG)
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Aquamarine
Hoffman, Alice
Aquamarine (2006)
A love-struck mermaid named Aquamarine supplies
adventure and insights to two twelve-year-old girls, lifelong friends who are spending their last summer together
before one of them moves away.
PG
Babe: The Gallant Pig
King-Smith, Dick
Babe (1995)
A piglet comes to Farmer Hogget's farm, where he is
adopted by an old sheepdog and accomplishes amazing
things.
G
The Baby Sitters Club:
Kristy's Great Idea
Martin, Ann
The Baby Sitters Club (1995)
Kristy and her friends think having a baby-sitters club is a
great idea and will make them lots of money.
PG
Bambi
Salten, Felix
Bambi (1938)
The adventures of a young deer in the forest as he grows
into a beautiful stag.
G
Because of Winn Dixie
DiCamillo, Kate
Because of Winn Dixie (2005)
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer
in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that
happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
PG
Black Beauty
Sewell, Anna
Black Beauty (1994)
A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his
experiences with both good and bad masters.
G
The Black Stallion
Farley, Walter
The Black Stallion (1979)
Pulled to a desert island by a wild black stallion he has
freed during a shipwreck at sea, then rescued by a
southbound freighter, a seventeen-year-old boy befriends
the horse, trains him by night, and rides him to victory in a
match race.
G
The Borrowers
Norton, Mary
The Borrowers (1997)
Miniature people who live in an old country house by
borrowing things from the humans are forced to emigrate
from their home under the clock.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Bridge to Terabithia
Patterson, Katherine
Bridge to Terabithia (2006)
All summer, Jess pushed himself to be the fastest boy in the
fifth grade, and when the year's first school-yard race was
run, he was going to win. But his victory was stolen by a
newcomer, by a girl, one who didn't even know enough to
stay on the girls' side of the playground. Then,
unexpectedly, Jess finds himself sticking up for Leslie, for
the girl who breaks rules and wins races.
PG
Catching Fire
Collins, Suzanne
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
(2013)
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual
Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark.
But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and
their harsh rules. There are rumors of rebellion among the
subjects and as time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to
visit the districts on their Victory Tour, the stakes are higher
than ever.
PG-13
Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory
Dahl, Roald
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
(1971) & Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory (2005)
Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry
ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory
takes advantage of the situation in his own way.
G & PG
Charlotte's Web
White, E. B.
Charlotte’s Web (1972 & 2006)
When he discovers that he is destined to be someone's
dinner, Wilbur the pig is desolate until his spider friend
Charlotte decides to help him.
G&G
Cheaper by the Dozen
Gilbreth, Frank and Cary,
Ernestine Gilbreth
Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
Depicts the lives and adventures of the Gilbreths and their
twelve children.
PG
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Fleming, Ian
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Two children persuade their father, an inventor, to purchase
and restore an old car which turns out to have magical
powers.
G
City of Ember
DuPrau, Jeanne
City of Ember (2008)
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on
Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in
her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse
Unknown Regions.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Coraline
Gaiman, Neil
Coraline (2009)
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a
mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly
different from her own, where she must challenge a
gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and
the souls of three others.
PG
The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
Four English schoolchildren find their way through the
back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist
Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch,
who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
PG
The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince
Caspian (2008)
Four children help Prince Caspian and his army of Talking
Beasts to free Narnia from evil.
PG
The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage
of the Dawn Treader (2010)
Lucy and Edmund, accompanied by their peevish cousin
Eustace, sail to the land of Narnia where Eustace is
temporarily transformed into a green dragon because of his
selfish behavior and skepticism.
PG
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
A Cry in the Wild (1990)
Haunted by his parents' divorce and the secret that caused
it, young Brian Robeson, the sole survivor of a plane crash
in the Canadian wilderness, must draw on untested skills
and strength to survive.
PG
The Devil's Arithmetic
Yolen, Jane
The Devil's Arithmetic (1999)
Hannah resents stories of her Jewish heritage and of the
past until, when opening the door during a Passover Seder,
she finds herself in Poland during World War II where she
experiences the horrors of a concentration camp, and learns
why she-- and we--need to remember the past.
