4 BOOKS FRee! - Junior Library Guild

Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories
About Growing Up Scieszka
by Jon Scieszka
B GROUP (GRADES 5–7)
Reviews: BCCB, BL, H, HGs, K, SLJH, V, WC
With six boys growing up in the Scieszka house in
Flint, Michigan, life was never boring. Jon Scieszka,
the second oldest, says, “I think it was my dad,
finding that his toast tasted like melted green plastic
army man, who first asked the question, ‘What
Knucklehead put an army man in the toaster?’”
(The answer wasn’t Jon—that time, anyway!) The
more Jon Scieszka thought about it, the more he
realized, “I get a lot of my ideas from all the strange
things that happened to me growing up with five
brothers.” Index. Afterword. Black-and-white
photographs.
Isbn: 9780670011063 • Dewey: 813/.54 b • 6 3/4" x 10" • 96 pp
aR level: 4.6 • aR Points: 2 • sRC level: 4.6 • sRC Points: 6 • lexile: 750l
JLG: $9.00 • Viking: $16.99 • JlG Month: noV 2008
Laika u
written and illustrated by Nick Abadzis
GM GROUP (GRADES 7–11)
Reviews: BCCB, BL, KH, PWH, SLJH
“Gentlemen . . . this will be Laika’s vessel! The first
spacecraft . . . Sputnik II ! There are still problems,
but we’ll solve them. Even on such a tight schedule!”
“How will the satellite return to earth?” “It won’t. . . .
There is no return option.” Here are the intertwined
stories of Korolev, the driven engineer at the top of
the Soviet space program; Yelena, the lab technician
responsible for Laika’s health; and Laika, an energetic,
trusting, and beloved dog chosen for a journey she
will not survive. Full-color illustrations. Afterword.
Bibliography.
Isbn: 9781596431010 • Dewey: 741.5973 • 6" x 8 1/2" • 208 pp
aR level: 2.8 • aR Points: 2 • sRC level: 5.4 • sRC Points: 5
JLG: $9.00 • first second: $17.95 • JlG Month: Jan 2008
The Landing u
by John Ibbitson
Y GROUP (GRADES 9 & UP) • Reviews: CL, HG
Muskoka, Canada, the Great Depression: Fifteenyear-old
Ben wants to be a violinist, but his chances
of leaving Cook’s Landing, the family farm, grow
slimmer every year. Then one day in early summer,
possible salvation arrives in the form of a new
neighbor—Ruth Chapman, a wealthy New Yorker.
Unlike other women in Muskoka, she smokes and
swears—and introduces Ben to Mozart and Sibelius.
Ben’s mother keeps telling him that “things can
happen” if he makes a good impression. . . . But, as
the summer starts to wane, so does Ruth Chapman’s
interest in Ben and, consequently, Ben’s hopes for his
future. Historical note. Note from the author. Winner
of the 2008 Governor General’s Literary Award.
Isbn: 9781554532346 • Dewey: 813'.54 • 5 1/4" x 7 7/8" • 160 pp
aR level: 5.8 • aR Points: 5 • sRC level: 8.6 • sRC Points: 10 • lexile: 1020l
JLG: $9.00 • Kids Can: $17.95 • JlG Month: oCT 2008
jlgguides
Larry and the Meaning of Life
by Janet Tashjian
Y GROUP (GRADES 9 & UP) • Reviews: BL, K, SLJ
After losing a presidential campaign and his
girlfriend, Josh Swensen (a.k.a. Larry) can’t seem to
get off the couch. His usual overactive imagination
and save-the-world mindset have all but vanished,
and his best friend, Beth, is seriously worried. When
Beth coaxes Josh into taking a walk at Walden
Pond, he meets Gus Muldarian, a spiritual guru
who encourages Josh to join his study group as a
way to find deeper meaning in life. Josh agrees, but
what begins as a harmless Thoreau-esque search
for meaning soon turns into Josh’s most chaotic
and profound adventure yet. Black-and-white
photographs.
Isbn: 9780805077363 • Dewey: f • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" • 224 pp
aR level: 5.4 • aR Points: 6 • sRC level: 4.6 • sRC Points: 11 • lexile: 760l
JLG: $9.00 • Henry Holt: $16.95 • JlG Month: DeC 2008
The Last Knight u
by Hilari Bell
Y GROUP (GRADES 9 & UP)
Reviews: BL, H, HGs, K, KL, SLJ, WM
Michael wants nothing more than to be Sir
Michael. But the knighthood has been dead for two
hundred years, his squire is a rogue named Fisk,
and his damsel in distress turns out to be an escaped
murderess. As Michael says, “The life of a knight
errant wasn’t quite what I had expected.” However,
when Michael and Fisk set out on a quest involving
angry sheriffs, cudgel-crewers, and magical beasts, the
knight and his squire could finally live out their own
legendary adventure—or die trying.
Isbn: 9780060825041 • Dewey: f • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" • 320 pp
aR level: 6.1 • aR Points: 12 • sRC level: 5.8 • sRC Points: 19 • lexile: 910l
JLG: $9.00 • HarperCollins: $17.89 • JlG Month: noV 2007
The Last of the High Kings u
by Kate Thompson
C GROUP (GRADES 6–9)
Reviews: BL, HH, HGs, PWH, SLJ, V
“Jenny had never had a friend before . . . There was
the púka, of course, but he was more like a teacher or
a kindly old uncle than a friend.” When the púka—a
large, shape-shifting goat—asks eleven-year-old Jenny
to befriend a ghost, she agrees; after all, the ghost
is sad and lonely. For thousands of years, the ghost
has guarded a mountaintop beacon from horrible
monsters . . . such as the púka, Jenny begins to
suspect. So, she wonders: is the púka actually kind or
just using her to get to the ghost? Glossary.
Isbn: 9780061175961 • Dewey: f • 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" • 368 pp
aR level: 5.9 • aR Points: 9 • sRC level: 5.4 • sRC Points: 14 • lexile: 820l
JLG: $9.00 • Greenwillow: $17.89 • JlG Month: JUl 2008
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