A Friendship for Today    McKissack dishes up a palatable blend of fact and fiction in her semiautobiographical story of Rosemary Patterson's pivotal sixth-grade year (1954-55). The landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision closed the doors of Rosemary's colored school in Kirkland, Missouri, and dispersed students into two white elementary schools. Determined to prove she does not need remediation, Rosemary excels academically and refuses to be racially intimidated or stereotyped. An unlikely friendship with mean Grace Hamilton, labeled "white trash" by snobby classmates, opens Rosemary's eyes to shared experiences of prejudice, parental strife, peer pressure, and loneliness. Both girls develop a mutual respect for the hardships they face. Rosemary gets emotional support and comfort from storekeeper Mr. Bob, an ex-Tuskegee Airman; her independent, enterprising seamstress mother; her fair-minded and compassionate teacher; and Rags, a rescued, injured cat that finally emits a "meow." As her parents grapple with marital problems and her polio-stricken best friend, J.J., struggles to walk again, Rosemary learns the value of tolerance and perseverance. A wealth of historical references, from civil rights to polio vaccine to early TV, is embedded in the narrative. Readers will enjoy the protagonist's spunky, resilient response to adversity and her candid, often amusing observations of human nature.All the Broken Pieces  Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family — and the terrible secret — he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events force him to choose between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom. By turns harrowing, dreamlike, sad, and triumphant, this searing debut novel, written in lucid verse, reveals an unforgettable perspective on the lasting impact of war and the healing power of love.Alligator Crossing  Henry Bunks lives in crowded Miami in the 1950s. A nearby canal — an entrance to what will become the Florida Everglades — provides respite from his chaotic life in an uncaring family. Henry meets and befriends an alligator hunter and stows away on his boat. The hunter, an enigmatic character, is at once an outlaw and a father figure to Henry. In the watery wilderness, the man and boy meet a wildlife photographer, a botanist, and a park ranger, and Henry is thrust into a race to save a human life. First published in 1959, this story combines great adventure with a boy's first experience of adults who are neither totally bad nor totally noble. Alligator Crossing is a rediscovered classic by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, known as the "Savior of the Everglades."As Long As There Are Mountains  Iris loves the northern Vermont hills where her family has lived for generations and dreams of one day running the family farm. Her brother, Lucien, certainly wants no part of it. But the year 1956 holds many surprises for her and her family. It begins with their barn burning down and Iris's suspicions that her cousin Draper may be responsible. Then Father is injured in a logging accident and in his anger and depression that follow, he decides to sell the farm. Lucientells Iris she won't miss things so much after a while, but she knows he's wrong. Can Iris keep the family from leaving the place that she knows she will love with all her heart for as long as she lives?Bat 6  Told in 21 voices, this narrative uses a sixth-grade girls' baseball game in 1949 Oregon as a vehicle for examining prejudice and the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Ages 10-14.Breaking Stalin's Nose  One of Horn Book’s Best Fiction Books of 2011 Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six: The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night. This moving story of a ten-year-old boy's world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.Freedom Songs  In the sixties, when Sheryl's Uncle Pete joins the Freedom Riders down South, she organizes a gospel concert in Brooklyn to help him.Glory Be  Gloriana faces her twelfth birthday in 1964 and struggles with the changes she sees happening around her, but while she struggles to understand the shift in her relationships with her sister–who is about to enter high school–and her best friend, Frankie, Gloriana witnesses tempers rise in a debate over a segregated public pool.I Love You, Michael Collins  Amazon Editors recommend this book for readers who have recently discovered middle grade novels with more intricate story lines.2018-2019 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award List, Grades 3-5 Amazon Editors' Pick Best Books of June 2017 Semifinalist: GoodReads Choice Awards 2017 Best Middle Grade and Children's Book National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018 The Planetary Society Recommended Space Books for Kids of All Ages 2017 The National Science and Engineering Council of Canada list of books for Science Literacy Week 2018 2018-2019 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award Intermediate Grade list 2018-19 Maine Student Book Award Reading List TriState Books of Note 2018 (Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey It's 1969 and the country is gearing up for what looks to be the mostexciting moment in U.S. history: men landing on the moon. Ten-year-oldMamie's class is given an assignment to write letters to the astronauts. All the girls write to Neil Armstrong ("So cute!") and all the boyswrite to Buzz Aldrin ("So cool!"). Only Mamie writes to Michael Collins, the astronaut who will come so close but never achieve everyone else'sdream of walking on the moon, because he is the one who must stay out in space with the ship. After school ends, Mamie keeps writing toMichael Collins, taking comfort in telling someone about what's going on with her family as, one by one, they leave the house thinking thatsomeone else is taking care of her—until she is all alone except forher cat and her best friend, Buster. And as the date of the launchnears, Mamie can't help but wonder: Does no one stay with the ship anymore? With I Love You, Michael Collins, Lauren Baratz-Logsted has created a heartwarming story about family and being true to yourself. A Margaret Ferguson Book "Baratz-Logsted weaves in just enough history to root Mamie's story in her time, amoment when a nation came together and felt proud of humanpossibilities. . . . Readers will be charmed by Mamie's story of hope in a difficult moment in American history." —Kirkus Reviews In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson  Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson  Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson  Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson  Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson  Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson  Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens: baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America. And for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.Inside Out and Back Again  For all the ten years of her life, Ha has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Ha and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope.This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next. Jesse  Set in California during the Vietnam War, this evocative novel is a moving portrait of a young man trying to overcome the limits set for him by prejudice and poverty. Jesse is 17 when he leaves his home dominated by his alcoholic stepfather, and moves in with his older brother, Abel. The two boys agree that getting an education is the best way for them to escape the hard physical labor that has been their family's way of life — and that of so many other Mexican Americans — for so long.Unfortunately, in order to make ends meet, they have to balance their classes at the community college with work in the fields. It's a hard life, made even more difficult by the tense political climate that's developing around them. As Jesse struggles to overcome such universal problems as shyness around girls, he also finds himself drawn to the protests of farm-movement leader Cesar Chavez. It's a confusing life, but the brothers rely on each other to get through the bad times as well as the good. Then Abel gets drafted, and Jesse must decide whether to follow him by enlisting, or carve out his own path. Since the publication of this book — his first novel for young adults — Gary Soto has gone on to establish a well-deserved reputation as an author who skillfully addresses the concerns common to today's young people, while bringing to light themes particular to Latino teens, as well as many others underrepresented in young adult literature. Though it is set in the past, Jesse has an engaging immediacy, and readers will find themselves in the story, no matter what their background or circumstances may be. Jesse  Coming of age in the shadow of the Vietnam War, Jesse, a young Mexican American, and his older brother, Abel, work long hours in the fields in order to save money for college in the hope that education will help them escape poverty. Reprint. SLJ. K. H. VY.Kizzy Ann Stamps  Taking things in stride is not easy for Kizzy Ann, but with her border collie, Shag, stalwart at her side, she sets out to live a life as sweet as syrup on cornbread.In 1963, as Kizzy Ann prepares for her first year at an integrated school, she worries about the color of her skin, the scar running from the corner of her right eye to the tip of her smile, and whether anyone at the white school will like her. She writes letters to her new teacher in a clear, insistent voice, stating her troubles and asking questions with startling honesty. The new teacher is supportive, but not everyone feels the same, so there is a lot to write about. Her brother, James, is having a far less positive school experience than she is, and the annoying white neighbor boy won’t leave her alone. But Shag, her border collie, is her refuge. Even so, opportunity clashes with obstacle. Kizzy Ann knows she and Shag could compete well in the dog trials, but will she be able to enter? From Jeri Watts comes an inspiring middle-grade novel about opening your mind to the troubles and scars we all must bear — and facing life with hope and trust. Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me  "Muscle Man McGinty is a squirrelly runt, a lying snake, and a pitiful excuse for a ten-year old......the problem is that no one knows it but me. In the entire town of Massapequa Park, only I can see him for what he really is. A phony. It's the summer of 1969, and things are not only changing in Tamara's little Long Island town, but in the world. Perhaps Tamara could stand to take one small step toward a bit of compassion and understanding? A terrific debut novel with truly vivid characters and a wonderful voice.Okay for Now  As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who “smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain.” In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.One Crazy Summer 1  In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them.Eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. When they arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with her, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer. This moving, funny novel won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award Finalist. Readers who enjoy Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham will find much to love in One Crazy Summer. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern's story continues in P.S. Be Eleven. Supports the Common Core State Standards One Crazy Summer 2: P.S. Be Eleven  In this Coretta Scott King Award-winning novel and sequel to the New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book One Crazy Summer, the Gaither sisters return to Brooklyn and find that changes large and small have come to their home. This extraordinary novel earned five starred reviews, with Publishers Weekly calling it "historical fiction that's as full of heart as it is of heartbreak" and The Horn Book considering it "funny, wise, poignant, and thought-provoking."After spending the summer in Oakland, California, with their mother and the Black Panthers, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern arrive home with a newfound streak of independence. The sisters aren't the only ones who have changed. Now Pa has a girlfriend. Uncle Darnell returns from Vietnam a different man. But Big Ma still expects Delphine to keep her sisters in line. That's much harder now that Vonetta and Fern refuse to be bossed around. Besides her sisters, Delphine's got plenty of other things to worry about—like starting sixth grade, being the tallest girl in her class, and dreading the upcoming school dance. The one person she confides in is her mother, Cecile. Through letters, Delphine pours her heart out and receives some constant advice: to be eleven while she can. Supports the Common Core State Standards Paperboy  A Newbery Honor Winner.An ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book. A Bankstreet Best Book of the Year. A BookPage Best Children's Book. For fans of To Kill a Mockingbird, The King's Speech, and The Help. A boy who stutters comes-of-age in the segregated South, during the summer that changes his life. An 11-year-old boy living in Memphis in 1959 throws the meanest fastball in town, but talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering, not even his own name. So when he takes over his best friend's paper route for the month of July, he knows he'll be forced to communicate with the different customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know just about everything. The paper route poses challenges, but it's a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and thief, that stirs up real trouble—and puts the boy's life, as well as that of his family's devoted housekeeper, in danger. "[Vawter’s] characterization of Little Man feels deeply authentic, with . . . his fierce desire to be 'somebody instead of just a kid who couldn’t talk right.'"