F BAR	The Lost Years of Merlin Series (age 10+) by T. A. Barron magic ... identity ... folklore ... adventure ... fantasy A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales. Only after a series of fantastic adventures does he find his true name. title: The Lost Years of Merlin title: The Seven Songs of Merlin title: The Fires of Merlin title: The Mirror of Merlin title: The Wings of Merlin
F HAL	Book of a Thousand Days (age 10+) by Shannon Hale folklore ... identity ... fantasy When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment. As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors (one welcome, and the other decidedly less so) brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
F CIS	The House on Mango Street (age 10+) by Sandra Cisneros short stories ... growing up ... identity Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong ... not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.
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 CRO	The Seeing Stone (age 10+) by Kevin Crossley-Holland identity ... fantasy ... folklore Thirteen-year-old Arthur de Caldicot lives on a manor, desperately waiting for the moment he can become a knight. One day his father's friend Merlin gives him a shining black stone - a seeing stone - that shows him visions of his namesake, King Arthur. The legendary dragons, battles, and swordplay that young Arthur witnesses seem a world away from his own life. And yet there is something definitely joining the Arthurs together. It will be Arthur de Caldicot's destiny to discover how his path is intertwined with a king's . . . for the past is not the only thing the seeing stone can see.
F CON	Prairie Songs (age 10+) by Pam Conrad historical ... identity Luisa loves the Nebraska prairie, the only home she's ever known. It's a lonely place, but it's the wonderful kind of loneliness that comes of stillness and open sky and oneness with the land. A different kind of beauty enters Louisa's world when the new doctor and his wife, Emmeline, move to the prairie from New York City. Emmeline is the most beautiful person Louisa has ever seen, and she teaches Louisa to love poetry. But she is also frail and unsuited to pioneer life. Louisa wonders whether Emmeline will ever come to love the prairie as she herself does.
F CLA	Secret of the Andes (age 10+) by Ann Nolan Clark historical ... identity Catalog: An Indian boy who tends llamas in a hidden valley in Peru learns the traditions and secrets of his Inca ancestors.
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 CAM	The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods (age 10+) by Ann Cameron growing up ... identity ... historical ... family Amanda Woods is discovering that there are some things in life that you just can't change, like who your parents are or how your older sister treats you, but she is determined to change what she can. To begin with, she's not going to be just plain Amanda Woods (the girl her mother seems to think is just average). She's going to be Amanda K. Woods - someone who is proud and strong and sure of herself, someone who can have a French pen pal and a best friend of her own choosing, someone who finds four-leaf clovers and can get perfect scores on her math homework. There is more to Amanda than anyone else can see, things about her that Amanda herself doesn't even know yet, but she's finding out.
F YEP	Child of the Owl (age 10+) by Laurence Yep growing up ... identity ... family In Child of the Owl, a twelve-year-old girl who knows little about her Chinese heritage is sent to live with her grandmother in San Francisco's Chinatown.
F UCH	Journey to Topaz: a Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation (age 10+) by Yoshiko Uchida identity ... survival ... bigotry ... historical After the Pearl Harbor attack, an eleven-year-old Japanese-American girl and her family are forced to go to an aliens camp in Utah.
F STR	The World in Grandfather's Hands (age 10+) by Craig Strete family ... identity ... illness/loss Eleven-year-old Jimmy is upset when he and his mother must move from the pueblo to the city after his father's death, but his grandfather's patient philosophy of life helps Jimmy slowly adjust.
F PAT	Jip: His Story (age 10+) by Katherine Paterson identity ... historical After tumbling off back of a wagon, Jip was brought to live at the town poor farm. He has been content to do chores and tend animals; until the day the lunatic arrives. He seems terrifying and less than human, but as the weeks pass. Jip sees the man he truly is. So, when a menacing stranger comes to town, claiming to have been sent by Jip's grieving father, Jip turns to his new friend to make sense of his past.
F HAM	Plain City (age 10+) by Virginia Hamilton identity ... family Going forward without a past is not easy to do. But Buhlaine Sims has been doing it for as long as she can remember. Then her father returns to town, and Buhlaire's world is turned upside down.
