24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling, author of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (a 2020 Bluestem nominee), takes place exactly as the title states - over 24 hours in the very small rural town of Nowhere, Arizona. In Nowhere, our hero and narrator is Gus, a 12 year old who looks more like a third grader and is often bullied for his size. He is smart and funny though and determined to get out of Nowhere some day using his brain. In the meantime, his story begins as the major bully in his grade, Bo, has threatened to make him eat a jumping Cholla cactus. Enter Rossi, the new girl, a Tohono O'odham Indian American and also a champion dirt biker who has beaten Bo on the local track. She deals her prized dirt bike to Bo to get him to release Gus. To get back her bike will cost a nugget of gold from the local abandoned gold mine. Crazy! But Gus is determined to get Rossi her bike back and so begins their odyssey in an abandoned gold mine, and its underground network of caves that is the stuff of local legends, dead cowboys and an assortment of bats, snakes and scorpions. Accompanying Gus and Rossi is Matthew, one of Bo's minions and Jessie, Gus former best friend. Together the four navigate the unknown, learning much about friendship, cooperation and themselves. Grade 4-5 Adventure. Sisterland by Salla Simukka, is an epic modern fairly tale. Like in Alice in Wonderland, or The Wizard of Oz, Alice falls into another world, and has a great adventure trying to get back home and save her homeland. In the world Alice has left, snow and cold are threatening to drown her town and everyone is so cold that a dark depression is taking over. When Alice falls into a deep snow drift and lands in Sisterland she finds fantastical creatures, beauty, warm sunny days, and no troubles. And at first she loves being there, especially when she meets Marissa a girl her own age who has also fallen into Sisterland and is like her soul sister and perfect best friend. But both girls worry when their memories of their families begin to fade. Then they discover they are in Sisterland to complete a mission that will allow them to save their home from forever being cold. They must defeat Queen Lilli who has taken all the warmth for her own, and to do so Alice and Marissa face unusual oceans, disappearing islands, abandoned amusement parks and even dragons. Can they succeed? And if they do, will they still be friends in their regular world? Fantasy grades 3-5. The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown is a unique mix of realistic fiction, historical fiction and ghost story. The story takes place in Eesaw, North Carolina where Iris, her younger sister and parents live across the street from Daniel, her best friend and his mother and grandmother. Iris and Daniel, are African American in a predominately white middle school and while potential leaders in their grade, they feel they are often ignored. When Iris and Daniel sneak out to play during the first snowy evening they discover an abandoned grown over grave in the forest clearing near their houses. They can only read the name Avery Brown and the years which show she was about their age when she died. They research to learn this grave may have been part of an abandoned African American graveyard from the time that cemeteries in the South were segregated. When they are allowed to partner on a historical project for Social Studies, Iris and Daniel decide to focus on this type of segregation and bring light to these sadly abandoned and often unmarked graves. But when Iris begins to see a ghostlike Avery, the story turns darker. What could this ghostly Avery want from Iris? Or is Iris just imagining this "forgotten girl"? Fantasy grades 3-6. COG by Greg Van Eekhout. COG is a robot who looks like an average 12 year old boy. But since COG is short for "cognitive development" which is the process of learning how to think and understand, COG is a very smart robot. When the story unfolds, he is living happily with his creator, Gina, who treats him like her buddy, in a bedroom of her house, decorated with the books and astronomy posters he has chosen. His days are full of educational activities and learning and that is what COG is programmed to do - learn, and then he loves to share what he has learned. Until one day when COG has an accident outside of the house and is taken away. He wakes up in the building of UniMind, a company that makes robots, full of many robots who are all treated like unfeeling machines. COG knows he must get out of UniMind and find Gina and with the help of three other robots he escapes! Join COG, ADA (his sister), a "Trash"bot and an "Arf"bot on an incredible journey. Grade 3-5 Science Fiction. Shine by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein is an inspiring school story told by Piper, who has to start a new school in the middle of her 7th grade year. And not just any new school, but the best and most expensive private school in the area, Chumley Prep. Her father, a choir director at the local public school is hired by Chumley Prep after his acapella group wins the state competition. Chumley gives Piper a scholarship to attend and so begins a lot of new experiences for Piper. She believes the students will all be snobby and there is no way she can fit in but soon finds a great group of friends. Then when the school offers a new special prize, everyone is interested in trying to win, even Piper, though she considers herself not particularly talented at anything except science which she loves. But with kindness and an understanding of what friendship truly means, could this be a great year after all? Realistic fiction, grades 3-5.
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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 |