Knights vs. Dinosuars by Matt Phelan. In this creative new series, we meet a group of Knights of the Round Table who are sent by the wizard Merlin to slay The Terrible Lizard. The group of Knights and one young squire carrying weapons, leave to find the lizard's cave. What they find is the age of dinosaurs and battles with many terrible dinosaurs including, Spinosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus to the king Tyrannosaurus Rex! In the process we find out secrets about each Knight but special surprises about the Black Knight and the young squire. Great fun and adventure, especially for dinosaur and Knight lovers. Fantasy grades 2-4. Me, Frida and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes. When Paloma,'s mother gets a job assignment in Mexico City, Paloma goes with her for the summer, worried she will be lonely and miss her friends in Kansas. But Paloma's father who died when she was a baby, was from Mexico and Paloma does want to try to connect with that heritage. She immediately finds a strong connection with the art of artist Frida Kahlo when visiting her nearby museum home and learning that Kahlo was her father's favorite. She also meets three kids her own age, Gael and Lizzie twins, who are her Spanish tutors and Tavo, the son of the wealthy businessman who gave her mother the job opportunity. Through the twins Paloma learns of a missing Kahlo treasure, a ring shaped like a peacock worth millions and apparently stolen from the museum. Loving mysteries, Paloma agrees to help the twins solve the mystery, beginning an adventure into international art theft that will keep the reader turning pages, while learning about Kahlo's life and art and Spanish words too! Mystery grades 3-5. The House that Lou Built by Mae Respicio. Lou continually surprises friends and family with her creativity and strength in both designing and building all kinds of creations, and her shop teacher encourages her abilities. But her big dream is to build a "tiny house"-of only 100 square feet-on a plot of land that she inherited from her deceased father, who passed away before she was born. She intends for her house to be a space of her own that is environmentally sound and honors her dad's memory. Lou lives in a small cramped but loving home, with her mother and grandmother and has a large close knit group of Filipino family nearby. So Lou is very upset when her mother announces she may take a new job in another state. Lou cannot imagine living far from her Filipino cousins and the family traditions, plus the little house she is building with help from friends and cousins. Meet fun and interesting characters and find out about building plus a wonderful culture, including great food! Realistic fiction grades 4 and up. Operation Frog Effect by Sarah Sheerger. This clever story takes place during the 5th grade year of one class with a new teacher, a new frog class pet and mascot and a special challenge. Mrs. Graham requires each student to keep a journal and enter something daily and through the short but frank entries and drawings of 7 students, the readers learns student personalities, strengths, challenges, problems at home and school and potential changes in old and new friendships. When the class begins a unit on current social problems, Mrs. Graham further challenges the students to think beyond the paper and find a way to effect real change in their community. While the unit may bring the class together in ways that surprise them and the reader, could it threaten Mrs. Graham's job in the process? Realistic fiction, grades 3 and up. Aquicorn Cove by Katie O'Neill - a graphic novel that merges fantasy with sea creatures called "aquicorns" (that could be a cross between a seahorse and unicorn) and the story of a small fishing village recently hit by several severe storms possibly because of global warming. Lana and her father (humans) return to the village where Lana's mother grew up and died several years before. They are there to help their Aunt Mae clean up from the latest storm. While Lana reconnects with the beach and sea her mother loved and rescues a baby aquicorn, Mae tells her the story of the special cove where the sea creatures once saved her life. But they also told her that the villager's new fishing techniques were hurting the cove and the coral. Read this environmental fantasy story to learn what Lana and her aunt decide to do. Graphic Fantasy grades 2 -5.
