Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Published: 2017 All the boys in Mamie's class want to become astronauts. All the girls in Mamie's class want to marry astronauts. When the teacher asks Mamie what she wants to be, she responds with, "Neither... How should I know?... I'm ten!" The year is 1969 and astronauts are about to go to the moon for the first time. As an assignment, Mamie's teacher has students write letters to the three astronauts. All the girls pick Neil Armstrong because he is dreamy. All the boys pick Buzz Aldrin because he has a cool name. And Mamie picks Michael Collins because she felt bad that no one else picked him. Even though the assignment is to only write one letter to the astronaut they chose, Mamie continues to write to Michael Collins throughout the summer, writing about all the things going on in her life. She writes about how her parents don't get along and how excited and worried she is for the trip the astronauts are taking to the moon. I Love You Michael Collins is a sweet book about a girl who feels abandoned by a lot of people in her life and somehow connects with the astronaut who didn't get to walk on the moon but instead had to stay with the ship.
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Author: Kate Klise
Published: 2009 Ignatius B. Grumply is a famous children's book author. He is known for his Ghost Tamer series that he published a long time ago. He was recently given the opportunity to write another book in the series. Ignatius B. Grumply decides he needs to find a quiet place to rent for the summer so he can devote all his time to writing. When he gets to 43 Old Cemetery Road, he discovers that he didn't pay any attention to the rental agreement he signed. When he signed the agreement, he agreed to care for a boy named Seymour and his cat who live in the house. Ignatius soon learns that Seymour and his cat aren't the only ones living at 43 Old Cemetery Road, there's also a ghost named Olive. Dying to Meet You is written entirely in letters, newspaper clippings, drawings, and other documents that come together to create a funny paranormal read. Author: Lauren Tarshis
Published: 2017 Nate finds himself smack dab in the middle of the Battle of Brooklyn, the biggest battle of the Revolutionary War. After running away from his terrible uncle's house, Nate doesn't know where to go. Then he remembers when he used to go on voyages with his dad who was a ship's captain. He decides to go to the harbor and jump on a boat. He sails the short trip to New York, but when he gets there, he discovers that the streets are mostly abandoned, except for a few American soldiers. The British are coming to attack, and Nate just put himself right in the middle of it all. Shortly after he arrives, British ships start attacking. Nate is in more danger than he ever thought possible. Will he be able to survive the American Revolution? I Survived the American Revolution would be a great fiction text to pair with a Social Studies class studying the war. Author: Tim Shoemaker
Published: 2012 Cooper and his two best friends, Hiro and Gordy, are hanging out at Frank-n-Stein's, their favorite restaurant. It is just after closing, and Frank, one of the owners, is about to get ready to leave for the night. He goes to take out the trash when robbers come in yelling at Frank to empty the register and to give them the combination to the safe. Cooper and his friends hide, terrified that they are going to be seen. This incident leaves Frank in a coma. The three friends managed to escape but Cooper was seen by the robbers, who threatened to come find him and hurt his family. He is terrified to tell the cops because he noticed that the pants the robbers were wearing looked like a police uniform. Soon Cooper and his friends are caught in this giant mystery that his them fearing for their lives. They vow to keep quiet about the whole incident, but when people start to figure out that there were witnesses, everyone wants to know what really happened in the restaurant that night. Code of Silence is a good book for readers who like adventure, and mystery/thrillers. Author: Gordon Korman
Published: 2019 Every year this is a class of kids called the Unteachables. These kids are viewed as hopeless kids who cannot be taught and won't behave, no matter how hard the teacher tries. Mr. Kermit is one year away from retirement. Ever since an incident years and years ago when the students in his class cheated on a state test, Mr. Kermit has given up on teaching. He shows up just to get his paycheck. This year, the superintendent wants Mr. Kermit to quit before he can retire and get all his benefits. He decides to make him the teacher of the Unteachables. Mr. Kermit sits at the front of the class at his desk and doesn't teach. Every once in awhile he will hand out a worksheet. The kids do whatever they want. He is determined to make it to retirement. But as Mr. Kermit starts to get to know the kids, he wonders why they were all put in the same room anyway. He sees potential. Are the kids and Mr. Kermit really lost causes? Or is it not too late? The Unteachables is a great book about a teacher who has made a few mistakes but who finally realizes what teaching is all about. The students in the book are all amazing characters that kids will be able to connect with. Author: Neil Connelly
