Mrs. Krouse's Summer Reading 2010

Since the end of school:

1. Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles - a Bluestem Award book for next year - good baseball story for grades 3-5.

2. The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - I cried!!!

3. Trouble  by Gary Schmidt - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - Busy story with many subplots!  I will be writing questions and creating activities for the Rebecca Caudill packet for this title.

4. 11 Birthdays - by Wendy Maas - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - Glad I bought this one at the bookfair; reminded me of the movie Groundhog's Day.

5. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy - another Rebecca Caudill book for next year - Story about World War II; interesting!

6. Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy - you guessed it, another Rebecca Caudill book for next year - Set in Ireland (like taking a mini-vacation).

7. Savvy by Ingrid Law - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - read this one out loud to the family - We all LOVED it! What's your savvy?  Don't know what I am talking about?  READ THE BOOK!

8. Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonneblick - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - The same author who wrote Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie.  Good story.

9. Found by Margaret Haddix - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - I loved reading Running Out of Time by this author.  This book has a twist similar to that book.  The next book in the series is Sent and the third is due out this fall.  I hope I get a chance to read Sent this summer.

10. The Boy Who Dared by Susan Bartoletti - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year - another story of  the Holocaust.  I think there is or will be a movie.  Scary story!

11. Diamond Willow by Helen Frost - a Rebecca Caudill book for next year.  Lizzie and I listened to this book while we were driving home from Louisville, KY.  Fast story written as concrete poems.  When we looked at the book, there are hidden messages in the poems!

12. All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall - a Rebecca Caudill Book for next year - I'm not the biggest fan of Elvis, but I do like most of his songs, and this story is a fun read, particularly if you have ever tried to solve a problem and simply made a HUGE mess of things!

13. The Secret of Bailey's Chase by Marlis Day - NOT a R.C. book! I got this one at the Reading Conference in March. The author was a Girl Scout and she lives near Vincennes, IN.  The story mentioned places that the AGS fifth grades went to during their field trip.  I have been reading this story in the evenings to Katie, and my husband.  We saw some of the places in the story when we went to the Rendezvous over Memorial Day weekend.

14. The Alchemyst - by Michael Scott - a Rebecca Caudill Book for next year and the first in a series -  Quite a surprise, I was prepared for a fantasy set in historical times, but NO - modern story!  Of course not everything is resolved by the end of the story, so I guess I will be making time to read the sequel this summer.

15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I listened to this Rebecca Caudill Book on a Playaway!  This is also the first in a series, but the story is complete.  This book is also on the high school's Abraham Lincoln list.  VERY good story.

16. Chains by Laurie H. Anderson - This was on the Abe List last year, and the Rebecca Caudill Award list this year.  Revolutionary War story in the setting of New York.  It is one of those stories that bring out feelings of unjustice and outrage at the way people treat other people.

17. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull - OK I admit I thought I would not like this Rebecca Caudill title.  I looked at it and the next three books in the series, and thought it would be a slow fantasy - I WAS WRONG!!  Magical! Scary!

18. Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor - Many students said they liked this book when they returned it to the library.  I agree.  It was a very good story about a young girl's struggle with growing up in a very difficult family environment. 

 19. Just Grace by Charise Harper - One in a series of books about a girl named Grace.

20. Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells - I love books about Abraham Lincoln.  This book about his sons was really interesting.  It was fun to think that the author also writes the Ruby and Max books.

21. Mr. Strikeout by Jake Maddox - This book is only on the shelf during the summer, someone always has it and the other Jake Maddox books checked out.  Fun, easy book about baseball.

22. The Ghost, the White House and Me by Judith St. George - Another books with a tie to Abraham Lincoln!

23. Extra Credit by Andrew Clements - I understand more about what Mr. Clements was talking about during his presentation at the reading conference this year.  This was a very iinteresting look at life in the U.S. and in Afghanistan.

24. Bookstore Mouse by Peggy Christian - This book was on the Rebecca Caudill list MANY years ago.  Lots of fun vocabulary!

25. Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin - I could actually solve some of the problems in this story!  Fun mystery to read!

26. Punished! by David Lubar - Another fun vocabulary story. 

27. Animal Heroes: True Rescue Stories by Sandra Markle - great photos and stories of animal heroes that I did not know about!

28. Lanie by Jane Kurtz - An American Girl book, I would like to read more books about Lanie!  Her house and family sound like fun!

29. Independent Dames by Laurie Halse Anderson - When she wrote Chains, Laurie must have conducted a lot of research into the colonial times.  This book was really interesting AND it makes me want to check our collection to see what information we have about Molly Pitcher!

30. Masterpiece by Elise Broach - I have seen this book at the bookfair.  I thought it would be a mystery.  It reminds me of the feeling I had reading Cricket in Times Square ~ I enjoy this book!

31. Mail Order Ninja by Joshua Elder - This author's mother is a librarian in Carmi!  The book itself is a graphic novel about a ninja. There is a part 2 to finish the story.

32. Elephants Can Paint Too by Katya Arnold - I saw the paintings that the elephants painted at the Knoxville Zoo.  This books was about other elephants that paint.

33. Willoughbys by Lois Lowry -  Written in the style of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events with traditional children's literatute at the core.

34. Faithful Friend by Robert San Souci - a picture book with beautiful illustrations; Great story!

35. Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esme Codell -

36. Coraline by Neil Gaiman; I have not seen the movie, but the book is pretty scary (think 3rd-5th grade scary).

37. Go, Go America by Dan Yaccarino; Interesting facts about the 50 states. It was fun to pick out places that we have visited!  I knew the Corn Palace would be an important vacation stop! Only problem I have with the book is that information about Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man, is listed on the Missouri page.  Robert is from Alton, ILLINOIS!  I emailed the author and received a reply saying the fact checking department must have made an oversight. :(

*** Remember Fablehaven on the list?   Started reading it out loud to the family on a trip to Louisville!  We still have about a 100 pages to go, so I may read while others paint the kitchen!

