Fifth Grade - Sewickley Academy

CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Buyea, Rob. Because of Mr. Terupt. Seven fifth-graders at Snow
Hill School in Connecticut relate how their lives are changed for the
better by a "rookie teacher.”
Bruchac, Joseph. Eagle Song. After moving from a Mohawk
reservation to Brooklyn, New York, eight-year-old Danny Bigtree
encounters stereotypes about his Native American heritage.
Creech, Sharon. The Great Unexpected. Orphans Naomi and Lizzie,
living in America, and grown-up sisters Sybil and Nula, from Ireland,
learn what life is truly about as they receive help from one another
and open up their hearts to love and forgiveness.
Horvath, Polly. One Year in Coal Harbor. In a small fishing village
in British Columbia, twelve-year-old Primrose tries to be a
matchmaker for her Uncle Jack, befriends Ked, a new foster child,
tries to decide if she is willing to go to jail for her convictions, and
together with Ked, publishes a cook book to raise money for the
Fisherman's Aid. Includes recipes. [C]
House, Silas and Neela Naswani. Same Sun Here. A twelve-yearold
Indian immigrant in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner's
son become pen pals, and eventually best friends, through a series of
revealing letters exploring such topics as environmental activism,
immigration, and racism.
Kelly, Lynne. Chained. To work off a family debt, ten-year-old
Hastin leaves his desert village in India to work as a circus elephant
keeper, but many challenges await him, including trying to keep
Nandita, a sweet elephant, safe from the cruel circus owner.
Klise, Kate. Homesick. Benny's parents are getting divorced. His
mom left and his father has become a hoarder. To make matters
worse, his hometown has been entered into a contest and now the
pressure is on to get the house cleaned up.
Lupica, Mike. Game Changers. When the coach's son, Shawn
O'Brien, is chosen to play quarterback, eleven-year-old Ben McBain
is not surprised--but when he tries to be a good teammate and help
the inconsistent Shawn, he is startled to learn that his new friend does
not really want the position.
Mobin-Uddin, Asma. My ame is Bilal. When Bilal and his sister
transfer to a school where they are the only Muslims, they must learn
how to fit in while staying true to their beliefs and heritage.
Ryan, Pam Munroz. Esperanza Rising. Esperanza and her mother,
forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege, confront the challenges of
difficult work and illness while embracing a future full with riches of
family and community.
Senzai, N.H. Shooting Kabul. Escaping from Taliban-controlled
Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, eleven-year-old Fadi and his family
immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Fadi schemes to return to
the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left
behind.
Sherrard, Valerie. Tumbleweed Skies. Ellie must stay at her
grandmother's farm in Saskatchewan when her father takes a temporary job
as a traveling salesman, but Ellie has a difficult time adjusting to her new
life and her grandmother's abrasive personality. [C]
Tashjian, Janet. My Life as a Stuntboy. Twelve-year-old Derek Fallon
has the opportunity of a lifetime--to perform stunts in a movie featuring a
popular twelve-year-old star--but complications arise involving his best
friend, a capuchin monkey, and Derek's chronic inability to concentrate on
schoolwork.
HISTORICAL FICTION
Avi. Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution. In 1776, after
witnessing the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, newly
occupied by the British army, young Sophia Calderwood resolves to
do all she can to help the American cause, including becoming a spy.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of
Pringle Rose (Dear America series). It is 1871 in Scranton,
Pennsylvania, and fourteen-year-old Pringle Rose, still grieving from
the death of her parents, takes her brother Gideon, who has Down
syndrome, escapes from her uncle and aunt, taking a train to Chicago
--but disaster seems to follow her there.
Crowley, James. Starfish: A ovel. In 1998 when the Kosovo
hostilities escalate, thirteen-year-old Meli's life as an ethnic Albanian,
changes forever after her brother escapes his Serbian captors and the
entire family flees from one refugee camp to another until they are
able to immigrate to America. [C]
Divakaruni, Chita. eela. In 1939, 12-year-old Neela’s heart is
stirred by the fiery talk she hears about India’s freedom struggle.
When her father fails to return home from a march against British
occupation, Neela must rely on a young freedom fighter’s help.
Dumon Tak, Bibi. Soldier Bear. An orphaned Syrian brown bear
cub is adopted by Polish soldiers during World War II and serves for
five years as their mischievous mascot in Iran and Italy. Based on a
true story. [C]
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Gingersnap. When her brother Rob, a Navy
cook, goes missing in action during World War II, Jayna, desperate
for family, leaves upstate New York and their cranky landlady,
accompanied by a turtle and a ghost, to seek their grandmother, who
Rob believes may live in Brooklyn. Includes soup recipes.
