F ADL	That Horse Whiskey (age 10+) by Carole S. Adler friendship ... animals Disappointed when her father cannot fulfill his promise of buying her a horse for her thirteenth birthday, Lainey throws her energy into training a neighbor's cantankerous horse, with whom she soon falls in love.
F MCK	A Friendship for Today (age 10+) by Pat McKissack bigotry ... friendship ... historical In 1954 Missouri, 12-year-old Rosemary Patterson is about to make history as one of the first African-American students to enter the all-white school in her town. When the girl who has shown her the most cruelty becomes an unlikely confidante, Rosemary learns important truths about the power of friendship to overcome prejudice.
F DYG	Backfield Package (age 10+) by Thomas Dygard friendship ... school ... sports The decision of four high school friends to go to the same college so that they can continue playing football together is shaken when one of them begins to receive attention as a star quarterback.
F FAR	Marrying Malcolm Murgatroyd (age 10+) by Mame Farrell friendship Hannah Billings hates being teased about marrying Malcolm Murgatroyd, the most unpopular and misunderstood boy in her sixth-grade class, until he reveals his true personality when her brother succumbs to muscular dystrophy.
F JOR	The Raging Quiet (age 10+) by Sherryl Jordan friendship ... bigotry ... identity Widowed just two days after her marriage, Marnie finds herself an outsider in the remote seaside village of Torcurra. Spurned by the townsfolk who suspect her involvement in her husband's death, she has only two friends: the local priest and the madman known as Raver, even more of an outcast than Marnie herself. Marnie makes a remarkable discovers about Raver, whom she renames Raven, and the two forge a deep bond that begins to heal her own bruised heart. But the suspicious villagers see Raven's transformation as evidence of witchcraft, and suddenly Marnie finds herself facing an ordeal that threatens not only her future with Raven, but her very life.
F SAC	The Boy Who Lost His Face (age 10+) by Louis Sachar school ... growing up ... friendship David is only trying to be cool when he helps some of the popular kids steal Old Lady Bayfield's cane. But when the plan backfires, he's the one the "old witch" curses. Now David can't seem to do anything right. Is it the Bayfield curse at work? Or is David simply turning into a total loser?
F HOL	The Broadway Ballplayers (age 10+) by Haureen Holohan friendship ... sports Meet the Ballplayers, a fearless five with a passion for sports, hanging with friends, and life on Broadway Avenue. As the new summer basketball league kicks off, these five friends team up to form the Broadway Ballplayers. But Molly and the others run into some serious competition both on and off the court. Can they bring the championship home to Broadway Avenue? title: The Broadway Ballplayers: Friday Nights by Molly
F CON	The Frog Princess of Pelham (age 10+) by Ellen Conford princesses ... friendship ... folklore ... humor When a kiss from Danny turns Chandler, a wealthy but lonely orphan, into a frog, Danny's humorous attempts to change her back into a human land the pair on a television talk show.
F AND	The Bus People (age 10+) by Rachel Anderson identity ... school ... friendship The lives of the passengers on Bertram's "fruit-cake bus" are shaped by the experiences and problems each has faced because of different disabilities.
F YUM	The Friends (age 10+) by Kazumi Yumoto friendship ... illness/loss Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends.
F SCH	Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (age 10+) by Gary D. Schmidt bigotry ... friendship ... historical It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. Despite his father's-and the town's-disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine's rocky coast.
F HAL	Princess Academy (age 10+) by Shannon Hale princesses ... fantasy ... friendship ... school Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.
F GOD	Listen to the Nightingale (age 10+) by Rumer Godden friendship ... growing up ... the arts When she wins a scholarship to a famous ballet school, Lottie, an orphan reared by the costume mistress for a London ballet company, is torn between her lifelong dream and her love for other important things her life.
F FLE	Flying Solo (age 10+) by Ralph Fletcher friendship ... school ... illness/loss Rachel, having chosen to be mute following the sudden death of a classmate, shares responsibility with the other sixth-graders who decide not to report that the substitute teacher failed to show up.
F WAU	Space Race (age 10+) by Sylvia Waugh friendship ... family ... science fiction Every night before going to sleep, 11-year-old Thomas Derwent says to his father, "Nallytan, Vateelin mesht." It's the one thing he remembers from the language of The Other Place, and Thomas has never thought much about it. Until now. Now, because his father has told him that they're leaving. Not just the small town in England where they live, but Earth. They're returning to The Other Place, the planet of Ormingat, from which they came five years before. It was so long ago, though, that Thomas can't remember anything about his life there. All he knows is his life on Earth, and he can't imagine leaving the places and people he loves so much. But the only other option is to stay behind. Alone.
F SPI	Crash (age 10+) by Jerry Spinelli family ... friendship ... growing up Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.
