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AIK
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (age 10+)
by Joan Aiken
humor ... fantasy ... adventure
Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia don't know the trouble in store for them when Bonnie's parents leave them in the care of the terrible Miss Slighcarp.
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KON
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place (age 10+)
by E. L. Konigsburg
realistic ... brilliant protagonist ... humor ... the arts ... identity
Publisher comments: "I Prefer Not To...." That's Margaret Rose Kane's response to every activity she's asked to participate in at the summer camp to which she's been exiled while her parents are in Peru. So Margaret Rose is delighted when her beloved uncles rescue her from Camp Talequa, with its uptight camp director and cruel cabinmates, and bring her to stay with them at their wonderful house at 19 Schuyler Place. But Margaret Rose soon discovers that something is terribly wrong at 19 Schuyler Place. People in their newly gentrified neighborhood want to get rid of the three magnificent towers the uncles have spent forty-five years lovingly constructing of scrap metal and shards of glass and porcelain. Margaret Rose is outraged, and determined to strike a blow for art, for history, and for individuality...and no one is more surprised than Margaret Rose at the allies she finds for her mission.
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BAR
Science Fair: A Story of Mystery, Danger, International Suspense, and a Very Nervous Frog (age 10+)
by Dave Barry
mystery ... school ... adventure ... humor
Publisher comments: Grdankl the Strong, president of Kprshtskan, is plotting to take over the American government. His plan is to infiltrate the science fair at Hubble Middle School, located in a Maryland suburb just outside Washington. The rich kids at Hubble cheat by buying their projects every year, and Grdankl's cronies should have no problem selling them his government-corrupting software. But this year, Toby Harbinger, a regular kid with Discount Warehouse shoes, is determined to win the $5,000 prize-even if he has to go up against terrorists to do it. With the help of his best friends, Tamara and Micah, Toby takes on Assistant Principal Paul Parmit, aka The Armpit, a laser-eyed stuffed owl, and two eBay buyers named Darth and the Wookiee who seem to think that the Harrison-Ford-signed BlasTech DL-44 blaster Toby sold them is a counterfeit. What transpires is a hilarious adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and levitating frogs.
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VAN
Flipped (age 10+)
by Wendelin Van Draanen
humor ... friendship ... growing up
The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says: "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort." But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he's thinking there's more to her than meets the eye, she's thinking that he's not quite all he seemed. This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.
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STR
The Bartimaeus Trilogy (age 10+)
by Jonathan Stroud
humor ... adventure ... action ... fantasy ... magic
Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hotshot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge in his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt.
title: The Amulet of Samarkand
title: The Golems Eye
title: Ptolemy's Gate
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SHU
Antsy Does Time (age 10+)
by Neal Shusterman
school ... humor ... friendship
Fueled by friendship and sympathy, Antsy Bonano signs a month of his life over to his adyinga classmate Gunnar Umlaut. Soon everyone at school follows suit, giving new meaning to the idea of aliving on borrowed time. But does Gunnar really have six months to live, or is news of his imminent death greatly exaggerated? When a family member suffers a heart attack after donating two years to Gunnar, Antsy wonders if he has tempted fate by playing God. Fans of the Schwa will welcome favorite and new characters in this wholly fresh tale, which is as touchingly poignant as it is darkly comical.
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SHU
The Schwa Was Here (age 10+)
by Neal Shusterman
humor ... friendship
A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.
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SCH
The Wednesday Wars (age 10+)
by Gary Schmidt
school ... humor ... growing up ... historical
Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling, he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation...the Big M...in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.
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COO
The Runaway Princess (age 10+)
by Kate Coombs
princesses ... humor ... adventure ... folklore ... knights/castles/dragons ... magic
"A dragon darkens our dells. A witch haunts our woods. Bandits roam our moors" . . . King Stromgard swept on. "In the tradition of so many monarchs, I offer my daughter's hand in marriage and half my kingdom to the prince who can rid us of these evils, restoring peace and prosperity to our realm." And so the contest in the Kingdom of Greeve begins. But Princess Margaret is not your traditional princess. Meg firmly objects to her parents' giving her away, and she certainly has no intention of remaining in the tower where she is sequestered. Instead, she sets out to win the contest herself by enlisting the help of her good friend, her loyal maid, an eager guardsman, a young wizard, and a tenacious witch. Does Meg find her distinct place in the kingdom, or is she doomed to fulfill her royal duties?
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SWI
Gulliver's Travels (age 10+)
by Jonathan Swift
fantasy ... humor
The unusual voyages of Englishman Lemuel Gulliver carry him to such strange locales as Lilliput, where the inhabitants are six inches tall; Brobdingnag, a land of giants; an island of sorcerers; and a nation ruled by horses.
