5 th Grade Book Talk Created by Mrs

5 th Grade Book Talk Created by Mrs. Benson November 2016

Gilda Joyce: Psychic Invesigator Jennifer Allison Mystery Ever since her father died, kooky Gilda Joyce has been working hard to sharpen her psychic skills. She's determined to communicate with spirits from the Other Side and become a crack investigator of spooky, twisted mysteries. After wrangling an invitation to visit San Francisco relatives, Gilda discovers just how much her dreary, tight-lipped uncle and his strange, delicate daughter need her help to uncover the terrible family secret that has a tortured ghost stalking their home. From poignant to hair-raising and hilarious, this is a behind-the-scenes, tell-all account of the very first case in the illustrious career of Gilda RDG LEVEL: 6. 5 AR POINTS: 10. 0

Chicken Boy Frances O’Roark Dowell REALISTIC FICTION Tobin Mccauley's got a crazy 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, 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. RDG LEVEL: 5. 1 AR Points: 5. 0

Hope is a Ferris Wheel Robin Herrera Quirky Star Mackie, who lives in a trailer park and has blue hair, desperately wants to make some friends in her new town. She decides that starting a poetry club is the perfect vehicle. Unfortunately, there aren't many other 10 -year-olds as enamored with Emily Dickinson as she is. The only other kids who will join her club are a couple of boys in detention and a brother/sister team. Star has many dreams—she longs to meet her father, hopes her beloved big sister will be happy again, and wishes most of all for a true friend. RDG LEVEL: 5. 3 AR POINTS: 7. 0

The City of Ember Jeanne Du. Prau When the builders of Ember planned the underground city, they provided a storehouse of goods for the residents' survival and a power plant to supply light to the town. Now, generations later, the supplies are dangerously low, and the lights are beginning to flicker. Ember is a socialist society, where even jobs are randomly assigned to residents. Nobody knows what lies without the walls, and everyone is too frightened to find out. Although directions on how to exit the city were entrusted to the first mayor of Ember, they were misplaced until Lina, an orphan and descendant of that mayor, finds a torn and mangled paper. Lina enlists fellow twelve-year-old Doon to aid in putting together the pieces. They are surprised to discover the missing instructions. After the teens are falsely accused of illegal activities and hunted by the police, they decide to elude capture by following the directions and leaving Ember. Book Trailer RDG LEVEL: 5. 0 AR POINTS: 9. 0

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer John Grisham In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much— maybe too much—he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A coldblooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served. Book Trailer RDG LEVEL: 5. 2 AR POINTS: 8. 0

Inkheart Cornelia Funke FANTASY Meggie is a rather mature 12 -year-old who lives with her father, Mo. She even calls him Mo and has for as long as she can remember. One thing she does not remember is how one night when she was just 3 years old, while her father was reading aloud to Meggie, her mother vanished from the room, out of the very bed she had been sitting in. Mo has a special gift (which he passes down to Meggie) of reading characters out of books when he reads aloud. As her mother disappears, three men, Capricorn, one of the most dangerous characters; Basta, his cruel and heartless servant; and Dustfinger, a man who plays with fire, stand across the room from Mo and Meggie. They are characters from Inkheart, the book Mo had been reading aloud. After Mo chases them out of his house, he is left with Meggie; for nine years it is just the two of them, and for nine years Meggie listens intently when Mo tells stories of her mother's mysterious and exciting trips around the world. Meggi, believing her father, hasn't realized her mother is trapped in a book. RDG LEVEL: 5. 4 Book Trailer AR POINTS: 23. 0

King of the Mound Wes Tooke It is 1935, and Nick, who used to be the best pitcher in his youth league, is returning home to Bismarck after having spent the last year in the polio ward of the Mayo Clinic. His father, the catcher for the semipro Bismarck Churchills, sees Nick's brace as evidence that he is a cripple who will never amount to anything. Hired to do odd jobs around the stadium, Nick meets the great Satchel Paige, who has agreed to join the integrated team for the summer. He befriends Nick and helps him to realize that the only thing holding him back is his fear of failing. AR Level: 5. 6 AR Points: 6. 0

