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It’s here! The new 2011-2012 Florida Sunshine State Young Reader’s list was announced this morning.To all Saint Stephen’s children entering grade 4-5-6, you will be eligible to participate in our reading program. I would encourage you to be reading these books over the summer months, making notes at the end of each chapter. Those entering grade five have the option of reading two of the below listed books ( from either the grade 3-5 list, or the grade 6-8 list) as part of your required summer reading. During the school year, Intermediate School children are invited to read at least 5 books from the recommended list, then take and pass the accompanying Accelerated Reader test. Children who read at least 5 books are then invited to our voting party in April 2012. Last year, 46 IS students attended our afternoon voting party off campus.
Why not join us in April 2012? Why not read some of these books over the summer months? Enjoy!
Grade 3-5
Barrett, Tracy The 100-year-old Secret (AR 4.4) Xena and Xander Holmes, an American brother and sister living in London for a year, discover that Sherlock Holmes was their great-great-great grandfather when they are inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Famous Detectives and given his unsolved casebook, from which they attempt to solve the case of a famous missing painting.
Barrows, Annie The Magic Half (AR 4.2) Eleven-year-old Miri Gill feels left out in her family, which has two sets of twins and her, until she travels back in time to 1935 and discovers Molly, her own lost twin, and brings her back to the present day.
Buckley, Michael NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society ( AR 5.3 ) While running a spy network from their elementary school, five unpopular misfits combine their talents and use cutting-edge gadgetry to fight evil around the world.
Clements, Andrew Extra Credit (AR 5.2 ) Three young middle-school-age children, Abby, Amira, and Sadeed, exchange letters back and forth between the prairies of Illinois and the mountains of Afghanistan and begin to bridge a gap across cultural and religious divides.
Draper, Sharon M. Out of My Mind ( AR 4.3 ) Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
Graff, Lisa Umbrella Summer (AR 4.6 ) After her brother Jared dies, ten-year-old Annie worries about the hidden dangers of everything, from bug bites to bicycle riding, until she is befriended by a new neighbor who is grieving her own loss.
Jonell, Lynne The Secret of Zoom ( AR 4.8) Ten-year-old Christina lives a sheltered life until she discovers a secret tunnel, an evil plot to enslave orphans, and a mysterious source of energy known as zoom.
Klise, Kate Dying to Meet You (AR 4.4) In this story told mostly through letters, children’s book author, I. B. Grumply, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.
LaFevers, R.L. Flight of the Phoenix ( AR 3.9 ) Ten-year-old Nate is sent to live with a family cousin, the world’s last beastologist, after his parents are declared lost at sea, but danger mounts when he is brought on an expedition to the Arabian desert, gets lost, and must protect a newly hatched phoenix egg and rescue his guardian.
Lin, Grace Where the Mountain Meets the Moon ( AR 5.5 ) Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.
Look, Lenore Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things ( AR 3.8 ) A young boy in Concord, Massachusetts, who loves superheroes and comes from a long line of brave Chinese farmer-warriors, wants to make friends, but first he must overcome his fear of everything.
Mills, Claudia How Oliver Olson Changed the World ( AR 5.0 ) Afraid he will always be an outsider like ex-planet Pluto, nine-year-old Oliver finally shows his extremely overprotective parents that he is capable of doing great things without their help while his class is studying the solar system.
Pitchford, Dean Captain Nobody ( AR 4.8 ) When ten-year-old Newton dresses up as an unusual superhero for Halloween, he decides to keep wearing the costume after the holiday to help save townspeople and eventually his injured brother.
Thomson, Sarah L. Dragon’s Egg ( AR 4.9 ) Mella, a young girl trained as a dragon keeper, learns that the legends of old are true when she is entrusted with carrying a dragon’s egg to the fabled Hatching Grounds, a dangerous journey on which she is assisted by a knight’s squire.
Yee, Lisa Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) ( AR 4.1 ) Bobby inadvertently gets into a fight with his best friend Holly, and their disagreement develops into a boys versus girls war involving their whole fourth-grade class.
Grade 6- 8
Angleberger, Tom The Strange Case of Origami Yoda ( AR 4.1 ) Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.
Baggott, Julianna The Prince of Fenway Park ( AR 4.2 ) In the fall of 2004, twelve-year-old Oscar Egg is sent to live with his father in a strange netherworld under Boston’s Fenway Park, where he joins the fairies, pooka, banshee, and other beings that are trapped there, waiting for someone to break the eighty-six-year-old curse that has prevented the Boston Red Sox from winning a World Series.
Breathed, Berkeley Flawed Dogs: The Novel: The Shocking Raid on Westminster ( AR 5.6 ) After being framed by a jealous poodle, a dachshund is left for dead, but comes back with a group of mutts from the National Last Ditch Dog Depository to disrupt the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club dog show and exact revenge on Cassius the poodle.
Draper, Sharon M. Out of My Mind ( AR 4.3 ) Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
Falls, Kat Dark Life ( AR 5.2 ) When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier’s underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat.
