Grand View Elementary School Library-- New Arrivals

"Lawn Boy"
by Gary Paulsen
Interest Level Grades 5-8

Things get out of hand for
a twelve-year-old boy
when a neighbor convinces him to expand
his summer lawn mowing business.
"When it comes to telling funny stories about boys,
no one surpasses Paulsen,
and here he is in top form." (Booklist, 4/15/07)
Humor Fiction

"The Penderwicks on Gardam Street"
by Jeanne Birdsall
Interest Level Grades 3-6

The four Penderwick sisters are back
in this warm family story.
When the sisters are faced with
the unimaginable prospect of
their widowed father dating,
they hatch a plot to stop him while dealing with
homework hassles, soccer catastrophes,
young love, and a mysterious stranger on Gardam Street.
Realistic Fiction

"Pendragon
Book Nine: Raven Rise"
by D.J. MacHale
Interest Level: Grades 5-8

"A journal of an adventure through time and space."
While Pendragon is trapped on Ibara,
Alder returns to Denduron and reluctantly
goes into battle again.
Other Travelers face obstacles of various sorts and
Saint Dane gains the power he seeks on Second Earth
and makes his push to destroy and rebuild Halla.
Adventure Fiction
Fantasy Fiction

"The Temple of the Ruby of Fire"
Geronimo Stilton #14
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Mouse journalist Geronimo Stilton
sets out on a quest to find the Ruby of Fire,
a gem hidden in the depths of the Amazon jungle.
Adventure Fiction

"Room One: A Mystery or Two"
by Andrew Clements
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Sixth-grader Ted Hammond, who
is the lone sixth grader in his one-room schoolhouse--
sandwiched between four fourth graders and
four eighth graders--
is a boy who loves a good mystery; and
finds one in real life when he sees a face
in the window of an abandoned farmhouse while on his paper route.
Mystery

"The Willoughbys"
by Lois Lowry
Interest Level Grades 3-6

A tongue-in-cheek take on
classic themes in children's literature,
in which the four Willoughby children set out
to become "deserving orphans"
after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous
around-the-world adventure,
leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.
Humor Fiction

"The Mysterious Benedict Society
and the Perilous Journey"
by Trenton Lee Stewart
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance,
all graduates of the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened
and members of the Benedict Society,
embark on a scavenger hunt that turns into a
desperate search for the missing Mr. Benedict.
Adventure Fiction
Science Fiction

"The Calder Game"
by Blue Balliett
Interest Level Grades 3-6

When seventh-grader Calder Pillay
disappears from a remote English village--
along with an Alexander Calder sculpture
to which he has felt strangely drawn--
his friends Petra and Tommy
fly from Chicago to help his father find him.
Mystery

"Kaline Klattermaster's Tree House"
by Haven Kimmel
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Third-grader Kaline Klattermaster's father
has gone somewhere and his mother cannot
seem to keep everything straight the way he did,
but the two brothers and one hundred dogs
that live in his imaginary tree house--
and his strange neighbor Mr. Osiris Putnaminski--
help him cope with his father's absence,
his mother's forgetfulness,
and the bullies that torment him in school.
Realistic Fiction

"The Bronze Pen"
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Interest Level Grades 3-6

With her father's failing health and the family's shaky finances,
twelve-year-old Audrey's dreams of becoming a writer
seem very impractical until she is given a peculiar bronze pen
that appears to have unusual powers.
Fantasy Fiction

"Oggie Cooder"
by Sarah Weeks
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Quirky fourth-grader Oggie Cooder
goes from being shunned to everyone's best friend
when his uncanny ability to chew slices of cheese into the shapes of states
wins him a slot on a popular television talent show,
but he soon learns the perils of being a celebrity--
and having a neighbor girl as his manager.
Realistic Fiction

"To Catch a Mermaid"
by Susan Selsor
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Twelve-year-old Boom Broom
thought his life couldn't get any worse,
until he stumbles upon a foul-tempered merbaby
and must find a way to return her to the world of
the merfolk in the hopes of breaking the curse she seems to have put on Boom.
Fantasy Fiction

"Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food"
by Eric Schlosser
Interest Level Grades 5-8

This adaptation and update of Schlosser's Fast Food Nation
is filled with eye-opening, stomach-turning information.
The book makes the case that the aggressive marketing
of junk food to children is reprehensible
and paints a picture of unjust working conditions for
fast-food workers and employees at meatpacking plants and company-owned farms.
Non-Fiction

"The Hero Revealed"
(The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy Book One)
by William Boniface
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Ordinary Boy is the only resident of Superopolis
(a city of heroes) who doesn't have superpowers.
He is part of the Junior Leaguers team that includes
Halogen Boy, whose glowing ability
depends on his consumption of apple juice;
Plasma Girl, who can transform into a jellylike substance;
and Stench, notable for passing overpowering gas.
Humor Fiction

"The Name of This Book is Secret"
by Pseudonymous Bosch
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Cassandra and Max find a missing magician's notebook
and investigate the fire which burnt down his house
and learn about his mysterious "symphony of smells."
Adventure Fiction

"Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle"
by Betty Bard MacDonald
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cures children of their bad habits,
such as excessive television watching and insulting of friends.
Fantasy Fiction

