F KOR	Schooled (age 10+) by Gordon Korman realistic ... humor ... adventure ... brilliant protagonist ... school Publisher comments: Capricorn "Cap" Anderson has never watched television. He's never tasted a pizza. Never even heard of a wedgie. Since he was little, his only experience has been living on a farm commune and being home schooled by his hippie grandmother, Rain. But when Rain falls out of a tree while picking plums, and has to stay in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and her cranky teen daughter and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.
F AIK	Black Hearts in Battersea (age 10+) by Joan Aiken humor ... fantasy ... adventure Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew's fiendish caper to the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure.
F AIK	The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (age 10+) by Joan Aiken humor ... fantasy ... adventure Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia don't know the trouble in store for them when Bonnie's parents leave them in the care of the terrible Miss Slighcarp.
F TOL	Surviving the Applewhites (age 10+) by Stephanie S. Tolan humor ... growing up ... school ... friendship Publisher comments: Will anyone take on Jake Semple? Jake Semple is notorious. Rumor has it he burned down his old school and got kicked out of every school in his home state. Only one place will take him now, and that's a home school run by the Applewhites, a chaotic and hilarious family of artists. The only one who doesn't fit the Applewhite mold is E.D., a smart, sensible girl who immediately clashes with the unruly Jake. Jake thinks surviving this one will be a breeze, but is he really as tough or as bad as he seems?
F VAN	Flipped (age 10+) by Wendelin Van Draanen humor ... friendship ... growing up The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says: "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort." But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he's thinking there's more to her than meets the eye, she's thinking that he's not quite all he seemed. This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.
F STR	The Bartimaeus Trilogy (age 10+) by Jonathan Stroud humor ... adventure ... action ... fantasy ... magic Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hotshot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge in his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt. title: The Amulet of Samarkand title: The Golems Eye title: Ptolemy's Gate
F SHU	The Schwa Was Here (age 10+) by Neal Shusterman humor ... friendship A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.
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 LOW	Taking Care of Terrific (age 10+) by Lois Lowry humor ... adventure Taking her overprotected young charge to the public park to broaden his horizons, fourteen-year-old baby sitter Enid enjoys unexpected friendships with a black saxophonist and a bag lady until she is charged with kidnapping.
F TWA	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (age 10+) by Mark Twain adventure ... humor While floating down the Mississippi River in the nineteenth century, a boy and a runaway slave experience many adventures, involving a feuding family, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and Tom Sawyer's aunt, who mistakes him for Tom. Sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
F HIA	Flush (age 10+) by Carl Hiaasen humor ... adventure ... nature Noahs dad is sure that the owner of a casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad had failed, and do whatever it takes to prove that the boat owner is dumping illegally.
F SAC	Holes (age 10+) by Louis Sachar humor ... mystery ... friendship Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys ``build character'' by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment, and redemption. sequel: Small Steps
F RAS	The Westing Game (age 10+) by Ellen Raskin humor ... mystery When an eccentric millionaire dies mysteriously, sixteen very unlikely people are gathered together for the reading of the will...and what a will it is!
F MOW	Owls in the Family (age 10+) by Farley Mowat humor ... family ... realistic ... animals ... nature A young boy's life gets considerably more interesting when he adopts a pair of owlets as pets.
F HOR	Everything on a Waffle (age 10+) by Polly Horvath growing up ... family ... humor Eleven-year-old Primrose, living in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts with surprising humor her experiences and all she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life after her parents are lost at sea.
F WRE	The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (age 10+) by Patricia C. Wrede princesses ... knights/castles/dragons ... fantasy ... humor This series begins with Dealing With Dragons. Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom. title: Dealing With Dragons title: Searching For Dragons title: Calling on Dragons title: Talking to Dragons
F SPI	Maniac Magee : a Novel (age 10+) by Jerry Spinelli folklore ... humor ... bigotry ... realistic ... friendship ... sports After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
F MER	The Pushcart War (age 10+) by Jean Merrill war ... humor ... enterprise A satire on modern city life depicting an outbreak of war between truck drivers and pushcart peddlers.
F JON	Howl's Moving Castle (age 10+) by Diana Wynne Jones humor ... adventure ... fantasy In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on the Wizard Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?
F JAC	The Redwall Series (age 10+) by Brian Jacques fantasy ... humor ... adventure Each dazzling story in the Redwall series is packed with wit, wisdom, humor, and blood-curdling adventure. title: Redwall title: Mossflower title: Mattimeo title: Mariel of Redwall title: Salamandastron title: Martin the Warrior title: The Bellmaker title: Pearls of Lutra title: The Long Patrol: a Tale from Redwall title: Marlfox: a Tale of Redwall title: Lord Brocktree title: Taggerung: a Tale From Redwall title: Loamhedge: a Tale From Redwall title: Rakkety Tam
F HIA	Hoot (age 10+) by Carl Hiaasen mystery ... nature ... humor If Dana hadn't been sinking his thumbs into Roy's temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and...here's the odd part...wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
F ALE	The Prydain Chronicles (age 10+) by Lloyd Alexander folklore ... humor ... fantasy ... adventure In the first book of the Prydain Chronicles, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper to a famous oracular sow, sets out on a hazardous mission to save Prydain from the forces of evil. title: The Book of Three title: The Black Cauldron title: The Castle of Llyr title: Taran Wanderer title: The High King

Fairmeadow Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:30 2012 Other themes and genres