F ALC	Louisa May Alcott's Little Women Books (age 10+) by Louisa May Alcott historical ... growing up ... family Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England. title: Little Women title: Little Men: Life at Plumfield With Jo's Boys
F LAR	Hattie Big Sky (age 10+) by Kirby Larson family ... historical Publisher comments: Alone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle's homesteading claim. For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie's been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubborn stick-to-itiveness, Hattie faces frost, drought and blizzards. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends — especially Charlie, fighting in France — through letters and articles for her hometown paper. Her backbreaking quest for a home is lightened by her neighbors, the Muellers. But she feels threatened by pressure to be a "Loyal" American, forbidding friendships with folks of German descent. Despite everything, Hattie's determined to stay until a tragedy causes her to discover the true meaning of home.
F ALE	The Gawgon and the Boy (age 10+) by Lloyd Alexander historical ... adventure ... school In Depression-era Philadelphia, when eleven-year-old David is too ill to attend school, he is tutored by the unique and adventurous Aunt Annie, whose teaching combines with his imagination to greatly enrich his life.
F HAN	The Healer's Keep (age 10+) by Victoria Hanley historical ... school ... fantasy Publisher comments: Something is threatening the legendary Healer’s Keep, where students gifted in the healing arts are trained. Will they learn enough in time to keep the darkness at bay? Or will the Shadow King turn their gifts against them and once again walk the world?
F HOL	When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (age 10+) by Kimberly Willis Holt growing up ... friendship ... historical Publisher comments: Nothing ever happens in Toby's small Texas town. Nothing much until this summer that's full of big changes. It's tough for Toby when his mother leaves home to become a country singer. And Toby takes it hard when his best friend Cal's older brother goes off to fight in Vietnam. But now their sleepy town is about to get an even bigger jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, billed as the fattest boy in the world. Toby is in for a summer unlike any other, a summer sure to change his life.
F WYN	Rex Zero and the End of the World (age 10+) by Tim Wynne-Jones family ... historical ... growing up Eleven-year-old Rex and his family move from Ottawa from Vancouver in the summer of 1962 when it seems everyone is nervous about the possibility of nuclear war between America and Russia, but his thoughts about the possible end of the world take second place to the mystery creature hiding out in the local park.
F WYN	Rex Zero, King of Nothing (age 10+) by Tim Wynne-Jones family ... historical ... growing up Rex-Norton-Norton, an eleven-year-old boy living in Ottawa in 1962, faces several confusing mysteries, including his father's troubling secrets from World War II, the problems of a beautiful but unhappy woman named Natasha, what to do about his mean and vindictive teacher, and whether or not he should even be concerned about such things.
F PEC	Fair Weather: a Novel (age 10+) by Richard Peck family ... humor ... historical In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.
F YEP	Dragon's Gate (age 10+) by Laurence Yep adventure ... historical When he accidentally kills a Manchu, a fifteen-year-old Chinese boy is sent to America to join his father, an uncle, and other Chinese working to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1867.
F CLI	A Month of Seven Days (age 10+) by Shirley Climo war ... adventure ... historical When twelve-year-old Zoe's Georgia home is taken over by Union soldiers, she uses all her ingenuity to drive them away.
F LEW	Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (age 10+) by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis growing up ... historical When Young Fu arrives with his mother in bustling 1920s Chungking, all he has seen of the world is the rural farming village where he has grown up. He knows nothing of city life. But the city, with its wonders and dangers, fascinates the 13-year-old boy, and he sets out to make the best of what it has to offer him.
F TRE	I, Juan de Pareja (age 10+) by Elizabeth Borton Trevino the arts ... historical When the great Velazquez was painting his masterpieces at the Spanish court in the seventeenth century, his colors were expertly mixed and his canvases carefully prepared by his slave, Juan de Pareja. In a vibrant novel which depicts both the beauty and the cruelty of the time and place, Elizabeth Borton de Trevino tells the story of Juan, who was born a slave and died an accomplished and respected artist. Through Juan’s eyes the reader sees Velazquez’s delightful family, his working habits and the character of the man, his relations with the shy yet devoted King Philip IV and with his fellow painters, Rubens and Murillo, the climate and customs of Spanish court life. When Velazquez discovers that he and Juan share a love for the art which is his very life, the painter proves his friendship in the most incredible fashion, for in those days it was forbidden by law for slaves to learn or practice the arts. Through the hardships of voyages to Italy, through the illnesses of Velazquez, Juan de Pareja loyally serves until the death of the painter in 1660.
