William Allen White Books 2016-2017
How this works...
- Read 6 books from the 3rd-5th grade list OR 4 books from the 6th-8th grade list by Friday, April 7.
- Let Mrs. Yoder know which books you've read. Be prepared to share details and what you think!
- Those who have read at least 6 books or 4 books and reported to Mrs. Yoder by Friday, April 7 will be invited to a breakfast/voting party Tuesday morning, April 11.
- On to the books!
3rd-5th Master List
El Deafo by Cece Bell
- realistic fiction graphic novel (PB BEL)
- Cece Bell's story
- Cece wants to be "normal" and have a friend, but that's hard to do with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest!
- publisher: Amulet Books
Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown
- realistic fiction (F BRO)
- Arty's life is suddenly changed when his dad loses his job and his family has to move to Las Vegas.
- His mission has always been to be the first person to find life on Mars. Will he be able to continue his mission in a new place?
- publisher: Bloomsbury USA
The Map Trap by Andrew Clements
- realistic fiction (F CLE, on the turning rack in the Clements section)
- Alton Ziegler has a serious fascination with maps, so much so that he creates his own maps. But not just of places but people too.
- One day the maps disappear. Alton needs to figure out who took the maps and how to get them back, because they weren't all meant to be shared!
- publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Absolutely Truly: a Pumpkin Falls mystery by Heather Vogel Frederick
- realistic fiction/mystery (F FRE)
- Truly and her family move from Texas to New Hampshire to help run the family bookstore.
- While Truly is getting used to her new life--new school, new friends, etc--she discovers a mysterious letter in a first edition copy of Charlotte's Web. And then the book goes missing. Will Truly be able to solve the mystery and help her family's bookstore?
- publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord
- realistic fiction (F LOR)
- Lucy and her family have moved to a house on a lake just in time for summer, but her dad has flown off to Arizona to work on his photography.
- Lucy learns to know Nate and his grandmother who also lives on the lake, and together they decide to enter some photography in a contest Lucy's dad is judging in hopes they win the prize to help Nate's grandmother do one more thing.
- publisher: Scholastic Press
Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
- realistic fiction (F MAR)
- Rose has Asperger's syndrome, and special fondness for homonyms (her name is one!).
- She also has a dog, Rain (a two homonym word--very special!), that is very special to her. When Rain disappears during a huge storm, Rose has to figure out how to find Rain before Rain's original owners also find the dog.
- publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Hello, I'm Johnny Cash by G. Neri
- picture book biography (921 CAS)
- Tells the story of the famous country singer, Johnny Cash, and his childhood of poverty all the way to his success as a singer.
- publisher: Candlewick Press
Josephine: the dazzling life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
- picture book biography (921 BAK)
- Tells the story of Josephine Baker, who grew up in the slums of St. Louis and became a civil rights activist and passionate performer.
- publisher: Chronicle Books, LLC
Neighborhood Sharks: hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy
- picture book narrative nonfiction (597.3 ROY)
- Tells the story of the Great White Sharks that hunt just 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco and the scientists who study them.
- publisher: David McCaulay Studio/Roaring Brook Press
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and her family's fight for desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
- picture book narrative nonfiction (379.2 TON)
- This book is about school desegregation in California, almost 10 years before the famous case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.
- Sylvia and her family lived in California. She was denied enrollment in a "Whites Only" school, and because of it her parents organized the Hispanic community and eventually ended segregation.
- publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
6th-8th Master List
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
- novel in verse, sports (F ALE)
- about basketball, but not completely
- Josh and Jordan are twin brothers who LOVE the game, but also learn about following the rules and the importance of family.
- publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
- mystery/suspense fiction (F AUX)
- a horror story that's not TOO much horror
- A pair of twins stumble into an old house in a forest where they begin working in order to support themselves. Weird things are happening in the house, though, especially to those who live there, and the twins need to figure out what's going on.
- publisher: Amulet Books
Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
- mystery fiction (F FIT)
- Theodora Tenpenny is struggling to keep her family (just she and her mom after her grandfather's death) afloat with the $463 her grandfather left behind.
- When she discovers a mysterious painting underneath a painting of her grandfather's, it begins an adventure all around Manhattan and learning to know the city and her grandfather like she didn't know before.
- publisher: Dial
The Family Romanov: murder, rebellion, and the fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming
- narrative nonfiction (947.08 FLE)
- Tells the story of Russia's last royal family just before the beginning of WWI. Going back and forth between all their luxuries and the stories of the poor in that country, it is an eye-opening look at what made Russia turn into a different country.
- publisher: Schwartz and Wade
Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington
- realistic fiction (F HAR)
- Mysti, the main character, is planning to fly under the radar this year just to get through her 7th grade year. She has enough to worry about and take care of at home with her dad injured and in the hospital, her mom not leaving the house, and being in charge of her two siblings.
- As we know, things don't always go the way that's planned though, and Mysti has to figure out how to deal with the change.
- publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm
- science fiction (F HOL)
- Ellie is not a big fan of change, even though there is a lot in her life. And there is about to be more...
- One day the police call to say they have a 13 year old boy Ellie's mother needs to pick up--he claims he is Ellie's grandfather. But how can that be? And if he really is Ellie's grandfather, what happens now?
- publisher: Random House
Time of the Fireflies by Kimberley Griffiths Little
- science fiction/fantasy (F LIT)
- Here's how one reviewer put it: mysterious phone calls + a very creepy doll + buried family secrets + one determined and courageous heroine = a thrilling adventure!"
- publisher: Scholastic Press
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
- mystery fiction (F MIL)
- Milo and his parents live in the Greenglass House, an inn for smugglers. It is usually quieter during the winter, but on the first night of winter vacation a whole group of guests come to the door one by one.
- Each guest has a strange story that somehow connects to each other and to the house, and Milo must figure out the truth.
- publisher: Clarion Books
The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
- adventure fiction (F OPP)
- Will is honored to join the guests on The Boundless, the greatest train every built, on its first trip across the country. But when he becomes the owner of a key to one of the cars that holds priceless treasures, he realizes he has become a target.
- Will and his new friend Maren must do whatever it takes to escape those who are after him and reach Will's father before it's too late!
- publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern
- realistic fiction (F SOV)
- This is the story of Maggie's 11th year. Things are changing at her house because her dad has a mysterious illness. Maggie decides it's time for her to do something about it.
- publisher: Chronicle Books, LLC
Loot: how to steal a fortune by Jude Watson
- mystery fiction (F WAT)
- As Alfie McQuinn, the famous burglar, lays dying after falling from a rooftop, he manages two words to his son March: "Find Jewels."
- But instead of it being diamonds and emeralds March is supposed to find, it is Jules, the sister he never knew he had. When March and Jules get sent to an orphanage, they decide they need to do whatever it takes to get out and finish their dad's last heist.
- publisher: Scholastic Press
A Million Ways Home by Diana Dorsi Winget
- realistic fiction (F WIN)
- Poppy and her grandma have been inseparable ever since Poppy's parents died when she was young. But when her grandma has a stroke and has to spend time in the hospital, Poppy decides she needs to fix the situation and gets herself into more trouble than she's ready for.
- Along the way, Poppy begins working at an animal shelter where she cares for a dog about to be put down. Through working with the dog she realizes what she needs to do to solve the problems in her life.
- publisher: Scholastic Press