F
ABB
Firegirl (age 10+)
by Tony Abbott
illness/loss ... identity ... friendship
Publisher comments: Tom's a normal seventh-grader, negotiating a slightly prickly stage in his long friendship with Jeff...The arrival of new girl Jessica Feeney, however, changes everything; Jessica, who is attending a local hospital for treatment, has been badly burned by a fire, and her terrible disfigurement shocks the class into confusion. This isn't the usual book about adjustment to difference; instead, Abbott brilliantly explores the kids' struggle to manage the intrusion of abnormality in their lives...this is a thoughtful exploration of a brief interlude's lasting impact.
F
MAS
A Mango-Shaped Space: A Novel (age 10+)
by Wendy Mass
school ... growing up ... illness/loss ... identity
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the death of her beloved cat, Mango.
F
MAC
Journey (age 10+)
by Patricia MacLachlan
family ... illness/loss
Two children, left by their mother with their grandparents, feel as if their past has been erased until Grandfather finds a way to restore it to them.
F
KAD
Kira-kira (age 10+)
by Cynthia Kadohata
bigotry ... family ... friendship ... illness/loss
kira-kira (kee ra kee ra): glittering; shining. Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering, kira-kira, in the future.
F
DIC
The Tiger Rising (age 10+)
by Kate DiCamillo
illness/loss ... growing up ... friendship
Walking through the misty Florida woods one morning, twelve-year-old Rob Horton is stunned to encounter a tiger ... a real-life, very large tiger ... pacing back and forth in a cage. What's more, on the same extraordinary day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a girl who shows her feelings as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, Rob and Sistine prove that some things ... like memories, and heartaches, and tigers ... can't be locked up forever.
F
LEV
The Two Princesses of Bamarre (age 10+)
by Gail Carson Levine
princesses ... adventure ... fantasy ... magic ... illness/loss
When a plague strikes Bamarre, Princess Addie must save her sister. Brave and adventureous, Princess Meryl dreams of fighting dragons and protecting the kingdom of Bamarre. Shy and fearful, Princess Addie is content to stay within the safety of the castle walls. The one thing that the sisters share is their unwavering love for each other. The tables are turned, however, when the Gray Death leaves Meryl fatally ill. To save her sister, meek Princess Addie must find the courage to set out on a dangerous quest filled with dragons, unknown magic, and death itself. Time is running out, and the sisters' lives ... and the future of the kingdom of Bamarre ... hang in the balance.
F
RAS
Figgs and Phantoms (age 10+)
by Ellen Raskin
illness/loss ... family
Chronicles the adventures of the unusual Figg family after they left show business and settled in the town of Pineapple. Mona must adjust to being part of an unusual family in ordinary surroundings, but also must deal with the potential loss of her favorite uncle.
F
RYL
Missing May (age 10+)
by Cynthia Rylant
illness/loss ... family
After the death of the beloved aunt who has raised her, twelve-year-old Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.
F
HEN
Olive's Ocean (age 10+)
by Kevin Henkes
illness/loss ... growing up ... friendship
``Olive Barstow was dead. She'd been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew.'' Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't, and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it. Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.
F
HOL
Following Fake Man (age 10+)
by Barbara Ware Holmes
identity ... illness/loss ... mystery ... family
Homer Aldrich Winthrop was a neurologist who died of a neurological illness. That's all Homer Jr.'s mother will say about his father, who died when he was two. On an unexpected trip to Maine, 12-year-old Homer realizes there may be a reason his father is such a secret.
F
CRE
Walk Two Moons (age 10+)
by Sharon Creech
illness/loss ... identity ... growing up ... friendship ... voyages/journeys ... family
As Salamanca travels cross-country with her eccentric grandparents, she tells the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a ``potential lunatic,'' and whose mother disappeared--just like Sal's.

Fairmeadow Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:30 2012
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