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2010-2011 Lists

K-3

 

Beaumont, Karen.   Doggone Dogs!   Illustrated by David Catrow.

            New York:  Dial Books, 2008.

 Becker, Bonnie.   A Visitor for Bear.   Illustrated by Kady McDonald Denton.

Boston: Candlewick, 2008.
Brennan, Rosemarie and Denise Brennan-Nelson.   Willow.   Illustrated by Cyd Moore

            Chelsea, Michigan:  Sleeping Bear Press, 2008.

 Bunting, Eve.  One Green Apple.  Illustrated by Ted Lewin.

            New York:  Clarion Books, 2006.

 Chaconas, Dori.  Pennies in a Jar.  Illustrated by Ted Lewin.

            Atlanta:  Peachtree Publishers, 2007.

 DiPucchio, Kelly.  Grace For President    Illustrated by LeUyen Pham.

New York:  Hyperion Books for Children, 2008.

 Grimes, Nikki.  Barack Obama:  Son of Promise, Child of Hope.  Illustrated by Bryan Collier.

            New York:  Simon & Schuster, 2008

 Jackson, Emma.  A Home for Dixie.   Illustrated by Bob Carey.

            New York, New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2008.

 Jules, Jacqueline.    No English    Illustrated by Amy Huntington

            Ann Arbor, Michigan:  Mitten Press, 2007.

 Kerby, Mona.   Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch.  Illustrated by Lynne Barasch.

           New York:  Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008.

 Kerley  , Barbara    What to do about Alice?  How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!    Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.

            New York:  Scholastic Press, 2008.   

 Levine, Ellen.   Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story of the Underground Railroad.

            Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

            New York:  Scholastic Press, 2007.

 Nolen, Jerdine. Pitching in for Eulie. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis.

            New York:  Amistad, 2007.

 Polacco, Patricia.  The Lemonade Club.

         New York: Philomel Books, 2007

 Rappaport, Doreen.   Abe’s Honest Words.   Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

            New York:  Hyperion, 2008

 Raven,Margot Theis. Night Boat to Freedom. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis.

New York:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.
Stevens, Janet   Help Me, Mr. Mutt: Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems.

            Illustrated by Susan Stevens-Crummel.

            Orlando, Florida:  Harcourt, Inc., 2008.

 Thompson, Lauren.  Hope is an Open Heart.  Illustrated by Lauren Thompson.

New York:  Scholastic, 2008.
Tingle, Tim.  Crossing Bok Chitto.  Illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges.

El Paso, Texas:  Cinco Puntos Press, 2006.

Tinkham, Kelly   Hair for Mama.  Illustrated by Amy June Bates.

            New York: Dial, 2007.
 

4-6 

Barrett, Tracy.  The 100-Year-Old Secret (The Sherlock Files).  New York: Holt, 2008.

 

Broach, Elise.  Masterpiece.  New York: Holt, 2008.

 

Clements, Andrew.  Lost and Found.  New York: Atheneum, 2008.

 

DiTerlizzi, Tony.  Kenny & the Dragon New York: Simon  & Schuster, 2008.

 

Giff, Patricia Reilly.  Eleven.  New York: Wendy Lamb  Books/Random House, 2008.

 

Gutman, Dan.  The Homework Machine New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.

 

Haddix, Margaret Peterson.  Found (The Missing: Book 1) New York: Scholastic, 2008.

 

Hahn, Mary Downing.  All the Lovely Bad Ones New York: Clarion Books, 2008.

 

Harley, Bill.  Night of the Spadefoot Toads.  Atlanta: Peachtree, 2008.

 

Myers, Anna.  Confessions From the Principal’s Chair.  New York: Walker & Company, 2006.

 

Napoli, Donna Jo.  Mogo, the Third Warthog.  New York: Hyperion, 2008.

 

Nazum, K.A.  The Leanin’ Dog. New York: HarperCollins, 2008.

 

O’Connor, Barbara.  Greetings From Nowhere New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2008.

 

Patneaude, David.  A Piece of the Sky.  Morton Grove, Illinois: Whitman, 2007.

 

Prineas, Sarah.  The Magic Thief. New York: HarperCollins, 2008.

 

Scieszka, Jon.  Knucklehead:  Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka.  New York: Viking, 2008. [preview for language]

 

Skurzynski, Gloria.  Night of the Blackbear Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2007.

 

Wilson, N.D.  Leepike Ridge New York: Random House, 2007.

 

Woodruff, Elvira.  Fearless.  New York: Scholastic, 2008.

 

Woodson, Jacqueline.  Peace, Locomotion.  New York: Putnam, 2009.

 

 

YA (7-12) [grade ranges are opinions of committee, as librarian you know your own users better than we do; read the books or reviews before you chose!]

 

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Anderson, Laurie Halse. Chains.  Simon & Schuster, 2008. Grades 7 and up

After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.

 

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Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. The Boy Who Dared. Scholastic, 2008. Grades 7

and up

In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.