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A Galaxy of Sea Stars by Ferruolo. Eleven-year-old Izzy's summer is not going as she planned. While she still loves living on the Rhode Island coast, learning about the coast and mapping the tides, everything else is falling apart. First, although her Dad has returned from Afghanistan, he is injured, physically and emotionally and now her parents are separated while they figure out their future together. And while Izzy always thought she could count on best friends and fellow "galaxy stars" (what a group of star fish are called), when middle school begins even that bond begins to come apart. So Izzy is not happy when her dad invites his friends from Afghanistan, now refugees in America, to moves in upstairs. Yet as Izzy gets to know the neighbors, including their daughter Satira, she begins to understand their challenges as Muslim immigrants and the ignorant bullying they encounter. Can she find the courage to fight for them and help bring her family back together too? Realistic fiction, grades 4 and 5. Aru Shah and the End of Time by Chokshi takes the reader on an incredible fantasy journey through Hindu mythology. Like Percy Jackson, Aru, a seemingly ordinary 7th grader whose greatest talent is telling very imaginative lies, does not yet know she is actually a type of goddess/warrior princess, one of the special Pandevas. We meet Aru when she is living with her mother in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture where her mother is the curator. So Aru knows she is never supposed to touch the lamp at the end of the Hall of Gods. Yet, in a moment of showing off for would be friends, Aru lights the lamp, causing everything around her to freeze. That begins her incredible journey to save the World from the end of time. In the process she meets her soul sister Mini, also new to the idea she is a Pandeva, 7 headed horses, glass palaces that morph as you imagine them, horrible demons, and beautiful and terrifying worlds, all on a quest to find three keys that will save time. And in the process the reader will learn some of the stories from Hindu mythology, even more amazing than the Roman myths and heroes we are more used to! Grades 4 and up, Fantasy. A Good Kind of Trouble by Ramee. Shayla is a shy, bright 12 year old, beginning middle school, sure that her two best friends, a diverse group that call themselves, "the United Nations" are unbreakable. But in the midst of angst over boys, popularity and homework issues, Shayla and her family are shocked by a not guilty verdict in a legal case concerning a police officer shooting an African American man. While Shayla is surprised at her friend's ignorance of the case and its meaning, she remains quiet, afraid to make waves. When her older sister becomes heavily involved in the Black Lives Matter movement and protest in high school, Shayla too becomes more aware of injustices right around her. She finds her voice and the courage to risk friendships and even getting into trouble to be heard and try to effect change. Grades 4 and up. Important realistic fiction. Weird Little Robots by Crimi. Science loving Penny and her family have moved to a new house where Penny has created a backyard clubhouse full of the robots she crafted from all kinds of spare parts. Still she longs for a friend and with her mother's insistence, finally befriends Lark, her neighbor and expert on birds. It turns out that Lark also truly loves and admires Penny's robots and has many great ideas. Together they expand the clubhouse to be a "robotown" and then suddenly discover the robots have come alive! They agree to keep this a secret between only the two of them. But when Penny is invited into a Secret Science Club, in which two popular girls are members, she breaks her word and breaks from Lark. Join Penny on this journey to figure out what is true friendship and how to save the robots from outside trouble! Grades 3-5 Fantasy. You don't know everything, Jilly P! by Gino. When we meet Jilly, she is obsessed with two things - her favorite fantasy book series which she discusses with an online group, and her soon to be born baby sister. When her sister Emma is born deaf, Jilly discovers that her favorite online buddy is also deaf and he is black. As she learns more about his experiences being deaf and black, it begins her own journey recognizing hidden prejudices that her sister will face in the hearing world as well as racism even in her own family. Jilly is very close to her mother's sister who has married a black woman and they are raising two young boys. Together with her aunt and her online friend, they help her parents navigate the services that Emma will need, and find a voice and action to raise awareness of racism in the family, and the world around them. Powerful realistic fiction. grade 4-5. Wayside School, Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Sachar. After many years, we are invited back to the quirky, silly and hilarious Wayside School. This time a "cloud of doom" is hanging over the school, wreaking havoc as the classmates of Mrs. Jewls’ classroom on the thirtieth floor, prepare for the Ultimate Test, and try to collect one million toe and finger nail clippings - very strange! Each chapter is full of weird but funny little adventures and insights into the cast of characters that include the entire class, as well as the "yard" teacher, the principal and Dr. Pickle. Humor! for grades 2-5. |
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December 2021
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AuthorI am the Library Media Center director at Patton School in Arlington Heights where I help students from kindergarten through 5th grade find terrific independent reading for enjoyment and information, and teach students the skills to use information and technology safely and productively and to connect, communicate and share with others. I have four grown children, a large black dog, (flat coat retriever) and a small striped cat. I am an obessive Chicago Cubs fan and I love to run. Patton LMC Summer Reading Blog |