F CRE	Chasing Redbird (age 9-12) by Sharon Creech growing up ... identity ... family ... illness/loss It started out as an ordinary summer. But the minute thirteen-year-old Zinny uncovered the old, overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her family's house, she realized that things were about to change. Right from the start, Zinny knew that uncovering the trail would be more than just a summer project. It was her chance to finally make people notice her, and to have a place she could call her very own. But more than that, Zinny knew that the trail somehow held the key to all kinds of questions. And that the only way to understand her family, her Aunt Jessie's death, and herself, was to find out where it went.
F SLO	Hang Tough, Paul Mather (age 9-12) by Alfred Slote identity ... illness/loss ... sports Paul Mather's a pitcher ... a really good one. His off speed pitch is enough to bowl a kid backward, and his fast ball is pure smoke. There isn't anything he can't throw, from sliders, change-ups, and sinkers to a mean curve ball that breaks at just the right moment. He's pitched no-hitters and perfect games. To Paul, pitching is what you live for and why you live. Lately, though, Paul hasn't been allowed to do much of anything, much less play ball. He's got leukemia, and it's put him into the hospital several times already. His parents are so worried, they've forbidden him to play the game he loves so much. They're afraid that if Paul strains himself his illness may come back a final time...and maybe even take his life. But Paul is a winner. His team needs him, and he won't give up without a fight. Paul Mather is determined to pitch every inning...to keep playing baseball, and to keep hanging tough, no matter what the odds.
F SPI	Eggs (age 9-12) by Jerry Spinelli humor ... friendship ... illness/loss Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.
F RYA	Paint the Wind (age 9-12) by Pam Munoz Ryan family ... animals ... illness/loss ... growing up Maya is a captive. In Grandmother's house in California, every word and action is strictly monitored, and even Maya's memories of her mother have been erased, except within the imaginary world she has created. A world away, in the rugged Wyoming wilderness, a tobiano Paint horse called Artemisia runs free, belonging only to the stars. She embodies the spirit of the wild, and she holds the key to Maya's memories. How Maya's and Artemisia's lives intertwine, like a braided rein, is at the heart of this richly drawn adventure about captivity and freedom, about holding on and letting go.
F GOI	The Garden of Eve (age 9-12) by K. L. Going family ... mystery ... spooky ... illness/loss Evie reluctantly moves with her widowed father to Beaumont, New York, where he has bought an apple orchard, dismissing rumors that the town is cursed and the trees haven't borne fruit in decades. Evie doesn't believe in things like curses and fairy tales anymore--if fairy tales were real, her mom would still be alive. But odd things happen in Beaumont. Evie meets a boy who claims to be dead and receives a mysterious seed as an eleventh-birthday gift. Once planted, the seed grows into a tree overnight, but only Evie and the dead boy can see it--or go where it leads. The Garden of Eve mixes spine-tingling chills with a deeply resonating story that beautifully explores grief, healing, and growth.
F BRE	The Crow-Girl: the Children of Crow Cove (age 9-12) by Bodil Bredsdorff illness/loss ... family A timeless novel about the kindness of strangers. Near a little cove where a brook runs out to the sea live a girl and her grandmother. All alone with no neighbors at all, the two lead a peaceful existence. They have a house, dine on sea kale and mussels and sand snails, and build fires from driftwood. But the grandmother is very old. When the time comes that the girl must bury the woman, she makes up a funeral song about the birds she is watching: Two crows never fly alone, and death is never, ever past. The next day the same crows seem to beckon her, and so the Crow-Girl begins her journey, one in which she will meet people both warm and cold, hurt and hurtful. And the Crow-Girl, before she knows it, has the makings before her of a new family . . .
F BAN	Looking for Bapu (age 9-12) by Anjali Banerjee school ... illness/loss ... family Anu's beloved grandfather Bapu moved from India to Anu's home in the Pacific Northwest when Anu was small, and Anu is devastated when Bapu dies. But when he is visited by Bapu's ghost, he knows that there must be a way to bring him back to life ... he's just not sure how. Anu enlists his friends Izzy and Unger to help him. From shaving his head to making up fortunes in the hope of becoming more holy, Anu tries everything. He even journeys to the island of the Mystery Museum. Perhaps there, Karnak the Magician will be able to help?
F HOL	The Journey Home (age 9-12) by Isabelle Holland family ... historical ... illness/loss Orphaned by their mother's death, two Irish Catholic sisters find a home with a kind Protestant couple on the Kansas frontier. Their new life is far different than that which they had known in New York, and the girls find tension between the need to stay true to their heritage and religious beliefs and the need to adapt to their new life. See also the sequel, The Promised Land.
