Bigger Than a Bread Box by Laurel Snyder

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

The Cyberskunk Files #2: The Hyperlink

Doug is a normal kid who loves to play virtual video games and get lost in that world.  His best friend is Jamie and she is a genius and a hacker.  One day when Doug was checking his blog he found new comments asking for his help.  Three high school students were missing and possibly a computer virus was involved.  With the help of his computer, Auntie “M”, talking to him and guiding him what to do next he takes action.  

Yes! We are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy

Monica is from El Salvador, when she was little her father left her and her mother to work in Texas.  They moved to Mexico to be closer to her father but it would be 3 years till she saw him again.  Her Aunt, Tia Vicky would travel back and forth across the border since she had married an American and was now a citizen.  She worked for Mrs. Randall cooking and cleaning.  One day Mrs. Randall and her niece came to take her across the border.  She had to cut off her long braids and wear a dress Mrs. Randall brought for her.  When the border patrol looked in the car Mrs. Randall said “My nieces” and they waved us through.  She lived for several weeks with Mrs. Randall and her mom wrote to her every week promising they would be a family again.  One day a woman came to the house looking just like her Tia Vicky, but different.  She had the same clothes and same hair color but was different.  Then Monica realized it was her mom!  Yes! We are Latinos introduces us to 13 children each from a different Spanish country.  Written as a poem is their story of where they were born, how they migrated to the United States and their experiences.  Each chapter starts off explaining the history and culture of each country.  Very moving stories about these children and the hardships they endured as immigrants and assimilating into American society.  

Elmer and the Butterfly by David McKee

Elmer the patchwork elephant was out for walk when he heard a cry for help.  It was Butterfly who was trapped in a hole behind a fallen branch.  Lifting the branch Elmer helped her out and she thanked him for saving her.  Butterfly offered to help Elmer and to call her when needed.  Well Elmer continued on his walk down the path and he found himself out on a cliff.  Unable to turn around he continued planning to turn around once he reached the entrance of a cave at the end of the path.  Just as he entered the cave part of the path collapsed and Elmer was trapped.  He called out for help and luckily Butterfly heard him, she flew to get help.  A group of elephants were playing together in the forest when Butterfly told them about Elmer and they followed Butterfly to where Elmer was trapped.  Connecting like a chain the elephants along with Butterfly work to save Elmer.  Beautiful and colorful illustrations are found on every page.  The pictures alone would engage young readers.  The story is a nice variation of Aesop’s the lion and the mouse fable.

The G-Man Super Journal: Awesome Origins by Chris Giarrusso

In English class Michael G. aka G-Man was assigned to start a journal and he could write about anything that he likes, so he writes about his life.  Well Michael does not go to just any school he goes to a school where super heroes are in the making go and discover their talents.  As for Michael he has no super powers and no special talents as of yet but several of his classmates are beginning to discover theirs.  The math and science teacher Mr. Leary says that superheroes  got lucky and they should not be idolized because they did not earn it.  He constantly points to his framed diploma on the wall telling students that’s what they need to succeed in life.  In his journal Michael likes to write about his favorite superhero Captain Thunderman because he is strong, invulnerable, he can fly and he carries a lightning bolt that shoots out thunderblasts.   During the school year Michael watches as his classmates powers develop from color changing, to having super speed and to flying.  Some of them have super talents naturally while others have some help with magic props and Michael is trying to figure just what his are.  The G-Man Super Journal is a hilarious look at the awkward stage of when kids are trying to find themselves and are looking to make friends while they have an annoying brother constantly teasing them.   It is an excellent book for those students who do not like to read.  I would highly recommend this book.

Claude on the Slopes by Alex T. Smith

Claude is a small dog who lives on Waggy Avenue with Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes.    His best friend is Sir Bobblysock who is a sock and they are looking for an adventure.   One day it snowed and Claude saw kids sledding and people skiing in this stuff that he never saw before.  Claude and Sir Bobblysock followed these people all the way to a snowy mountain resort.  He saw people doing all sorts of fun things in the snow and he gets into a snowball fight then goes sledding down a mountain.  Sir Bobblysock enters into the Great Snowman Competition and wins a silver shovel with a heated foot spa.   During their visit to the resort an avalanche occurs and it is up to Claude to save someone and Sir Bobblysock who are trapped under the snow.  Lucky for him he has the silver shovel prize to help him.   This is a great story for you if you are just beginning to read chapter books. 