F STO	Five Ancestors Series (age 10+) by Jeff Stone identity ... adventure ... action ... historical Twelve-year-old Fu and his temple brothers Malao, Seh, Hok, and Long don’t know who their parents were. Raised from infancy by their grandmaster, they think of their temple as their home and their fellow warrior monks as their family. Then one terrible night, the temple is destroyed by an army led by a former monk named Ying, whose heart is bent on revenge. Fu and his brothers are the only survivors. Charged by their grandmaster to uncover the secrets of their past, the five flee into the countryside and go their separate ways. Somehow, Grandmaster has promised, their pasts are connected to Ying’s. Understanding that the past is the key to shaping the future, the first book in the series follows Fu as he struggles to find out more and prove himself in the process. Fu’s name literally means “tiger,” for he is the youngest-ever master of the fierce fighting style modeled after that animal. title: Tiger title: Monkey title: Snake title: Crane title: Eagle title: Mouse title: Dragon
F SCH	The Wednesday Wars (age 10+) by Gary Schmidt school ... humor ... growing up ... historical Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling, he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation...the Big M...in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.
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 YOL	The Devil's Arithmetic (age 10+) by Jane Yolen identity ... war ... historical Hannah dreads going to her family's Passover Seder ... she's tired of hearing her relatives talk about the past. But when she opens the front door to symbolically welcome the prophet Elijah, she's transported to a Polish village in the year 1942, where she becomes caught up in the tragedy of the time.
F SNY	And Condors Danced (age 10+) by Zilpha Keatley Snyder historical ... growing up ... illness/loss The year Carly turns eleven, 1907, is filled with playing detective, watching condors, observing a fierce feud involving her family's Southern California ranch, and coping with unexpected tragedies.
F LAT	Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (age 10+) by Jean Lee Latham brilliant protagonist ... voyages/journeys ... math/science/technology ... historical Readers today are still fascinated by "Nat," an eighteenth-century nautical wonder and mathematical wizard. Nathaniel Bowditch grew up in a sailor's world ... Salem in the early days, when tall-masted ships from foreign ports crowded the wharves. But Nat didn't promise to have the makings of a sailor; he was too physically small. Nat may have been slight of build, but no one guessed that he had the persistence and determination to master sea navigation in the days when men sailed only by "log, lead, and lookout." Nat's long hours of study and observation, collected in his famous work, The American Practical Navigator (also known as the "Sailors' Bible"), stunned the sailing community and made him a New England hero.
F KRE	The Printer's Apprentice (age 10+) by Stephen Krensky authorship ... historical In 1735 in New York City, a young printer's apprentice learns about the importance of freedom of speech when the printer Peter Zenger is arrested and tried for writing articles criticizing the government.
F KEI	Rifles For Watie (age 10+) by Harold Keith war ... historical Sixteen-year-old Jefferson Davis Bussey cannot wait to join the Army and defend the Union against the dreaded Colonel Watie, but when he is assigned to infiltrate the enemy camp as a spy, he discovers the rebels are boys and men just like him, and he must then decide whether to betray his enemies or join them.
F FRI	Early Thunder (age 10+) by Jean Fritz growing up ... historical Traces a youth's growth to maturity as he resolves his political conflicts in pre-revolutionary Salem, a center of high feeling between the British and colonists.
F LAW	Lord of the Nutcracker Men (age 10+) by Iain Lawrence family ... historical ... war Ten-year-old Johnny eagerly plays at war with the army of nutcracker soldiers his toymaker father whittles for him. He demolishes imaginary foes. But in 1914 Germany looms as the real enemy of Europe, and all too soon Johnny's father is swept up in the war to end all wars. He proudly enlists with his British countrymen to fight at the front in France. The war, though, is nothing like what any soldier or person at home expected. The letters that arrive from Johnny's dad reveal the ugly realities of combat ... and the soldiers he carves and encloses begin to bear its scars. Still, Johnny adds these soldiers to his armies of Huns, Tommies, and Frenchmen, engaging them in furious fights. But when these games seem to foretell his dad's real battles, Johnny thinks he possesses godlike powers over his wooden men. He fears he controls his father's fate, the lives of all the soldiers in no-man's land, and the outcome of the war itself.
F DUM	The Three Musketeers (age 10+) by Alexandre Dumas adventure ... historical In seventeenth-century France, young D'Artagnan initially quarrels with, then befriends, three musketeers and joins them in trying to outwit the enemies of the king and queen.
