| Grade 5 Fiction |
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| Grade 5 Fiction |
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K=Kennedy W=Westergard B=Bookmobile |
| Junebug, by Alice Mead/ K,W Junebug dreams that someday he and his younger sister and mother will move from the awful housing project where drugs, gangs, and guns are part of everyday life. Junebug's tenth birthday is coming up, and he knows the gangs and drug dealers will be after him to join them. But he has a big birthday plan to keep his hope alive. Read the other books in the Junebug series, such as Junebug and the Reverend. |
| Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo/ K 10-year-old Opeal learns to adjust to a strange town, make some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to her big old dog Winn-Dixie (named after the supermarket where she found him). |
| Frindle, by Andrew Clements/ K,W Nicholas Allen likes to liven things up at Lincoln Elementary. But, when he invents a new word for a pen (frindle), the excitement grows beyond the school and even the town. |
| So You Want to be a Wizard?, by Diane Duane/ K Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. It was one of those So You Want to Be a...books, a series on careers. But this one said, So You Want to be a Wizard. She shut the book and stood there holding it in her hand, confused, amazed, suspicious--and delighted. If it was a joke, it was a great one. If it wasn't?... Read the other books in the Wizardry series, including Deep Wizardry & A Wizard's Dilemma |
| Odysseus in the Serpent Maze, by Jane Yolen/ K Odysseus, Prince of Ithaca, has been kidnapped by pirates! Outwitting his enemies with the help of a spoiled princess named Helen, her outspoken cousin Penelope, and his friend Mentor, Odysseus finds out what it takes to be a hero. Read the other books in the Young Heroes series, such as Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazon |
| The Watsons go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul
Curtis/ K,W Enter the hilarious world of 10-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's 13 and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, the family heads south to Birmingham, Alabama, towards one of the darkest moments in American history. |
| Just as Long as We're Together, by Judy Blume/ K,W,B Rachel is Stephanie's best friend, and ever since second grade they've shared each other's secrets. When Alison moves into the neighborhood, Stephanie hopes they can all be best friends. After all, they have even more to share now, including seventh grade, and Jeremy Dragon, the cutest boy in junior high! Read more about Rachel, Stephanie, and Allison in Here's to You, Rachel Robinson |
| The House with a Clock in its Walls, by John Bellairs/
K,W Orphaned Lewis Barnavelt comes to live with his Uncle Jonathon and quickly learns that both his uncle and his next-door neighbor are witches on a quest to discover the terrifying clock ticking within the walls of Jonathon's house. Read more about Lewis in Tower at the End of the World: A Sequel to The House with a Clock in its Walls |
| Redwall, by Brian Jacques/ K,W When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, sets out to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior, which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy. Read the other books in the Redwall series, such as The Legend of Luke and Taggerung |
| The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi/ K,W On a long, grueling journey from England to Rhode Island in 1802, 12-year-old Charlotte changes from a prim and proper girl to a swashbuckling mate of a mutinous crew, and is accused of murder by the captain! |
| Throwing Smoke, by Bruce Brooks/ K,W,B Whiz loves playing baseball, but his team, the Breadhurst Newts, just isn't up to snuff. That's when Whiz, who works in a print shop, gets an idea. Late one night, he sneaks into the shop and prints a baseball card for an ideal pitcher. The next day, a boy fitting the card's exact description magically appears as the Newts' new hurler! Soon, Whiz has created cards for a whole new, winning team, and the Newts are contending for the league championship. |
| The Agony of Alice, by Phyllis Reynold Naylor/ K,W,B Alice McKinley is about to become a teenager, but she doesn't have a clue how. Her mother has been dead for years, and what do her father and nineteen-year-old brother know about being a teenage girl? If only she had a role model, like the beautiful sixth-grade teacher Miss Cole. But instead Alice gets assigned to plain, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin's class. Read the other books in the Alice series, such as Alice in Lace and Outrageously Alice |
| Space Race, by Slyvlia Waugh/ K,W When he learns that he and his father must soon leave Earth, eleven-year-old Thomas Derwent is upset. But, a terrible accident that seperates the two of them makes Thomas's situation much worse. |
| The Best School Year Ever, by Barbara Robinson/ K,W Beth has one of the dreaded Herdman kids, Imogene, in her class and now has to think of her good qualities for the class project, Compliments for Classmates. But what can she say about a girl who steals a baby, writes on its forehead with a marker, and charges admission to see the Amazing Tattoed Baby? Read more about the Herdmans in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever |
| The Moonlight Man, by Betty Ren Wright/ K,W,B Jenny Joslin has a problem with ghosts. Since she and her family moved into their new house, a ghostly presence threatens to drive her father to move yet again. When Jenny delves deeper into the mystery, she discovers that her ghost is actually haunting the entire neighborhood, seeking revenge on a policeman and his wife for an event that caused the death of the moonlight man fifty years ago. |
| The Breadwinner, by Deborah Ellis/ K Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest. Read more about Parvana in Parvana's Journey |
| P.S. Longer Letter Later, by Paula Danziger & Ann M.
Martin/ K,W,B If opposites really do attract, this explains why Elizabeth and Tara are best friends. Not only are their personalities different, but their family backgrounds are a lesson in diversity. When Tara's family moves to another town, the letters that she and Elizabeth write regularly become even more important. Read more about Elizabeth & Tara in Snail Mail No More |
| The Great Whale of Kansas, by Richard Jennings/ K As a young boy begins to dig a hole in his backyard, his shovel suddently strikes something hard, and big, as it turns out, in more ways than one. What he discovers, preserved in the Cretaceous limestine is more spectacular than anything the town of Melville, Kansas, has ever seen before--something that should perhaps be left to the experts, or should it? |
| I Was a Rat!, by Phillip Pullman/ K,W Distracted by mischief and some soccer playing with boys in the castle, a rat who was transformed as a coachman for Cinderella's pumpkin doesn't make the midnight curfew, and remains a small boy in a page's uniform! |
| Pure Dead Magic, by Debi Gliori/ K Things are not right at the Strega-Borgia castle. Signor Luciano Strega-Borgia has been kidnapped. Signora Baci Strega-Borgia is struggling with her spells at the Advanced Witchcraft Institute. Titus and Pandora don't like their supspiciously cheerful and fearless new nanny. Baby Damp has been accidentally shrunk, e-mailed, and lost on the World Wide Web. And to top it off, there's a gangster in a bunny suit lurking around. Read more about the Strega-Borgia family in Pure Dead Wicked |
| 3 Days, by Donna Jo Napoli/ K,W When her father suddenly dies while on a business trip, leaving her alone on an Italian highway, eleven-year-old Jackie worries what will happen when she is picked up by two men with unknown motives. |
Piscataway Public Library |