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DEF
The Ghost of Fossil Glen (age 9-12)
by Cynthia C. DeFelice
letters/journal ... mystery ... friendship ... spooky
Allie Nichols knows she's being pursued by a ghost. But her friend Karen calls her a liar and doesn't want to hear stuff like that. It is Allie's old pal Dub who listens eagerly as Allie tells him about a voice that guides her safely down a steep cliff side, the face in her mind's eye of a girl who begs ``Help me,'' and a terrible nightmare in which that girl falls to her death. Who is the girl? Is she the ghost? And what does the ghost want from Allie? As Allie discovers that her role is to avenge a murder, she also learns something about friendship, false and true, in this gripping ghost story and murder mystery.
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BLO
A Gathering of Days: a New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32, a Novel (age 9-12)
by Joan W. Blos
historical ... growing up ... letters/journal
Catalog: The journal of a fourteen-year-old girl, kept the last year she lived on the family farm, records daily events in her small New Hampshire town, her father's remarriage, and the death of her best friend.
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YEE
Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time (age 9-12)
by Lisa Yee
humor ... friendship ... letters/journal ... brilliant protagonist
Stanford Wong is having a bad summer. He flunks English and will have to trade basketball camp for summer school. Even worse, his mother has hired the world's biggest nerdball and most annoying genius, Millicent Min, to tutor him. And with family pressures mounting, how will be find a way to cope?
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YEE
So Totally Emily Ebers (age 9-12)
by Lisa Yee
humor ... friendship ... letters/journal ... brilliant protagonist
After her parents' divorce, Emily had to move to California with her mom. Now she writes letters to her rock-star dad about travel ("How did the pioneers do it? Did they have to ride with their mothers?"), her new friends, and how much she misses him, though she does still have his credit card. Emily Ebers may be starting over, but she's going to come out on top.
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YEE
Millicent Min, Girl Genius (age 9-12)
by Lisa Yee
humor ... friendship ... letters/journal ... brilliant protagonist
Millicent Min is having a bad summer. Her fellow high school students hate her for setting the curve. Her fellow 11-year-olds hate her for going to high school. And her mother has arranged for her to tutor Stanford Wong, the poster boy for Chinese geekdom. But then Millie meets Emily Ebers. Emily doesn't know Millicent's IQ score. She actually thinks Millie is cool. And if Millie can hide her awards, ignore her grandmother's advice, swear her parents to silence, blackmail Stanford, and keep all her lies straight, she just might make her first friend. What's it gong to take? Sheer genius.
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SCH
4 Kids in 5-E and 1 Crazy Year (age 9-12)
by Virginia Frances Schwartz
letters/journal ... humor ... school ... authorship
Told in four voices, this heartfelt and sometimes hilarious story chronicles the ups and downs of a unique group of city kids learning to cope with their complicated lives.
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KIN
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series (age 9-12)
by Jeff Kinney
letters/journal ... growing up ... humor ... school ... friendship
It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.
title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal
title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
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HES
Letters from Rifka (age 9-12)
by Karen Hesse
survival ... historical ... letters/journal
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.
The Royal Diaries Series (age 9-12)
princesses ... letters/journal ... historical
Each novel in diary form follows the life of a royal figure from the past. Sometimes tragic, always exciting, these stories recall pivotal moments from history.
title: Anastasia, the Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer F MEY
title: Cleopatra VII, Daughter of the Nile by Kristiana Gregory F GRE
title: Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine by Kristiana Gregory F GRE
title: Elisabeth: the Princess Bride by Barry Denenberg F DEN
title: Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky F LAS
title: Isabel: Jewel of Castilla by Carolyn Meyer F MEY
title: Jahanara, Princess of Princesses by Kathryn Lasky F LAS
title: Kaiulani: the People's Princess by Ellen Emerson White F WHI
title: Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven by Kathryn Lasky F LAS
title: Kristina: the Girl King by Carolyn Meyer F MEY
title: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles by Kathryn Lasky F LAS
title: Victoria, May Blossom of Britannia by Anna Kirwan F KIR
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WES
With Love From Spain, Melanie Martin (age 9-12)
by Carol Weston
humor ... growing up ... friendship ... family ... voyages/journeys ... letters/journal
On spring break in Spain, fifth-grader Melanie Martin decides to spy on her mother for her father when her mother starts spending a lot of time with her old boyfriend, Antonio, but when she meets Antonio's cute twelve-year-old son, her plans go out the window.
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SNI
Lemony Snicket: the Unauthorized Autobiography (age 9-12)
by Lemony Snicket
humor ... letters/journal
The elusive author provides a glimpse into his mysterious and sometimes confusing life, using fanciful letters, diary entries, and other miscellaneous documents as well as photographs and illustrations.
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DAN
P.S. Longer Letter Later (age 9-12)
by Paula Danziger and Ann Martin
growing up ... friendship ... letters/journal
Twelve-year-old best friends Elizabeth and Tara-Starr continue their friendship through letter-writing after Tara-Starr's family moves to another state.
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CLE
Strider (age 9-12)
by Beverly Cleary
school ... friendship ... growing up ... letters/journal
Strider has a new habit. Whenever we stop, he places his paw on my foot. It isn't an accident because he always does it. I like to think he doesn't want to leave me. Can a stray dog change the life of a teenage boy? It looks as if Strider can. He's a dog that loves to run; because of Strider, Leigh Botts finds himself running, well enough to join the school track team. Strider changes Leigh on the inside, too, as he finally begins to accept his parents' divorce and gets to know a redheaded girl he's been admiring. With Strider's help, Leigh finds that the future he once hated to be asked about now holds something he never expected: hope.
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LAS
The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: the Lewis and Clark Expedition (age 9-12)
by Kathryn Lasky
adventure ... historical ... letters/journal
A fictional journal kept by twelve-year-old Augustus Pelletier, the youngest member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery.
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CLE
Dear Mr. Henshaw (age 9-12)
by Beverly Cleary
identity ... friendship ... authorship ... letters/journal
In his letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his problems in coping with his parents' divorce, being the new boy in school, and generally finding his own place in the world.

Ohlone Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:33 2012
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