F DEF	The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (age 10+) by Daniel Defoe historical ... adventure ... survival This classic story of a shipwrecked mariner on a deserted island is perhaps the greatest adventure in all of English literature. Fleeing from pirates, Robinson Crusoe is swept ashore in a storm possessing only a knife, a box of tobacco, a pipe-and the will to survive. His is the saga of a man alone: a man who overcomes self-pity and despair to reconstruct his life; who painstakingly teaches himself how to fashion a pot, bake bread, build a canoe; and who, after twenty-four agonizing years of solitude, discovers a human footprint in the sand... Consistently popular since its first publication in 1719, Daniel Defoe's story of human endurance in an exotic, faraway land exerts a timeless appeal.
F DEF	Robinson Crusoe (age 10+) by Daniel Defoe historical ... adventure ... survival This classic story of a shipwrecked mariner on a deserted island is perhaps the greatest adventure in all of English literature. Fleeing from pirates, Robinson Crusoe is swept ashore in a storm possessing only a knife, a box of tobacco, a pipe-and the will to survive. His is the saga of a man alone: a man who overcomes self-pity and despair to reconstruct his life; who painstakingly teaches himself how to fashion a pot, bake bread, build a canoe; and who, after twenty-four agonizing years of solitude, discovers a human footprint in the sand... Consistently popular since its first publication in 1719, Daniel Defoe's story of human endurance in an exotic, faraway land exerts a timeless appeal.
F FOX	The Slave Dancer (age 10+) by Paula Fox historical Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a thirteen-year-old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo.
F LON	The Call of the Wild (age 10+) by Jack London historical ... adventure ... nature ... animals The Call of the Wild centers on Buck, a dog bred for a life of ease on a California estate, who is kidnapped and sold to Klondike gold hunters. To survive the biting cold and his ruthless masters, Buck must listen to the Call and learn the ways of his wolf-ancestors who guide him from within.
F LEN	Strawberry Girl (age 10+) by Lois Lenski historical Birdie Boyer and her hard working family raise strawberries in Florida, but have to face the dislike of their neighbors.
F COL	Jump Ship to Freedom (age 10+) by James Lincoln Collier adventure ... historical Catalog: In 1787 a fourteen-year-old slave, anxious to buy freedom for himself and his mother, escapes from his dishonest master and tries to find help in cashing the solidier's notes received by his father for fighting in the Revolution.
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 BUR	Wrango (age 10+) by Brian Burks bigotry ... historical ... adventure The War Between the States is over, and George McJunkin and his family are among the slaves who've won their freedom. Trouble is, the McJunkins still live in a tiny shack, and the money George's father brings in barely keeps food on the table. George's parents say the times are changing. They say someday in Rogers Prairie, Texas, there will be a school for black children. They say someday the family will own the blacksmith shop where George's father still toils for the man who used to own them. But George isn't so sure about someday. Between 1867 and 1895, more than five thousand black cowboys helped drive ten million cattle up the Chisholm Trail from Texas. One such cowboy was George McJunkin, who set out from Rogers Prairie for the adventure that would change his life.
F BRA	The Halloween Tree (age 10+) by Ray Bradbury traditions ... historical ... adventure ... folklore ... spooky Meet the mysterious Mr. Moonshroud, who leads eight boys on a journey back through the centuries to discover the real meaning of Halloween. Prose of exquisite beauty will send shivers of delight ... and terror ... through readers, who will want to take this trip over and over again, long after the last jack-o'-lantern has gone dark.
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 STE	Kidnapped: the Adventures of David Balfour (age 10+) by Robert Louis Stevenson historical ... adventure A sixteen-year-old orphan is kidnapped by his villainous uncle, but later escapes and becomes involved in the struggle of the Scottish highlanders against English rule.
F SPE	The Witch of Blackbird Pond (age 10+) by Elizabeth George Speare magic ... bigotry ... historical Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!
F RAW	Summer of the Monkeys (age 10+) by Wilson Rawls historical ... animals In rural Oklahoma at the turn of the century, fourteen-year-old Jay Berry Lee discovers a tree full of monkeys, a discovery that leads to a summer that teaches him about life.
F HAN	The Seer and the Sword (age 10+) by Victoria Hanley princesses ... fantasy ... historical Princess Torina, who has the ability to see the future, and her friend Landen, who seeks a sword that belongs to his conquered kingdom, are separated when a treacherous murderer gains power, but from exile each works to restore peace and the rightful rulers.
F FLE	Bull Run (age 10+) by Paul Fleischman war ... historical Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War.
F HES	Witness (age 10+) by Karen Hesse mystery ... bigotry ... historical Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves. These characters are among the unforgettable cast inhabiting a small Vermont town in 1924. A town that turns against its own when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. No one is safe, especially the two youngest, twelve-year-old Leanora, an African-American girl, and six-year-old Esther, who is Jewish. In this story of a community on the brink of disaster, told through the haunting and impassioned voices of its inhabitants, Newbery Award winner Karen Hesse takes readers into the hearts and minds of those who bear witness.