F SOT	Local News (age 10+) by Gary Soto friendship ... growing up ... short stories In thirteen stories full of wit and energy, Gary Soto illuminates the ordinary lives of young people. Meet Angel, who would rather fork over twenty bucks than have photos of his naked body plastered all over school; Philip, who discovers he has a "mechanical mind," whatever that means; Estela, known as Stinger, who rules JosÃe's heart and the racquetball court; and many other kids, all of them with problems as big as only a preteen can make them.
F 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
F BYA	The Pinballs (age 10+) by Betsy Cromer Byars growing up ... friendship ... family You can't always decide where life will take you--especially when you're a kid. Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again. But against her will and her better judgment, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own lives.
F SNY	The Egypt Game (age 10+) by Zilpha Keatley Snyder spooky ... adventure ... friendship The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they'll have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard behind the A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians instead of two. Everyone thinks it's just a game, until strange things begin happening to the players. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?
F HEN	Olive's Ocean (age 10+) by Kevin Henkes illness/loss ... growing up ... friendship ``Olive Barstow was dead. She'd been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew.'' Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't, and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it. Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.
F FIN	Bad Dreams (age 10+) by Anne Fine spooky ... school ... friendship Despite her preference for books over friends, Melanie gradually becomes involved with a new classmate, and realizes that her her friend has a special gift that is also a burden.
F DOW	Where I'd Like to Be (age 10+) by Frances O'Roark Dowell identity ... friendship ... family A ghost saved twelve-year-old Maddie's life when she was an infant, her Granny Lane claims, so Maddie must always remember that she is special. But it's hard to feel special when you've spent your life shuffled from one foster home to another. She longs for a place to call home. Then one day, a new girl, Murphy, shows up at the Home armed with tales about exotic travels, being able tot fly, and boys who recite poetry to wild horses. When Murphy offers Maddie something she has never had before, Maddie begins to wonder if she has finally found someone who feels like home.
F PAT	The Same Stuff as Stars (age 10+) by Katherine Patterson growing up ... friendship ... family When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.
F TAY	The Cay (age 10+) by Theodore Taylor voyages/journeys ... friendship ... bigotry ... adventure ... historical When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II, an adolescent white boy, blinded by a blow on the head, and an old black man are stranded on a tiny Caribbean island where the boy acquires a new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old companion. sequel: Timothy of the Cay
F 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.
F PAT	Bridge to Terabithia (age 10+) by Katherine Paterson realistic ... friendship Jess Aaron's greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new kid, a new girl, boldly crosses over to the boys' side of the playground and outruns everyone. That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. It doesn't matter to Jess that Leslie dresses funny, or that her family has a lot of money, but no TV. Leslie has amazing imagination.
F NAY	The Alice Series (age 10+) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor friendship ... school ... identity ... realistic ... growing up Eleven-year-old, motherless Alice decides she needs a gorgeous role model who does everything right. Denied her wish to be in lovely Miss Cole's class, she learns that what she needs is not always what she expects. title: The Agony of Alice title: All But Alice title: Alice in Rapture, Sort of title: Alice in April title: Reluctantly Alice
F LOW	Number the Stars (age 10+) by Lois Lowry survival ... bigotry ... friendship ... historical In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
F HOE	Hermux Tantamoq Adventures (age 10+) by Michael Hoeye the arts ... mystery ... adventure ... friendship Hermux Tantamoq is an average mouse who works in his watch shop by day and spends his evenings at home. Nothing extraordinary has ever happened to him, but that changes when Linka Perflinger, daredevil aviatrix, drops off her watch to be repaired and steals his heart. But when a shady-looking rat tries to claim the repaired watch instead of Linka, Hermux knows something's gone wrong. Before long, Hermux is entangled in the convoluted schemes of an eccentric cosmetics tycoon, a sinister plastic surgeon, and a squad of ruthless lab rats. Hermux is caught up in a deadly race against time. title: Time Stops for No Mouse title: The Sands of Time: a [new] Hermux Tantamoq Adventure title: No Time Like Show Time: a Hermux Tantamoq Adventure
F CRE	Walk Two Moons (age 10+) by Sharon Creech illness/loss ... identity ... growing up ... friendship ... voyages/journeys ... family As Salamanca travels cross-country with her eccentric grandparents, she tells the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a ``potential lunatic,'' and whose mother disappeared--just like Sal's.
F BYN	Molly Moon Series (age 10+) by Georgia Byng identity ... mystery ... magic ... adventure ... friendship ... family Molly Moon is no ordinary orphan. When she finds a mysterious old book on hypnotism, she discovers she can make people do whatever she wants. But a sinister stranger is watching her every move, and he'll do anything to steal her hypnotic secret... title: Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism title: Molly Moon Stops the World title: Molly Moon's Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure

Barron Park Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:26 2012 Other themes and genres