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG-13)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Kinney, Jeff
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school
where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings
amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to
survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must
take drastic measures to save their friendship.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
Rodrick Rules
Kinney, Jeff
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
(2011)
Greg Heffley tells about his summer vacation and his
attempts to steer clear of trouble when he returns to middle
school and tries to keep his older brother Rodrick from
telling everyone about Greg's most humiliating experience
of the summer.
PG
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog
Days
Kinney, Jeff
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
(2012)
Greg Heffley records his attempts to spend his summer
vacation sensibly indoors playing video games and
watching television, despite his mother's other ideas.
PG
Ella Enchanted
Levine, Gail Carson
Ella Enchanted (2003)
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles
against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any
order given to her.
PG
Ender’s Game
Card, Orson Scott
Ender’s Game (2013)
Child-hero Ender Wiggin must fight a desperate battle
against a deadly alien race if mankind is to survive.
Eragon
Paolini, Christopher
Eragon (2006)
In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage
called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life
into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power,
peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.
PG
Ever After: A Cinderella
Story
Loggia, Wendy
Ever After (1998)
In 1512 in France, orphaned Danielle de Barbarac's chance
meeting with the king's son sets off a chain of events that
make her life as a servant in the house of her cold and
scheming stepmother more difficult than ever before.
PG
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dahl, Roald
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Three farmers, each one meaner than the other, try all-out
warfare to get rid of the fox and his family.
PG
PG-13
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
My Friend Flicka
O'Hara, Mary
Flicka (2005)
The story of an eleven year old boy whose one intense
desire is that he have a colt of his own. The whole action of
the story takes place against the pattern of a ranch devoted
to raising blooded horses, out in Wyoming. At last his wish
is granted, and he chooses his yearling, against all advice.
The story is centered on the process of winning 'Flicka' and
of proving the rightness of his choice.
PG
Flipped
Van Draanen, Wendelin
Flipped (2009)
In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their
feelings about themselves, each other, and their families
have changed over the years.
PG
Freaky Friday
Rodgers, Mary
Freaky Friday (2003)
A thirteen-year-old girl gains a much more sympathetic
understanding of her relationship with her mother when she
has to spend a day in her mother's body.
PG
The Golden Compass
Pullman, Philip
The Golden Compass (2007)
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to
prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from
becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far
North.
PG-13
Hachiko Waits
Newman, Lesléa
Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
Professor Ueno's loyal Akita, Hachiko, waits for him at the
train station every afternoon, and even after the professor
has a fatal heart attack while at work, Hachiko faithfully
continues to await his return until the day the dog dies.
Based on a true story; includes an author's note and
glossary of Japanese words.
G
Harriet the Spy
Fitzhugh, Louise
Harriet the Spy (1996)
Eleven-year-old Harriet, who is a spy, plans to be a writer,
and keeps a secret notebook filled with thoughts and notes
on her schoolmates and people she observes on her after
school spy route. However, her classmates find out and read
her notebook, retaliate, and she learns that writing is not to
use against your friends.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
(2001)
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle,
a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while
attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
PG
Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets (2002)
When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year
student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark
power that has once more been released on the school.
PG
Harry Potter and the Prisoner
of Azkaban
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban (2004)
During his third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and
Wizardry, Harry Potter must confront the devious and
dangerous wizard responsible for his parents' deaths.
PG
Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(2005)
Fourteen-year-old Harry Potter joins the Weasleys at the
Quidditch World Cup, then enters his fourth year at
Hogwarts Academy where he is mysteriously entered in an
unusual contest that challenges his wizarding skills,
friendships and character, amid signs that an old enemy is
growing stronger.
PG-13
Harry Potter and the Order of
the Phoenix
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix (2007)
When the government of the magic world and authorities at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry refuse to
believe in the growing threat of a freshly revived Lord
Voldemort, fifteen-year-old Harry Potter finds support from
his loyal friends in facing the evil wizard and other new
terrors.
PG-13
Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(2008)
"The War Against Voldemort is not going well; even
Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary
pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names.
Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of
time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered
losses. And yet ... As in all wars, life goes on.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Part I (2010) & Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows Part II (2011)
Burdened with the dark, dangerous, and seemingly
impossible task of locating and destroying Voldemort's
remaining Horcruxes, Harry, feeling alone and uncertain
about his future, struggles to find the inner strength he
needs to follow the path set out before him.