Harlow, Joan Hiatt. Firestorm! A twelve-year-old street urchin and
the son of Chicago's most important jeweler strike up an unlikely
friendship in the days before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and
both are nearly trapped when the city goes up in flames.
Kidd, Ronald. The Year of the Bomb. In 1955 California, as
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is filmed in their hometown,
thirteen-year-old Arnie discovers a real enemy when he and three
friends go against a young government agent determined to find
communists at a nearby university or on the movie set. [C]
Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie. True Colors. In 1952 Vermont, ten-yearold
Blue decides to set out in the middle of her town's
sesquicentennial celebration to find the mother who abandoned her as
a baby. Her search leads her to discoveries that will change her life
forever.
Marsden, Carolyn. The White Zone. As American bombs fall on
Baghdad during the Iraq War, ten-year-old cousins Nouri and Talib
witness the growing violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. [C]
McKissack, Patricia. Run Away Home. In 1886 Alabama, a young
African-American girl and her family befriend and give refuge to a
runaway Apache boy. [C]
Park, Linda Sue. A Long Walk to Water. When the Sudanese civil
war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes
separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe
members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of
safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to
America.
Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Bird in a Box. In 1936, three children meet
at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans in New York State, and while
not all three are orphans, they are all dealing with grief and loss
which together, along with the help of a sympathetic staff member
and the boxing matches of Joe Louis, they manage to overcome.
Includes author's notes.
Ramsey, Calvin Alexander. Ruth and the Green Book. When Ruth
and her parents take a motor trip from Chicago to Alabama to visit her
grandma in the early 1950’s, they rely on a pamphlet called "The
Negro Motorist Green Book" to find places that will serve them.
Includes facts about the real “Green Book."
Smith, Sherri L. Flygirl. During World War II, a light-skinned
African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women
Airforce Service Pilots.
MYSTERY and FANTASY
Avi. The Book Without Words. Thorston, an alchemist who has
spent his life trying to decipher the secret contained in the Book
Without Words, is on the brink of realizing his dream when he dies,
leaving behind a talking raven and servant to reap the rewards.
Blakemore, Megan Frazer. The Water Castle. Moving into an
inherited mansion in Maine with their mother and stroke-afflicted
father, three siblings uncover a mystery involving hidden
passageways, family rivalries, and healing waters. [C]
Bosch, Pseudonymous. The ame of this Book is Secret. (bk. 1 in
series) Cassandra and Max find a missing magician's notebook and
start to investigate the fire which burnt down his house and his
mysterious "symphony of smells."
Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander (series). When eleven-year
-old Gregor and his sister are pulled into a strange underground
world, they trigger an epic battle involving humans, bats, rats,
cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient
prophecy.
DiCamillo, Kate. The Magician’s Elephant. When ten-year-old
orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the
marketplace one day who tells him his sister, who is presumed dead,
is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures in an
attempt to find her.
Dowell, Frances O’Roarke. The Second Life of Abigail Walker.
Bullied by two mean girls in her sixth-grade class, a lonely, plump
girl gains self-confidence and makes new friends after a mysterious
fox gently bites her.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. In a future where
the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two
children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on
his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the
government is wrong.
Korman, Gordon. Ungifted. Due to an administrative mix-up,
troublemaker Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic
Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students, after
pulling a major prank at middle school. [C]
Lin, Grace. Starry River of the Sky. An innkeeper's chore boy
discovers that a visitor's stories hold the key to returning the moon to
the Starry River of the Sky.
Lowry, Lois. Bless This Mouse. Mouse Mistress Hildegarde
musters all her ingenuity to keep a large colony of church mice safe
from the exterminator and to see that they make it through the
dangerous Blessing of the Animals.
Malone, Marianne. The Sixty-Eight Rooms. An adventure about the
Thorne Rooms, sixty-eight miniature rooms made by Mrs. James
Ward Thorne in the 1930s, and a magic key that allows a person to
shrink down small enough to explore the rooms' secrets.

Mass, Wendy. 13 Gifts. Tara, a self-proclaimed shrinking violet,
tries to break out of her shell by stealing the school mascot, a goat,
but she gets caught and is shipped off for the summer to stay with
relatives in the quirky town of Willow Falls, which she decides is as
good a place as any to reinvent herself.
Raskin, Ellen. The Westing Game. The mysterious death of an
eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs
who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can
claim their inheritance.
Skurzynski, Gloria. The Hunted. The Landon family travels to
Glacier National Park to investigate why grizzly bear cubs are
disappearing and become involved with a runaway boy.
