F THO	Dragon's Egg (age 8-11) by Sarah Thomson adventure ... fantasy ... voyages/journeys ... knights/castles/dragons It is a rare talent, and only she can care for the Inn's herd. She feeds them, gathers their eggs, and tends to their injuries. But Mella dreams about the dragons of legend, even though hardly anyone believes they still exist. Dragons are small farm animals, not huge fire-breathing monsters. Everyone knows that. Until one day changes everything. A Knight of the Order of Defenders arrives at the Inn. Signs of the mythical dragons have led him there, he says. Then a simple errand takes Mella through the forest, where she stumbles across a dragon's egg...and faces the true, terrifying dragon guarding it. On the spot, Mella vows to get the egg safely to the fabled Hatching Grounds. She must leave her home for the first time, and she finds an unlikely companion in the Defender's squire, Roger. For Mella and Roger, this one day is the beginning of an adventure. Where will it take them?
F EDW	Little Bo: the Story of Bonnie Boadicea (age 8-11) by Julie Edwards voyages/journeys ... adventure ... animals After being separated from her brothers and sisters, a very small cat named Bo falls in with a sailor and becomes a ship's cat, having various adventures at sea.
F LEV	Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg (age 8-11) by Gail Carson Levine fantasy ... humor ... voyages/journeys Fairy Haven is abuzz with news about its latest arrival, Prilla. It's bad enough that she has no idea what her special talent is, but some of her behavior is remarkably, well, human. Prilla is heartbroken that she does not seem to fit in. She desperately needs help from Mother Dove, the most important creature in Neverland, who created and cares for the magical egg that prevents all who live in Neverland from growing old and dying. But tragedy strikes as the island is hit by a hurricane, and the Never egg is destroyed. Mother Dove must pick three fairies to set out on a dangerous quest to repair the egg. She chooses Rani, the best water-talent fairy; Vidia, the most selfish, but fastest fast-flying-talent fairy; and, to everyone's surprise ... Prilla. The three embark on a journey filled with danger, sacrifice, and adventure. The fate of Neverland ... and their world as they know it ... rests on their shoulders.
F STE	Fergus Crane (age 8-11) by Paul Stewart voyages/journeys ... science fiction ... school ... humor ... adventure Fergus Crane has an almost ordinary life, having lessons taught by rather odd teachers on the school ship Betty Jeanne and helping his mother in the bakery. But then a mysterious flying box appears at the window of his waterfront home and Fergus is plunged headlong into an exciting adventure! The box is followed by a winged mechanical horse that whisks him off to meet his long-lost uncle and his penguin helpers, Finn, Bill, and Jackson. Fergus finds out that his teachers are not quite what they seem ... they're actually pirates! Can Fergus and his winged horse save his schoolmates on the far-off Fire Island? And who else will he find there?
F CON	Pedros Journal: a Voyage with Christopher Columbus, August 3 1492--February 14 1493 (age 8-11) by Pam Conrad adventure ... historical ... voyages/journeys ... letters/journal Pedro can read and write better than any boy in his small Spanish town. That's why Christopher Columbus signs him on as part of his crew of the Santa Maria. The young Pedro records his adventures in a journal, with sketches of what he has seen. A thrilling and believable re-creation of one boy's account of this epic voyage.
F BAL	Thunder on the Sierra (age 8-11) by Kathy Balmes voyages/journeys ... adventure ... historical In 1852, recently orphaned, thirteen-year-old Mateo becomes an "arreiro," or mule driver, bringing supplies to California gold miners and searching for the notorious bandit who stole his horse, but when he learns that Yankee squatters are threatening to take the ranch he grew up on, Mateo heads for home.
F AYR	Silver Dollar Girl (age 8-11) by Katherine Ayres voyages/journeys ... historical ... adventure Valentine Harper's father has been in Colorado for more than a year seeking his fortune in the Silver Rush. But she's tired of waiting for his overdue return. Aunt Margaret is nice, but Uncle Franklin seems unhappy to have an extra person in the house and Cousin Harold's pranks have been getting meaner. Unfortunately, a girl can't get far on her own in America in 1885. But with a haircut, the right clothes, and a big dose of courage, Vallie Harper just might make it on a journey across the country to look for her father, and pull off an adventure that will change her life.
F VAN	Bound for Oregon (age 8-11) by Jean Van Leeuwen voyages/journeys ... historical A fictionalized account of the journey made by nine-year-old Mary Ellen Todd and her family from their home in Arkansas westward over the Oregon Trail in 1852.
F SCH	When I Left My Village (age 8-11) by Maxine Rose Schur adventure ... voyages/journeys An Ethiopian Jewish family leaves their oppressed mountain village to make a difficult and treacherous journey in the hope of reaching freedom in Israel.
F ROS	Sarah, Also Known as Hannah (age 8-11) by Lillian Hammer Ross voyages/journeys When twelve-year-old Sarah leaves the Ukraine for America in her sister's place, she must use her sister's passport and her sister's name, Hannah.
F HYA	Coast to Coast With Alice (age 8-11) by Patricia Rusch Hyatt letters/journal ... historical ... adventure ... voyages/journeys Sixteen-year-old Hermine Jahns relates her experiences traveling on the first cross-country automobile trip with a woman driver in 1909.
F FLE	Mr. Mysterious and Company (age 8-11) by Sid Fleischman humor ... family ... voyages/journeys ... magic The adventures of a family of magicians traveling across the western deserts and plains in the 1880s.
F DIC	The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (age 8-11) by Kate Dicamillo adventure ... friendship ... voyages/journeys Someone will come for you, but first you must open your heart. Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely. And then, one day, he was lost. Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle, that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
F DIC	The Tale of Despereaux (age 8-11) by Kate Dicamillo princesses ... adventure ... fantasy ... voyages/journeys Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.
F AVI	Perloo the Bold (age 8-11) by Avi voyages/journeys ... fantasy ... adventure A scholarly, shy member of the rabbit-like Montmers, Perloo is content sipping myrtle tea and reading his history books in his warm burrow. Until the day Perloo's quiet life is interrupted by a mysterious summons from the Montmer leader. What follows is an incredible journey that will take Perloo over snowy mountains, through underground tunnels, and into enemy territory - and will alter history forever.
F 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.
F CRE	Ruby Holler (age 8-11) by Sharon Creech voyages/journeys ... family Dallas and Florida have been dubbed the ``trouble twins.'' They have been shuffled between foster families and orphanages all their lives, longing only for a loving place to call home, though mistrustful that one exists for the likes of them. Tiller and Sairy are an eccentric, older couple whose children are grown and long gone, and they're each restless for one more big adventure while their bodies are still spry enough to paddle a river or climb a mountain. Ruby Holler is the beautiful, mysterious place that changes all of their lives forever.
F STE	Dominic (age 8-11) by William Steig voyages/journeys ... adventure Dominic, the dog, finds many exciting adventures and great danger fighting the Doomsday Gang after he decides to see the world.
F MOR	The Wreck of the Zanzibar (age 8-11) by Michael Morpurgo historical ... voyages/journeys In 1907, fourteen-year-old Laura living with her family on one of the stormy Isles of Scilly records in her diary how her dream of participating in a shipwreck rescue is finally realized.
F DUB	The Twenty-One Balloons (age 8-11) by William Pene Dubois enterprise ... adventure ... voyages/journeys Publisher comments: When Prof. William Waterman Sherman was found adrift in the Atlantic clinging to the debris of twenty-one balloons, all America was rocked with curiosity.

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