PG-13
The Hobbit
Tolkien, J. R. R.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
(2012) & The Hobbit: The Desolation of
Smaug (2013)
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives
comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering
wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure
from which he may never return.
PG-13
Holes
Sachar, Louis
Holes (2003)
As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they
attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is
sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where
he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of
himself.
PG
Hoot
Hiaasen, Carl
Hoot (2006)
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes
involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of
burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
PG
Hotel for Dogs
Duncan, Lois
Hotel for Dogs (2008)
Liz and her brother wind up with nine stray dogs that need
homes but must be kept a secret.
PG
How to Eat Fried Worms
Rockwell, Thomas
How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
Two boys set out to prove that worms can make a delicious
meal.
PG
How to Train Your Dragon
Cowell, Cressida
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Hiccup
Horrendous Haddock the Third as he tries to pass the
important initiation test of his Viking clan, the Tribe of the
Hairy Hooligans, by catching and training a dragon.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
PG
The Invention of Hugo
Cabret
Selznick, Brian
Hugo (2011)
When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing
clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931,
meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his
undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.
The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne
The Hunger Games (2012)
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem
maintain control through an annual televised survival
competition pitting young people from each of the twelve
districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's
skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her
younger sister's place.
Inkheart
Funke, Cornelia
Inkheart (2007)
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs
and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters
to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries
to force him into service.
PG
The Iron Giant
Hughes, Ted
The Iron Giant (1999)
A strange creature stalks the land, eating barbed wire and
devouring tractors and plows. The hungry giant must be
stopped at any cost and only a young boy named Hogarth is
brave enough to befriend the Iron Giant and lead him to a
safe home. And only Hogarth knows where to turn when
the earth needs a hero--a giant hero--as never before.
PG
James and the Giant Peach
Dahl, Roald
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
A fairy tale about James Henry Trotter, an unhappy little
orphan who lives with his aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker.
Story tells of various adventures.
PG
A Journey to the Center of
the Earth
Verne, Jules
Journey to the Center of the Earth
(2007)
This high-tension odyssey follows three men in an
awesome search for the mysterious center of the earth as
they risk their chances of ever returning to the surface alive.
PG
King of the Wind
Henry, Marguerite
King of the Wind (1993)
Follows the adventures of the Arabian stallion brought to
England to become one of the founding sires of the
Thoroughbred breed and the mute Arab stable boy who
tended him with loyalty and devotion all his life.
PG
PG-13
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Guardians of Ga'hoole: The
Capture
Lasky, Kathryn
Legend of the Guardians (2010)
When Soren is pushed from his family's nest by his older
brother, he is rescued from certain death on the forest floor
by agents from a mysterious school for orphaned owls, St.
Aggie's. When Soren arrives at St. Aggie's, he suspects
there is more to the school than meets the eye. He and his
new friend, the clever and scrappy Gylfie, find out that St.
Aggie's is actually a training camp where the school's leader
can groom young owls to help achieve her goal.
PG
Lemonade Mouth (Adapted
Movie Tie-in Edition)
Hughes, Mark Peter
Lemonade Mouth (2011)
A disparate group of high school students thrown together
in detention form a band to play at a school talent show and
end up competing with a wildly popular local rock band.
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG)
A Little Princess
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
A Little Princess (1994)
Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is
left in poverty when her father dies, but is later rescued by a
mysterious benefactor.
G
Little Women
Alcott, Louisa May
Little Women (1994)
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as
they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New
England.
PG
The Lord of the Rings:
Fellowship of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the
Rings (2001)
Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to destroy the
Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control.
PG-13
The Lord of the Rings: The
Two Towers
Tolkien, J. R. R.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(2002)
Frodo and his companions have been beset by danger
during the quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling
into the hands of the Dark Lord, Gandalf has been lost in
the Mines of Moria, and now they journey down the great
River Anduin toward the Cracks of Doom.
PG-13
The Lord of the Rings:
Return of the King
Tolkien, J. R. R.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the
King (2003)
Presents the adventures of the little hobbit Frodo Baggins
and his trusty companion, Sam as they journey from Middle
Earth to the land of the Shadow in a final reckoning with
the evil power of Sauron.