Hegamin, Tonya & Nelson, Marilyn Pemba’s Song: A Ghost Story ( AR 5.9 ) As fifteen-year-old Pemba adjusts to leaving her Brooklyn, New York, home for small-town Connecticut, a history researcher helps her understand the paranormal experiences drawing her into the life of a girl who was once a slave in her house.
Hiaasen, Carl Scat ( AR 5.5 ) Nick and Marta are both suspicious when their biology teacher, the feared Mrs. Bunny Starch, disappears, and try to uncover the truth despite the police and headmaster’s insistence that nothing is wrong.
Logsted, Greg Alibi Junior High ( AR 4.6 ) After thirteen-year-old Cody and his father, an undercover agent, are nearly killed, Cody moves in with his aunt in Connecticut, where he is helped with his adjustment to the trials of attending public school for the first time and investigating a threat in nearby woods by a wounded Iraq War veteran.
Paterson, Katherine The Day of the Pelican ( AR 5.2) In 1998 when the Kosovo hostilities escalate, thirteen-year-old Meli’s life as an ethnic Albanian, changes forever after her brother escapes his Serbian captors and the entire family flees from one refugee camp to another until they are able to immigrate to America.
Paulsen, Gary Woods Runner ( AR 5.5 ) From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, thirteen-year-old Samuel, who is a highly-skilled woodsman, sets out toward New York City to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Native Americans who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community.
Preller, James Bystander ( AR 4.2 ) Thirteen-year-old Eric discovers there are consequences to not standing by and watching as the bully at his new school hurts people, but although school officials are aware of the problem, Eric may be the one with a solution.
Sanderson, Brandon Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians ( AR 5.6 ) On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry receives a bag of sand which is immediately stolen by the evil Librarians who are trying to take over the world, and Alcatraz is introduced to his grandfather and his own special talent, and told that he must use it to save civilization.
Slade, Arthur G. Jolted: Newton Starker’s rules for survival ( AR 4.5 ) Many of Newton Starker’s ancestors, including his mother, have been killed by lightning strikes, so when he enrolls at the eccentric Jerry Potts Academy of Higher Learning and Survival in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, he tries to be a model student so that he can avoid the same fate.
Taylor, Greg Killer Pizza ( AR 4.4 ) While working as summer employees in a local pizza parlor, three teenagers are recruited by an underground organization of monster hunters.
Woodson, Jacqueline Peace, Locomotion ( AR 5.0 ) Through letters to his little sister, who is living in a different foster home, sixth-grader Lonnie, also known as “Locomotion,” keeps a record of their lives while they are apart, describing his own foster family, including his foster brother who returns home after losing a leg in the Iraq War.
r written. Pride and Prejudice is one of the great romances of all of literature but yet extra special because it seems so romantic and realistic. Elizabeth became attractive to Mr. Darcy when he discovered her true personality, despite not holding the same status as was required of couples in Victorian England. Jane Austen introduces a couple that is not glamorized by beauty but fall in love with the personality of the other. Austen created characters with contrast. Besides, I so love the Colin Firth movie version of Mr. Darcy.
Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables devilish curiosity, personal strength, helped her overcome the harsh hand life deal this orphan and as a result became a teacher. I so love her vivid use of imagination.
colate factory. While this is a current read in the Potwin household, I am reminded of Charlie’s kind and gentle disposition as well as his honesty, despite being presented with the opportunity to profit greatly by deceitfully participating in industrial candy espionage. Besides, I would warn him to stay away from the nasty Veruca Salt. Not only is she a spoiled little girl, but has dreadful manners.
Nora Krank from Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, became multi million dollar grossing movie Christmas with the Kranks. Anyone who celebrates the Christmas holiday with as much vim and vigor as Nora has my undying appreciation. I can totally relate to her and teh demands of holiday preparation. Plus, I would love some of her holiday decorating tips.
Paddington Bear ( who, admittedly, is really not a person). Perhaps meeting up for coffee…or tea…would be a better initial meeting , before deciding to ‘friend’ Paddington. I am not sure about having an actual meal with a bear, though in the whimsical spirit of this blog, I would elect to have a proper British tea, including marmalade sandwiches, with the Bear from deepest, darkest Peru, most likely in Harrod’s Food Court..or possibly Fortum and Mason’s…or the like. Hold the cream …I know that Paddington would make a mess of the cream and then I would be responsible for wiping off his whiskers. And use paper cups, I do not wish to be responsible for broken china.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven, though I would choose when to accept this friend request…..distinctly not in the bleak December. Yes, I too choose to read as a form of escapism, though not for seek solace of Lenore’s lost. And yes, I too feel for the narrator’s sense of undying devotion, though perk up buttercup…madness is not the answer.
Eloise…living in that New York hotel for so long, I am sure she has become accustomed to a certain level of service and a ” joie de vie” wh
en approaching life. Friending Eloise would be a must. When she returns from Paris, of course.
d work around her. If there is one thing which I value above all else in this world, it is hard work and those who apply themselves to a challenge.
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