A Single Shard- Linda Sue Park

Author: Linda Sue Park

Title:  A Single Shard

Publisher:  Clarion Books

Date: 2001

Reading Level: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 160

Genre: Fiction

Summary of plot:

Readers Reaction:

Potential Problems:

Recommendation:

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy- Gary D. Schmidt

Author: Gary D. Schmidt

Title: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 

Publisher: Clarion Books

Date: 2005

Reading Level: 9+ 

Number of Pages: 219

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary of plot: Story is about a boy named Turner who is he new Prechers son in their home in Maine. He is kind of the out cast of the town when he can't play baseball like the rest of them when he refuse to jump off the cliff into the water and so forth. He ends up haveing to read and play the organ for an old lady name Mrs. Cobb who ends up leaving him her house when she passes away. He becomes friends with a girl named Lizzie Bright but isn't really allowed to hang out with her at first because she is black. In the end Lizzie and her people are pushed away and lizzie is killed. His father is killed and him and his mother move into Mrs. Cobbs house.

Readers Reaction: I really like this book until it got to the end. Then I just got really angry because I didn't like how everyone was dieing in the end.  

Potential Problems: Racism and fight that ended in blood and one ending in death, mild swearing.

Recommendation:  Teen age kids and even some adults might enjoy it.

A Year Down Yonder- Richard Peck

Author: Richard Peck

Title: A Year Down Yonder

Publisher:  Puffin

Date: 2002 
Reading Level: 9-12

Number of Pages: 144

Genre: Fiction

Summary of plot: the book is about Mary Alice and her adventures during world war two living with her grandmother. At first she doesn't really want to be there but when she starts to have adventures with her grandma like the time that stole pacons from the old guys house and all kinds of other adventures she eventully learns to love it there and then returns to grandmas house and gets married at the end of the war.

Readers Reaction: I thought it was a good book. The Grandma is really funny and reminds me of my grandpa. This one was fun to read. I think I read it to fast though so I missed some of the humor in it.

Potential Problems: Playing tricks on other people and un safe gun shooting.

Recommendation: Teen age kids might think its really fun to read.

Stargirl- Jerry Spinelli

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Title: Stargirl

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf 

Date: 2003 

Reading Level: 10+

Number of Pages: 186

Genre: Fiction

Summary of plot: Stargirl is a story told from a boys point of view named Leo. it starts out with the new girl who just moved is named Stargirl she is strange to say it nicely. She carries around a rat and sings Happy Birthday in the lunch room to everyone. Leo falls in love with her. She becomes popular and then just as fast as her becoming popular she becomes the class mate that everyone shuns and because Leo is her boy friend he two becomes shuned but the rest of the student body. Just like any other middle school aged kid Leo two soon to turn his back on stargirl and it ends up being the worst dissicion he ever made.

Readers Reaction: This is a book I wish I would have read in Jr High or even beginning of High School. It has a really good message but it makes me so sad that they are so mean to her.  

Potential Problems: The students are rude, There is one kiss, and one adult character smokes a pipe.

Recommendation: Middle School Girls before they go into High school

The Story of Ruby Bridges- Robert Coles

Author: Robert Coles

Title: The Story Of Ruby Bridges

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Date: 1995

Reading Level: 4-8

Number of Pages: 32

Genre: Non Fiction

Summary of plot: This book is aobut Ruby Bridges life as the first black girl to go to a white school. It goes throught all the days and the things that she has to do. In the end you find out that she had been praying to the white people everyday. What a lesson that is for the rest of us. WOW!!!

Readers Reaction: I had read this book a couple of times and everytime I feel more and more inspired to do good. She had some much faith as a little girl and it is truly and amazing story.

Potential Problems: Racism and Violance.

Recommendation: When teachers are studying history this is a great book

Children Just Like Me- Anabel Kindersely

Author: Anabel Kindersely

Title: Children Just Like Me

Publisher: DK Publishing Inc.

Date: 1995

Reading Level: 6-8

Number of Pages: 79

Genre: non-fiction, informational

Summary of plot: because this is a informational book there is no plot but it is about a bunch of different children around the world and how really we are all a like.


Readers Reaction: I thought this was a really cool book, they gave a lot of information about children from all over the world. It seemed a little messy sometimes but it was still fun.

Potential Problems: Some of the childrens stories were really sad.

Recommendation: Good book to show children different cultures.

Holes- Louis Sachar

Author: Louis Sachar

Title: Holes

Publisher: Farrar, Starus, and Giroux

Date: 2000

Reading Level: 9+

Number of Pages: 233

Genre: Fiction

Summary of plot: This book is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who sent to a camp for bad boys when he is falsely accused for stealing shoes. At this camp he is forced to dig holes all day long in the hot sone looking for treatur for the worden. The story also jumps back to the past where there is a separate story about kate and sam. Stanely's family has a curse of bad luck that can only be lifted if the relative of the which in the second story is carried to the top of the mountain where they can drink the water and a song is sung. In the end the two stories meet up and Stanley ends up being saved by Zero who is the great great grandson of one of the characters in the second story and they all live happily ever after.