 

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Bradbury, Jennifer.  Shift.  Atheneum, 2008. Grades 8 and up

When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one returns, the FBI wants to know what happened.

 

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Blundell, Judy. What I Saw and How I Lied, Scholastic, 2008. Grades 9-12.

In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome change her life and that of her family forever.

 

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Butler, Dori Hillestad.  The Truth About Truman School.  Albert Whitman & Co. 2008. Grades 5-8

Tired of being told what to write by the school newspaper's advisor, Zibby and her friend Amr start an underground newspaper online where everyone is free to post anything, but things spiral out of control when a cyberbully starts using the site to harrass one popular girl.

 

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Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. Harcourt Children's Books, 2008. Grades 8-12

In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

 

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Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games, Scholastic, 2008. Grades 8 and up

In a future North America, where the rulers maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another in a battle of life and death, Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place as her district’s tribute.

 

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Connor, Leslie. Waiting for Normal. Harper Collins, 2008. Grades 5-8

Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of town.

 

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Fleming, Candace. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary.

Random House, 2008. Grades 7 and up

Using an innovative scrapbook format, this biography combines two lives—Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln—into one fascinating whole.

 

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Flinn, Alex.  Beastly.  HarperTeen, 2007. Grades 7-10

A modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" told from the point of view of the Beast, a vain Manhattan private school student who is turned into a monster and must find true love before he can return to his human form.

 

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Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins, 2008. Grades 6-9.

After his family is killed, Nobody Owens is raised and protected by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.

 

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Green, John. Paper Towns. Dutton Books, 2008. Grades 9-12.

One month before graduating from his Florida high school, "Q" Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, his neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.

 

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Jenkins, A.M. Repossessed. Harper Teen, 2007. Grades 7-10.

A fallen angel, tired of being unappreciated while doing his pointless, demeaning job, leaves Hell, enters the body of a seventeen-year-old boy, and tries to experience the full range of human feelings before being caught and punished. Meanwhile, the boy's family and friends are puzzled over his changed behavior.

 

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Katcher, Brian, Playing with Matches, Delacorte Press, 2008. Grades 8-12

While trying to find a girl who will date him, high school junior Leon Sanders befriends a lonely, disfigured female classmate.

 

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Law, Ingrid.  Savvy.  Dial, 2008. Grades 5-7.

Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy"--a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

 

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Lockhart, E.  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.  Hyperion,

2008. Grades 7-10

Through a series of pranks, Frankie tries to infiltrate a top-secret all-boys club at her exclusive private school.

 

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Meldrum, Christina.  Madapple.  Knopf, 2008. Grades 10-12

A girl who has been brought up in near isolation is thrown into a twisted web of family secrets and religious fundamentalism when her mother dies and she goes to live with relatives she never knew she had.

 

 

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Mitchard, Jacquelyn. All We Know of Heaven.  HarperTeen, 2008. Grades 9-12

When Maureen and Bridget, two sixteen-year-old best friends who look like sisters, are in a terrible car accident and one of them dies, they are at first incorrectly identified at the hospital, and then, as Maureen achieves a remarkable recovery, she must deal with the repercussions of the accident, the mix-up, and some choices she made while she was getting better.

 

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Pearson, Mary E. The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Henry Holt and Company,

2008. Grades 8 and up

In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, Jenna, recovering from a serious car accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.

 

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Rhodes-Courter, Ashley. Three Little Words: A Memoir. Atheneum, 2008.

Grades 8 and up.

This memoir recounts the author’s horrific experience while living in Florida's foster-care system. Police took her away from her irresponsible mother at the age of three and placed her in foster care. She then endured thirteen placements in nine years before being adopted.

 

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Schumacher, Julie. Black Box.  Random House, 2008. Grades 8-10

When her older sister is hospitalized for depression and her parents want to keep it a secret, fourteen-year-old Elena tries to cope with her own anxiety and feelings of guilt that she is determined to conceal from outsiders.

 

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Smith, Roland. Elephant Run. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007. Grades 5-8

Nick endures servitude, beatings, and more after his British father's teak plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in 1941. When his father and others are taken prisoner and Nick is stranded with his friend Mya, they plan a daring escape on elephants in order to save family members from a prisoner of war camp.

 

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Werlin, Nancy. Impossible. Dial, 2008. Grades 8 and up

When seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers her family is under an ancient curse by an evil Elfin Knight, she realizes to break the curse she must perform three impossible tasks before her daughter is born in order to save them both.

 

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Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster. Putnam, 2008. Grades 6-8

In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music and try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.

 

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Zarr, Sara. Sweethearts. Little, Brown, 2008. Grades 9-12

After losing her soul mate, Cameron, when they were nine, Jennifer, now seventeen, transformed herself from the unpopular fat girl into the beautiful and popular Jenna, but Cameron's unexpected return dredges up memories that cause both social and emotional turmoil.