F BRO	The New Class (age 9-12) by Lauren Brooke animals ... school Publisher comments: Welcome to Chestnut Hill, a prestigious boarding school with a rich tradition of academics, horses, and rivalry. This year, five girls from different backgrounds will challenge the Chestnut Hill stereotype. There's witty, spunky Dylan; secretive Malory; western tomboy Lani; Honey, the soft-spoken Brit; and polished New Yorker Razina. None is prepared for the social or riding rigors, and they all doubt they will fit in -- certainly not if queen bee Lynsey and her clique have any say. But if this unlikely fivesome can band together, they may prove themselves the true stars of Chestnut Hill.
F AHL	Woof! (age 9-12) by Allan Ahlberg humor ... animals Relates the extraordinary events that take place when, on an ordinary summer's evening, ten-year-old Eric Banks is turned into a Norfolk terrier.
F BUR	The Incredible Journey (age 9-12) by Sheila Every Burnford nature ... animals ... adventure ... survival Publisher comments: Instinct told them that the way home lay to the west. And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness. Separately, they would soon have died. But, together, the three house pets faced starvation, exposure, and wild forest animals to make their way home to the family they love.
F WAL	No Dogs Allowed! (age 9-12) by Bill Wallace illness/loss ... animals After losing the old horse she had grown up with, Kristine decides she can never get close to another pet again. But when she receives a new pup, Kristine learns what it means to love, to lose, and to open one's heart to new friendships and fresh love.
F LOF	The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (age 9-12) by Hugh Lofting fantasy ... animals The adventures of a kind-hearted doctor, who is fond of animals and understands their language, as he travels to Africa with some of his favorite pets to cure the monkeys of a terrible sickness.
F TAY	The Trouble With Tuck (age 9-12) by Theodore Taylor friendship ... illness/loss ... animals Helen adored her beautiful golden Labrador from the first moment he was placed in her arms, a squirming fat sausage of creamy yellow fur. As her best friend, Friar Tuck waited daily for Helen to come home from school and play. He guarded her through the long, scary hours of the dark night. Twice he even saved her life. Now it's Helen's turn. No one can say exactly when Tuck began to go blind. Probably the light began to fail for him long before the alarming day when he raced after some cats and crashed through the screen door, apparently never seeing it. But from that day on, Tuck's trouble--and how to cope with it--becomes the focus of Helen's life. Together they fight the chain that holds him and threatens to break his spirit, until Helen comes up with a solution so new, so daring, there's no way it can fail.
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 MOR	War Horse (age 9-12) by Michael Morpurgo action ... animals ... war ... historical This moving story tells of the truest of friendships in the worst of wars, as a horse is sold from his farm, taken from the gentle boy who was his master, to serve in the military during World War I.
F TAM	The Junkyard Dog (age 9-12) by Erika Tamar growing up ... family ... animals With the advice of her stepfather, eleven-year-old Katie takes on the job of feeding an abused junkyard dog and building it a doghouse for shelter during the hard winter.
F LOF	The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (age 9-12) by Hugh Lofting animals ... adventure ... fantasy When his colleague Long Arrow disappears, Dr. Dolittle sets off with his assistant, Tommy Stubbins, his dog, Jip, and Polynesia the parrot on an adventurous voyage over tropical seas to floating Spidermonkey Island.
F HAR	Thunder From the Sea (age 9-12) by Joan Hiatt Harlow family ... animals ... historical It's 1929 and thirteen-year-old Tom Campbell has always wanted a real family with a real house and a dog of his very own. Since he was three years old, the only home he has ever known has been the Mission orphanage. When he is sent to live and work with fisherman Enoch and his wife, Tom finally sees his dream wihin reach. And when he rescues a Newfoundland dog in the middle of a terrifying squall, Tom feels as if both he and the dog, which he names Thunder, have found a place to call home at last. But when Enoch's wife becomes pregnant and it looks like Thunder's owner might be found, Tom's wonderful new world is turned upside down. Will the Murrays still want Tom? And will Tom be forced to give up his beloved Thunder?