F DOW	Chicken Boy (age 9-12) by Frances O'Roark Dowell illness/loss ... family ... friendship Tobin Mccauley's got a near-certifiable grandmother, a pack of juvenile-delinquent siblings, and a dad who's not going to win father of the year any time soon. To top it off, Tobin's only friend truly believes that the study of chickens will reveal...the meaning of life? Getting through seventh grade isn't easy for anyone, son, but when the first day of school starts out with your granny's arrest, you know you've got real problems. Throw on five-day suspension (for defending your English teacher's honor), a chicken that lays green eggs, and a family feud that's tearing everyone to pieces, and you're in for one heck of a ride.
F PAT	The Hard Pan Trilogy (age 9-12) by Susan Patron humor ... growing up ... survival ... illness/loss ... friendship ... family Publisher comments: Lucky, age ten, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has. It's all Brigitte's fault ... for wanting to go back to France. Guardians are supposed to stay put and look after girls in their care! Instead Lucky is sure that she'll be abandoned to some orphanage in Los Angeles. She'll have to lose her friends Miles and Lincoln. Just as bad, she'll have to give up eavesdropping on twelve-step anonymous programs where the interesting talk is all about Higher Powers. Lucky needs her own ... and quick. But she hadn't planned on a dust storm. Or needing to lug the world's heaviest survival-kit backpack into the desert. title: The Higher Power of Lucky
F MAC	Baby (age 9-12) by Patricia MacLachlan family ... illness/loss Taking care of a baby left with them at the end of the tourist season helps a family come to terms with the death of their own infant son.
F COH	Thank You, Jackie Robinson (age 9-12) by Barbara Cohen illness/loss ... sports ... friendship Publisher comments: After Sam's father died, he became so wrapped up in the Brooklyn Dodgers that he could describe every game they'd played in the past four years. Nobody was very interested, until Sam met Davy. They came from different races, religions, and generations. But it didn't take long before they had a friendship that went well beyond baseball.
F RAW	Where the Red Fern Grows (age 9-12) by Wilson Rawls adventure ... animals ... illness/loss A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters.
F HAD	Running Out of Time (age 9-12) by Margaret Peterson Haddix science fiction ... adventure ... illness/loss Believing herself to be a frontier child in 1840, Jessie is shocked when her mother reveals a secret--it's really 1996. After a diphtheria outbreak strikes the village children, Jessie must venture out into the modern world where she faces a wealth of confusing 20th century innovations and the sinister man who will stop at nothing to make sure the village residents remain locked in their 19th century world.
F CRE	The Wanderer (age 9-12) by Sharon Creech identity ... adventure ... family ... illness/loss ... voyages/journeys "The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in." Thirteen-year-old Sophie hears the sea calling, promising adventure and a chance for discovery as she sets sail for England with her three uncles and two cousins. Sophie's cousin Cody isn't sure he has the strength to prove himself to the crew and to his father. Through Sophie's and Cody's travel logs, we hear stories of the past and the daily challenges of surviving at sea as The Wanderer sails toward its destination, and its passengers search for their places in the world.
F BLU	It's Not the End of the World (age 9-12) by Judy Blume illness/loss ... family Karen has decided she'll never get married. Just look at her parents. All they do is fight. And now Karen's dad has moved out of the house and they're talking about divorce. But despite their fighting, Karen is sure they can work it out if they really try. Can Karen hold the family together-or is that really the best solution?
F BAU	On My Honor (age 9-12) by Marion Dane Bauer illness/loss ... growing up ... friendship On your honor?" Joel's father said. "You won't go anywhere except the park?" "On my honor," Joel repeated. During a bicycle trip to the state park, Joel dares his best fried Tony to a swimming race in the dangerous Vermillion River. The boys have been warned never to go near the river, but Tony can't let Joel think he's scared. Both boys jump in. When Joel reaches the sandbar, he turns and looks for Tony and finds that he has vanished. Joel is stunned. How can he face their parents and the terrible truth?
F HAN	Ida B: and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World (age 9-12) by Katherine Hannigan illness/loss ... humor ... school ... growing up Who is Ida B. Applewood? She is a fourth grader like no other, living a life like no other, with a voice like no other, and her story will resonate long after you have put this book down. How does Ida B cope when outside forces (life, really) attempt to derail her and her family and her future? She enters her Black Period, and it is not pretty. But then, with the help of a patient teacher, a loyal cat and dog, her beloved apple trees, and parents who believe in the same things she does (even if they sometimes act as though they don't), the resilience that is the very essence of Ida B triumph...and Ida B. Applewood takes the hand that is extended and starts to grow up.

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