F TAY	Secrets! (age 9-12) by Karen Tayleur humor ... letters/journal ... friendship ... authorship Publisher comments: David Mortimore Baxter becomes famous for being good at keeping secrets. Big secrets. More and more people confide in him, until David's ready to explode. How can he keep so many secrets, when he knows that blabbing them out loud might actually help his family and friends?
F WEB	Daddy-Long-Legs (age 9-12) by Jean Webster school ... growing up ... letters/journal Publisher comments: A kind woman who was always deeply interested in the problems of the downtrodden, Jean Webster made an orphan girl a major character in one of her most charming and popular books--Daddy-Long-Legs. The oldest at a dreary home for foundlings, Judy Abbott finds her life completely changed when, with the help of a mysterious benefactor, she is granted her wish to be able to go to college. In return for this great favor, Judy has to write her anonymous sponsor each month about her activities at the New England school, which she does in letters addressed to "Daddy-Long-Legs." A meeting with the rich, handsome uncle of her snobbish roommate sets Judy and readers alike on the road to uncovering the secrets surrounding her secret friend.
F KLI	43 Old Cemetary Road Series (age 9-12) by Kate Klise humor ... authorship ... letters/journal ... spooky ... mystery Publisher comments: Ignatius B. Grumply moves into the Victorian mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road hoping to find some peace and quiet so he can crack a wicked case of writer's block. But 43 Old Cemetery Road is already occupied by eleven-year-old Seymour, his cat Shadow, and an irritable ghost named Olive. It's hard to say who is more outraged. But a grumpy old ghost just might inspire this grumpy old man--and the abandoned kid? Well, let's just say his last name's Hope. title: Dying to Meet You: 43 Old Cemetary Road title: Over My Dead Body title: Til Death Do Us Bark
F BAN	Goodbye, Coolsville! Hello, Nerdtown! (age 9-12) by Jennifer Bancroft illness/loss ... letters/journal ... identity ... family ... growing up Publisher comments: Andi, after the loss of her mother, feels like her world has all but fallen apart. She finds herself constantly being influenced by friends that her dad doesn't approve of. So one day he decides that enough is enough and makes a decision that radically changes their lives. He quits his job and they move out of the city to a small town in the mountains. Andi is horrified! Upon their arrivial at their new home, Andi begins unpacking and discovers her mother's old journal from when she was Andi's age. As she reads the journals, Andi soon begins to realize that her mother experienced some of the same situations.
F WOO	Dear Napoleon, I Know You're Dead, But... (age 9-12) by Elvira Woodruff fantasy ... letters/journal ... spooky Catalog: Marty receives a surprising reply when he writes a letter describing his spirited but sick grandfather to Napoleon Bonaparte.
F 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.
F 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.
F KUH	The Last Invisible Boy (age 9-12) by Evan Kuhlman illness/loss ... growing up ... humor ... letters/journal Publisher comments: My name is Finn Garrett and this is my story. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll tell you what you could probably guess from looking at the cover and flipping through the book. 1. It's about an invisible boy. Obviously. That's me. Actually, I'm not totally invisible. Yet. But I'm getting there. 2. There are a bunch of my drawings. 3. There are some really funny, really happy moments. 4. Just so you know, there are also some sad moments. 5. Everything in here is the truth. So if you like stories about true things, you might like this book. That's all I'm going to tell you. All the stuff about my dad and my mom and my brother Derek and my friend Meli and whether or not I actually turn invisible or become completely visible again or figure out how to use my invisibility for the good of all mankind or just disappear altogether, you're going to have to read to find out. So, let's get started. Just remember: This is my story, and anything can happen.
F 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?
F 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.
F 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.
F 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.
F 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 title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
F HAR	My Prairie Year: Based on the Diary of Elenore Plaisted (age 9-12) by Brett Harvey letters/journal ... historical Nine-year old Elenore describes her experiences living with her family in the Dakota Territory in the late nineteenth century.
F 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.
F WIL	Double Act (age 9-12) by Jacqueline Wilson letters/journal ... family ... growing up ... identity Ten-year-old Ruby and Garnet are identical twins who do everything together. Especially since their mother died three years earlier. They dress alike, wear their hair the same, and sit together in every class. In fact, everything about them is the same--except their personalities. Ruby is funny and outgoing, Garnet is sensitive and shy. Together they're the perfect double act--and that's just the way they like it. But soon the twins' life is turned upside down, and the twins must find a different way to relate to one another.
	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: Anacaona, Golden Flower by Edwidge Danticat F DAN 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: Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South by Laurence Yep F YEP title: Lady of Palenque: Flower of Bacal by Anna Kirwan F KIR title: Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles by Kathryn Lasky F LAS title: Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Without a Country by Kathryn Lasky F LAS title: Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba by Patricia C. McKissack F MCK title: Sondok, Princess of the Moon and Stars by Sheri Holman F HOL title: Victoria, May Blossom of Britannia by Anna Kirwan F KIR title: Weetamoo, Chief of the Pocassets by Patricia Clark Smith F SMI
F 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.
F WAR	Catty-Cornered (age 9-12) by Cheryl Ware growing up ... letters/journal ... school ... family Writing in her diary, twelve-year-old Venola Mae Cutright describes her trials and tribulations as she is forced to go live with her grandmother while she starts the seventh grade.
F 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.
F HES	The Music of Dolphins (age 9-12) by Karen Hesse the arts ... letters/journal ... nature A fifteen-year-old girl who has been raised by dolphins, records her thoughts about her reintroduction to the human world.
F 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.
F 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.
F 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.
F 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.

Sat Aug 25 11:55:25 2012 Other themes and genres