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Ages 8-12 • Intermediate Independent Reads
◆ 134
HESSE, KAREN
LETTERS FROM RIFKA
“In letters to her cousin back ‘home’
in Russia, 12-year-old Rifka tells of her
journey to America in 1919, from the
dangerous escape over the border to the
journey through Europe and across the
sea to the new country. Rifka gets ringworm
and has to stay behind in Belgium
for nearly a year while her parents and
brothers go on to America....What especially
raises this above docu-novel is the
emerging sense of Rifka’s personality.”
—Booklist
Rec: AN, AY, BKL, BL, C, H, K, NYC, PWH, R, SLJ, TE
National Jewish Book Award
5 1/16 x 7 3/4 160 pp. 1993
978-0-14-036391-3 $6.99
HILL, KIRKPATRICK
TOUGHBOY AND SISTER
Away from their Alaskan Indian village,
11-year-old Toughboy and his younger
sister must fend for themselves along the
Yukon River. “This quiet, simply told
story speaks in a distinctive voice about
stoic courage, dignity, and survival.”
—The Horn BookH
Rec: CH, HH K, NYT, SLJ
5 1/16 x 7 3/4 128 pp. 1992
978-0-14-034866-8 $5.99
HOBBS, VALERIE
CAROLINA CROW GIRL
“From the start, Hobbs dazzles
readers...[This is] the remarkable story
of two outsiders who find it possible,
through friendship, to unlock the doors
of their own cages.” —Riverbank Review
Rec: K, RB
5 1/16 x 7 3/4 144 pp. 2000
978-0-14-130976-7 $5.99
HOLT, KIMBERLY WILLIS
DANCING IN CADILLAC LIGHT
1968 looks like it’ll be a pretty good
year for Jaynell Lambert. The town’s
going to pave the dirt road she lives on,
her girly-girl sister, Racine, isn’t driving
her completely crazy, and Grandpap
has just moved in with his new emerald
green Cadillac convertible. Jaynell and
Grandpap have something special. When
Jaynell finds out Grandpap’s secret, the
legacy of an old man transforms a family,
and a town. “At once gritty and poetic,
stark and sentimental . . . a solid page
turner.” —School Library JournalH
Rec: BL, SLJH
5 1/16 x 7 7/8 176 pp. 2002
978-0-698-11970-3 $5.99
See index for more titles by Kimberly Willis Holt.
HONIG, DEBBIE AND
GAIL KARLITZ
GROWING MONEY
A Complete Investing Guide for Kids
Illustrated by Stephen Lewis
Filled with information about savings accounts,
bonds, stocks, and mutual funds;
fun quizzes that reveal young investor’s
risk tolerance; and wild facts of success
and failure, each with a lesson to impart.
Best of all, Growing Money gives readers
their own fund of imaginary dollars to
invest, along with suggestions for selecting
companies that are compatible with
their values, tips for reading the stock
pages, and fill-in charts to track their
earnings and losses.
Rec: PW, SLJ
7 3/8 x 9 1/8 128 pp. 2001
978-0-8431-7702-2 $7.99
HOROWITZ, ANTHONY
THE DEVIL AND HIS BOY
“Short, action-packed chapters convincingly
portray the sights, smells, and
sounds of lower-class Elizabethan England
in 1593…Sinister criminals, goodhearted
ne’er-do-wells, and Shakespeare
himself are all described with sly touches
of whimsy that adds to the story’s appeal.
This unique blend of fact-based
characters and inspired storytelling will
appeal especially to readers who enjoy an
imaginative, no-holds-barred approach
to historical fiction.”
—School Library Journal
Rec: BL, K, SLJ
5 1/16 x 7 7/8 192 pp. 2001/2007
978-0-14-240797-4 $6.99
See index for more titles by Anthony Horowitz.
Eva Ibbotson
THE BEASTS OF
CLAWSTONE CASTLE ❖
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
“Memorable…. [Ibbotson] deftly brings
in such contemporary issues as land
development, animal rights, and the
environment without creating an obvious
message.”—School Library Journal
Rec: BL, PW, SLJ
5 1/16 x 7 3/4 256 pp. 2007
978-0-14-240931-2 $6.99
DIAL-A-GHOST
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
“Ghosts outnumber the living in this
comic tale of an orphan who suddenly
acquires a grand estate, and a pair of
nefarious relatives determined to relieve
him of it. Fans of Rowling and Diana
Wynne-Jones will savor Ibbotson’s deliciously
lurid passages…the matter-of-fact
way her fleshly and ectoplasmic characters
coexist, and, finally, how neatly she
rewards both the good and the vile.”
—Booklist
Rec: BL, PW, SLJ
5 1/16 x 7 7/8 224 pp. 2003
978-0-14-250018-7 $5.99
THE GREAT GHOST RESCUE
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
“Hilariously disgusting descriptions of
ghouls’ various scary attributes keep the
tone light in this humorous ghost story
with an environmental twist.” —Booklist
Rec: BL, PW, SLJ
5 1/16 x 7 7/8 192 pp. 2003
978-0-14-250087-3 $5.99