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HIA
Scat (age 9-12)
by Carl Hiaasen
mystery ... adventure ... nature ... humor
Publisher comments: Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved. But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture. That's life in the swamp, kids.
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KEL
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (age 9-12)
by Jacqueline Kelly
family ... nature ... historical
Publisher comments: Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones. With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.
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BUR
The Incredible Journey (age 9-12)
by Sheila Every Burnford
nature ... animals ... adventure ... survival
Publisher comments: Instinct told them that the way home lay to the west. And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness. Separately, they would soon have died. But, together, the three house pets faced starvation, exposure, and wild forest animals to make their way home to the family they love.
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SAL
Night of the Howling Dogs (age 9-12)
by Graham Salisbury
folklore ... action ... adventure ... friendship ... survival ... nature
Dylan's scout troop goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can't get along. That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.
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SAL
Bambi: a Life in the Woods (age 9-12)
by Felix Salten
nature ... animals ... growing up
Describes the life of a deer in the forest as he grows into a beautiful stag. Bambi's life in the woods begins happily. But winter comes, and Bambi learns that the woods hold danger ... and things he doesn't understand. The first snowfall makes food hard to find. Bambi's father, a handsome stag, roams the forest, but leaves Bambi and his mother alone. Then there is Man. He comes to the forest with weapons that can wound an animal. He does terrible things to Gobo, to Bambi's mother, and even to Bambi. But He can't keep Bambi from growing into a handsome stag himself and becoming...the Prince of the Forest.
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KJE
Big Red (age 9-12)
by Jim Kjelgaard
growing up ... nature ... animals
From the moment Danny sees the beautiful Irish setter, he knows Red is the dog for him. Fast and smart, strong and noble, Red is the only dog Danny wants by his side. Soon, neither boy nor dog can stand to be apart. Together Danny and Red face many dangers in the harsh Wintapi wilderness that they call home. But the greatest test of their courage and friendship will come from an enemy more cunning than any they've known before--a bear who is the undisputed king of the wilderness, a savage killer called Old Majesty.
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MOR
Gentle Ben (age 9-12)
by Walt Morey
friendship ... nature ... animals
The Alaskan wilderness is a lonely place for Mark Andersen, especially after the death of his older brother, Jamie. But in time Mark finds someone else to love--Ben, an Alaskan brown bear so huge that no one else dares come near him.
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HOL
Seabird (age 9-12)
by Holling C. Holling
historical ... adventure ... nature
An ivory gull carved by Ezra Brown in 1832 when he was a boy on a whaling ship brings luck to him and his descendants as they journey the seven seas.
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HOL
Tree in the Trail (age 9-12)
by Holling C. Holling
historical ... nature
A struggling cottonwood sapling becomes a landmark to travelers, a peace-medicine tree, and after its death in 1834, a yoke which is used on the trail to Santa Fe.
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FLE
Seedfolks (age 9-12)
by Paul Fleischman
enterprise ... nature ... friendship
A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who sees a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were dead. Thirteen very different voices, old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful, tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.
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HES
The Music of Dolphins (age 9-12)
by Karen Hesse
the arts ... letters/journal ... nature
A fifteen-year-old girl who has been raised by dolphins, records her thoughts about her reintroduction to the human world.
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GEO
My Side of the Mountain (age 9-12)
by Jean Craighead George
survival ... animals ... nature ... adventure
Runaway Sam Gribley is surviving in the Catskill Mountains with only a penknife, a ball of cord, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel. Along the way, he learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that will change his life forever.
sequel: On the Far Side of the Mountain
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DEJ
The Wheel on the School (age 9-12)
by Meindert DeJong
school ... nature ... animals ... enterprise
Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true.

Duveneck Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:27 2012
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