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Bloomability (age 8-11)
by Sharon Creech
identity ... growing up ... family ... school
Thirteen-year-old Domenica Santolina Doone, better known as Dinnie, is accustomed to change. Her family is constantly moving from town to town as her father searches for ``opportunity''. But when her aunt and uncle whisk her far away to an international school in Switzerland, she's not sure she's ready to face this ``opportunity'' alone.
Samantha: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories of Samantha, an orphan living with her grandmother in 1904.
title: Meet Samantha: an American Girl by Susan S. Adler F ADL
title: Samantha Learns a Lesson: a School Story by Susan S. Adler F ADL
title: Changes for Samantha: a Winter Story by Valerie Tripp F TRI
title: Happy Birthday, Samantha!: a Springtime Story by Valerie Tripp F TRI
title: Samantha Saves the Day: a Summer Story by Valerie Tripp F TRI
title: Samantha's Surprise: a Christmas Story by Maxine Rose Schur F SCH
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Molly: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Valerie Tripp
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories of Molly and her family during World War II.
title: Meet Molly: an American Girl
title: Changes for Molly: a Winter Story
title: Molly Learns a Lesson: a School Story
title: Molly Saves the Day: a Summer Story
title: Molly's Surprise: a Christmas Story
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Kit: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Valerie Tripp
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories about Kit and her family, running a boardinghouse during the Great Depression.
title: Meet Kit: an American Girl
title: Changes for Kit!: a Winter Story, 1934
title: Happy Birthday, Kit!: a Springtime Story, 1934
title: Kit Learns a Lesson: a School Story
title: Kit Saves the Day!: a Summer Story, 1934
title: Kit's Surprise: a Christmas Story
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Kirsten: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Janet Shaw
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories about Kirsten and her family, settling the frontier in Minnesota.
title: Meet Kirsten: an American Girl
title: Changes for Kirsten: a Winter Story
title: Happy Birthday, Kirsten!: a Springtime Story
title: Kirsten Learns a Lesson: a School Story
title: Kirsten Saves the Day
title: Kirsten's Surprise: a Christmas Story
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Kaya: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Janet Shaw
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories about Kaya and her family, members of the Nez Perce tribe in the Pacific Northwest in the 1760s..
title: Meet Kaya: an American Girl
title: Kaya's Escape!: a Survival Story
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Felicity: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Valerie Tripp
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories about Felicity and her family, living in Williamsburg during the revolutionary war.
title: Meet Felicity: an American Girl
title: Changes for Felicity: a Winter Story
title: Felicity Learns a Lesson: a School Story
title: Felicity Saves the Day: a Summer Story
title: Felicity's Surprise: a Christmas Story
title: Happy Birthday, Felicity!: a Springtime Story
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Addy: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Connie Porter
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories about Addy and her mother, freed slaves living in Philadelphia during the Civil War.
title: Meet Addy: an American Girl
title: Addy Learns a Lesson: a School Story
title: Addy Saves the Day: a Summer Story
title: Addy's Surprise: a Christmas Story
title: Changes for Addy: a Winter Story
title: Happy Birthday, Addy!: a Springtime Story
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Rebecca: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Jacqueline Dembar Greene
growing up ... family ... historical
Publisher comments: Rebecca Rubin is a lively nine-year-old girl growing up in a big Jewish family in New York in 1914. She dreams of becoming an actress, but her parents and grandparents have traditional ideas and don't think young ladies should perform. When Rebecca learns that her cousins in Russia are in great danger and must escape to America, she puts on a show to raise money--until her disapproving grandmother steps in. Unexpectedly, Rebecca finds another way to earn money. But for her plan to work, she'll have to keep it a secret.
title: Meet Rebecca: an American Girl
title: Changes for Rebecca
title: Rebecca and Ana
title: Rebecca and the Movies
title: Rebecca to the Rescue
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Josefina: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Valerie Tripp
growing up ... family ... historical
Stories about Josefina and her sisters, in New Mexico before the Mexicn-American War.
title: Meet Josefina: an American Girl
title: Changes for Josefina: a Winter Story
title: Happy Birthday, Josefina!: a Springtime Story
title: Josefina Learns a Lesson: a School Story
title: Josefina Saves the Day: a Summer Story
title: Josefina's Surprise: a Christmas Story
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Alvin Ho Series (age 8-11)
by Lenore Look
friendship ... growing up ... school
Publisher comments: Alvin Ho is an Asian American second grader who is afraid of everything--elevators, tunnels, girls, and, most of all, school. He's so afraid of school that, while he's there, he never, ever, says a word. But at home he's a very loud superhero named Firecracker Man, a brother to Calvin and Anibelly, and a gentleman-in-training, so he can be just like his dad.
title: Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things
title: Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters
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Julie, 1974: an American Girl Series (age 8-11)
by Megan McDonald
growing up ... friendship ... historical
Julie Albright doesn't want to move away from her San Francisco neighborhood near Chinatown, even if their new apartment is just a few miles away. Moving means leaving her best friend, Ivy, and her pet rabbit, Nutmeg. Worst of all, it means leaving Dad, now that her parents are divorced. Julie tries to make the best of it by joining the school's basketball team, but the coach won't allow girls to play. She learns that it's up to her to make positive changes in her new school--and her new life.
title: Meet Julie
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The Year of the Dog (age 8-11)
by Grace Lin
realistic ... growing up ... humor ... identity
This funny and profound novel tells the story of young Pacy who, as she celebrates the Chinese New Year with her family, discovers this is the year she is supposed to "find herself."
