F HIA	Scat (age 9-12) by Carl Hiaasen mystery ... adventure ... nature ... humor Publisher comments: Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved. But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture. That's life in the swamp, kids.
F KEL	The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (age 9-12) by Jacqueline Kelly family ... nature ... historical Publisher comments: Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones. With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.
F MED	Milagros: Girl From Away (age 9-12) by Meg Medina nature ... identity ... family Publisher comments: Milagros de le Torre hasn't had an easy life: ever since her father sailed away with pirates she's been teased at school and there's the constant struggle for her family to make ends meet. Still, Milagros loves her small island in the Caribbean, and she finds comfort in those who recognize her special gifts. But everything changes when marauders destroy Milagros's island and with it, most of the inhabitants. Milagros manages to escape in a rowboat where she drifts out to sea with no direction, save for the mysterious manta rays that guide her to land. In stunning prose, Meg Medina creates a fantastical world in which a young girl uncovers the true meaning of family, the significance of identity, and, most important, the power of a mother's love.
F BUR	The Incredible Journey (age 9-12) by Sheila Every Burnford nature ... animals ... adventure ... survival Publisher comments: Instinct told them that the way home lay to the west. And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness. Separately, they would soon have died. But, together, the three house pets faced starvation, exposure, and wild forest animals to make their way home to the family they love.
F VEL	Isabel of the Whales (age 9-12) by Hester Velmans nature ... fantasy ... animals Eleven-year-old Isabel is a "plain old" girl living in Provincetown, Massachusetts, who believes that she is destined to accomplish something special. When her fifth-grade class goes on a whale-watch field trip, something amazing happens: Dozens of different species of whales surround the boat, bumping the deck and sending Isabel flying into the ocean. Isabel is shocked to hear the whales speaking to her. She is a mermaid, they tell her, a "Chosen One" who has the ability to turn from a human into a whale and back again. She is destined to live among the whales long enough to learn their ways, and teach them about the human world. Living among her pod is fun, at first, but Isabel has an important mission. She will change the whales' future forever, and learn a lot about herself in the process.
F SHA	Waterman's Boy (age 9-12) by Susan Sharpe family ... mystery ... nature Two boys from a small town on the Chesapeake Bay help a scientist interested in cleaning up the water for the benefit of animals, plants, and people. Their parents, meanwhile, disapprove of people with too much education, and of outsiders' interference in their means of earning a living.
F SAL	Night of the Howling Dogs (age 9-12) by Graham Salisbury folklore ... action ... adventure ... friendship ... survival ... nature Dylan's scout troop goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful, peaceful beach is Louie, a tough older boy. Louie and Dylan just can't get along. That night an earthquake rocks the camp, and then a wave rushes in, sweeping everyone and everything before it. Dylan and Louie must team up on a dangerous rescue mission. The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.
F SAL	Bambi: a Life in the Woods (age 9-12) by Felix Salten nature ... animals ... growing up Describes the life of a deer in the forest as he grows into a beautiful stag. Bambi's life in the woods begins happily. But winter comes, and Bambi learns that the woods hold danger ... and things he doesn't understand. The first snowfall makes food hard to find. Bambi's father, a handsome stag, roams the forest, but leaves Bambi and his mother alone. Then there is Man. He comes to the forest with weapons that can wound an animal. He does terrible things to Gobo, to Bambi's mother, and even to Bambi. But He can't keep Bambi from growing into a handsome stag himself and becoming...the Prince of the Forest.
F ERD	The Birchbark House Series (age 9-12) by Louise Erdrich family ... nature ... historical Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847. title: The Birchbark House title: The Game of Silence title: The Porcupine Year
F KAR	The Cave (age 9-12) by Kathleen Karr nature ... survival ... historical As drought and the Depression threaten to destroy her family's South Dakota farm, twelve-year-old Christine discovers a wondrous cave, which becomes both her own private delight and a possible salvation for the family.
F KJE	Big Red (age 9-12) by Jim Kjelgaard growing up ... nature ... animals From the moment Danny sees the beautiful Irish setter, he knows Red is the dog for him. Fast and smart, strong and noble, Red is the only dog Danny wants by his side. Soon, neither boy nor dog can stand to be apart. Together Danny and Red face many dangers in the harsh Wintapi wilderness that they call home. But the greatest test of their courage and friendship will come from an enemy more cunning than any they've known before--a bear who is the undisputed king of the wilderness, a savage killer called Old Majesty.
F MOR	Gentle Ben (age 9-12) by Walt Morey friendship ... nature ... animals The Alaskan wilderness is a lonely place for Mark Andersen, especially after the death of his older brother, Jamie. But in time Mark finds someone else to love--Ben, an Alaskan brown bear so huge that no one else dares come near him.
F COA	Heidi: a Timeless Story of Childhood (age 9-12) by Lucy Coats nature ... family Catalog: A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story.
F HOL	Seabird (age 9-12) by Holling C. Holling historical ... adventure ... nature An ivory gull carved by Ezra Brown in 1832 when he was a boy on a whaling ship brings luck to him and his descendants as they journey the seven seas.
F HOL	Tree in the Trail (age 9-12) by Holling C. Holling historical ... nature A struggling cottonwood sapling becomes a landmark to travelers, a peace-medicine tree, and after its death in 1834, a yoke which is used on the trail to Santa Fe.
F FLE	Seedfolks (age 9-12) by Paul Fleischman enterprise ... nature ... friendship A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who sees a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were dead. Thirteen very different voices, old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful, tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.
F WAL	Coyote Autumn (age 9-12) by Bill Wallace family ... nature ... animals You Can't Keep A Coyote! They're Wild! Brad has always wanted a dog, so when he catches the little coyote, he decides to keep it. He couldn't have a dog when his family lived in a Chicago apartment, but now that they've moved to rural Oklahoma anything seems possible. Even rescuing an orphaned coyote pup...and keeping it a secret from his parents. With his friend Nolan's help, Brad is determined to tame Scooter, train him, play with him, and hide him in an old dog pen behind the barn. It almost works...until Mom and Dad discover his secret, and Scooter steals their hearts and gives them all a coyote's-eye view of what it's like to live in the dangerous world of men.
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 GEO	My Side of the Mountain (age 9-12) by Jean Craighead George survival ... animals ... nature ... adventure Runaway Sam Gribley is surviving in the Catskill Mountains with only a penknife, a ball of cord, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel. Along the way, he learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that will change his life forever. sequel: On the Far Side of the Mountain sequel: Frightful's Mountain
F DEJ	The Wheel on the School (age 9-12) by Meindert DeJong school ... nature ... animals ... enterprise Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true.

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