Stanley, Diane. Bella at Midnight. Raised by peasants, Bella
discovers that she is the daughter of a knight and finds herself caught
in a terrible plot that will change her life and the kingdom forever.
Steinhofel, Andreas. The Spaghetti Detectives. Living with his
mother in a Berlin apartment house, Rico, a young boy with ADHD,
enjoys playing detective games but when his friend Oskar suddenly
disappears, possibly taken by a serial kidnapper, Rico is determined
to use his skills to find his friend.
Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society (series).
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are
selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at
the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule
is that there are no rules.
Wrede, Patricia. Dealing with Dragons. Bored with traditional
palace life, a princess runs off to live with a group of dragons and
becomes involved in saving the kingdom.
Yolen, Jane. Jason and the Gorgon’s Blood. Jason, who will
become the head of the Argonauts, leads five boys on a dangerous
quest, learning along the way what it means to be in command.
NON-FICTION
Aronson, Marc. Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from
2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert. Provides a detailed account of
rescue efforts to save thirty-three miners, who got trapped in a copper
-gold mine in San Jose, Chile, examining the psychological, physical,
and environmental factors influencing the course of the rescue, and
describing the efforts of experts from around the world--drillers,
astronauts, submarine specialists, and others--came together in
response to the crisis.
DeCapua, Sarah E. The Tuskegee Airmen: African-American Pilots
of World War II. Profiles the African-American men who served as
pilots in the Tuskegee Airmen unit during World War II.
Nelson, Pete. Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for
the USS Indianapolis. Recalls the sinking of the USS Indianapolis
at the end of World War II, the Navy cover-up and unfair court
martial of the ship’s captain, and how a young boy helped the
survivors set the record straight fifty-five years later.
Robinson, Jill and Marc Bekoff. Jasper’s Story: Saving Moon
Bears. Tells the story of Jasper, a moon bear who was held in a cage
for fifteen years so his bile could be extracted and used in traditional
Asian medicine, and how he was rescued and brought to live at the
Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu, China.
Ruelle, Karen Gray. The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How
Muslims Saved Jews During the Holocaust. An illustrated picture
book that tells of how Muslims helped to hide escaped prisoners of
war and Jews of all ages in the complex of the Grand Mosque of
Paris during World War II.
Santella, Andrew. Air Force One. An exploration of the history of
the planes designated to carry the president of the United States.
Schyffert, Bea. The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon.
Describes the experiences of Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins
and explains everyday life on the Columbia.
Sheinkin, Steve. Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s
Most Dangerous Weapon. "In December of 1938, a chemist in a
German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to
radioactive material, a uranium atom split in two. This is the story of
the plotting, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the
world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic
bomb." ~ book jacket [C]
Sitarski, Anita. Cold Light: Creatures, Discoveries, and Inventions
that Glow. Full-color photographs and text explore applications of
biochemistry, genetics, and electronics through stories from
seventeenth-century alchemist, Robert Boyle, and other adventurers
who first saw bizarre creatures glowing in the oceans.
Stone, Tanya Lee. Courage Has o Color: The True Story of the
Triple ickles—America’s First Black Paratroopers. Tanya Lee
Stone examines the role of African Americans in the military via the
story of America's first regiment of Black paratroopers, the Triple
Nickles, and their fight against the Japanese in a little-known World
War II attack on the American West. [C]
Tomecek, Steve. What A Great Idea: Inventions that Changed the
World. Profiles forty-five historic and prehistoric inventions,
explaining how they work and describing their impact on civilization.
Yoder, Eric. One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve
with Math! A collection of sixty-five one-minute mysteries that help
readers develop critical thinking skills, covering geometry, data and
statistics, algebra, and measurement.
GRAPHIC NOVEL
Liu, Na and Andres Vera Martinez. Little White Duck: A Childhood
in China. In graphic novel format, a young girl describes her
experiences growing up in China, beginning with the death of
Chairman Mao in 1976.
Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. In this wordless tale, a man leaves his
homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new
life for himself and his family.
Family travel provides a great opportunity to enjoy an audiobook
played on a car’s sound system or on an iPad or other such
device. Many great audiobooks and e-Books are available at
your public library. Browse the catalog at:
http://www.clpgh.org
and look for the e-Book or CD icon within the catalog listing.
Remember that InterLibrary Loan (ILL) allows you to request &
borrow material from other branches and township libraries.
Ask any librarian for help getting started.
Compiled by Catherine Lanni
Marion Hutchins Library 2013
[C] = Challenging
Annotations courtesy of Follett Software—Alliance Plus
Fifth Grade
Recommended
Summer
Reading
2013
Required Summer Reading:
(1) Margaret Peterson Haddix. Running Out of Time
(2) free choice from classroom list