Books for 5th & 6th Graders, Summer 2002 J/F/AVI AviDon’t You Know There’s a War On? Howie lives in wartime Brooklyn in 1943. Scary headlines, blackouts, scrap collections and war stamp drives are all part of everyday life, but when Howie finds out that his favorite teacher is going to be fired, he mounts a campaign to save her job. 200 p. J/F/AVI AviThe Good Dog McKinley is a dog who is loyal to his human family. But when Lupin, a wild wolf, appears and asks the local dogs of Steamboat Springs to join her wolf pack, McKinley is torn between the two different worlds. 243 p. J/F/BRUCHAC Bruchac, JosephSkeleton Man After Molly’s parents disappear, a strange, scary man appears claiming to be her great-uncle and Molly must rely on her dreams to solve this increasingly terrifying puzzle. 114 p. J/F/DRAKE Drake, EmilyThe Magickers Jason gets more than he bargained for when his essay wins him a trip to summer camp. He soon learns the counselors must teach their special recruits how to use their “magick” powers before the forces of darkness attack. 344 p. J/F/GLIORI Gliori, DebiPure Dead Magic When their father is kidnapped, the Strega-Borgia children, their mysterious new nanny and a giant tarantula use magic and actual trips through the Internet to bring peace to their Scottish castle. 182 p. J/599.885/GOO Goodall, JaneThe Chimpanzees I Love Explore chimpanzee behavior from the perspective of Jane Goodall, a woman who has devoted her life to learning about the animals most closely related to man. 80 p. J/F/GUTMAN Gutman, DanThe Edison Mystery Qwerty Stevens finds a mysterious machine buried in his back yard that sends him back to another time. His sisters must learn the secrets of the machine to bring him back to the present. 201 p. J/F/HADDIX Haddix, Margaret PetersonAmong the Impostors In the future, Luke must keep his true identity a secret. He is an illegal third-born child hunted by the Population Police. In school for the first time, the odd behavior of the faculty and students make Luke wonder if there are other impostors like him. 172 p. J/F/HEARNE Hearne, Betsy GouldWishes, Kisses, and Pigs Louise made a wish and somehow turned her brother into a pig. Now she must figure out how to undo the wish without upsetting anything else in her life. 133 p. J/F/HOLT Holt, Kimberly WillisDancing in Cadillac Light When her eccentric grandfather moves in with Jaynell’s family in Moon, Texas, life gets more exciting. He takes her on secret driving lessons in his Cadillac convertible, introduces her to the local gravestones and proves to her that people aren’t always what they seem. 167 p. J/F/HONEY Honey, ElizabethFiddleback The neighbors on Stella Street decide to take their vacation together in the Australian outback. A horrendous storm, a juvenile delinquent, and a very pregnant mom’s announcement that “I think it’s time” add excitement to the trip. 203 p. J/F/IBBOTSON Ibbotson, EvaDial-a-Ghost The Dial-a-Ghost Agency finds good homes for ghosts. When a mix-up places a nice family of ghosts in a mansion that requested scary ghosts, and the scary ones arrive at a nunnery, problems abound. 195 p. J/F/IVES Ives, DavidMonsieur Eek When a chimpanzee arrives in the strange town of MacOongafoondsen (population: 21), the people mistake him for a French spy and put him on trial (for being a thief). Emmaline is the only one who sees the ridiculousness of this and volunteers to be the chimp’s lawyer. 179 p. J/F/JENNINGS Jennings, PatrickBeastly Arms When Nickel and his kangaroo rat Miriam move into the Beastly Arms, a downtown building with strange smells and sounds, he discovers a decades-old secret held by Mr. Beastly, the owner. 314 p. J/F/KOSS Koss, Amy GoldmanStrike Two For Gwen, summer is all about playing softball on the News Gazette-sponsored team with her bestfriend and cousin, Jess. But now News Gazette workers are on strike, including her dad, and the softball team is falling apart. 132 p. J/F/NAPOLI Napoli, Donna JoThree Days After her father dies, Jackie is left alone traveling on an Italian highway. When she is picked up by two men, she becomes the victim of a kidnapping. 151 p. J/F/NORDAN Nordan, RobertThe Secret Road When Laura leaves her family’s plantation to visit Quaker relatives for the summer, she discovers they run a stop on the Underground Railroad. She meets a young slave girl and works out her own perilous plan to try to get Rosetta to safety. 202 p. J/F/OLSSON Olsson, SorenIn Ned’s Head Ned wonders, “Do boys write diaries?” Well, Ned does, but he’s keeping it a secret, especially from Nugget, the class bully. 133 p. J/F/DEAR Philbrick, W.R.The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition, 1846 Douglas’s diary recounts his tragic trip west through the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1846. When early snows trap the group in the high mountains, hunger, cold and fear stalk the Donner Party. 154 p. J/F/RODDA Rodda, EmilyRowan of Rin Legend has it a dragon once dwelled atop the forbidden mountain. Now timid Rowan is chosen by the village wise woman to guide a party of brave explorers up the mountain. The village of Rin’s future depends on his success in discovering why their water supply is drying up. 151 p. J/F/SHREVE Shreve, Susan RichardsBlister When Alyssa’s parents’ split and she moves from her happy life into a cramped apartment with her depressed mother, she knows she has to make a change. She takes a trendy outfit from her father’s girlfriend and begins preparing for cheerleading tryouts. She’s not Alyssa anymore, you can call her “Blister” now. 153 p. J/F/SPRINGER Springer, NancyRowan Hood, Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest After her mother is murdered, Rosemary disguises herself as a boy and begins a journey to find the father she’s never met, the infamous Robin Hood. 170 p. J/F/STINE Stine, R.L.The Haunting Hour Ten chilling short stories feature a ghoulish Halloween party, a dangerous imaginary friend and a very bad babysitter… 153 p. J/F/WILES Wiles, DebbieLove, Ruby Lavender In Ruby’s letters to her grandmother, Ruby tells about her summer raising chickens, avoiding run-ins with her sworn enemy Melba Jane, and missing her grandfather. 188 p. Prepared by Amanda Miller, Jeni Robinsons and Julie Runge, May 2002