Book Sister's Summer Reading List (ages 8-12)

It’s a billion degrees outside. Why not read a book? Shannon and I put together a fun list for summer. Check it out!

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The evacuation of Jews from Nazi-held Denmark is one of the great untold stories of World War II. On September 29, 1943, word got out in Denmark that Jews were to be detained and then sent to the death camps. Within hours the Danish resistance, population and police arranged a small flotilla to herd 7,000 Jews to Sweden. Lois Lowry fictionalizes a true-story account to bring this courageous tale to life. She brings the experience to life through the eyes of 10-year-old Annemarie Johannesen, whose family harbors her best friend, Ellen Rosen, on the eve of the round-up and helps smuggles Ellen's family out of the country. Number the Stars won the 1990 Newbery Medal.

Coraline by Neil/ McKean
Coraline lives with her preoccupied parents in part of a huge old house--a house so huge that other people live in it, too... round, old former actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and their aging Highland terriers ("We trod the boards, luvvy") and the mustachioed old man under the roof ("'The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,' said the man upstairs, 'is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed.'") Coraline contents herself for weeks with exploring the vast garden and grounds. But with a little rain she becomes bored--so bored that she begins to count everything blue (153), the windows (21), and the doors (14). And it is the 14th door that--sometimes blocked with a wall of bricks--opens up for Coraline into an entirely alternate universe. Now, if you're thinking fondly of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you're on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl's work, it is delicious.

Inkspell (Inkheart) by Cornelia Funke
Just a few chapters into Inkspell, Mo (a.k.a. "Silvertongue") sagely says to his daughter, "Stories never really end, Meggie, even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page." A fitting meta-observation for this, the unplanned second installment in Cornelia Funke's beloved now-trilogy.

THE TIGER RISINGby Kate DiCamillo
12-year-old Rob Horton has recently moved with his father to from Jacksonville to a seedy motel in Lister, Florida. Ever since his mother's death, Rob has shut up his feelings in a big "suitcase" and clamped it down tight. He is determined that nothing will make him cry again--not the bullies who torment him at his new school, not the ugly rash on his legs, and especially not missing his mother, whom he is very skilled at not-thinking about. But then two extraordinary things happen: Rob discovers a real-life tiger, pacing back and forth in a cage near the motel where he lives. On that same day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a feisty, independent-minded girl who lets out her feelings as readily as he holds in his. As Rob and Sistine learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, they prove that some things--like memories, and heartache, and tigers--can't be locked up forever.

Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade
by Barthe DeClementsJenny knows one thing for sure -- Elsie Edwards is a fat thief who steals people's lunch money to buy candy. So when the book club money disappears, why is the whole class punished? Nothing's fair! But soon Jenny realizes some things aren't fair for Elsie, either. Elsie is on a strict diet, but when she starts losing weight, her mother won't buy her new clothes. Instead, she plans to send Elsie to boarding school. Suddenly everyone wants to help Elsie. Nothing's fair in fifth grade -- but sometimes things get better!

Tuck Everlasting
by Babbitt, Natalie
Doomed to--or blessed with--eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

My Side of the Mountain
by George, Jean Craighead
A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.

Anne of Green Gables
by Montgomery, Lucy Maud
Felder, Deborah
Anne (with an 'e' of course)starts out as a mistake. The elderly Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had planned on adopting a boy to help Matthew with the chores on their Prince Edward Island farm. What are they to do with the red-haired, high-spirited girl who arrives instead?
Anne Shirley, with her boundless imagination and heart, slowly brings joy into the narrow lives of those around her, and into the lives of readers who have delighted in her adventures since Lucy Maud Montgomery began writing about her in 1905.
Anne's courage, her enthusiasm, and her ability to love, have made her one of literature's most beloved characters in Canada and around the world.

Freaky Friday
by Rodgers, Mary
Annabel Andrews thinks she has a tough life. She's got an annoying little brother named Ben (better known as Ape Face), her mom is always after her to clean up her room, and Boris, the boy who lives upstairs, doesn't like her a bit. Annabel wishes she had her mother's much easier life--and one freaky, and hilarious, Friday, she gets it. She learns how difficult life can be when the laundry spins out of control, she sits in on a horrendous parent/teacher conference--about "herself"-- and to cap it all, she loses Ape Face. Here is the original body-switching story that started a Hollywood trend.