Thor Speaks! by Vicky Alvear

Kvasir was considered the most intelligent human.  He was created in a vat from the spit of all gods.  His knowledge was so powerful that when evil dwarves killed him and brewed mead with his blood, it was said that anyone who would drink this blood would instantly become a poet or scholar.  The blood was then stolen by a giant and buried under a mountain with the giant’s daughter as a guard.  Angry Odin, god of all gods went to save Kvasisr’s blood pretending to be in love with the giantess.  To secretly carry home the blood he drank all of it little by little each day and left with it in his stomach.  He escaped by changing into an eagle to fly off of the mountain.  The giantess father saw the eagle leaving the mountain and figuring the mead was stolen turned himself into an eagle to go after Odin. This is just one of the many stories told by Thor as he introduces us to many characters from Norse mythology and the 9 worlds from the Nordic cosmos.  If you enjoy mythology you will like reading story after story of all the gods and their adventures and learning that many words from mythology are used in our language today.  

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Otto meets three mysterious women in an enchanted forest who give him a magical harmonica along with strange clues.  Years later 3 children become bound together with this same harmonica, Friedrich from Germany, Mike from Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California during World War II.  This magical harmonica seems to rescue them by finding a father taken away, protecting a brother, keeping a family together and ultimately saving someone from death.  If you like historical fiction and mysteries you are going to love this book.  This book is long but it is worth reading and is one of my favorites.

Historical Fiction                                                                                              Mrs. Bender

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

  

Astrid's mom takes her and her best friend Nicole on a surprise trip to a roller derby competition.  Once Astrid sees this she is hooked and wants to be on a roller derby team.  Astrid starts training at a summer camp for roller derby but then her and her best friend Nicole for the first time decide not to spend the summer together and Astrid to starts to notice that Nicole has become friends with her worst enemy!  Astrid makes a new friend Zoey who is also on the team and she helps Astrid become a better skater and she also helps Astrid to dye her hair blue.  Roller girl is written in a comic book form and is a quick read.  I would recommend this book if you are looking for a fun book to read.

Graphic Novel                                                                                              Mrs. Bender

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Cece has this amazing super power that no one knows about.  She can hear things that no one else can dream of and she doesn't tell anyone about it but when she meets a cute guy she decides to reveal her secret.  Was this a big mistake?  Cece was a normal child until she became very ill and looses her hearing.  We get to see the world of a deaf child and how she deals with going to school trying to fit in with the other students.  I thought this was an excellent story and that it was written in an graphic novel form was perfect for this story.  Highly recommend.

Graphic Novel/ Realistic Fiction                                                                                Mrs. Bender

Attack of the Turtle by Drew Carlson

The story takes place in 1776 and Nathan Wade is recruited by his cousin David to work on a secret mission for the war.  Since Nathan is 14 years old he is too young to fight in the war he decides to help out his cousin by meeting secretly during the middle of the night and rowing to an off shore island.  Here is where David reveals his plans to attack the British ships with his own secret weapon that he has worked on for the past couple of years while away at college.  It is a water machine that travels quietly underwater and when close enough to other ships can launch underwater bombs.  With this invention David and Nathan feel they could make a great contribution to the war.  David reveals that he wants Nathan to solely operate the water machine and launch the underwater bombs at the British but Nathan has his own fears, he is terrified of going underwater.

This story is a historical fiction novel but it is based on the true story of the invention of the submarine during the Revolutionary War.  Learning about the history of the submarine is told through this exciting adventure that these two young men experience and the fear of being caught by Tories.  Very interesting and suspenseful story.

Chapter Book: Historical Fiction                                                                    Mrs. Bender