38. The Road to Inconceivable (Abadazad) by J.M. DeMatteis - the public library got me this one through interlibrary loan - Imagine loving to read a series of books, watching all the movies, playing with the toys, and spending time imagining being a part of the book, only to find out you ARE!

 39. Franny K. Stein: The Fran That Time Forgot by Jim Benton

40. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School... by Lenore Look

41. Circle of Doom by Time Kennemore

42. Drita My Homegirl by Jenny Lombard

43. Amulet: the StoneKeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

44. Born to Fly by Michael Ferrari  Great story about a girl living up to her dreams

45. Doll People by Ann M. Martin  and Laura Godwin -This is from the AGS library and I have wanted to read it for years, but it is almost always checked out; it reminded me of my favorite story when I was a girl - Stories told from the doll's point of view were my favorite!

46. Dial-A-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson

47. Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka - FUNNY biography!  He had a wild childhood with 5 brothers!

48. Korgi v. 1 - by Christain Slade

49. Larger Than Life Lara by Dandi Daley Mackall

50. Liberation of Gabriel King by K. L. Going - Story about facing your fears

51. May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson - Exciting, scary story, but it is the first in a series and the story does not wrap up in the first.

52. Melonhead - Katy Kelly

53. Mirror Mirror: a Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer -  I LOVE this poetry book!  It has poems that read differently when the lines are placed in an inverted order.  I am getting this book for the library!

54. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank You Notes by Gifford  We have Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little in the library.

55. My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath; I am tempted to keep track of my adventures this summer!  I am going to the Reading Council Leadership Retreat, so that will be at least one.

56. Room One - Andrew Clements ; Contemporary story about a boy who attends school in a one room school.

57. Sipping Spiders Through a Straw by Kelly DiPucchio; Camp songs about monsters; pretty funny; I still can't sing!

58. Solving Zoe by Barbara Dee; a story with fun codes and ciphers.  I was reading this story when it was time to send letters to the girls at camp.  Since not much happened in the first two days that they were gone, I wrote about the events in codes like in the book.

59. The True Story of Stellina - by Metteo Pericolli a story about a bird

60. The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino  - Wow! I now know why they say that no two snowflakes are alike; Beautiful photgraphs.

61. Twenty Odd Ducks by Lynn Truss - Punctuation certainly can change the meaning.

62. Village That Almost Vanished by Steven Brezenoff

63. Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler

64. We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson beautifully illustrated book about the negro baseball league

65. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

66. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin - Wow! This author of Year of the Dog has collected old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon and written a wonderful tale with beautiful illustrations. It has earned a Newbery Honor award.

67. Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff - This book was written by the author of The Thing About Georgie.  A very warm story about dealing with the loss of a loved one.

68. Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise - This book is from our library.  It was on the Rebecca Caudill list several years ago.  The whole book is written as letters, memos, messages and newspaper clippings.

69. Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary - Just in time to celebrate the new Ramona movie.

70. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Stewart - reading this great story out loud to the family.  It is a LONG one! Read all the way to Springfield, Missouri and back AND to Vincennes and back.  We still have about 50 pages to go!

71. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren - an oldy, I actually re-read the copy I bought at a yard sale when I was a kid.

 72. Three Cups of Tea (Young Reader's edition) by Greg Mortenson - Reading about building schools; very moving story.

73. Fire Within by Crhis D'Lacey - I have been wanting to read this dragon story for a long time.  It was not what I thought it would be!  It is a very good story; if you are interested in writing a story yourself, this would be a good story to read to develop your craft.

74. Naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard - I didn't like this story very much.  I think it is a book that grownups like, but that kids don't.

75. Notes from the Dog by Gary Paulsen - When I see Gary Paulsen's name on a book and the word "Dog" I expect an adventure in Alaska.  Just goes to show you can't judge a book by the cover!  This is a realistic fiction story about a boy of middle school age.  He is looking for something to do during summer vacation, when he meets a woman.  She is house-sitting for the neighbor, and she makes a big difference in the life of the boy and he changes her life as well. No sledding, lots of humor, and a reflection of the realities of life.

76. Nightmare Academy: Monster Hunters by Dean Lorey - I need to buy this book for our collections so the next time someone asks for a scary book, I can give them this one!

77. Kick-Off! by Tikki and Ronde Barber (yes, the football players) - Tikki and Ronde have written a story about .... knitting! ... No of course not! - Football.  All about the trials of junior high football.  This story should be a hit with football fans.

 78. Queen Sophie Hartley by Stephanie Green

79. Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale - a graphic novel of Rapunzel's adventures

80. Nightmare at the Bookfair by Dan Gutman

81. Name of this Book is a Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch  Everyone should be required to read the introduction to this book!

82. Roxie and the Hooligans by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

83. Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me - by Nan Marino

84. A Friendship for Today by Patricia McKissack - another Rebecca Caudill book.  Interesting that the settting is near St. Louis.

85. A Season of  Gifts by Richard Peck - Another read aloud in the car.  We have really liked other books by Richard Peck: A Long Way from Chicago, Teacher's Funeral...

86. Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong - last Rebecca Caudill book to read and it was very good.  It is backordered, but should be in the library in October.

87. Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen - finally a book from one of the high school lists!  It was very interesting.