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URB |
A Crooked Kind of Perfect
(age 9-12) by Linda Urban enterprise ... humor ... the arts ... family Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience's applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she'll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall. But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day. Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises, and that perfection may be even better when it's just a little off center. |
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KAR |
The Great Turkey Walk
(age 9-12) by Kathleen Karr enterprise ... humor ... historical Big, brawny Simon Green, who's just completed third grade (for the fourth time), may not be book smart, but he's nobody's fool. When it's time to be done with school and make his way in the world, Simon hatches a plan that could earn him a bundle. He intends to herd a huge flock of bronze turkeys all the way from his home in eastern Missouri to the boomtown of Denver, where they'll fetch a mighty price. In the year 1860, the hazards of such a trek are many - how does one shepherd the birds across a river, for instance? - but Simon is undaunted. Accompanied by a faithful drover, and eventually to be joined by two boon companions, he undertakes the biggest journey of his young life, in this high-spirited Wild Wild West adventure. |
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GUT |
The Homework Machine
(age 9-12) by Dan Gutman brilliant protagonist ... enterprise ... humor ... friendship ... school Meet the D Squad, a foursome of fifth graders at the Grand Canyon School made up of a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker. They are bound together by one very big secret: the homework machine. Because the machine, code-named Belch, is doing their homework for them, they start spending a lot of time together, attracting a lot of attention. And attention is exactly what you don't want when you are keeping a secret. Before long, things start to get out of control, and Belch becomes much more powerful than they ever imagined. Now the kids are in a race against their own creation, and the loser could end up in jail...or worse! |
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IBB |
Dial-a-Ghost
(age 9-12) by Eva Ibbotson humor ... enterprise ... spooky The Dial-a-Ghost Agency finds good homes for ghosts. And Fulton and Frieda Snodde-Brittle are looking for a few frightening ghosts to accidentally scare their young cousin and heir, Oliver, to death. The ladies at the Dial-a-Ghost Agency have the perfect match: the Shriekers, two bloodstained and bickering horrors. But thanks to a mix-up at the agency, the Wilkinsons, a kind family of ghosts, arrive instead. Can they put a stop to the Snodde-Brittles' schemes before it's too late? |
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CLE |
Emily's Runaway Imagination
(age 9-12) by Beverly Cleary historical ... family ... humor ... enterprise Catalog: Emily's imagination helps bring a library to her town of Pitchfork, Oregon. |
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NIX |
Young Americans Series (age 9-12) by Joan Lowery Nixon enterprise ... historical Each volume tells a personal story about life and work in Colonial Williamsburg. title: Ann's Story, 1747 title: Caesar's Story, 1759 title: Nancy's Story, 1765 |
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SLO |
The Trading Game
(age 9-12) by Alfred Slote family ... enterprise ... sports Andy loves to collect baseball cards, but most of all, he loves his grandfather, an ex-Major League baseball player who thinks that baseball card collecting is a useless hobby. When Andy must choose to either play by his grandfather's rules or do whatever it takes to trade for his grandfather's baseball card, he learns a valuable lesson on hero worship. |
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NAY |
Beetles, Lightly Toasted
(age 9-12) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor humor ... enterprise ... authorship Andy's entering the fifth-grade essay contest stirs his imagination to creative heights as he competes with his know-it-all cousin by making recipes with some unusual food sources and testing them on unaware friends and family. |
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WOO |
The Christmas Doll
(age 9-12) by Elvira Woodruff traditions ... magic ... enterprise ... historical Lucy and her sister Glory have only each other to lean on as they labor day after day in the workhouse. When they flee to escape a deadly fever, they find an old, discarded doll...but this is no ordinary toy. This story of love, hope, and redemption finds magic in the least likely places. |