Igraine The Brave by Cornelia Funke
Princess Igraine dreams of becoming a famous knight just like her great grandfather, but the truth is, life at the family castle is rather boring. Until the nephew of the baroness-next-door shows up. He's got a dastardly plan to capture the castle and claim as his own the wonderful singing spell books that belong to Igraine's magician parents. To make matters worse, at the very moment of the siege, her mom and dad botch a spell, turning themselves into pigs! Aided by a Gentle Giant and a Sorrowful Knight, it's up to Igraine to be brave and save the day--and the books!

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis Supremely logical Emma-Jean has little in common with her seventh-grade classmates, and she observes their often-tumultuous social interactions with a detached, scientific curiosity. But when kindly Colleen seeks her advice in dealing with the school's resident mean girl, Emma-Jean is moved to apply her analytical mind--and a bit of desktop forgery--to aid her classmate. Pleased with the initial results of her meddling and a newfound sense of belonging, Emma-Jean sets out righting the everyday wrongs of middle-school life with some surprising success. Told from the alternating viewpoints of ultrarational Emma-Jean and sensitive, approval-seeking Colleen, a few key events of the story seem implausible, such as a shady car dealership exchanging a new car for a lemon after receiving one of Emma-Jean's flimsy forgeries. Still, the story ends on an inspiring up note, with Emma-Jean attending her first school dance and developing tentative friendships with her fellow classmates, which should please fans.

Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon Nurk is a quiet homebody of a shrew. But when a mysterious plea for help arrives in the mail, he invokes the spirit of his fearless warrior-shrew grandmother, Surka, and sets off to find the sender. It seems the prince of the dragonflies has been kidnapped, and Nurk is his last hope for rescue. Such a mission would be daunting for even the biggest, baddest, and bravest of shrews, and Nurk is neither big nor bad, and only a little brave. But he does his very best--and hopes his grandmother would be proud.

A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories by Richard Peck (Strays Like Us) first created the inimitable central figure of this novel in a previously published short story. Although the narrator, Joey, and his younger sister, Mary Alice, live in the Windy city during the reign of Al Capone and Bugs Moran, most of their adventures occur "a long way from Chicago," during their annual down-state visits with Grandma Dowdel. A woman as "old as the hills," "tough as an old boot," and larger than life ("We could hardly see her town because of Grandma. She was so big, and the town was so small"), Grandma continually astounds her citified grandchildren by stretching the boundaries of truth. In eight hilarious episodes spanning the years 1929-1942, she plots outlandish schemes to even the score with various colorful members of her community, including a teenaged vandal, a drunken sheriff and a well-to-do banker. Readers will be eager to join the trio of Grandma, Joey and Mary Alice on such escapades as preparing an impressive funeral for Shotgun Cheatham, catching fish from a stolen boat and arranging the elopement of Vandalia Eubanks and Junior Stubbs. Like Grandma Dowdel's prize-winning gooseberry pie, this satire on small-town etiquette is fresh, warm and anything but ordinary. Ages 9-12.

The Callahan Cousins: Summer Begins (No. 1) by Elizabeth Doyle Carey
In this first book in the series, the 12-year-old Callahan cousins all converge on their beloved grandmother for a summer of excitement. The gang consists of cheerful, upbeat, Kate; worldly, eccentric Neeve; ambitious, enthusiastic Hillary; and helpful, intellectual Phoebe. The 10-week visit gives the girls a great view of lovely Gull Island, where their family has been involved in a long-standing feud with the Bicket family. Hillary decides to continue the feud that had died down over the years, which results in a scary trip in a leaking boat. In the end, she is the one who actually brings about peace between the two families. This accessible, contemporary story features fun-loving cousins and their wise, thoughtful grandmother as they learn a great deal about their family and themselves. A good choice for fans of the "American Girls" series (Pleasant Co.).-Andrea Tarr, Corona Public Library, CA