Request Book Bundles
Book Bundles are multiple copies of the same title that have been donated to CKBB. You can request these books in increments of 5 to use for classroom curriculum, gifts for students, book clubs or small reading groups.
Book Bundles
Please shop our inventory below to make your book bundle selections. To ensure we have available bundles for all requests, Book Bundle Requests are limited to one per month per person. You will receive an email notification when your request is ready for pickup. Requests must be picked up within 30 days of fulfillment.
A Jar of Dreams
By Yoshiko Uchida
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in California during the 1930's, a time of great prejudice.
A Long Walk to Water
By Linda Sue Park
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
A Theft in Time: Timedetectors II
By Darrel and Sally Odgers
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Tom and Coxie thought they had put time travel behind them. But when Tom becomes ill and his search for a missing skull leads him to team up with Coxie again, the past and the future are placed very much in doubt. Then, a mysterious stranger from the future begins to follow them, and a pesky doctor accuses Tom of stealing the very skull he has been hoping to find. But when two more strangers appear from the future and try to grab Tom and Coxie, they boys don't know where to turn. What's more, Tom is getting sicker and sicker, and time seems to be running out...
A.R. Blasts Off!
By Charles Hirsch
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
A.R. Smith (formerly Aida Rose Smith) is a resident of a small farming town called Kindbrae. Life in town centers around the General Store and Cafe, which A.R. is also kept busy tending her garden and taking trips to the farmer's market. A.R. loves Kindbrae and Kindbrae loves A.R., but she has always had her sights set skyward. She is positive that one day her dream of space flight will come true.
Al Capone Does My Shirts
By Gennifer Choldenko
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
The Newbery Honor Book and New York Times Bestseller that is historical fiction with a hint of mystery about living at Alcatraz not as a prisoner, but as a kid meeting some of the most famous criminals in our history. Al Capone Does My Shirts has become an instant classic for all kids to read!
Today I moved to Alcatraz, a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water. I'm not the only kid who lives here. There are twenty-three other kids who live on the island because their dads work as guards or cooks or doctors or electricians for the prison, like my dad does. And then there are a ton of murderers, rapists, hit men, con men, stickup men, embezzlers, connivers, burglars, kidnappers and maybe even an innocent man or two, though I doubt it. The convicts we have are the kind other prisons don't want. I never knew prisons could be picky, but I guess they can. You get to Alcatraz by being the worst of the worst. Unless you're me. I came here because my mother said I had to.
Alabama Moon
By Watt Key
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon's father dies, Moon follows his father's last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn't know or understand; he's become property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world, and even, perhaps, make his home there.
Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life
By Elizabeth MacLeod
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
"One would think that I had never done anything worthwhile but the telephone," complained Alexander Graham Bell. No wonder he was annoyed; Bell invented the phone when he was just 29 and went on to lead a long and inventive life. This biography in the Snapshots: Images of People and Places in History series chronicles the life and many remarkable achievements of Alexander Graham Bell, including his work with the hearing impaired and experiments with flight, iceberg locators and, of course, the telephone.
Amelia Gray Is Almost Okay
By Jessica Brody
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
When you can choose to be anyone, how do you know who you really are? From the author of Better You Than Me and I Speak Boy comes another fun and relatable book about new experiences and how staying true to yourself is the best way to be okay. Twelve-year-old Amelia Gray has changed schools thirty-nine times (!!!) because of her dad’s job, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for making friends. But that’s okay. Amelia loves her “life on the go” with Dad and their adorable supermutt, Biscotti. She’s been in enough middle schools to know that friendships are messy, and who needs that? But when her dad announces that he wants to stay in their new town for the whole summer—maybe even forever—Amelia realizes she’s going to have to do the one thing she’s never had to do: fit in. So she gives herself not one but three total makeovers, to try out a few personalities and hopefully find her “thing.” Is she Amie, a confident track star? Mellie, a serious journalist? Or Lia, a bold theater kid? Juggling three identities is hard, and Amelia soon finds herself caught in the kind of friendship drama she has always managed to avoid. Yet despite her best efforts, she still can’t answer the most important question of all: Who is the real Amelia Gray?
An Indian Winter
By Russell Freedman
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Relates the experiences of a German prince, his servant, and a young Swiss artist as they traveled through the Missouri River Valley in 1833 learning about the territory and its inhabitants and recording their impressions in words and pictures.
Because of Walter
By Carol Krueger
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Kaysha has always longed to have a family. Unfortunately, every time she thinks she's about to be adopted, something goes wrong, and she's bounced to another foster home.
