Explorer The Mystery Boxes edited by Kazu Kibuishi. This new collection from the author of the Amulet series, is seven different comic graphic short stories all involving a box. Some of the stories are funny, some a little creepy, some thoughtful, some more real, and some really fantastical. Each of these diverse adventures has its own characters and settings but all have great comic drawings that are fun to examine and uncover. Graphic, grades 3-6. Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel. Do you think you are lucky? Well Sadie knows she is not. And in Fortune Falls where she and her mother and little brother live, everyone learns if they are one of the "Luckies" or "Unluckies" on their 13th birthday when they take the Lucky Test. The test will determine if they go to a great school where students flourish, or a sad, neglected boarding school where students fall behind. We meet Sadie two weeks before the Lucky Test which she is sure she will fail. Luck has never been with her. She feels it is her fault her father died in a strange accident and her mother struggles at a bad job. Although Sadie tries desperately to avoid cracked sidewalks, mirrors, black cats, etc, she mostly fails. Sadie has one good friend in the Luckies who seems determined to stick with her, a brother she loves who is pretty lucky and Wink, a one-eyed dog the family adopted that nobody else wanted. But when Wink goes missing, a black cat appears to be following her and the test is right around the corner, Sadie is plenty worried. Grades 3-5. Fantasy Ruby Lee & Me by Shannon Hitchcock takes the reader back to 1969 in North Carolina where 12 year old Sarah, her 6 year old sister Robin, and their parents live, with loving grandparents on a farm close by. Their lives are changed drastically when Robin runs into the street and is hit by a car, suffering severe injuries to her legs and lungs. While Robin fights to survive in the hospital Sarah goes to live with her grandparents on the farm. There she tries to hide the guilt she has for not watching Robin more carefully, while her grandparents try to help her repair, teaching her to cook and help out around the farm. When Robin finally comes home in a cast, there are more hurdles, both with Robin and with Sarah's friends because her school is going to be integrated, welcoming African American students for the first time, and not everyone is happy about it. Read this great family drama and learn about an important time in our history too. Grade 3-6. Historical fiction. Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard is for anyone who loves mystery, science and insects! When Darkus' father, Dr. Cuttle, disappears from the National HIstory Museum where he was Director of Science, the police seems to give up on the case quickly when they find no clues. So Darkus, his two good friends and his uncle, an archealogist decide they must find him themselves. In his dad's office at the museum the only clue seems to be a strange and unusual beetle. Then more beetles with unusual capabilities show up in the apartment next door to Darkus' Uncle, including some that want to be Darkus friend and pet! Could the beetles also be connected to research Darkus' father was doing before he vanished, or to a far more evil scientist who is trying to capture these special beetles? Grade 3-5. Science Fiction and Mystery.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
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 |