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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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NUZ |
The Leanin' Dog
(age 9-12) by K. A. Nuzum friendship ... animals ... illness/loss Publisher comments: More than anything, Dessa Dean needed a friend. A friend to love and confide in, a friend with whom she could share her heart. A friend who would delight in all the beauty and joy and fun of Christmas, only four days away. Hope had just about run out, but then . . . there came a scratchin' at the door and Dessa Dean's life was forever changed. |
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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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SPI |
Eggs
(age 9-12) by Jerry Spinelli humor ... friendship ... illness/loss Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives. |
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HOL |
The Journey Home
(age 9-12) by Isabelle Holland family ... historical ... illness/loss Orphaned by their mother's death, two Irish Catholic sisters find a home with a kind Protestant couple on the Kansas frontier. Their new life is far different than that which they had known in New York, and the girls find tension between the need to stay true to their heritage and religious beliefs and the need to adapt to their new life. See also the sequel, The Promised Land. |
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DOW |
Chicken Boy
(age 9-12) by Frances O'Roark Dowell illness/loss ... family ... friendship Tobin Mccauley's got a near-certifiable grandmother, a pack of juvenile-delinquent siblings, and a dad who's not going to win father of the year any time soon. To top it off, Tobin's only friend truly believes that the study of chickens will reveal...the meaning of life? Getting through seventh grade isn't easy for anyone, son, but when the first day of school starts out with your granny's arrest, you know you've got real problems. Throw on five-day suspension (for defending your English teacher's honor), a chicken that lays green eggs, and a family feud that's tearing everyone to pieces, and you're in for one heck of a ride. |
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PAT |
The Hard Pan Trilogy (age 9-12) by Susan Patron humor ... growing up ... survival ... illness/loss ... friendship ... family Publisher comments: Lucky, age ten, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has. It's all Brigitte's fault ... for wanting to go back to France. Guardians are supposed to stay put and look after girls in their care! Instead Lucky is sure that she'll be abandoned to some orphanage in Los Angeles. She'll have to lose her friends Miles and Lincoln. Just as bad, she'll have to give up eavesdropping on twelve-step anonymous programs where the interesting talk is all about Higher Powers. Lucky needs her own ... and quick. But she hadn't planned on a dust storm. Or needing to lug the world's heaviest survival-kit backpack into the desert. title: The Higher Power of Lucky title: Lucky Breaks |
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FLE |
Fig Pudding
(age 9-12) by Ralph Fletcher family ... illness/loss Cliff describes the excitement, conflict, and sudden tragedy experienced by his large and boisterous family during his eleventh year. |
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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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BLU |
It's Not the End of the World
(age 9-12) by Judy Blume illness/loss ... family Karen has decided she'll never get married. Just look at her parents. All they do is fight. And now Karen's dad has moved out of the house and they're talking about divorce. But despite their fighting, Karen is sure they can work it out if they really try. Can Karen hold the family together-or is that really the best solution? |
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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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DEA |
The Door in the Wall
(age 9-12) by Margeurite DeAngeli illness/loss ... knights/castles/dragons ... historical Robin, son of a nobleman, has always expected to learn the ways of knighthood, but this destiny is not to be. He falls ill and uses the use of his legs. Abandoned, forlorn, Robin discovers to his surprise that there is more than one way to serve his king. |