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ROB |
The Amazing Valvano and the Mystery of the Hooded Rat
(age 8-11) by Mary Robinson mystery ... school ... the arts Catalog: Maria is excited about her plans to perform a magic act in the school talent show until her pet rat, an integral part of the act, is kidnapped. |
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MAR |
Stage Fright
(age 8-11) by Ann M. Martin identity ... school ... the arts Catalog: Shy Sara panics when her fourth-grade teacher announces that her class is to perform a play before the entire school, but eventually learns that stage fright can sometimes be healthy. |
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VAN |
The Great Googlestein Museum Mystery
(age 8-11) by Jean Van Leeuwen humor ... adventure ... the arts Three adventurous mice escape from their home at Macy's department store and spend an exciting week in the Guggenheim Museum, creating a sensation in the art world. |
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PIN |
The Artsy Smartsy Club
(age 8-11) by Daniel Pinkwater friendship ... the arts ... humor They were on their own: three kids and one giant chicken. Stuck in Hoboken for the summer, Nick Itch, Loretta Fischetti, and Bruno Ugg are really, really bored. After whiling away their time spitting in the Hudson River and trying to teach Henrietta, Nick's 266-pound chicken, how to juggle marshmallows, they're ready for something...anything...to happen. When a mysterious and brilliant chalk artist starts decorating Hoboken's streets, the three friends are blown away. They set off to explore the art world in a frenzy of adventurous drawing, screeving, and eggplant picnics. |
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WEN |
Elizabeth's Song
(age 8-11) by Michael Wenberg historical ... family ... the arts In a small yellow house by the railroad tracks in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a ten-year-old girl named Elizabeth fuels her passion for music by playing her brother's guitar--Left-handed and upside down. After her brother moves, a determined Elizabeth works at odd jobs to buy her own guitar. The first night she has it, she spends hours writing a song for her brother. She calls it "Freight Train." |
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PER |
Rickshaw Girl
(age 8-11) by Mitali Perkins the arts ... enterprise Naima is a talented painter of traditional alpana patterns, which Bangladeshi women and girls paint on their houses for special celebrations. But Naima is not satisfied just painting alpana. She wants to help earn money for her family, like her best friend, Saleem, does for his family. When Naima's rash effort to help puts her family deeper in debt, she draws on her resourceful nature and her talents to bravely save the day. Naima is a talented painter of traditional alpana patterns, which Bangladeshi women and girls paint on their houses for special celebrations. But Naima is not satisfied just painting alpana. She wants to help earn money for her family, like her best friend, Saleem, does for his family. When Naima's rash effort to help puts her family deeper in debt, she draws on her resourceful nature and her talents to bravely save the day. |
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WRI |
Rosie and the Dance of the Dinosaurs
(age 8-11) by Betty Ren Wright mystery ... the arts ... family Catalog: Rosie discovers that having nine fingers can be an asset as she faces the challenges of an upcoming piano recital and the absence of her father who moved away to find a new job. |
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LOV |
Bess's Log Cabin Quilt
(age 8-11) by D. Anne Love family ... historical ... the arts With her father away and her mother ill with fever, ten-year-old Bess works hard on a log cabin quilt to save the family farm. |
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HUT |
The Mona Lisa Mystery
(age 8-11) by Pat Hutchins the arts ... mystery Class 3 of Hampstead Primary School takes a school trip to Paris and lands right into the middle of a mystery. |
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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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LOV |
The Puppeteer's Apprentice
(age 8-11) by D. Anne Love adventure ... the arts ... historical Mouse, a timid orphan growing up in medieval England, has little happiness in the world. But then, when she comes across a puppeteer so talented that he can make the puppets talk and dance as if they were little humans, Mouse realizes that true happiness is within reach ... and the key is learning how to make the puppets dance! What she doesn't realize, however, is just how much she and her prospective mentor have in common and how much, one day, they will share. |
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STR |
Dancing Shoes
(age 8-11) by Noel Streatfeild identity ... the arts Publisher comments: Aunt Cora is determined to turn two orphans, perky Hilary and sullen Rachel, into members of her dance troupe. But Rachel wants to keep Hilary from being one of Wintle's Little Wonders ... is it selfishness or something else? Misunderstandings create a tale full of high drama. |
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COL |
Rich and Famous: the Further Adventures of George Stable
(age 8-11) by James Lincoln Collier enterprise ... the arts Catalog: George suddenly finds himself the darling of a New York television company where plans are made to turn him into a singing, guitar-playing teen-age idol. |
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COA |
The Cat Who Went to Heaven
(age 8-11) by Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth animals ... folklore ... the arts Catalog: A little cat comes to the home of a poor Japanese artist and, by humility and devotion, helps to bring about a miracle. |
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CLE |
The Last Holiday Concert
(age 8-11) by Andrew Clements enterprise ... the arts ... school Publisher comments: It all started when Hart Evans zinged a rubber band that hit Mr. Meinert, the chorus director. Actually, it started before that, when Mr. Meinert learned he was out of a job because the town budget couldn't afford music and art teachers. Mr. Meinert got so mad at Hart that he told the sixth graders he'd had it ... they could produce the big holiday concert on their own. Or not. It was all up to them. What happens when a teacher steps aside and lets the kids run the show? Not what Mr. Meinert would have predicted. And not what Hart Evans would have guessed, not at all. |
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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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NIC |
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
(age 8-11) by Barbara Nichol historical ... friendship ... letters/journal ... the arts The letters that ten-year-old Christoph and his uncle exchange show how Christoph's feelings for Mr. Beethoven, the eccentric boarder that shares his house, change from anger and embarrassment to compassion and admiration. |
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CLE |
Ellen Tebbits
(age 8-11) by Beverly Cleary the arts ... school ... realistic ... friendship Ellen was eight years old and wore bands on her teeth. Her best friend had just moved away and she missed her. Still, as she walked to the Spofford School of the Dance one Saturday, she was almost glad she had no best friend. Best friends do not have secrets from each other, and Ellen had a secret she did not want to share with anyone. But by the time the dancing lesson was over (surely the most devastating dancing lesson on record), Ellen had found a best friend and shared her secret. The best friend was Austine, and the secret was that Ellen was wearing woolen underwear. So was Austine! |
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GIF |
Pictures of Hollis Woods
(age 8-11) by Patricia Reilly Giff the arts ... friendship ... family A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her. |
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KIN |
A Mouse Called Wolf
(age 8-11) by Dick King-Smith adventure ... enterprise ... the arts Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse (``Wolf,'' for short) has a big name for such a little mouse. But the name fits. His favorite pastime is listening to Mrs. Honeybee, the lady of the house, play the piano. If only he could sing along to the music! One day, to his surprise, out of his mouth comes a perfect melody. It's not long before Wolf is singing everything he can imagine, all to Mrs. Honeybee's accompaniment. Then an accident leaves Mrs. Honeybee in danger, and it's up to Wolf to save her...the only way he knows how. |