2014-2015 Reading Lists

Individual book reviews are also tagged by grade level and year, so you can search for reviews.  For example, if you want to see my reviews for all the 6th grade books, just click on 6th Reading List 2014-2015 in the labels on the right side of the screen.  Happy reading! :)

QB1

Jake Cullen has grown up in the shadow of his family's football legacy in small town Texas.  His older brother, Wyatt, was the star of the Granger High School team for four years and is the starting quarterback at UT as a freshman this year.  Their father Troy was a high school and college star who even played in the NFL for a while until one last concussion forced him to quit and come home to Granger to run the family cattle ranch.

Jake feels like no one really sees him for who he is, including his father.  Troy Cullen barely even notices his younger son with all the excitement and drama going on in Austin with Wyatt.

Jake has other battles to fight as a freshman on his high school team.  He's the third string QB after a senior who's been waiting in line behind Wyatt for his chance to play and a transfer student who isn't willing to be backup to a freshman.  An injury in the first game of the season turns things into a QB battle.  Jake has talent, but he doesn't believe in himself.  He's a good teammate who wants to win but not at the expense of the team rapport.

Will Jake be able to step into the limelight and get his father to finally notice him?  Read Mike Lupica's new book about football in small town Texas to find out.

Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel

Erica has a pretty normal life--a group of crazy friends, an annoying little sister (who happens to be a genius), and a cute but loud baby brother.  Everything changes the day her mom comes home from the store with nine bikini tops.  That's the day Erica learns her mom has breast cancer, and in nine days she's having surgery.

The whole family is nervous and on edge about the cancer, and they all make promesas, promises to God about things they will do if God will help their mother.  Erica's promesa is to collect 500 sponsors for the race for the cure.  At first she thought this would be easy, but it doesn't take long to realize most people don't even want to listen let alone contribute to the cause.

To make matters worse, her genius little sister has skipped a grade and will be in middle school with Erica this year, but she's also taking 8th grade math which makes Erica feel like the biggest dummy in school.  Plus, Erica is picking up the slack at home by keeping the house clean, the laundry washed, and her baby brother occupied.  With everything going on, there isn't much time left for homework.

Read Diana Lopez's new book about a girls who wishes her friends and family could understand her as well as her mood ring does!

Lincoln's Grave Robbers

This is the true story of a gang of counterfeiters plotted to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln.  That's right.  I said TRUE!

In 1875 counterfeiting was a major problem in the US, but no one was more talented than Benjamin Boyd.  He could make coney (counterfeit money) so good it would fool the experts.  His arrest caused a stir in the counterfeiting rings of Chicago, and members of his gang come together in a smokey saloon to plot a way to get him out.

They figured they could steal Abraham Lincoln's body and hold it ransom for $200,000 that they would use to get Boyd out of prison.  Thus begins a tale of thieves, undercover informers, and secret service operations.

Read Steve Sheinkin's account of this true story including a special "Body Snatcher Bonus Section" that is pretty gross!

Here are some photos of Lincoln's tomb from my trip to Springfield a couple of years ago.

The cemetery is still fairly isolated like it was in 1875.

Lincoln's remains are sealed inside this marble box.

This is a back window to the monument, now barred to keep potential thieves and vandals away.  

The Boy on the Wooden Box

When Leon Leyson moved to Krakow with his family in 1938, he thought his life would be full of excitement, but an invading force from Germany soon followed, and life changed for everyone.  The boys who once played with Leon began to bully him, and Nazis filled the streets with propaganda about the Jews.

Soon all the Jews were moved to the Krakow ghetto, a small area of the city walled off to contain them.  That is when things really turned frightening, and rumors of death camps and mass killings circulated in the ghetto.

Leon and his family didn't know if they would survive the Nazi occupation, but then his father was hired by Oskar Schindler.  Schindler's enamel works made pots and pans for the German war effort.  While Schindler partied with powerful members of the Nazi party, he argued his workers were highly specialized and necessary.

Leon and his family were still near death many times, and they faced the horror and uncertainty of the camps, and the family would not survive the war in tact, but thanks to Oskar Schindler, Leon and over 1,000 other Jews would survive the war.

This is the true story of the youngest person to be saved by Oskar Schindler.  It is a story of courage and humanity in a time of horror and cruelty.  A must read!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

One day Alice is sitting outside with her sister feeling bored until she sees a white rabbit wearing a pocket watch.  This is the beginning of a great adventure.  She follows the rabbit down a hole, and from that moment on nothing behaves like it is supposed to.  There is growing and shrinking, a philosophical caterpillar, a mad hatter, and a shape-changing baby.  Don't forget the Queen of Hearts who is cruel and tricky.