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TWA
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (age 10+)
by Mark Twain
adventure ... humor
While floating down the Mississippi River in the nineteenth century, a boy and a runaway slave experience many adventures, involving a feuding family, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and Tom Sawyer's aunt, who mistakes him for Tom. Sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
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HIA
Flush (age 10+)
by Carl Hiaasen
humor ... adventure ... nature
Noahs dad is sure that the owner of a casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad had failed, and do whatever it takes to prove that the boat owner is dumping illegally.
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PUL
Count Karlstein (age 10+)
by Philip Pullman
humor ... family ... adventure ... spooky
In the mountains of Switzerland the wicked Count Karlstein plots to abandon his two nieces in a hunting lodge as prey for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds.
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SAC
Holes (age 10+)
by Louis Sachar
humor ... mystery ... friendship
Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys ``build character'' by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment, and redemption.
sequel: Small Steps
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PRA
The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy (age 10+)
by Terry Pratchett
action ... war ... science fiction ... humor ... adventure
The alien spaceship is in his sights. His finger is on the Fire button. Johnny Maxwell is about to set the new high score on the computer game Only You Can Save Mankind. Suddenly: ``We wish to talk.'' Huh? ``We surrender.'' The aliens aren't supposed to surrender. Now what is Johnny going to do with a fleet of alien prisoners who know their rights under the international rules of war and are demanding safe-conduct? It's hard enough trying to save Mankind from the Galactic Hordes. It's even harder trying to save the Galactic Hordes from Mankind. But it's just a game, isn't it? Isn't it?
title: Only You Can Save Mankind
title: Johnny and the Dead
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RAS
The Westing Game (age 10+)
by Ellen Raskin
humor ... mystery
When an eccentric millionaire dies mysteriously, sixteen very unlikely people are gathered together for the reading of the will...and what a will it is!
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HOR
Everything on a Waffle (age 10+)
by Polly Horvath
growing up ... family ... humor
Eleven-year-old Primrose, living in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts with surprising humor her experiences and all she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life after her parents are lost at sea.
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BLO
Tangerine (age 10+)
by Edward Bloor
adventure ... humor ... family ... sports
Paul Fisher plays soccer despite the thick glasses he wears because of a mysterious eye injury. When his family moves to Tangerine, Florida, strange things start to happen, but nothing is stranger than the secrets Paul finds out about his older brother, his new friends, and his own dangerous past.
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WRE
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (age 10+)
by Patricia C. Wrede
princesses ... knights/castles/dragons ... fantasy ... humor
This series begins with Dealing With Dragons. Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom.
title: Dealing With Dragons
title: Searching For Dragons
title: Calling on Dragons
title: Talking to Dragons
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SPI
Maniac Magee : a Novel (age 10+)
by Jerry Spinelli
folklore ... humor ... bigotry ... realistic ... friendship ... sports
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
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MER
The Pushcart War (age 10+)
by Jean Merrill
war ... humor ... enterprise
A satire on modern city life depicting an outbreak of war between truck drivers and pushcart peddlers.
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JAC
The Redwall Series (age 10+)
by Brian Jacques
fantasy ... humor ... adventure
Each dazzling story in the Redwall series is packed with wit, wisdom, humor, and blood-curdling adventure.
title: Redwall
title: Mossflower
title: Mattimeo
title: Mariel of Redwall
title: Salamandastron
title: Martin the Warrior
title: The Bellmaker
title: Outcast of Redwall
title: Pearls of Lutra
title: The Long Patrol: a Tale from Redwall
title: Marlfox: a Tale of Redwall
title: The Legend of Luke
title: Lord Brocktree
title: Triss: a Tale From Redwall
title: Taggerung: a Tale From Redwall
title: Loamhedge: a Tale From Redwall
title: Rakkety Tam
title: High Rhulain
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HIA
Hoot (age 10+)
by Carl Hiaasen
mystery ... nature ... humor
If Dana hadn't been sinking his thumbs into Roy's temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and...here's the odd part...wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
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ALE
The Prydain Chronicles (age 10+)
by Lloyd Alexander
folklore ... humor ... fantasy ... adventure
In the first book of the Prydain Chronicles, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper to a famous oracular sow, sets out on a hazardous mission to save Prydain from the forces of evil.
title: The Book of Three
title: The Black Cauldron
title: The Castle of Llyr
title: Taran Wanderer
title: The High King

Addison Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:24 2012
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