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CAR
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (age 8-11)
by Lewis Carroll
math/science/technology ... brilliant protagonist ... poetry ... fantasy
The Mad Hatter, the Ugly Duchess, the Mock Turtle, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat-characters each more eccentric than the last. In these two brilliant novels Lewis Carroll created the most famous and fantastic novels of all time, that not only stirred our imagination but revolutionized literature.
sequel: Through the Looking Glass
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HUG
Tales of the Early World (age 8-11)
by Ted Hughes
folklore ... poetry ... short stories
In this collection of tales from the Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, God appears as an artist who is sometimes surprised by his creatures. He puts an awful lot of care into fashioning the birds, whereas he simply pulls Newt out of the ground.
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CHE
Shanghai Messenger (age 8-11)
by Andrea Cheng
identity ... voyages/journeys ... family ... poetry
A free-verse novel about eleven-year-old Xiao Mei's visit with her extended family in China, where the Chinese-American girl finds many differences but also the similarities that bind a family together.
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WON
Minn and Jake (age 8-11)
by Janet S. Wong
humor ... friendship ... poetry
Do you ever feel like you've somehow lost your true best friend? Minn feels this way. So does Jake. But Minn and Jake have no intention of being friends. Minn's a string bean. Jake's a shrimp. Minn's a girl. Jake's a boy. And in fifth grade, who wants a best friend of the opposite sex? But Minn and Jake are forced together by circumstances, which only strengthen their resistance, until Minn takes Jake lizard hunting. What a surprising way to choose a friend.
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CRE
Love That Dog (age 8-11)
by Sharon Creech
illness/loss ... animals ... authorship ... school ... poetry
Jack hate poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, won't stop giving her class poetry assignments, and Jack can't avoid them. But then something amazing happens. The more he writes, the more he learns he does have something to say.

Barron Park Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:26 2012
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