Just as she's losing hope, Kaysha is placed with the Parkers, and they seem to be the family she's always dreamed of having. There's only one problem - Victoria Parker, a girl about Kaysha's age. Victoria does not want to share her parents, and will do anything to get Kaysha kicked out. Will Kaysha every become part of the family? Maybe, with a little help from an unexpected source...
Bonanza Girl
By Patricia Beatty
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
A widow and her two children head for gold rush territory in Idaho, hoping to find jobs and a new life.
Brian's Winter
By Gary Paulsen
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
From three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Gary Paulsen comes a beloved follow-up to his award-winning classic Hatchet that asks: What if Brian hadn't been rescued and had to face his deadliest enemy yet--winter?
In the Newbery Honor-winning Hatchet, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson learned to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness, armed only with his hatchet. As millions of readers know, he was rescued at the end of the summer. But what if that hadn't happened? What if Brian had been left to face his deadliest enemy--winter?
Brian Paulsen raises the stakes for survival in this riveting and inspiring story as one boy confronts the ultimate adventure.
Bridge to Terabithia
By Katherine Paterson
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the class, but when a girl named Leslie Burke moves into the neighboring farm his life changes forever. Even though she runs faster than him, Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay - she's clever and funny and not a bit soppy. And it is Leslie who invents Terabithia, the secret country on an island across the creek where he can escape his troublesome family.The only way to reach Terabithia is by rope-swing where Jess and Leslie become King and Queen, defeating giants, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against their enemies. They are invincible - until tragedy strikes. It is more dreadful than anything Jess had ever dreamed of, but as he struggles to cope with his grief and anger, he finds that his family value him more than he'd thought and that, still King, he could even save Terabithia for the future.
*Please note that this bundle has different front pictures.
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt!
By Jean Fritz
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Today's preeminent biographer for young people brings to life our colorful 26th president. Conservationist, hunter, family man, and politician, Teddy Roosevelt commanded the respect and admiration of many who marveled at his energy, drive and achievements. An ALA Notable Book. A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.
Call of the Selkie: Challenges and Choices
By Jean Bennett
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Caminando bajo la nieve (The Snow Walker)
By Charles M. Wetterer, Margaret K. Wetterer
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 10 years
One morning in March 1888, twelve-year-old Milton Daub awoke to find the world buried in snow. The blizzard was like nothing Milton and his neighbors in the Bronx had ever seen. No one dared go out into the storm. No one, that is, except Milton. He and his father made a pair of snowshoes from barrel hoops and old roller skates. Then Milton stepped bravely into the storm to buy milk for his family. Soon he was buying supplies for everyone in the area. His neighbors declared him a hero. The Blizzard of 1888 set records in the Northeast that are still unbroken. It forced whole cities to shut down for days. But Milton didn't let the snow stop him from helping neighbors in need. His true story is both an exciting adventure and a heartwarming glimpse of old New York.
Casey's Case
By David Rish
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Catch the Sunlight
By Marguerite Chase McCue
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
At first, it seems like it's going to be just a typical day at Mr. Kramer's ranch. Clark Lewis, a fourth-grade prize-winning writer, soon learns otherwise. Clark's first surprise of the day is meeting Jamilla, a horse that has amazing abilities. But there is a crisis at the ranch that Jamilla can't solve alone. So it's up to Clark to come to the rescue.
Children of the Wild West
By Russell Freedman
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
This is a portrait of pioneer and American Indian children in the 19th-century West. It covers both the lives of settlers, crossing America in covered wagons and building log or sod cabins, and of the American Indians whose lives were changed by the new arrivals.
Cupid and Psyche
By M. Charlotte Craft
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Psyche is the most beautiful woman in the world, yet the oracle at Delphi foresees she will fall in love with a creature feared even by the gods themselves. Magically, Psyche finds herself in a magnificent castle fitted with sweet music, attentive servants, and a charming but invisible host. Soon she falls in love with this man she has never seen, but in a moment of doubt she betrays his trust. To win back his love, Psyche must show that she is as brave as she is beautiful by performing three impossible tasks. Perhaps the greatest love story of all, Cupid and Psyche is unsurpassed in its richness and drama. Marie Craft's lively, suspenseful retelling of this classic Greek myth will appeal to young and old alike. And these legendary lovers have inspired forty lush luminous paintings by award-winning artist Kinuko Craft. Lavishly illustrated and thrillingly told, here is a book to be treasured forever.