PG-13
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
Matilda
Dahl, Roald
Matilda (1996)
Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the
school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss
Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to
financial security.
PG
Maniac Magee
Spinelli, Jerry
Maniac Magee (2003)**
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes
legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which
awe his contemporaries.
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Atwater, Richard and
Atwater, Florence
Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)
Relates how the unexpected delivery of a large crate
containing a live penguin changes the life of Mr. Popper, a
house painter obsessed by dreams of the polar region.
PG
My Dog Skip
Morris, Willie
My Dog Skip (1999)
The story of a dog and his closest companion, the author,
during their growing years in a small town in Mississippi.
PG
Nancy Drew
Keene, Carolyn
Nancy Drew (2006)
The film is based on the character and not any particular
book, so here are some facts about Nancy Drew. The Nancy
Drew series was created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer
in 1930 and features the title character who is a teenage girl
detective. The author “Carolyn Keene” is a pseudonym and
the books actually have been ghostwritten by many
different authors over the years.
PG
The Neverending Story
Ende, Michael
The Neverending Story (1984)
The story of a lonely boy who steps through the pages of a
book into a special kingdom.
PG
Nightjohn
Paulsen, Gary
Nightjohn (1996)
Twelve year old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even
more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach
her how to read.
PG-13
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG)
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
PG
Nim’s Island
Orr, Wendy
Nim’s Island (2008)
Nim loves her island home and the animals she shares it
with even while her scientist father is away doing research,
but trouble is on the way and a new e-mail friend could be
the only one who can help.
Nurse Matilda: The
Collected Tales
Brand, Christianna
Nanny McPhee (2005) & Nanny
McPhee Returns (2010)
The incorrigible Brown children, who devour nannies,
nurse-maids, and governesses, finally meet their match.
Old Yeller
Gipson, Frank
Old Yeller (1974)
The story of a boy and his dog in the Texas hill country of
the 1860s.
G
The Outsiders
Hinton, S. E.
The Outsiders (1983)
The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their
parent's death and their quest for identity among the
conflicting values of their adolescent society.
PG
The Lightning Thief
Riordan, Rick
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The
Lightning Thief (2010)
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and
Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a
summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new
friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.
PG
Peter Pan
Barrie, J. M.
Peter Pan (2003)
The adventures of the three Darling children in NeverNever Land with Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow
up.
PG
The Phantom Tollbooth
Juster, Norton
The Phantom Tollbooth (1969)
A journey through a land where Milo learns the importance
of words and numbers provides a cure for his boredom.
G
Pollyanna
Porter, Eleanor
Pollyanna (1960)
When orphaned, eleven-year-old Pollyanna comes to live
with austere and wealthy Aunt Polly, her philosophy of
gladness brings happiness to her aunt and other unhappy
members of the community.
G
PG &
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
The Princess Bride
Goldman, William
The Princess Bride (1987)
Beautiful, flaxen-haired Buttercup has fallen for Westley,
the farm boy, and when he departs to make his fortune, she
vows never to love another. So, when she hears that his ship
has been captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts (who leaves
no survivors) her heart is broken.
PG
The Princess Diaries
Cabot, Meg
The Princess Diaries (2001)
Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life
as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that
her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European
principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the
throne.
G
Sea of Monsters
Riordan, Rick
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
Demi-god Percy Jackson and his friends must journey into
the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first Percy will
discover a secret that makes him wonder whether being
claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or a cruel joke.
PG
Shrinking Violet
Joseph, Danielle
Radio Rebel (2012)
Painfully shy, Teresa dreams of becoming a radio disc
jockey, but when her big break comes it threatens her
budding relationship with the first boy ever to notice her, as
he speaks of honesty while she hides her on-air identity.
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG)
Beezus and Ramona
Cleary, Beverly
Ramona and Beezus (2009)
Beezus' biggest problem was her 4-year-old sister Ramona.
Even though Beezus knew sisters were supposed to love
each other, with a sister like Ramona, it seemed impossible.
G
How My Private Personal
Journal Became a Bestseller
DeVillers, Julia
Read It and Weep (2006)
A young woman accidentally turns in a private story from
her journal instead of an English assignment and becomes a
best-selling author almost overnight.