F HES	Stowaway (age 10+) by Karen Hesse adventure ... voyages/journeys ... historical ... letters/journal It is known that in the summer of 1768, Captain James Cook sailed from England on H.M.S Endeavour, beginning a three-year voyage around the world on a secret mission to discover an unknown continent at the bottom of the globe. What is less known is that a boy by the name of Nicholas Young was a stowaway on that ship. Newbery winner Karen Hesse re-creates Cook's momentous voyage through the eyes of this remarkable boy, creating a fictional journal filled with fierce hurricanes, warring natives, and disease, as Nick discovers new lands, incredible creatures, and lifelong friends.
F CHO	Al Capone Does My Shirts (age 10+) by Gennifer Choldenko growing up ... historical ... family Publisher comments: Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she's denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose's family has used for dealing with her disorder. When Moose meets Piper, the cute daughter of the Warden, he knows right off she's trouble. But she's also strangely irresistible. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents? expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away. sequel: Al Capone Shines My Shoes
F FAR	The Sea of Trolls (age 10+) by Nancy Farmer action ... folklore ... fantasy ... adventure ... historical Jack was eleven when the berserkers loomed out of the fog and nabbed him. ``It seems that things are stirring across the water,'' the Bard had warned. ``Ships are being built, swords are being forged.'' ``Is that bad?'' Jack had asked, for his Saxon village had never before seen berserkers. ``Of course. People don't make ships and swords unless they intend to use them.'' The year is A.D. 793. In the next months, Jack and his little sister, Lucy, are enslaved by Olaf One-Brow and his fierce young shipmate, Thorgil. Nancy Farmer has never told a richer, funnier tale, nor offered more timeless encouragement to young seekers than ``Just say no to pillaging.''
F TAY	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (age 10+) by Mildred D. Taylor family ... bigotry ... historical The story of one African American family fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s.
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 PAU	Tucket Adventures Series (age 10+) by Gary Paulsen historical ... adventure ... survival In the first book, Mr. Tucket, Fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is heading west on the Oregon Trail with his family by wagon train. When he receives a rifle for his birthday, he is thrilled that he is being treated like an adult. But Francis lags behind to practice shooting and is captured by Pawnees. It will take wild horses, hostile tribes, and a mysterious one-armed mountain man named Mr. Grimes to help Francis become the man who will be called Mr. Tucket. title: Call Me Francis Tucket title: Tucket's Gold
F PAR	A Single Shard (age 10+) by Linda Sue Park the arts ... voyages/journeys ... historical ... enterprise Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean potters' village. For a long time he is content living with Crane-man under a bridge barely surviving on scraps of food. All that changes when he sees master potter Min making his beautiful pottery. Tree-ear sneaks back to Min's workplace and dreams of creating his own pots someday. When he accidentally breaks a pot, he must work for the master to pay for the damage. Though the work is long and hard, Tree-ear is eager to learn. Then he is sent to the King's Court to show the master's pottery. Little does Tree-ear know that this difficult and dangerous journey will change his life forever.
F LEV	Journey to America (age 10+) by Sonia Levitin survival ... historical ... family A Jewish family fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 endures innumerable separations before they are once again united.
F HAM	The House of Dies Drear (age 10+) by Virginia Hamilton spooky ... historical ... mystery The house held secrets, Thomas knew, even before he first saw it looming gray and massive on its ledge of rock. It had a century-old legend - two fugitive slaves had been killed by bounty hunters after leaving its passageways, and Dies Drear himself, the abolitionist who has made the house into a station on the Underground Railroad, had been murdered there. The ghosts of the three were said to walk its rooms... sequel: The Mystery of Drear House
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 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 PEC	A Year Down Yonder (age 10+) by Richard Peck short stories ... historical ... family During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman.
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 HES	Out of the Dust (age 10+) by Karen Hesse letters/journal ... historical ... poetry In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.
F GIF	Nory Ryan's Song (age 10+) by Patricia Reilly Giff survival ... historical ... adventure As the potato blight that leads to the Irish Famine takes its toll on her family, 12-year-old Nory Ryan must summon the courage and ingenuity to find food, to find hope, and to find a way to help her family survive.
F AVI	The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (age 10+) by Avi adventure ... historical ... voyages/journeys Thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle, the only passenger aboard a seedy ship on a transatlantic voyage from England to America in 1832, becomes caught up in a feud between the murderous captain and his mutinous crew.
F AVI	Crispin: The Cross of Lead (age 10+) by Avi adventure ... historical Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.

El Carmelo Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:28 2012 Other themes and genres