Destination Disaster
By Fleur Beale
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
The story centers on a character named Jim and his grandfather who embark on a routine fishing trip. When an unexpected and severe accident occurs, the two must rely on their wits and resilience to survive.
Endangered Tigers
By Bobbie Kalman
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
Three species of tigers are now extinct and the remaining five species are in danger of the same fate. In this informative book, children will learn reasons why these beautiful cats became endangered and how people are helping them from going extinct.
Eureka!: It's Television!
By Jeanne Bendick
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 10 years
An illustrated history of invention provides an in-depth examination of television, tracing its origins and showing the series of inventions that made the television a reality.
Fernitickles
By Mary Peace Finley
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
The King has come to town, and young Duncan Fisher is worried. If he and his father can't catch the impossibly high numbers of fish the King keeps ordering, they'll be ruined! Even worse, it seems the local furrier wants to make Duncan's favorite family of otters into a fur cloak for the Queen. Is there a way Duncan can save the trusting otters and his family's fortune?
Follow That Spy!: Individual Title Six-Packs
By Ann Sullivan
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 10 years
Chip and Toad thought playing spies was fun, at least until Trudy came along and ruined their game. But Trudy has something they don't have--a real spy camera watch. On a field trip to the top secret Axion Satellite Corporation, the children seem to stumble onto a plot to steal plans for a secret satellite system. Is the trio up to playing spies for real?
Fossil River Adventure
By Mike Graf
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
Terrence Chang and his family are off to explore Fossil River National Park, a great place to search for dinosaur fossils, but his dinosaur science fair project didn't win a prize as he had hoped. His dad thinks this family trip will be the inspiration Terrence needs to improve his project, and maybe win a prize next year. Who knows what Terrence will discover on this adventure?
Geysers: When Earth Roars
By Roy A. Gallant
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Discusses various aspects of geysers including their formation, location, anatomy, use by humans, and possible extinction
Glumly
By Robert Klein
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 10 years
NO LAUGINING. NO WHISTLING. NO SMILING ALLOWED. The City of Glumly is a depressing place, where even sunshine and flowers are forbidden - and Mr. Grim is determined to make sure the it stays that way. But Sarah Frown's mouth keeps turning up at eh corners - and when she begins to become curious about the world that lies beyond the city walls .. well, the whole gray world of Glumly is about to change!
Great Escapes of World War II
By George Sullivan
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
A collection of true stories of seven daring escapes by prisoners of war during World War II.
Great Explorations
By David Neufeld
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Have you ever looked at the horizon and wondered what was out there? People have been curious about the unknown for centuries. People who explore the unknown are sometimes called navigators. Navigators know where they are, know where they are going, and know how to get back from there. For centuries, navigators were most interested in sailing the seas.
Harbor Me
By Jaqueline Woodson
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Hoang Anh: A Vietnamese-American Boy
By Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
In a photographic study of the immigrant experience in action today, a Vietnamese-American boy explains how he successfully lives astride two cultures, American and Vietnamese. By the author of Totem Pole.
How I Came To Be A Writer
By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Newbery Medalist Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's one hundred and more books are true to life, funny, and, most of all, well written -- you'd think that she doesn't have to work at writing at all. But that's not true.
How I Came to Be a Writer is the story of one author's beginnings -- successes and failures, reviews and rejection slips -- things that mark the stages of a writer's life. Illustrated with photographs, and including samples of her earlier writing, this book will show you the inner workings of the writing process, from the spark of an idea to a book's actual publication.
This classic writer's memoir has been revised and updated to include material on the writing of the Newbery-winning Shiloh and its two sequels.
Imagine this, James Robert
By Rebecca Weber
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
In the Rain Forest
By Dina Anastasio
Category: Early Reader
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
A simple introduction to some of the plants and animals of the rain forest and the importance of this habitat.
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson: A Classic Sports Story About Baseball, Friendship, and Finding Home in 1947 Brooklyn for Kids
By Bette Bao Lord
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
A timeless classic that will enchant readers who love Jennifer L. Holm and Thanhhà Lại, about an immigrant girl inspired by the sport she loves to find her own home team—and to break down any barriers that stand in her way.
Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends.
Then a miracle happens: baseball! It's 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is a superstar. Suddenly Shirley is playing stickball with her class and following Jackie as he leads the Brooklyn Dodgers to victory after victory.
With her hero smashing assumptions and records on the ball field, Shirley begins to feel that America is truly the land of opportunity—and perhaps has also become her real home.