Readers Reaction: I loved this book when I read it in the 5th grade and I love it now. The movie isn't bad either.

Potential Problems: Racism, both past and present, is mentioned and some violance.

Recommendation: I would recommend it to any reader who wants to read about adventure.

The Great Gilly Hopkins- Katherine Paterson

Author: Katherine Paterson

Title: The Great Gilly Hopkins

Publisher: Harper Trophy

Date: 1978

Reading Level: 10+

Number of Pages: 148

Genre: Fiction

Summary of plot: Gilly is one tough kid. She intends to destroy every one of her foster mothers so she can live with her mysterious real mother. She meets her match in Mrs. Trotter, an overweight, uneducated woman who's only weapon is total love for her foster kids. In the end she ends up going to go an look for her mother. Her mother come and she isn't what Gilly was looking for and so Gilly returns to her true home at Mrs. Trotters house with her foster brother and the blind man next door.


Readers Reaction: I loved this book!!! I thought that she was clever and that she had some great stories to tell and do.

Potential Problems: Raceism, occasional religious views come up

Recommendation: to reluctant readers

Lincoln a Photobiography- Russell Freedman

Author: Russell Freedman

Title: Linoln a Photobiography

Publisher: Hoghton Mifflin Company

Date: 1987

Reading Level: 9-12

Number of Pages: 150

Genre: Non-Fiction

Summary of plot:This book is just a life sketch of President Abraham Lincoln and all of the trials that he went through and all of the happy moments.

Readers Reaction: I thought it was long and kind of boring to be honest. There were some intresting facts like him having depression problems that I thought were interesting but really I thought it was really long.

Potential Problems:  Slavery and Violance

Recommendation: Maybe I would recommend it to teachers who are teaching about our presidents. 

The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base

Author: Graeme Base

Illustrator: Graeme Base

Title: The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers,

Date: 1988

Reading Level: All ages

Number of Pages: 32

Genre: Fiction

Summary of Plot: The story begins with a Elephant named Horace who is turning Eleven years old. Horace decides that he wants to have a birthday party and decides to invite eleven of his friends to his party. After sending out is invitations he goes and makes all of the wonderful desserts and foods that Horace and his friends will be have at this party the next day. The next morning all of the eleven friends show up. They arrive and Horace  leads them to the banquet hall where they see all of the wonderful food that Horace had made for them to eat. But before they could eat they had to play different games. So they played sack-race and musical chairs. Cards and snakes and ladders. Cricket and pool. Bingo and all other kinds of games. Tennis, hidden n’ seek and chess. The last game that they played was tug o’ war. After their game they went back to the banquet room so that they could go and eat their food but when they got there the food was all gone. Who took it? Everyone was blamed but all had an excuse that worked too. But Horace had a back up plan so they went out to the gardens and ate sandwiches. Through out the whole book there are little clues and hits on who stole all the food. After decoding the clue you find out that Kilroy the mouse and his relatives stool all the food.  

Your Reaction to the book: At first I hated it because it made my brain hurt and then after reading it again and figuring out all of the fun stuff that Base has hidden in it, it really is a fun active book that I would recommend to any family.

Potential Problems: I don’t know of any potential problems except for frustration because you can’t figure it out but other then that it’s a problem free book.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book to any little boy or girl who loves to figure out mysteries.

The Wonderings Of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff

Author: Rosemary Sutcliff

Illustrator: Alan Lee

Title: The Wanderings of Odysseus

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Date:1996

Reading Level: All ages

Number of Pages: 114

Genre: Traditional Literature myths

Summary of Plot: This book is the story of Odysseus’ travels as he heads home from war at Troy. The book begins at the end of the war of Troy when Odysseus and his men are traveling home. Odysseus does not have an easy ride home and through out the book you go through all of his trials as he gets home. The first trial that he enquires is the Island of the Cyclops where there is a giant with one eye that tries to kill him. He is able to escape and then after a couple more trials he and his men come to the enchantress who ends up turning half of his men in to pigs and he has to convince her to turn them back into humans. Later on he ends up at Calypsos Island and stays there forever when finally she allows him to leave by know he is that only one who is alive from his army. Back home his wife is going to be courted by a tone of suitor and his son is searching for his father. Finally after a lot more trials he gets home but he can’t let his wife and son know who he is until after the competition with the suitors. He ends up winning the competition kills all the suitors and become reunited with his family. The very end there is another war that breaks out and he heads out with his army to go and meet the enemy. 

Your Reaction to the book: I hated this book!!! I thought that it was long and kind of pointless. The author dragged a lot and added a lot of stuff that just didn’t need to be added.

Potential Problems: Problems that are potential would be its long and boring. Really big names that no one really knows how to pronounce

Recommendations: My recommendations would be honestly don’t read it.