F ALC	Louisa May Alcott's Little Women Books (age 10+) by Louisa May Alcott historical ... growing up ... family Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England. title: Little Women
F LAR	Hattie Big Sky (age 10+) by Kirby Larson family ... historical Publisher comments: Alone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle's homesteading claim. For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie's been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubborn stick-to-itiveness, Hattie faces frost, drought and blizzards. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends — especially Charlie, fighting in France — through letters and articles for her hometown paper. Her backbreaking quest for a home is lightened by her neighbors, the Muellers. But she feels threatened by pressure to be a "Loyal" American, forbidding friendships with folks of German descent. Despite everything, Hattie's determined to stay until a tragedy causes her to discover the true meaning of home.
F VAN	Dear Mom, You're Ruining My Life (age 10+) by Jean Van Leeuwen realistic ... growing up ... family Samantha Slayton's eleventh year includes losing her last baby teeth, towering over every boy in dance school, and being mortified by everything her mother does.
F MAR	With You and Without You (age 10+) by Ann Matthews Martin family ... illness/loss A twelve-year-old faces the fact that her father is dying, and then his death, but dealing with the emptiness afterwards is hardest of all.
F AVI	Never Mind!: a Twin Novel (age 10+) by Avi family ... school ... humor Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg's hopes for popularity and Edward's mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.
F HEN	Bird Lake Moon (age 10+) by Kevin Henkes illness/loss ... family ... friendship ... spooky Publisher comments: Spencer thought the house might be haunted. Mitch knew it wasn't. And he knew why. The whole time Spencer and Mitch hung out together at Bird Lake that summer, there were secrets keeping them apart. And maybe a secret knowledge keeping them together, too...together like members of the same tribe. Like friends.
F COM	Revolution is Not a Dinner Party (age 10+) by Ying Chang Compestine family ... growing up ... historical Publisher comments: Nine-year-old Ling is very comfortable in her life; her parents are both dedicated surgeons in the best hospital in Wuhan. But when Comrade Li, one of Mao's political officers, moves into a room in their apartment, Ling begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her world. In an atmosphere of increasing mistrust, Ling fears for the safety of her neighbors and, soon, for herself and family. Over the course of four years, Ling manages to grow and blossom, even as she suffers more horrors than many people face in a lifetime.
F DOW	The London Eye Mystery (age 10+) by Siobhan Dowd family ... mystery Publisher comments: Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye, but after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off, except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own unique way, to find the key to the mystery.
F LAW	Scumble (age 10+) by Ingrid Law growing up ... fantasy ... family Publisher comments: It's nine years after Savvy, and Mibs' cousin Ledge is on the verge of turning thirteen. More than anything, he wants the power to run like the wind. But when his birthday comes, he discovers that his savvy is actually making things fall apart. It starts out with small things, but then it gets worse. To top it all off, someone outside the family has witnessed his destruction. Now, in addition to trying to figure out how to control - or scumble - his savvy, he's got to worry about how to protect the family secrets. Over the course of one amazing summer, Ledge learns a lot about himself and his family, makes a new - and very unlikely - friend, and learns to appreciate his newfound skills.
F LAW	Savvy (age 10+) by Ingrid Law growing up ... fantasy ... family Publisher comments: For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a "savvy", a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity...and now it's the eve of Mibs's big day. As if waiting weren't hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibs's birthday: Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesman's bus...only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.
F LUP	The Big Field (age 10+) by Mike Lupica action ... friendship ... sports ... family Publisher comments: For Hutch, shortstop has always been home. It's where his father once played professionally, before injuries relegated him to watching games on TV instead of playing them. And it's where Hutch himself has always played and starred. Until now. The arrival of Darryl "D-Will" Williams, the top shortstop prospect from Florida since A-Rod, means Hutch is displaced, in more ways than one. Second base feels like second fiddle, and when he sees his father giving fielding tips to D-Will...the same father who can't be bothered to show up to watch his son play. Hutch feels betrayed. With the summer league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?
F WYN	Rex Zero, King of Nothing (age 10+) by Tim Wynne-Jones family ... historical ... growing up Rex-Norton-Norton, an eleven-year-old boy living in Ottawa in 1962, faces several confusing mysteries, including his father's troubling secrets from World War II, the problems of a beautiful but unhappy woman named Natasha, what to do about his mean and vindictive teacher, and whether or not he should even be concerned about such things.
F ABB	The Postcard (age 10+) by Tony Abbott mystery ... illness/loss ... family Publisher comments: She died today. One phone call changes Jason's summer vacation-and life!-forever. When Jason's grandmother dies, he's sent down to her home in Florida to help his father clean out her things. At first he gripes about spending his summer miles away from his best friend, doing chores, and sweating in the Florida heat, but he soon discovers a mystery surrounding his grandmother's murky past. An old, yellowed postcard...a creepy phone call with a raspy voice at the other end asking, "So how smart are you?..".an entourage of freakish funeral goers....a bizarre magazine story. All contain clues that will send him on a thrilling journey to uncover family secrets.