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG)
The Guardians of Childhood:
Nicholas St. North and the
Battle of the Nightmare King
Joyce, William
Rise of the Guardians (2012)
The first Guardians of Childhood chapter book reveals the
origin of St. Nick and begins the Guardian's quest to rid the
world of nightmares.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG)
The Saddle Club: Horse
Crazy
Bryant, Bonnie
The Saddle Club: Horse Crazy (2001)
Carole, Stevie and Lisa have made big plans for the
overnight campout for the students of Pine Hollow stables.
When Stevie's parents refuse to pay unless she improves her
grades, she decides to start hew own business and raise the
money instead.
The Secret Garden
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
The Secret Garden (1993)
Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the
Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the
mysteries of a locked garden.
G
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of
Nimh
O'Brien, Robert
The Secret of Nimh (1982)
Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed
mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a
laboratory made them wise and long lived.
G
The Dark Is Rising
Cooper, Susan
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007)
On his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers that he is
the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical
Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil
forces of the Dark.
PG
A Series of Unfortunate
Events: The Bad Beginning
Snicket, Lemony
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire
children must depend on each other and their wits when it
turns out that the distant relative who is appointed their
guardian is determined to use any means necessary to get
their fortune.
PG
Shiloh
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Shiloh (1997)
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West
Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the
dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer
out of season and to mistreat his dogs.
PG
The Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants
Brashares, Ann
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
(2004)
Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their
lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
The Spiderwick Chronicles:
The Field Guide
Black, Holly
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2007)
Three siblings discover an old book with pictures of
fantastic creatures in the spooky old house in which they
live.
PG
Stuart Little
White, E. B.
Stuart Little (1999)
The adventures of the debonair mouse Stuart Little as he
sets out in the world to seek out his dearest friend, a little
bird who stayed a few days in his family's garden.
PG
The Sword in the Stone
White, T. H.
The Sword in the Stone (1972)
Account of everyday life on a great medieval manor, with
two boys, Kay and the Wart (who turns out to be King
Arthur), learning the code of being a gentleman, and busy
with hawking, jousting, sword play, hunting. The story is
the narrative of how the boy, Wart, was made worthy to
become the king and leader, Arthur.
G
The Tale of Despereaux:
Being the Story of a Mouse,
a Princess, Some Soup and a
Spool of Thread...
DiCamillo, Kate
The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of
unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl
who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to
bring them all to ruin.
G
The Thief Lord
Funke, Cornelia
The Thief Lord (2005)
Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them,
two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice,
finding shelter with a gang of street children and their
leader, the thirteen-year-old "Thief Lord," while also
eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany.
PG
Treasure Island (1989)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Treasure Island (1990)
While searching the possessions of a deceased guest who
owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son, Jim
Hawkins, find a treasure map that leads them to a pirate's
fortune. Hawkins sets sail on board the ship Hispaniola to
find the treasure.
NR
(TV would
rate it
PG-13)
Tuck Everlasting
Babbitt, Natalie
Tuck Everlasting (2001)
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation
when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious
stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water
prevents one from ever growing any older.
PG
Updated 4/28/2014
5th Grade Language & Literacies
Media Literacy Unit - Middle Grade Books to Film
Book
Author
Film
Summary of Book
Rating
The Water Horse
King-Smith, Dick
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
(2007)
In 1930, on the coast of Scotland, eight-year-old Kirstie
finds a large egg which hatches into an unusual sea
creature, and as he grows her family must decide what to do
with him.
PG
Where the Red Fern Grows
Rawls, Wilson
Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) &
Where the Red Fern Grows (2004)
Billy trains his two dogs in the dark hills and river bottoms
of Cherokee country to be the finest hunting team in the
valley proving loyalty and bravery in the face of danger.
G & PG
The Witches
Dahl, Roald
The Witches (1990)
A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an
expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy
the world's children by turning them into mice.
PG
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Baum, L. Frank
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy
must seek out the great Wizard in order to return to Kansas.
G
A Wrinkle in Time
L'Engle, Madeleine
A Wrinkle in Time (2003)
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly
strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has
disappeared while engaged in secret work for the
government.
PG
**Movie available for viewing online - http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/NTV_Maniac_Magee_full.html
Updated 4/28/2014