Restart by Gordon Korman begins when Chase Ambrose falls off his roof, suffering a concussion which heals but also total amnesia, which may not. So Chase returns home from the hospital and back to school with no memory of his family, friends or his former life. It turns out he was a major football star and all around "big" guy in his Middle School. But as Chase begins to learn from student's reactions to him, he and his friends were also known as bullies who acted like everyone at school was below them. Although his friends want their old buddy back to normal, Chase no longer feels like being a bully. He still likes sports but also new things interest him, like the photography club and becoming friends with students he never paid any attention to before. He begins to see his accident as a unique opportunity to change his ways. But can a leopard really change his spots? And will the people he hurt in his past be able to forgive him and accept a new Chase? Grade 4-6 Realistic Fiction. In Star in the Forest by Laura Resau the reader meets Zitlally, living a double life, a seemingly normal one in 5th grade and a secret life at home, where her family lives in fear of deportation. They have come from Mexico years before illegally and still worry that they will be sent back. And then it happens - her father is stopped for a traffic ticket, and deported. As her mother tries desperately to raise enough money to send to Mexico to help him return, Zitlally retreats from friends and begins to spend time alone behind their trailer park home. But two good things happen there, first she finds a white dog, abandoned and in bad shape and second, the girl who lives in the trailer next door, who Zitlally had ignored earlier. Together Crystal and Zitlally nurse the dog back to health, naming him Star. But Star is chained up and they are terribly afraid the owner will return and take him. Zitllaly begins to believe Star is magical and came to her to help her father return to his family. Read and meet these wonderful and compassionate characters. Grade 3-5 Realistic Fiction. The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff involves an incredibly wonderful treehouse and a sad reason it is built. Winifred's highly competitive parents are getting a divorce and have decided Winnie will live with each parent for 3 days of the week leaving one day, Wednesday- a problem. So they build a treehouse between their two houses and inform Winnie she will live there on Wednesdays. Winnie and her cat love the treehouse and Wednesdays begin to be her favorite day of the week because on the other days her parents continue a ridiculous competition for their daughter. Winnie decides to go on strike, staying in the treehouse until her parents can at least meet and talk to each other. When Winnie's group of friends discover how great the treehouse is and that it might solve their family problems too, they move in intending to stay until their parental demands are met. How long will they live in the treehouse and can they still get along? Grade 3-5 Realistic Fiction. Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King takes place in the Pennsylvania countryside, in a former farm community which is rapidly being built up by developers until it is mostly a suburb with the exception of Obe's family farm. 11 year old Obe's family has owned their land for hundreds of years but slowly has had to sell pieces until only a few acres are left. But Obe takes those acres seriously, making sure to protect and take care of the forest land around his house. It is there that Obe meets a very strange creature with a snout like a pig but a body and tail like a dog and slimy skin. And most unbelievable of all, the creature feeds on plastic! Obe strikes up a friendship with the tame creature bringing him his family's plastic recycling. But can he keep the creature a secret, or should he tell someone? And who? Not the boys at school who have dropped Obe recently or his parents who thinks he spends too much time in the forest. Maybe his friend Annie who also cares about the environment? Together they need to figure out what will happen to the creature "Marvin Gardens", as the natural land is built on and the river becomes more and more polluted. Read this engrossing environmental story to find out! Grade 3-6 Science Fiction.
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December 2021
My Reading List!
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 |