F LOW	Rabble Starkey (age 10+) by Lois Lowry family ... friendship Many things change for twelve-year-old Rabble Starkey, her mother, and her best friend, Veronica Bigelow when Veronica's mother becomes mentally incapacitated and the Starkeys move in with the Bigelows.
F PEC	Fair Weather: a Novel (age 10+) by Richard Peck family ... humor ... historical In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.
F GAI	Coraline (age 10+) by Neil Gaiman family ... fantasy ... spooky When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
F LUP	Heat (age 10+) by Mike Lupica family ... identity ... sports Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat. But his firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day life. Newly orphaned after his father led the family's escape from Cuba, Michael's only family is his seventeen-year-old brother Carlos. If Social Services hears of their situation, they will be separated in the foster-care system or worse, sent back to Cuba. Together, the boys carry on alone, dodging bills and anyone who asks too many questions. But then someone wonders how a twelve-year-old boy could possibly throw with as much power as Michael Arroyo throws. With no way to prove his age, no birth certificate, and no parent to fight for his cause, Michael's secret world is blown wide open, and he discovers that family can come from the most unexpected sources.
F PEV	Sister of the Quints (age 10+) by Stella Pevsner family Thirteen-year-old Natalie's life undergoes chaotic changes when her stepmother has quintuplets and their roomy Chicago home becomes a huge nursery.
F HOL	Penny From Heaven (age 10+) by Jennifer Holm growing up ... family ... historical As she turns twelve during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death. It's 1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing's that easy in Penny's family. For starters, she can't go swimming because her mother's afraid she'll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her Nonny cries every time her father's name is mentioned. And the two sides of her family aren't speaking to each other!
F LAW	Lord of the Nutcracker Men (age 10+) by Iain Lawrence family ... historical ... war Ten-year-old Johnny eagerly plays at war with the army of nutcracker soldiers his toymaker father whittles for him. He demolishes imaginary foes. But in 1914 Germany looms as the real enemy of Europe, and all too soon Johnny's father is swept up in the war to end all wars. He proudly enlists with his British countrymen to fight at the front in France. The war, though, is nothing like what any soldier or person at home expected. The letters that arrive from Johnny's dad reveal the ugly realities of combat ... and the soldiers he carves and encloses begin to bear its scars. Still, Johnny adds these soldiers to his armies of Huns, Tommies, and Frenchmen, engaging them in furious fights. But when these games seem to foretell his dad's real battles, Johnny thinks he possesses godlike powers over his wooden men. He fears he controls his father's fate, the lives of all the soldiers in no-man's land, and the outcome of the war itself.
F COO	Life Riddles (age 10+) by Melrose Cooper family ... authorship Ten-year-old Janelle, a talented writer, uses her skills to help her cope with her family's problems.
F COL	My Brother Sam is Dead (age 10+) by James Lincoln Collier war ... family ... historical Publisher comments: All his life, Tim Meeker has looked up to his brother Sam. Sam's smart and brave, and is now a part of the American Revolution. Not everyone in town wants to be a part of the rebellion. Most are supporters of the British, including Tim and Sam's father. With the war soon raging, Tim know he'll have to make a choice ... between the Revolutionaries and the Redcoats ... and between his brother and his father.
F CLI	The Man Who Sang in the Dark (age 10+) by Eth Clifford friendship ... family ... historical Catalog: Ten-year-old Leah, her young brother, and their recently widowed mother begin forging a new life for themselves through friendship with a blind man and the other inhabitants of their boarding house in Philadelphia during the Depression.
F CLE	Where the Lilies Bloom (age 10+) by Vera Cleaver historical ... family ... illness/loss Publisher comments: Mary Call has promised her dying father to keep her brother and sisters together forever on the mountain, and never to take any help from strangers. She is determined to keep her word No matter what. At first she is sure she can manage. Romey, Ima Dean, and Devola help gather herbs to sell in town; the riches of the mountains will surely keep the family clothed and fed. But then winter comes, fast and furious, and Mary Call has to learn that the land where the lilies bloom is also a cruel and unforgiving place, and it may take more than a promise to keep her family together.
F YEP	Dragonwings (age 10+) by Laurence Yep historical ... family ... enterprise In the early twentieth century a young Chinese boy joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine.
F RYL	The Islander: a Novel (age 10+) by Cynthia Rylant growing up ... fantasy ... family Living with his grandfather on an island off British Columbia, orphaned ten-year-old Daniel feels deep loneliness until the night he meets a mermaid whose identity he tries to learn.
F GRE	Beat the Turtle Drum (age 10+) by Constance C. Greene family ... illness/loss A young girl learns to cope with her feelings about her sister's accidental death.
F HEN	The Birthday Room (age 10+) by Kevin Henkes growing up ... family Benjamin Hunter gets two things for his twelfth birthday: a freshly renovated room in the attic from his parents and a letter from his uncle, Ian, whom he hasn't seen in nearly ten years. Ben isn't sure what he thinks about the room . . . but the letter! It's an invitation to visit, and Ben has an unexplainable urge to see, and know, this man who's been estranged from the family for so long. That is, if Ben's mother can let go of an old grudge long enough to let him have his wish.