—The Washington Post "An unforgettable boy and his unforgettable story. I loved it."—Rob Buyea, author of Because of Mr. Terupt and Mr. Terupt Falls Again "Paperboy offers a penetrating look at both the mystery and the daily frustrations of stuttering. People of all ages will appreciate this positive and universal story as I did."—Jane Fraser, president of The Stuttering Foundation of America "Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird. But this has added dimension in the way it brilliantly gets readers inside the head of a boy who stutters.”—Booklist, Starred “[A] tense, memorable story.”—Publisher’s Weekly, Starred “An engaging and heartfelt presentation that never whitewashes the difficult time and situation as Little Man comes of age.”—Kirkus Reviews “Vawter portrays a protagonist so true to a disability that one cannot help but empathize with the difficult world of a stutterer.”—School Library Journal http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=K9mudUccJKk Planet Earth Is Blue  Quake!  When the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 hits, fourteen-year-old Franny witnesses the devastation of her community and is called upon to save the lives of her family and her best friend. Reprint. SLJ. AB.Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes  Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic—the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan.Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes  Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic—the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan.Stumptown Kid  This dramatic and moving story set in the days of the Negro Leagues illustrates the true meanings of friendship, prejudice, and heroism.Charlie Nebraska wants two things he can't get: to make the local Wildcats baseball team and to have life to return to the way it was before his father died two years earlier in the Korean War. Then Charlie meets Luther Peale, a former Negro Baseball League player who agrees to coach Charlie's fledgling neighborhood baseball team for a game against the Wildcats. But many of Charlie's white neighbors are suspicious of Luther, and when Charlie inadvertently reveals a secret of Luther's, violence erupts in the town and both Luther and Charlie are drawn into serious danger. Praise for STUMPTOWN KID: "Readers will enjoy this winning mix of sports, suspense, and heroism, and delight in the baseball wit and wisdom." —School Library Journal - Honorable mention, 2005 Gustavus Myers Award - 2006 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People - 2005-6 Pennsylvania Young Adult Top Forty List - Kansas State Reading Circle 2005 Recommended Reading List The Adventures of Pete and Carol Ann 4: Sinister Summer - Cars, Cruisers, and Close Calls  Best friends - eleven-year-old Pete and Carol Ann - and Buddy the beagle face thrilling and frightening circumstances in an era when teens cruised in hot rods along Route 66 and children thrilled to the excitement of 4th of July parades and worried about national threats such as the Polio epidemic, growing crime, and nuclear war.The Liberation of Gabriel King  Gabriel King was a born chicken. He’s afraid of spiders, corpses, loose cows, and just about everything related to the fifth grade. Gabe’s best friend, Frita Wilson, thinks Gabe needs some liberating from his fears. Frita knows something about being brave— she’s the only black kid in school in a town with an active Ku Klux Klan. Together Gabe and Frita are going to spend the summer of 1976 facing down the fears on Gabe’s list. But it turns out that Frita has her own list, and while she’s helping Gabe confront his fears, she’s avoiding the thing that scares her the most.The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963  A wonderful middle-grade novel narrated by Kenny, 9, about his middle-class black family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's 13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.From the Hardcover edition. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963  A wonderful middle-grade novel narrated by Kenny, 9, about his middle-class black family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's 13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.From the Hardcover edition. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963  A wonderful middle-grade novel narrated by Kenny, 9, about his middle-class black family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's 13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.From the Hardcover edition. The Wednesday Wars  He's just started seventh grade and Mrs. Baker, a teacher he knows is out to get him. Why else would she make him read Shakespeare...outside of class. The year is 1967, and everyone has bigger things to worry about. There's Vietnam for one thing, and then there's the family business. As far as Holling's father is concerned, nothing is more important than the family business. In fact, al the Hoodhoods must be on their best behavior at all times. The success of Hoodhood and Associates depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has Mrs. Baker to contend with?When Zachary Beaver Came to Town  Nothing ever happens in Toby's small Texas town. Nothing much, that is, until this summer.This summer, everyone seems to be leaving. Toby's mother leaves home to be a country singer. His best friend Cal's older brother goes off to fight in Vietnam. But their sleepy town is about to get a jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, billed as the fattest boy in the world. There has never been anyone like Zachary. Toby is enthralled with him and his tales of the people and places he's known. In fact, Toby realizes, there's a lot this town has never seen. Toby knows there's more to Zachary than the stories he tells, and he wants to know the boy behind the billing. Toby is in for a summer unlike any other, a summer sure to change his life. |
Mrs. Benton
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Sep 10, 2023
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