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 Blue Bicycle by Valerie Tripp F TRI
title: Samantha's Surprise: a Christmas Story by Maxine Rose Schur F SCH
title: Samantha's Winter Party by Valerie Tripp F TRI
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TRI
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: Happy Birthday, Molly!: a Springtime Story
title: Molly Saves the Day: a Summer Story
title: Molly's A+ Partner
title: Molly's Surprise: a Christmas Story
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TRI
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 Saves the Day!: a Summer Story, 1934
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SHA
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: 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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SHA
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: Changes for Kaya: a Story of Courage
title: Kaya and Lone Dog: a Friendship Story
title: Kaya Shows the Way: a Sister Story
title: Kaya's Escape!: a Survival Story
title: Kaya's Hero: a Story of Giving
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TRI
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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POR
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 Little Brother
title: Addy's Surprise: a Christmas Story
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GRE
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: Candlelight for Rebecca
title: Rebecca and Ana
title: Rebecca and the Movies
title: Rebecca to the Rescue
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TRI
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
title: Again Josefina
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LOO
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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TRI
Really Truly Ruthie (age 8-11)
by Valerie Tripp
growing up ... family ... historical
American Girl Ruthie Smithens, Kit Kittredge's best friend, now stars in her own book. After Ruthie finds out some bad news about the Kittredges' house while at her father's bank, she must find a way to help the Kittredges reach Kit's Aunt Millie.
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BRO
Tangles (age 8-11)
by Errol Broome
growing up ... friendship
When she takes money from her neighbor's wallet in order to buy a kitten, Sophie finds that she cannot live with the guilt.
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YEE
Good Luck, Ivy (age 8-11)
by Lisa Yee
growing up ... sports ... family
Ivy Ling feels invisible. The middle child in a busy Chinese-American household, Ivy's mother has gone back to school to become a lawyer and her father has two jobs to keep the family afloat. And if that's not enough, Ivy's best friend Julie Albright has moved to another part of San Francisco. The only place Ivy feels at home is at gymnastics. But when she learns that the big gymnastics tournament is scheduled for the same day as the annual Ling family reunion, Ivy wrestles with a difficult choice. Gradually, with her brother Andrew's help, Ivy realizes that she can take charge of her life--and make her own luck.
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MCD
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
title: Changes for Julie
title: Happy New Year, Julie
title: Julie and the Eagles
title: Julie tells her story
title: Julie's Journey
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LIN
Dumpling Days (age 8-11)
by Grace Lin
realistic ... growing up ... humor ... identity
Publisher comments: This summer, Pacy's family is going to Taiwan for an entire month to visit family and prepare for their grandmother's 60th birthday celebration. Pacy's parents have signed her up for a Chinese painting class, and at first she's excited. This is a new way to explore her art talent! But everything about the trip is harder than she thought it would be--she looks like everyone else but can't speak the language, she has trouble following the art teacher's instructions, and it's difficult to make friends in her class. At least the dumplings are delicious. As the month passes by, Pacy eats chicken feet (by accident!), gets blessed by a fortune teller, searches for her true identity, and grows closer to those who matter most.
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LIN
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."
sequel: The Year of the Rat
American Girl Today Series (age 8-11)
enterprise ... growing up
Stories of modern girls who make things happen.
title: Mia by Laurence Yep F YEP
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KIN
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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GIF
Poopsie Pomerantz, Pick Up Your Feet (age 8-11)
by Patricia Reilly Giff
growing up ... sports ... the arts
Poopsie Pomerantz is sure that ballet lessons will make her slim and graceful. But her friend Tracy Matson makes fun of Poopsie's efforts, saying there's no hope for chubby Poopsie. Tracy is surprised when Poopsie announces she's getting the starring role in her dance school's ballet. And Poopsie's surprised, too, because it's not true! She didn't mean to say that. Now she has to pray that Tracy doesn't come to the ballet, because guess which part Poopsie really has?
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FLE
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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GIF
Rat Teeth (age 8-11)
by Patricia Reilly Giff
illness/loss ... growing up ... family
It's bad enough that his parents are divorced and his two front teeth stick out a mile, but when he loses a baseball game to the fourth graders, even a "toughie" like Cliffie feels he has no choice but to run away.
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CUT
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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TRA
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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DEL
Angel Series (age 8-11)
by Judy Delton
growing up ... family
Although Angel loves her little brother, Rags, dearly, the constant responsibility of caring for him weighs heavily on her young shoulders
title: Back Yard Angel
title: Angel's Mother's Baby
title: Angel's Mother's Wedding
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WHI
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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BYA
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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LOW
Sam Krupnik Series (age 8-11)
by Lois Lowry
growing up ... realistic ... humor ... family
Sam Krupnik enters school with some very strong ideas about what he wants to be and how. Fans of this series will enjoy the same author's books about Anastasia, his big sister, as well.
title: All About Sam
title: Attaboy, Sam!
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BLU
Freckle Juice (age 8-11)
by Judy Blume
growing up ... humor
If Andrew had an amazing number of freckles like Nicky, his mother would never know if his neck was dirty. One day after school, Andrew works up enough courage to ask Nicky where he got his freckles. When know-it-all Sharon overhears, she offers Andrew her secret freckle juice recipe, for fifty cents. It's a lot of money, but Andrew is desperate. At home he carefully mixes the strange combination of ingredients. Then the unexpected happens...
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DIC
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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DAN
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 Is Feeling Blue
title: Amber Brown Is Green With Envy
title: You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown

Hoover Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:31 2012
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