In the second part of this volume, Alice returns to Wonderland by going through a mirror into Looking Glass Land.  Here she meets the players on a chess board and has many strange experiences as the she plays on a large scale board with the Red Queen and the White Queen.  Alice begins as a pawn, but she must try to become a queen herself if she hopes to return home again.

Hold Fast

Early's family is close.  They don't have much money, but they have love for each other and love for learning.  Her dad, Dash, is working as a library page at the Chicago Public Library and hoping for the day when he can become a full-time librarian.

The family lives in a tiny one room apartment, but they have dreams of owning a real home with a kitchen and bedrooms and maybe even a cat.  For now they have each other, their dreams, and rich world of reading and words, including their favorite poet Langston Hughes.

Dash is not the kind of man who would ever abandon his family, so when he disappears one day, his wife and children are afraid something terrible has happened.  But the police are accustomed to a different kind of man from a poor neighborhood.  They don't put much effort into finding Dash telling his family that this kind of thing happens all the time.

Things go from bad to worse as the little family quickly runs out of money and is harassed by violent criminals.  When they find themselves in a homeless shelter, Early mother begins to lose hope.  It's up to Early to hold fast to her dreams and her quest to find out the truth about what happened to Dash.

Blue Balliett wrote this book after learning that at least thirty thousand school children in Chicago are homeless.  This lovingly written story reveals some of the pain, fear, and hopelessness of those homeless children, but it is also a tale of hope and encouragement.

The Reluctant Assassin

Fans of Artemis Fowl rejoice!  Eoin Colfer is back with a new series opener that will knock your socks off!

Riley is an orphan living in Victorian London.  He has been apprenticed to Albert Garrick, assassin and magician, since he was a small child.  Riley has been putting off the moment of his first kill for a long time, but the moment has come.  He doesn't want to be killer, but he also knows Garrick will kill him if he doesn't follow through.

Chevron Sevano is a disgraced teenage member of a defunct FBI recruiting program.  The bureau managed to get rid of everyone else, but Chevie is determined to stick with it until she is old enough to become a full fledged agent.  As punishment, she's been sent to London as an assistant in the W.A.R.P. (Witness Anonymous Relocation Program) where she is guarding a pod.  She doesn't know what her purpose is only that she is bored out of her mind with way too much time to work out.

All of that changes when the mysterious pod comes to life sending a dead man and his supposed killer into the 21st century.  Riley and Chevie become reluctant partners as they are quickly pursued by the nefarious Albert Garrick who has finally discovered something that will allow him to rule the world with his new intelligence and skills.

In this fast paced thriller, our heroes will fight for their lives across the London of the present and the past.  They must find a way to stop Garrick before the ruthless killer destroys everything!  But is there something more going on than a simple game of cat and mouse across time?  Read the book to find out!

Counting By 7s

Willow Chance is a twelve year old genius who doesn't fit in anywhere but home.  She was adopted as a baby, and she and parents seem to have the perfect family.  Despite her eager anticipation for her new school, things don't go well.  The kids don't like her, and even her teachers are put off by her intense intelligence and inability to understand social situations.

But things are about to get a lot harder for Willow when she returns from school one day to find police officers waiting to tell her that her parents died in a car accident.  Willow has never been more alone in her life.

She will have to create a new life for herself with the help of people she barely knows.  Her ineffectual school counselor, her new friend Mai, and Mai's Vietnamese family, even a cab driver.

Willow is numb from her tragedy, but this odd and broken little girl will inspire and connect everyone around her and maybe even create a new family for herself along the way.

I loved Holly Goldberg Sloan's book and its wonderful message of finding hope in the face of tragedy!

The Screaming Staircase

England is beset by ghosts, and they aren't your average chain rattling variety.  The dead refuse to leave the world of the living.  To make matters worse they are only visible to children and only a small number of children at that.  The true danger isn't in the haunting; it's in the ghost touch which is nearly always fatal causing its victims to swell up, turn blue, and die a horribly painful death.

The Problem has led to the rise of Psychic detection agencies staffed by children who are sensitive in some way to the ghosts.  Lockwood and Co. is one such agency staffed by its founder Anthony Lockwood, the slightly disgusting but analytical George, and newcomer Lucy whose gift for listening may be more powerful than she knows.

When a routine job goes wrong, and Lockwood and Co. accidentally burns down a client's house.   The trio is desperate to restore their reputation, so desperate they may be willing to take the most dangerous job yet.  But is saving the agency worth the price they'll have to pay?

This new series opener from Jonathan Stroud, author of the Bartimaeus trilogy, is filled with ghostly chills, Dickensian plucky orphans, and an intriguing mystery.  The cold weather is perfect for snuggling up under a blanket with a good book.  If you choose to go on this adventure with Lockwood and Co., you won't want to leave the covers any time soon!