Published: 2019 Eddie has an anger problem. He is a fantastic wrestler, and his only hope for going to college is to get a scholarship for wrestling. Then the state championship comes, and Eddie makes a huge mistake. He takes his anger out on a referee and he gets expelled from school and loses all his scholarship offers. Eddie then finds out that the ref wants to press charges, and Eddie could face jail time. Then a man visits Eddie and says he can make everything go away. All Eddie has to do is leave with him. Eddie agrees and is recruited into the Brawlers, an underground fighting ring. There are no rules, and the last one standing wins money. Eddie works with a trainer named Khajee, a girl with amazing fighting skills--even though Eddie was an amazing wrestler, being a Brawler is a whole different ball game. Eddie soon learns that when there are no rules, sometimes things get tricky. Brawler is really a book about redemption. Fans of boxing and wrestling will be captivated by this story! Author: Megan Miranda
Published: 2017 Jessa's ex-boyfriend, Caleb, passed away in a terrible accident. She is completely devastated by the loss, even though they had broken up. Caleb's mom asked Jessa if she could pack up his room for her because they are going to move. Jessa thinks that his mom blames her for Caleb's accident and is punishing her by making her go through his things and relive the memories. Jessa spends days going through Caleb's things. As she packs his things, she discovers secrets Caleb hid from her. Maybe their relationship wasn't what she thought it was. As Jessa keeps digging, she starts to question everything she heard about Caleb's death. What really happened to him that day? Fragments of the Lost is a fantastic thriller that will keep readers guessing! Fans of April Henry will love this mystery. Author: Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman
Published: 2018 What would happen if we ran out of water? Southern California has been in a drought for a long time. Everyone knows that they shouldn't waste water, but they weren't warned that they were going to completely run out of it. When the faucet in Alyssa's house stops working, they think it'll be an easy fix. They soon find out that the water for southern California is gone. People race to the stores to buy water. When Alyssa's family gets there, all they can get are a couple bags of ice. Everyone thinks that the water will be back soon, that they just have to hold on for a little bit, but they are wrong... Everyone enters survival mode. Soon neighbors are fighting neighbors. Dehydration starts to set in, and people start dying. So many people try to leave, the roads become blocked with stopped cars. No one can get in or out. The government tries to help by bringing in bottles of water, but there is not near enough for everyone. Dry is such an interesting book that looks at what it would be like if we ran out of water, something that could realistically happen. I devoured this amazing, frightening book. Author: Lynda Blackmon Lowery, as told to Elspeth Leacock & Susan Buckley
Published: 2015 Lynda Blackmon was born in Selma, Alabama in 1950. Back then black people were not considered equal to white people. While they were technically able to vote, the laws made it really hard for them to be able to register to vote. They had to take really hard tests that white people often didn't even have to take. They would have to have another person who was already registered to vote vouch for them to say they should be able to vote. It was basically impossible to register to vote and have their voices be heard. Because of this, the same type of people were being voted into office that would keep this cycle going. Lynda was jailed nine different times before her fifteenth birthday. She marched for equal rights and was often arrested because of her demonstrations. In 1965, she joined the Selma Voting Rights March, a march from Selma to Montgomery, a total of 54 miles. The goal was for black people to be able to get registered to vote. Along the way, they faced violence and hate. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom is a great book for young readers who are interested in learning more about the Civil Rights Movement. Author: Samira Ahmed
Published: 2019 Internment takes place in the near future in the United States. The President has declared that Muslims are a threat to the country. Layla and her parents are Muslim. Because of their religion, they are treated differently. They must follow a curfew; relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims, while not technically illegal yet, are highly frowned upon. If you are Muslim, you could be a threat to America, so you are the enemy. One night, Layla and her parents are taken from their home and are brought to an internment camp for Muslim Americans. This is basically a prison. None of these people are allowed to leave and they have to follow strict orders. When people speak out, they are beaten and often disappear. Layla's parents just want her to keep her mouth shut and her head down. They think that soon it will all be over, so they need to go along with what the director of the camp and the guards tell them. Layla, on the other hand, thinks that if they don't stand up, things will only get worse. She and some other kids in the camp decide they need to come up with a plan to get the world to see that what they are doing is wrong and illegal. And maybe there are some other people in the camp who look like enemies who may actually be on their side. Internment is a scary look at a situation that could absolutely happen in our future, and actually did happen in our past when Japanese Americans were put in internment camps during World War II. |
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