Raymie Nightingale Kate Di. Camillo Ten-year-old Raymie Clarke of Lister, Florida, has a plan to get her father to come back home. Raymie feels "alone, lost, cast adrift. " Her father has run off with a dental hygienist. She is determined to learn how to twirl a baton, win the title of Miss Central Florida Tire 1975, and get her photograph in the newspaper. Her father will see it and be so proud that he'll return home to be with her. Raymie and her quirky new friends, Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinski, have all lost parents and seek ways to move on with their lives and to protect one another along the way. Book Trailer AR Level: 4. 2 AR Points: 5. 0

Thin Wood Walls David Patneaude Eleven-year-old Joe Hanada likes playing basketball with his best friend, Ray, writing plays and stories, and thinking about the upcoming Christmas holiday. But his world falls apart when Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor. His country goes to war. The FBI takes his father away. And neighbors and friends in his hometown near Seattle begin to suspect Joe, his family, and all Japanese Americans of spying for the enemy. When the government orders people of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast to move to internment camps, Joe turns to the journal his father gave him to record his thoughts and feelings. Writing journal entries and haiku poetry offers some relief as Joe struggles to endure life in Tule Lake War Relocation Camp—days filled with boredom, concern for his father, and worry for his brother, who joins the American army to prove the bravery and loyalty of Japanese American citizens. AR Level: 4. 3 AR Points: 8. 0

Internment Camps

Under Their Skin Margaret Peterson Haddix Twelve-year-old twins Nick and Eryn question their mom's claim that their lives won't change much after she remarries. How can that be when they'll be moving to a new house and they'll have two stepsiblings who will live in the house but whom their mom claims the twins will never have to meet? At first, Nick and Eryn have natural curiosity regarding their stepsiblings, Ava and Jackson, but before long their speculations turn into an all-out quest for answers. AR Level: 5. 4 AR Points: 9. 0

Lone Wolf Kathryn Lasky Fantasy A wolf mother has given birth, but the warm bundle snuffling next to her brings only anguish. The pup, otherwise healthy, has a twisted paw, and the mother knows what the harsh code of the pack demands. Her pup will be taken from her and abandoned on a desolate hill. The pack cannot have weakness - the wolf mother knows that her pup is condemned to die. But alone in the wilderness, the pup, Faolan, does not perish. This story - a story of survival, of courage, and of love triumphant. This is Faolan's story, the wolf pup who rose up to change forevever the Wolves of the Beyond. RDG LEVEL: 6. 2 AR POINTS: 7. 0

AR Points: 9 Rdg Level: 6. 0 Mibs Beaumont is about to turn thirteen, which in the Beaumont family means her "savvy"-her special power-is about to strike. Her brothers' savvies let them create hurricanes and spark electricity, but Mibs has yet to learn what her savvy is. Then, two days before her birthday, her father is in a terrible car accident. He is sent to a hospital two hours from their isolated small town, and Mibs determines that she must get there, adamant that her savvy is going to help save him. She ends up on a traveling bible salesman's pink bus with all her siblings and the preacher's children, including the preacher's son, Will, who has a crush on her. Book Trailer

Adam Canfield of the Slash Michael Winerip Adam Canfield has to be the most overprogrammed middle-school student in America. So when superorganized Jennifer coaxes him to be coeditor of their school newspaper, THE SLASH, he wonders if he’s made a big mistake. But when a third-grader’s article leads to a big scoop, Adam and his fellow junior journalists rise to the challenge of receiving their principal’s wrath to uncover some scandalous secrets. RDG LEVEL: 5. 4 AR POINTS: 9. 0

The Mailbox Audrey Shafer MYSTERY Vernon Culligan had been dead to the town of Draydon, Virginia, so long that when the crusty Vietnam vet finally died, only one person noticed. Twelve-yearold Gabe grew up in the foster care system until a social worker located his Uncle Vernon two years before. When he comes home to discover that his uncle has died of a heart attack, he's terrifed of going back into the system—so he tells no one. The next day, he discovers a strange note in his mailbox: I HAVE A SECRET. DO NOT BE AFRAID. And his uncle's body is gone. Thus begins a unique correspondence destined to save the two people that depended on Vernon for everything. Through flashbacks, we learn about Gabe and Vernon's relationship, and how finding each other saved them both from lives of suffering. But eventually, Vernon's death will be discovered, and how will Gabe and the mystery note writer learn to move forward? THE MAILBOX is not a story about death—though it begins with a death. It's also not a story about Vietnam vets, although the author works with Vietnam veterans and wrote this novel, in part, to illuminate their sacrifices and suffering. THE MAILBOX is a story about connections—about how two people in need can save each other. RDG LEVEL: 5. 0 AR POINTS: 6. 0