Gaby, Lost and Found

Gaby Ramirez Howard is struggling to get along without her mother.  It's been three month's since her mother, an illegal immigrant, was deported to Honduras.  Since that time Gaby has been struggling to get through each day hoping for the time her mother will return.  For now her dad has moved in, and he's supposed to be taking care of her, but she spends most of her time alone, and sometimes he even forgets to provide food for her.

When she and her classmates start volunteering at the Furry Friends animal shelter, Gaby is happy to find something to take her mind off her troubles.  Gaby begins writing profiles for the animals to get them get adopted.  She loves all the animals, but one cat in particular captures her heart.

Feather's owners abandoned their declawed cat at a rest stop.  By the time Feather gets to the shelter she is sick and malnourished.  Gaby instantly feels a connection to the Feather.  But will she go too far in her efforts to protect the cat, and will she be able to face the truth about her mother?  Read Angela Cervantes's new book to find out.  Animal lovers and anyone who's ever felt alone will identify with Gaby and her struggles.

Slated

Kyla is 16 years old, but she might as well be a baby for all she knows about the world.  Her lifetime experience started when she woke up in the hospital a few months ago.  Now it's time for her to leave the hospital and meet her new family.

Kyla has been slated.  In the near future teenage criminals get one more chance, one last option.  Slateds have been erased, their memories, their identities.  They are now clean slates like Kyla and the other slateds.

But something is wrong.  Kyla is not like the others.  She doesn't wear a happy grin and overlook unpleasantness.  From the beginning, she's had terrible nightmares that bring her dangerously close to the edge.  Like all slated, Kyla wears a Levo which monitors her emotions.  If you get too upset, unhappy, or angry, you risk seizure.  Try to remove it, and you risk death.

Unlike the others, Kyla questions the problems she sees around her and worries about the other slateds, especially Ben.  It isn't long before she realizes that slating isn't just used on criminals, and it doesn't always happen through official channels.  The more truth Kyla and Ben discover, the more they put themselves at risk.  Can they survive discovering the truth?

Read Teri Terry's debut novel to find out!  Fans of dystopia like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Legend will enjoy this book.

Lenny Cyrus, School Virus

Lenny Cyrus is the smartest kid in school.  His parents are scientific geniuses, and he gets a free period every day to conduct his own scientific research.  Too bad he's also the most awkward kid in school.  He only really has one friend, his neighbor Harlan, and he's been a prime target for bullies since elementary school.

The day Zooey Andrews saved Lenny on the playground changed his life. Sure, he's now the biggest bully target in school after being saved by a girl, but he's also been in love with Zooey ever since.  The problem is, she barely knows he exists.

When Lenny discovers the secret to shrinking matter down to microscopic size, he thinks he's found the perfect solution.  He'll shrink himself down to the size of a virus and change her mind from the inside!

While Lenny is battling hormones and white blood cells on the inside, Zooey is trying to prepare for opening day of the play she's written and directed, but nothing seems to be going right, not even her own body!

Read Joe Schrieber's new book for an inside look at human anatomy!

Prisoner B-3087

Yanek's story begins in Nazi-occupied Poland.  He and other Polish Jews are imprisoned in the Krakow ghetto and subject to food shortages, work details, and violence.

But that is only the beginning.  Over the next nine years, Yanek will be separated from everyone he knows and loves and shuttled to ten different concentration/extermination camps.  Through it all, Yanek holds fast to his determination to survive no matter what.

Yanek's story is based on the true story of Jack Gruener, a real Polish Jew who survived the hardships and atrocities Yanek faces in the book.  This first hand account of life in the camps is heartbreaking and painful, but it is ultimately a story of survival against the odds.

Read Alan Gratz's novelization of Jack Gruener's real experiences! Watch the video to see and hear the real life inspiration for this book.

Navigating Early

After the death of his mother, Jack's military father who's been off fighting WWII for years moves his son to a boarding school in Maine.  Jack misses Kansas and all the people he knows and loves.  He hasn't seen his father since he was a little kid, and he is still grieving over his mother's death.

Despite all this, Jack tries to fit in at his new school.  Everything seems pretty normal except for one kid named Early who is small and strange and rarely goes to class.  After a few chance encounters, Jack reluctantly befriends this odd boy who lives in the basement and abandons classes when he disagrees with the teacher.

In math class, their new teacher tells them about the amazing pi and how a professor at Harvard thinks the number will soon end.  Early becomes distraught and leaves class.  This is when Jack discovers Early can read numbers like a story, and the tale of Pi the adventurer begins to unfold.