F PAR	Project Mulberry (age 10+) by Linda Sue Park identity ... enterprise ... bigotry ... authorship Julia Song and her friend Patrick would love to win a blue ribbon, maybe even two, at the state fair. Can they come up with the right plan? Can they see it through? What surprising truths will they discover along the way? We might think we know, but then we wouldn't ask the right questions.
F YEP	Ribbons (age 10+) by Laurence Yep identity ... the arts ... family A promising young ballet student cannot afford to continue lessons when her Chinese grandmother emigrates from Hong Kong, creating jealousy and conflict among the entire family. sequel: The Cook's Family
F RIC	The Light in the Forest (age 10+) by Conrad Richter identity ... historical ... family Though reared as a Lenni Lenape Indian, fifteen-year-old True Son, once called John Camera Butler, was ordered back to the white man. It was impossible for True Son to believe that his people were white and not Indian. He had learned to hate the white man. And now he learned to hate his new father, his new house, his new family. He hated the name John Butler. Where did he belong now--and where could he go?
F PAT	Jacob Have I Loved (age 10+) by Katherine Patterson identity ... realistic ... growing up ... family Sara Louise Bradshaw is sick and tired of her beautiful twin Caroline. Ever since they were born, Caroline has been the pretty one, the talented one, the better sister. Even now, Caroline seems to take everything: Louise's friends, their parents' love, her dreams for the future. For once in her life, Louise wants to be the special one. But in order to do that, she must first figure out who she is, and find a way to make a place for herself outside her sister's shadow.
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 CUS	Rodzina (age 10+) by Karen Cushman identity ... survival ... historical ... family One of a group of orphans, 12-year-old Rodzina boards a train on a cold day in March 1881. She's reluctant to leave Chicago, the only home she can remember, and she knows there's no substitute for the family she has lost. As the train rattles westward, Rodzina unwittingly begins to develop attachments to her fellow travelers, and to accept the idea that there might be good homes for orphans--maybe even for a big, combative Polish girl. But no placement seems right for the formidable Rodzina, and she cleverly finds a way out of one bad situation after another, until at last she finds the family that is right for her.
F HOL	Following Fake Man (age 10+) by Barbara Ware Holmes identity ... illness/loss ... mystery ... family Homer Aldrich Winthrop was a neurologist who died of a neurological illness. That's all Homer Jr.'s mother will say about his father, who died when he was two. On an unexpected trip to Maine, 12-year-old Homer realizes there may be a reason his father is such a secret.
F RYA	Esperanza Rising (age 10+) by Pam Munoz Ryan identity ... historical ... family Esperanza Ortega has fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and the promise of one day rising to her mother's position presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee from Mexico to California and settle in a farm labor camp. There, Esperanza must confront the challenges that come with her difficult circumstances.
F STE	The Edge Chronicles (age 10+) by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell action ... identity ... adventure ... fantasy Young Twig lives in the Deepwoods, among the Woodtrolls, but he isn't one of them. In a brave attempt to find out where he belongs, Twig wanders into the mysterious, dangerous world beyond the Deepwoods. title: Beyond the Deepwoods title: Stormchaser title: Midnight Over Sanctaphrax title: The Last of the Sky Pirates title: The Curse of the Gloamglozer title: Vox
F PEA	The Sky Is Falling (age 10+) by Kit Pearson war ... identity ... adventure ... historical The experiences of a young girl and her small brother who are evacuated to Canada at the beginning of World War II. They struggle with being strangers in a strange land, even as they come to terms with the evil they left back home.
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	The Giver (age 10+) by Lois Lowry science fiction ... fantasy ... identity Jonas' world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
F GEO	Julie of the Wolves (age 10+) by Jean Craighead George identity ... survival ... nature ... adventure To her small Eskimo village, she is known as Miyax; to her friend in San Francisco, she is Julie. When her life in the village becomes dangerous, Miyax runs away, only to find herself lost in the Alaskan wilderness.
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