6th grade booktalks
2019-2020
February 25, 2020: mysteries to keep you on the edge of your seat!
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
- F AUX. mystery/suspense.
- A pair of twins stumble upon an old house in a forest with a family inside who looks like they are not doing well. The pair begins working there, both because they need the money and to help out the family.
- They soon realize that weird things are happening in the house, especially to the family who lives there. They need to figure out what's going on before their own lives become in danger.
Malcolm at Midnight by W.H. Beck
- F BEC. mystery/suspense.
- book trailer
- This book won the William Allen White award several years ago!
The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands
- F SAN. historical fiction/mystery/suspense.
- Christopher Rowe lives in London in 1665. He has been apprenticed to an apothecary named Master Benedict Blackthorn. Christopher is excited to learn all he can about potions, puzzles, and books.
- When a dangerous cult begins killing off all of the city's apothecaries, Christopher determines he must get to the bottom of the mystery before he becomes the next victim.
- This book includes conspiracies, codes, secret alchemists, puzzles, pigeons, and explosions. There's something here for everyone!
The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: a scientific mystery by Sandra Markle
- 595.79 MAR. narrative nonfiction.
- For the past 10-15 years, honey bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate. In some cases, honey bee farmers have lost up to 50% of their hives! This is a big problem for lots of reasons.
- Scientists have attributed the losses to Colony Collapse Disorder, when worker bees disappear, leaving behind the queen bee, plenty of food, and few nurse bees. But they can't figure out why it's happening. This is a real life cold case!
Happy reading!
January 28, 2020: changing our world for the better
Team Moon: How 400,000 people landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
- 629.45 THI. information/narrative nonfiction.
- Getting man to the moon was no easy task. And we may think we know the story. But we don't really know the *full* story.
- This book tells the story of all the people who worked to make the Apollo 11 flight successful, from the seamstresses who put together 22 layers of fabric for each space suit to the engineers who created a special heat shield to protect the capsule during reentry to the camera designers and more.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
- 921 KAM. narrative biography.
- When a terrible drought hits William's village in Malawi, not only did it mean his family did not have crops to eat or sell, it also meant he had to drop out of school because they didn't have the money to send him.
- William was interested in science and not willing to let his struggles get the best of him. He decided he was going to figure out how to build a windmill for his village. It changed his village forever.
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose
- 940.53 HOO. narrative nonfiction.
- book trailer
A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee
- F RAM. realistic fiction.
- Shayla is a kid who doesn't get in trouble. She has her family, her two best friends, good grades, and up until this year that has been enough for her. Her sister, Hana, is all about protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, and Shayla has always thought that's just a thing for Hana. Until this year.
- When a trial for policeman ends in a not guilty verdict and Shayla participates in her first protest, she starts to wonder if there are ways she can make a difference, even in small ways.
Happy reading!
October 29, 2019: the refugee experience
Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees by Mary Beth Leatherdale
- narrative nonfiction, written in a collage style. 305.9 LEA
- Stories of refugees risking their lives to get to a better, safer place are not new stories. Refugees have been doing this for hundreds of years.
- This book tells the true stories of five refugees trying to get to safety: Ruth on board the St. Louis, Phu escaping from war-torn Vietnam, Jose' trying to get to the U.S. from Cuba, and more.
- book trailer
Refugee 87 by Ele Fountain
- Realistic fiction. F FOU
- Connects to the idea of refugees, especially in a middle eastern country.
- Shif is 14 and lives in poverty with his mother and brother, concerned about the political danger of his country, especially after losing his father seven years earlier.
- He and neighbor Bini are good friends, both interested in studying and preparing for the future.
- When the two are unexpectedly taken by soldiers and imprisoned in the desert with a group of older men, held in a shipping container.
- The boys know their only hope is to escape and spread the word about the prisoners' conditions.
- As in Refugee, there is some intense content in this book because that is the refugee experience.
Ashes by Kathryn Lasky
- Historical fiction. F LAS
- Connects to the story of Josef in Refugee.
- Berlin, 1932. Thirteen year old Gabriella's life is pretty carefree--she loves her parents, her sister, her new literature teacher, her family's summer lake house that sits next door to Albert Einstein's, her books.
- But as Adolf Hitler begins his rise to power in Germany, Gabriella starts losing these things. Some people are leaving on their own, some people are being taken away. Her books have always brought her comfort, but even those are now disappearing.
- Kathryn Lasky's note
My Brigadista Year by Katherine Paterson
- Historical fiction. F PAT
- Connects to the history of Cuba.
- After Fidel Castro came into power in Cuba, he recruited young women to become volunteer teachers. His plan was to make all of Cuba literate in one year.
- This is the fictional story of Lora, a 13 year old girl who decides to become a volunteer, even though she barely been outside of Havana, much less sleeping on a hammock in someone else's kitchen.
- This is the story of Lora's year, full of adventures, determination, and courage.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Historical fiction. F RYA
- Connects to the idea of refugees.
- Esperanza lives with her family in Mexico, and she assumes life will always be good--fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants to help with the work.
- But a sudden tragedy in the family forces Esperanza and her mother to flee to California, where they find a place to live in a camp for Mexican migrant workers.
- Life is very different for Esperanza there--she must adjust to hard labor, a lack of money brought on by the beginning of the Great Depression, and a lack of acceptance.
- When Esperanza's Mama gets sick and there is a strike at the camp to fight for better working conditions, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her circumstances in order to save her Mama and herself.
Happy reading!
September 24, 2019: being a friend
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
- realistic fiction. F ALV
- Julia's inspiration for the story: http://return-to-sender.juliaalvarez.com/
- When Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to higher Mexican migrant workers to keep the farm from going into foreclosure. Tyler isn't sure he wants these people on the farm, though, especially because not all of them are there legally.
- One of the workers has several daughters, and Mari, the oldest, has conflicted feelings. She is proud of her Mexican heritage, but also feels connected to the American way of life. She is also worried about her missing mother and fearful that her family will get sent back to Mexico.
- Can Tyler and Mari put aside their differences to form a friendship? And what will happen to both families?
Posted by John David Anderson
- realistic fiction. F AND
- When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all over the school. It catches on, and soon the whole school is participating. Although for every kind note that is left, a cruel one is left as well.
- Then Rose arrives at school and begins sitting at Frost's lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at the school, and Frost soon realizes that his circle of friends isn't going to welcome someone new. As the sticky note war begins to escalate and kids are expected to choose sides, Frost realizes things will never be the same again.
- (Secret bonus!)
Halfway Normal by Barbara Dee
- realistic fiction. F DEE
- Norah has just completed two years of treatment for leukemia and she is heading back to middle school. She feels like compared to dealing with cancer, managing seventh grade shouldn't be a problem.
- But she's wrong. Everyone is weird at school, and even Norah's best friends aren't really feeling like friends anymore.
- When Norah gets put with 8th graders for math and science, she meets Griffin. He is the only person who acts like a true friend, so Norah does all she can to keep it that way. But when something happens that means Norah has to tell Griffin about her story, how will she move forward when she's not even sure what that means?
It All Comes Down to This by Karen English
- historical fiction. F ENG
- Sophie is a 12 year living in Los Angeles in 1965. She is most interested in hanging out with her friends and starring in the community play, but life is not that simple.
- She is the new black kid in an almost all-white neighborhood, her sister is going away to college, and her parents' marriage is having a hard time.
- When riots break out in nearby town Watts and a friend is unfairly arrested, Sophie realizes that life--and her place in it--is even more complicated than she thought.