Someone Named Eva Joan M. Wolf Eleven-year-old Milada lives with her family and plays with her best friend in Czechoslovakia. Life seems to be normal, with stories of Hitler and Germany far away. But one night, soldiers come into the house and take the family in different directions. Milada finds herself in a room with other girls who look surprisingly like herself-blond hair, fair skin, light colored eyes. Milada and the other girls are taught to be good German girls and prepared to fit into their new lives. But as she becomes German Eva, Milada realizes she is forgetting who she really is. Danger is never far away, even in her new family, as the war continues to destroy the country. How can Milada remain true to her identity as everyone around her wants her to become someone else? Is anyone from Milada's real life left? Based on a true story, AR Level: 5. 1 AR Points: 7. 0

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Jordan Sonnenblick REALISTIC FICTION Steven is in the 8 th grade; he's a talented drummer who is part of an all-city jazz band, one of the youngest members. He's got a crush on a beautiful girl, a math whiz; but another girl seems more interested in him. That's the drums and girls part of the title. The "dangerous pie" is more difficult to explain, but it is something outrageous Steven's little brother Jeffrey says. Jeffrey is a precocious kindergarten student, who drives Steven nuts, but Steven doesn't realize at the beginning of the story just how important Jeffrey is in his life. Amidst the quite funny wisecracks and comments (Steven is considered a good musician with a wicked sense of humor) comes tragedy when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia. Everything changes: to manage the cancer therapy, the mother has to quit her teaching job and thus the family income is cut in half; the father retreats into a non-communicative shell of grief; Steven is troubled angry; little Jeffrey endures painful and nauseating treatments. Months later, everyone in the family is exhausted but learning to communicate, to pull together better. The school psychologist offers this wisdom to Steven: "Instead of agonizing about the things you can't change, why don't you try working on the things you can change? “ RDG LEVEL: 5. 9 AR POINTS: 8

Deep Down Popular Phoebe Stone 6 th-grader Jessie Lou is deeply, madly, passionately in love with Conrad Parker Smith. Too bad she's a tomboy with only one on-again, off-again friend, and hair so short you can't spit on it. Too bad he's the most popular boy in their small-town school. But then Conrad hurts his leg and suddenly can't keep up with his old pursuits anymore. Jessie Lou and Conrad start spending a lot more time together, but she can't help wonder -- is she just a substitute friend? And will Conrad forget her when his leg brace comes off and he's king of the school once again? RDG LEVEL: 5. 3 AR POINTS: 8. 0

It's Amanda's 11 th birthday and she is super excited—after all, 11 is so different from 10. But from the start, everything goes wrong. The worst part of it all is that she and her best friend, Leo, with whom she's shared every birthday, are on the outs and this will be the first birthday they haven't shared together. When Amanda turns in for the night, glad to have her birthday behind her, she wakes up happy for a new day. Or is it? Her birthday seems to be repeating iself. What is going on? ! And how can she fix it? Only time, friendship, and a little luck will tell. . . AR Points: 7 Rdg Level: 4. 1

The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn • • • Tired of the rules that have bound them ever since "the bad thing happened, " twelve-year-old Diana ignores her brother's warnings and befriends the daughter of the new caretaker, setting in motion events that lead to the release of the spirit of an evil, crazy woman who once ruled the old Willis place. Rdg Level: 4. 2 AR Points: 7

The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan • Book 1 in the Ranger’s Apprentice Series • When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger. • Rdg Level: 7. 0 • AR Points: 12

Dark Life The oceans rose, swallowing the lowlands. Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor: the Dark Life. Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea. When outlaws attack his homestead, he finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from Topside, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life. Secrets that threaten to destroy everything. Book Trailer AR Level: 4. 8 AR Points: 9. 0