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BAN |
Goodbye, Coolsville! Hello, Nerdtown!
(age 9-12) by Jennifer Bancroft illness/loss ... letters/journal ... identity ... family ... growing up Publisher comments: Andi, after the loss of her mother, feels like her world has all but fallen apart. She finds herself constantly being influenced by friends that her dad doesn't approve of. So one day he decides that enough is enough and makes a decision that radically changes their lives. He quits his job and they move out of the city to a small town in the mountains. Andi is horrified! Upon their arrivial at their new home, Andi begins unpacking and discovers her mother's old journal from when she was Andi's age. As she reads the journals, Andi soon begins to realize that her mother experienced some of the same situations. |
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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. |
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ADL |
Split Sisters
(age 9-12) by Carole S. Adler illness/loss ... family When her parents decide to live apart, eleven-year-old Case tries to figure out a way to keep the family together so she doesn't have to separate from her beloved sister. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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? |
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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. |
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PAR |
Mick Harte Was Here
(age 9-12) by Barbara Park family ... illness/loss How could someone like Mick die? He was the kid who freaked out his mom by putting a ceramic eye in a defrosted chicken, the kid who did a wild dance in front of the whole school--and the kid who, if only he had worn his bicycle helmet, would still be alive today. But now Phoebe Harte's twelve-year-old brother is gone, and Phoebe's world has turned upside down. With her trademark candor and compassion, beloved middle-grade writer Barbara Park tells how Phoebe copes with her painful loss in this story filled with sadness, humor--and hope. |