F CHO	Al Capone Does My Shirts (age 10+) by Gennifer Choldenko growing up ... historical ... family Publisher comments: Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she's denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose's family has used for dealing with her disorder. When Moose meets Piper, the cute daughter of the Warden, he knows right off she's trouble. But she's also strangely irresistible. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents? expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away. sequel: Al Capone Shines My Shoes
F BYA	The Pinballs (age 10+) by Betsy Cromer Byars growing up ... friendship ... family You can't always decide where life will take you--especially when you're a kid. Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again. But against her will and her better judgment, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own lives.
F TAY	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (age 10+) by Mildred D. Taylor family ... bigotry ... historical The story of one African American family fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s.
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 PAT	Jacob Have I Loved (age 10+) by Katherine Patterson identity ... realistic ... growing up ... family Sara Louise Bradshaw is sick and tired of her beautiful twin Caroline. Ever since they were born, Caroline has been the pretty one, the talented one, the better sister. Even now, Caroline seems to take everything: Louise's friends, their parents' love, her dreams for the future. For once in her life, Louise wants to be the special one. But in order to do that, she must first figure out who she is, and find a way to make a place for herself outside her sister's shadow.
F O'D	Sarah Bishop (age 10+) by Scott O'Dell war ... survival ... family ... historical Left alone after the deaths of her father and brother who take opposite sides in the War for Independence, and fleeing from the British who seek to arrest her, Sarah Bishop struggles to shape a new life for herself in the wilderness.
F LEV	Journey to America (age 10+) by Sonia Levitin survival ... historical ... family A Jewish family fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 endures innumerable separations before they are once again united.
F HOR	Everything on a Waffle (age 10+) by Polly Horvath growing up ... family ... humor Eleven-year-old Primrose, living in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts with surprising humor her experiences and all she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life after her parents are lost at sea.
F HEN	Protecting Marie (age 10+) by Kevin Henkes family ... animals ... growing up ``Fanny sensed that from the moment she was born she was meant to have a dog. It was as though some unique and independent organ deep inside her, like a tiny heart, couldn't thrive properly without one.'' With humor and compassion Kevin Henkes tells Fanny's story. But this is not just a dog story. This is a story about a girl and her father. This is a story about growing up. This is a story about wanting and getting and realizing that nothing is simple or easy.
F FIT	Sport (age 10+) by Louise Fitzhugh realistic ... family Eleven-year-old Sport Rocque is living a happy life, keeping his father's absentmindedness under control, and managing the family budget. When Kate, Sport's new (and nice) stepmother enters the picture, things couldn't be better. Then comes the news: Sport's wealthy grandfather has just died and Sport is a multimillionaire. But millions of dollars equals millions of problems, as Sport soon discovers when his mother returns and kidnaps him to double her share of the inheritance! Life at the Plaza Hotel is no fun when you're a prisoner. Will Sport manage to escape and return his life to normal?
F CUS	Rodzina (age 10+) by Karen Cushman identity ... survival ... historical ... family One of a group of orphans, 12-year-old Rodzina boards a train on a cold day in March 1881. She's reluctant to leave Chicago, the only home she can remember, and she knows there's no substitute for the family she has lost. As the train rattles westward, Rodzina unwittingly begins to develop attachments to her fellow travelers, and to accept the idea that there might be good homes for orphans--maybe even for a big, combative Polish girl. But no placement seems right for the formidable Rodzina, and she cleverly finds a way out of one bad situation after another, until at last she finds the family that is right for her.
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 PAT	The Same Stuff as Stars (age 10+) by Katherine Patterson growing up ... friendship ... family When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.
F TUR	Maroo of the Winter Caves (age 10+) by Ann Turnbull family ... historical ... survival ... nature Maroo, a girl of the late Ice Age, must take charge after her father is killed, and lead her little brother, mother, and aged grandmother to the safety of the winter camp before the first blizzards strike.
F RYA	Esperanza Rising (age 10+) by Pam Munoz Ryan identity ... historical ... family Esperanza Ortega has fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and the promise of one day rising to her mother's position presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee from Mexico to California and settle in a farm labor camp. There, Esperanza must confront the challenges that come with her difficult circumstances.
F PEC	A Year Down Yonder (age 10+) by Richard Peck short stories ... historical ... family During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman.
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.
F BYN	Molly Moon Series (age 10+) by Georgia Byng identity ... mystery ... magic ... adventure ... friendship ... family Molly Moon is no ordinary orphan. When she finds a mysterious old book on hypnotism, she discovers she can make people do whatever she wants. But a sinister stranger is watching her every move, and he'll do anything to steal her hypnotic secret... title: Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism title: Molly Moon Stops the World title: Molly Moon's Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure title: Molly Moon, Micky Minus, and the Mind Machine
F NIM	Griffin's Castle (age 10+) by Jenny Nimmo family ... fantasy After years of having moved around, eleven-year-old Dinah determines to make a huge, dilapidated old mansion into a home for her mother and herself, but the wild beasts she summons from a stone wall to protect her may also imprison her.

Juana Briones Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:27 2012 Other themes and genres