F MAR	A Dog's Life: the Autobiography of a Stray (age 9-12) by Ann Matthews Martin adventure ... survival ... animals Squirrel and her brother Bone begin their lives in a toolshed behind a summer house. Their mother nurtures them and teaches them the many skills they will need to survive as stray dogs. But when their mother is suddenly taken from them, the puppies are forced to make their own way in the world, facing humans both gentle and brutal, busy highways, other animals, and the changing seasons. When Bone and Squirrel become separated, Squirrel must fend for herself, and in the process makes two friends who in very different ways define her fate.
F KJE	Big Red (age 9-12) by Jim Kjelgaard growing up ... nature ... animals From the moment Danny sees the beautiful Irish setter, he knows Red is the dog for him. Fast and smart, strong and noble, Red is the only dog Danny wants by his side. Soon, neither boy nor dog can stand to be apart. Together Danny and Red face many dangers in the harsh Wintapi wilderness that they call home. But the greatest test of their courage and friendship will come from an enemy more cunning than any they've known before--a bear who is the undisputed king of the wilderness, a savage killer called Old Majesty.
F FAR	The Black Stallion Series (age 9-12) by Walter Farley survival ... adventure ... animals A shipwreck leaves young Alec stranded on a deserted island with a wild stallion. Dependent on each other for survival, boy and horse learn to trust and love each other as they establish an amazing friendship that lasts a lifetime. title: The Black Stallion title: The Island Stallion title: The Young Black Stallion title: Son of the Black Stallion
F STE	Trouble for Lucy (age 9-12) by Carla Stevens historical ... animals As she and her family travel the Oregon Trail in 1843, Lucy's puppies persist in creating trouble.
F SEW	Black Beauty: the Autobiography of a Horse (age 9-12) by Anna Sewell historical ... animals A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters.
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 WAL	The Pick of the Litter (age 9-12) by Bill Wallace friendship ... animals Twelve-year-old Tom learns firsthand about honor, friendship, and puppy love in the summer after sixth grade. First he is wrongly accused of lying on the last day of school. Then, after helping his ill grandfather take care of his kennel, he faces the risk of losing a puppy he has come to love.
F LAW	Mr. Revere and I (age 9-12) by Robert Lawson animals ... historical The life of the Revere family and the doings of the Sons of Liberty as told from the point of view of Paul Revere's horse.
F AVI	The Good Dog (age 9-12) by Avi family ... adventure ... animals McKinley, a malamute, is torn between the domestic world of his human family and the wild world of Lupin, a wolf that is trying to recruit dogs to replenish the dwindling wolf pack. As McKinley and his boy try to save the wolf from a vicious man, no one can foresee what will happen.
F GEO	My Side of the Mountain (age 9-12) by Jean Craighead George survival ... animals ... nature ... adventure Runaway Sam Gribley is surviving in the Catskill Mountains with only a penknife, a ball of cord, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel. Along the way, he learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that will change his life forever.
F NAY	Shiloh (age 9-12) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor friendship ... animals One summer Sunday, Marty comes across a young beagle on the road just past the old Shiloh schoolhouses and the trouble begins. What do you do when a dog you suspect is being mistreated runs away and comes to you? When it is someone else's dog? Marty puts his courage on the line, and discovers in the process that it is not always easy to separate right from wrong. Sometimes, however, you do almost anything to save a dog. sequel: Saving Shiloh
F EST	Ginger Pye (age 9-12) by Eleanor Estes animals ... family Meet Ginger Pye, the smartest dog you'll ever know. Jerry Pye and his sister, Rachel, feel pretty smart themselves for buying Ginger. It was the best dollar they ever spent. Ginger steals everybody's heart . . . until someone steals him!

Hoover Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:31 2012 Other themes and genres