* * * * * * * * * *

"Canned"
by Alex Shearer
Interest Level Grades 4-6

Fergal Banfield, an eccentric lad who collects cans,
is surprised to find some unexpected--and even alarming--things
in a few of his treasures, and when he meets Charlotte,
another collector, they begin an investigation that
leads them into dangerous territory.
Mystery

"The Lemonade War"
by Jacqueline Davies
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Evan and his younger sister, Jesse,
react very differently to the news that
they will be in the same class for fourth grade
and as the end of summer approaches,
they battle it out through lemonade stands,
each trying to be the first to earn 100 dollars.
Includes mathematical calculations and
tips for running a successful lemonade stand.
Realistic Fiction

"Deep Down Popular"
by Phoebe Stone
Interest Level Grades 5-8

In a small town, sixth-grader Jessie Lou Ferguson
has a crush on the hugely popular Conrad Parker Smith.
When he suddenly develops a medical problem
and the teacher asks Jessie Lou to help him,
they become friends, to her surprise.
Realistic Fiction

"Babymouse: Heartbreaker" and "Babymouse: Rock Star"
by Jennifer and Matthew Holm
Interest Level Grades 3-6

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules"
by Jeff Kinney
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Greg Heffley tells about his summer vacation
and his attempts to steer clear of trouble
when he returns to middle school
and tries to keep his older brother, Rodrick,
from telling everyone about Greg's most
humiliating experience of the summer.
Humor Fiction

"Guess How Much I Love You"
by Sam McBratney
Interest Level Grades K-3

During a bedtime game, every time Little Nutbrown Hare
demonstrates how much he loves his father,
Big Nutbrown Hare gently shows him that
the love is returned even more.

"The Castle Corona"
by Sharon Creech
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Two orphaned peasant children discover a mysterious pouch,
the contents of which lead them to
the majestic Castle Corona,
where their lives may be transformed forever.
Fantasy Fiction

"Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy"
by Jane O'Connor
Interest Level Grades K-3

Nancy wants to adopt a special puppy
so that she is no longer the only fancy member of her family,
but after a day of puppysitting a papillon,
she realizes that being fancy is not always the most important thing.

"Elijah of Buxton"
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman,
the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada,
which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859,
uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice
the lying preacher who has stolen money
that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
Not bad for a so-called fragile boy
more famously known for being the baby who
threw up on Frederick Douglass.
Historical Fiction
2008 Newbery Honor Book

"Cinderella: (As If You Didn't Already Know the Story)"
by Barbara Ensor
Interest Level Grades 3-6

Illustrated with striking silhouettes,
this colloquial, novella-length retelling
adheres to the familiar outline of the tale while adding wry twists.
Fairy Tale Fiction

"Iron Thunder: the Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac: a Civil War Story"
by Avi
Interest Level Grades 5-8

Thirteen-year-old Tom Carroll
takes his place as head of the family
after his father dies fighting for the Union;
but his job at the local ironworks--
where he helps build an iron ship for the Union army--
and his loyalty come into question when
he is approached by Confederate spies
to sell secrets about the ship to the South.
Historical Fiction

"Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos"
by R. L. La Fevers
Interest Level Grades 5-8

Eleven-year-old Theodosia has the ability
to detect black magic and ancient curses
that are attached to objects in the Museum of Legends and Antiquities--
where her father is the curator--
and discovers that a new artifact from Egypt
is cursed and she must return it to the tomb
it was excavated from before it destroys the British Empire.
Adventure Fiction

"Dragon's Egg"
by Sarah Thomson
Interest Level Grades 3-6

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.
Fantasy Fiction

"Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls"
by Elise Primavera
Interest Level Grades 3-6

In order to save the town of Sherbet,
four girls with very little in common
become involved with some people and events
that seem to bear a resemblance to "The Wizard of Oz."
Fantasy Fiction

"The Water Horse"
by Dick King-Smith
Interest Level Grades 3-6

In 1930, on the coast of Scotland, eight-year-old Kirstie
finds a large egg which hatches into
an unusual sea creature,
and as he grows her family must decide what to do with him.
Fantasy Fiction

"A Taste of Colored Water"
by Matt Faulkner
Interest Level Grades K-3

In the 1960s young cousins Lulu and Jelly,
inspired by stories told by a classmate,
hitch a ride into the city hoping to take a gulp of
what they imagine must be some pretty special water
that comes from the "colored" drinking fountain.

"Don't Say That Word!"
by Alan Katz
Interest Level Grades K-3

Michael's rhyming description of his day at school
has his mother repeatedly interrupting to
prevent him from saying impolite words.

"Previously"
by Allan Ahlberg
Interest Level Grades K-3

The adventures of various nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters,
including Goldilocks, Jack and Jill, the frog prince,
Cinderella, and the gingerbread man,
are retold in backward sequence with each tale interrelated to the other.

"Out of the Egg"
by Tina Matthews
Interest Level Grades K-3

When the Little Red Hen's chick
wants to play with the offspring of
those layabouts who wouldn't help her,
the hen has to reconsider her isolationist position.
Though the theme is adult, the telling is spare
and sprightly and the primness is offset by mischievous visual details.

"The Princess and the Peabodys"
by Betty G. Birney
Interest Level Grades 5-8

A medieval princess appears
out of a rusty box bought at a yard sale,
leaving fourteen-year-old tomboy Casey Peabody
and her family stuck with her royal snobbishness until
the young wizard who had trapped her there
figures out the spell to send her home.
Humorous Fiction