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Pigs Might Fly: a Novel (age 8-11)
by Dick King-Smith
enterprise ... humor ... growing up
Daggie Dogfoot, the runt of the litter, is in danger. The pigman, who takes all runts from their pens, is coming for him! But Daggie is a pig of remarkable qualities, and he's not about to let the Pigman get him. Instead, he runs away and decides to learn how to fly. But when he tries leaping off a cliff, he discovers another talent, a talent he'll need to save the entire farm.
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The Worry Web Site (age 8-11)
by Jacqueline Wilson
growing up ... school ... short stories
Six wonderful short stories about the members of Mr Speed's primary school class and their special Worry Website. The website allows everyone in the class to type in their worries anonymously and receive advice from their classmates ... whether they want it or not!
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How to Steal a Dog (age 8-11)
by Barbara O'Connor
growing up ... family ... enterprise
Georgina Hayes is desperate. Ever since her father left and they were evicted from their apartment, her family has been living in their car. With her mama juggling two jobs and trying to make enough money to find a place to live, Georgina is stuck looking after her younger brother, Toby. And she has her heart set on improving their situation. When Georgina spots a missing-dog poster with a reward of five hundred dollars, the solution to all her problems suddenly seems within reach. All she has to do is ``borrow'' the right dog and its owners are sure to offer a reward. What happens next is the last thing she expected.
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The Whipping Boy (age 8-11)
by Sid Fleischman
folklore ... humor ... adventure ... growing up
A Prince and a Pauper. Jemmy, once a poor boy living on the streets, now lives in a castle. As the whipping boy, he bears the punishment when Prince Brat misbehaves, for it is forbidden to spank, thrash, or whack the heir to the throne. The two boys have nothing in common and even less reason to like one another. But when they find themselves taken hostage after running away, they are left with no choice but to trust each other.
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Junebug (age 8-11)
by Alice Mead
family ... growing up
An inquisitive young boy who lives with his mother and younger sister in a rough housing project in New Haven, Connecticut, approaches his tenth birthday with a mixture of anticipation and worry.
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The Young Merlin Trilogy (age 8-11)
by Jane Yolen
magic ... growing up ... fantasy ... folklore
A boy is abandoned in the woods of medieval England. A year passes--a year of terror and hunger, of sleeping in trees and foraging for food, of outrunning packs of wild dogs--until one day a falconer captures and tames the boy as he would any passager, a young bird caught in the wild and trained. The falconer adopts the boy and teaches him all of the things he's forgotten, including the boy's true name--and the legacy of magic that will be his when he comes of age.
title: Merlin: the Young Merlin Trilogy, Book Three
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Family Dinner (age 8-11)
by Jane Cutler
realistic ... growing up ... family
Great-Uncle Benson prepares exotic food dishes in order to lure Rachel's family to eat meals together.
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How to Train Your Dragon Series (age 8-11)
by Cressida Cowell
growing up ... humor ... knights/castles/dragons
Meet Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, heir of the Viking chiefdom, but a boy with one very big problem: a hero he is not. How to Train Your Dragon is the riotous story of Hiccup's quest to hunt down the fiercest dragon, bring it into submission, and (hopefully) pass his initiation. Instead, he ends up with the smallest, most ornery dragon ... it's even toothless! Thus begins the hijinx of the world's most lovable, unlikely hero and a most reluctant "beast."
title: How to Train Your Dragon
title: How to Speak Dragonese
title: How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse: the Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
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Mary Poppins Series (age 8-11)
by P. L. Travers
growing up ... magic ... humor ... fantasy
An extraordinary English nanny blows in on the East Wind with her parrot-headed umbrella and magic carpetbag and introduces her charges, Jane and Michael, to some delightful people and experiences.
title: Mary Poppins
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The Trumpet of the Swan (age 8-11)
by E. B. White
friendship ... growing up ... the arts
A voiceless trumpeter swan named Louis, attempting to win the love of a beautiful swan named Serena, learns to play a trumpet stolen for him by his father, and then finds himself far from his wilderness home when he sets out to become a trumpeter and pay his father back.
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Doing Time Online (age 8-11)
by Jan Siebold
growing up ... friendship ... math/science/technology
After he is involved in a prank that led to an elderly woman's injury, twelve-year-old Mitchell must make amends by participating in a police program in which he chats online with a nursing home resident.
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Sahara Special (age 8-11)
by Esme Raji Codell
growing up ... humor ... authorship ... school
Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.
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The Summer of the Swans (age 8-11)
by Betsy Cromer Byars
growing up ... family
A teen-age girl gains new insight into herself and her family when her mentally handicapped brother gets lost.
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Wringer (age 8-11)
by Jerry Spinelli
identity ... friendship ... nature ... growing up
For as long as he can remember, Palmer LaRue has dreaded the day he turns ten, the day he'll take his place beside all the other ten-year-old boys in town, the day he'll be a wringer. But Palmer doesn't want to be a wringer. It's one of the first things he learned about himself and it's one of the biggest things he has to hide.
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The Amelia Series (age 8-11)
by Marissa Moss
realistic ... humor ... letters/journal ... growing up
Like spending recess with your best friend, Marissa Moss keeps us up to date with everything that's going on in Amelia's life.
title: Amelia's Bully Survival Guide
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Because of Winn-Dixie (age 8-11)
by Kate Dicamillo
growing up ... family ... friendship ... animals
Publisher comments: Opal spends all one sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of her dog, Winn-Dixie, or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship and forgiveness can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.
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Amber Brown Series (age 8-11)
by Paula Danziger
realistic ... family ... friendship ... growing up
Amber Brown faces complications at school, with her friends, and with her family.
title: Amber Brown Goes Fourth
title: Amber Brown Is Feeling Blue
title: Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon
title: Amber Brown Sees Red
title: Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit
title: Forever Amber Brown
title: I, Amber Brown
title: You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown

Escondido Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:29 2012
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