Abandoned by his father over Thanksgiving break, Jack decides to join Early in quest along the Appalachian trail to find a great black bear that has been terrorizing hunters and campers.  As there journey progresses, they encounter people and events that strangely mirror Pi's tale.

Clare Vanderpool's new book is a fabulous tale of adventure and survival, but it is so much more.  It's a story about faith, myth, and forgiveness.  I feel like nothing I could say here would do the book justice.  It's just wonderful!  Read it!

Prophecy

Kira has always been different.  With her yellow eyes and unique ability to sense the demons hiding inside the bodies of those around her, the people have developed a fear and loathing for the body guard of the prince.  It doesn't help that her uncle, the king, has forbidden anyone to reveal the presence of demons in their midst for fear the people will panic.

Despite her outcast status, Kira is determined to keep the kingdom and especially her young nephew, Prince Taejo safe from the demon threat.  Everything changes when enemy forces, lead by demon possessed rulers sweep through the seven kingdoms destroying everything in their path.  Now that these Yamato warriors are at the gate of her beloved Hansong, Kira must do everything she can to help the prince escape the violence.

All seems lost until the monks remind everyone of an ancient prophecy at a Dragon Musado, a great warrior with will unite the seven kingdoms and destroy the demon threat once and for all.  Could this prophecy have something to do with Kira and Prince Taejo?

Ellen Oh's debut novel is set in a fantasy version of ancient Korea and mixes history and fantasy to tell this fast paced adventure tale!

Poison Most Vial

Ruby Rose has a problem.  Well, she has several problems.  She and her father have moved from her beloved home in rural Arkansas to the city where she has to attend the DeWitt school which is full of snobby super smart kids; Ruby's dad is a janitor at the college.

Now on top of everything, the famous Dr. Ramachandran, head of forensics in the college has been murdered.  And who do you think the prime suspect is?  That's right, Ruby's dad.

Ruby is desperate to prove her father's innocence, and it doesn't seem like the police are looking any further.  With the help of her best friend, Rex, a Jamaican boy with a large appetite and a larger sense of humor, Ruby begins to investigate.  She's making progress on her own, but when she connects with a reclusive former forensic pathologist, things really get going.

As Ruby works to prove her father's innocence, she may also discover that her new life isn't as terrible and lonely as she once thought.  Read Benedict Carey's new mystery to find out if Ruby can solve the case and clear her father's name.

33 Minutes

Sam Lewis and Morgan Sturtz used to be best friends, but in exactly 33 minutes Morgan is going to kick Sam's butt.  Why?  Well, that's kind of a long story.

Only a year ago, the had the best day ever with an all day marathon of Alien Wars, their favorite video game.  They were a power team with each player using his own strengths and defending the other's weakness.  What could tear such awesomeness apart you ask?

Well, things have been changing for a while.  Morgan just keeps getting bigger and more athletic, and Sam just keeps staying the same size and getting smarter.  Despite this, the Wagner Middle School's star football player and star ArithmeTitan remained close.

The real problems started with Chris Tripadero.  Sam was leery of the new kid, but Morgan always wanted to hang out with Chris, and slowly but surely, Chris began to take Sam's place as Morgan's best friend.  What does Sam have against Chris?  For starters, he's a jerk.  Also, his parents are never around to say things like, "Hey, maybe you shouldn't throw that (fill in the blank) off the roof; you might hurt someone."

Now, instead of hanging out with his best friend, Sam is nervously counting down the minutes said best friend kicks his butt.  Will the butt kicking actually happen, or is there still a chance for Sam and Morgan to be friends?

Read Todd Hasak-Lowy's funny, painful, and poignant story of middle school and friendship.  This is a great story that had me laughing out loud on one page, and heartbroken on the next.

We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March

In this book about the Civil Rights Movement, Cynthia Levinson uses the stories of four young people who participated in the protests of 1963 to tell the story.

Audrey Hendricks was one of the youngest protestors at just nine years old, but that didn't stop her from volunteering to be arrested in support of the Civil Rights Movement.

James Stewart's family was one of the wealthiest black families in Birmingham, and his parents worried that his participation would ruin this bright student's future.

Wash Booker had never even considered getting involved with the movement.  He rarely even went to school, choosing instead to spend his days roaming the countryside, but like the others, he would eventually feel drawn to participate.

Arnetta Streeter participated in the movement against her parents' protests.  She even formed her own student organization and continued showing up for meetings and marches until she was finally arrested.

How did the situation in Birmingham get so bad that children felt compelled to get themselves arrested?  This book follows the story of segregation and racism in Birmingham during a pivotal year in the movement.  You'll need to be patient as you read because the author has to explain the events that led up to the children's march and the key players, but you will be rewarded.  This book opened my eyes to a part of the Civil Rights Movement I knew little about.