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women
By Cornelia Meigs
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
Profiles the life of the noted nineteenth-century writer, detailing her early, happy childhood in Pennsylvania and Boston, and her later success as author of the classic "Little Women"
Journey to the New World: My Diary of 1848
By Susan Brocker
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
In 1848, Hannah leaves Ireland to start a new life in America. But first she must survive the long sea voyage in cramped, unhealthy conditions with little food and a fever raging through the ship.
Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World
By Militts Walter
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Ten-year-old Justin hates that his sisters and his mama are always fussing at him. They make him feel stupid because he can't clean his room or cook. But why should he? He'd rather be outside playing. After all, cooking and cleaning is just “women's work.” That's why Justin is glad when his grandfather invites him back to his ranch for the summer. Justin is sure he can get away from all the women and do some actual “men's work,” such as cleaning fish, mending fences, and riding horses. But back at the ranch, Justin learns some unexpected lessons and soon realizes that anyone can do anything once they learn how.
Life Story
By Virginia Lee Burton
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Examines and explains how life on Earth came to be and how the Earth and life on it developed and evolved throughout time, told through a play with five acts and a prologue.
Louis Armstrong: Swinging, Singing Satchmo
By Sandford Brown
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
Examines the personal life and musical career of the famous jazz trumpeter and singer known as Satchmo.
Mark Twain: America's Humorist, Dreamer, Prophet
By Clinton Cox
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
An introduction to the life of Mark Twain examines his many achievements as a riverboat pilot, newspaper reporter, adventurer, satirist, and author of many classic works including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Mary On Horseback: Three Mountain Stories
By Rosemary Wells
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Master storyteller Rosemary Wells tells the incredible true story of a World War I nurse who brought medical care to the Appalachians Mary Breckinridge, trained as a nurse during World War I, rode on horseback into the isolated mountains of Appalachia and never looked back. Instead, she spent her life fording icy streams and climbing untracked mountains to bring medical help to those in need. More nurses on horseback joined Mary . . . and the Frontier Nursing Service was born. Mary’s story is amazing. And it is true. “Wells’s realistic yet poetic prose perfectly captures the dichotomy of the majestic beauty of Appalachia and the harsh realities of mountain life. . . . This one’s a gem.”—School Library Journal
Midnight Magic
By Avi
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if his daughter is indeed being haunted by a ghost.
Mystery in the Wings
By Carolyn Crimi
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Kit Conroy is on her way to becoming a star! She's playing her favorite character in a local production of Alice in Wonderland, her mom's directing the play, and life seems great. But then mysterious things start happening in the old, creepy theater. The lead actress' necklace disappears-- and that's just the beginning. It's lucky that Kit has a supersleuth friend and her dog Mooch to help her solve the mystery.
Myth or Mystery?
By Rebecca Weber
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 7 - 9 years
Night Visitors
By Claire Daniel
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
The year is 1852, and slavery still exists in the United States. Every day, slaves risk their lives to escape to freedom by traveling north to Canada. Many Americans are against slavery, including Amelia Turner's parents, the owners of a general store. After an unexpected visitor appears at the Turner's door late one night, Amelia learns that her family is involved in the anti-slavery movement. This leads to an experience that Amelia will never forget.
Notes From the Dog
By Gary Paulsen
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
Nothing But the Truth
By Avi
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
In this thought-provoking examination of freedom, patriotism, and respect, ninth grader Philip Malloy is kept from joining the track team by his failing grades in English class. Convinced that the teacher just doesn't like him, Philip concocts a plan to get transferred out of her class. Breaking the school's policy of silence during the national anthem, he hums along, and ends up in a crisis at the center of the nation's attention.
Nothings Fair in Fifth Grade
By Barthe DeClements
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
Now is Your Time!: The African-American Struggle for Freedom
By Walter Dean Myers
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
A Coretta Scott King Award winner that is more timely than ever—excellent narrative nonfiction that's "history at its best."* Like Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, Now Is Your Time! explores American history through the stories of the people whose experiences have shaped and continue to shape the America in which we live.
History has made me an African American. It is an Africa that I have come from, and an America that I have helped to create.
Since they were first brought as captives to Virginia, the people who would become African Americans have struggled for freedom. Thousands fought for the rights of all Americans during the Revolutionary War, and for their own rights during the Civil War. On the battlefield, through education, and through their creative genius, they have worked toward one goal: that the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be denied no one.
Fired by the legacy of these men and women, the struggle continues today.
"Portrays the quests of individual Africans against the background of broader historical movements. Instead of a comprehensive, strict chronology, Myers offers, through freed slave Ibrahima, investigative reporter Ida Wells, artist Meta Warrick Fuller, inventor George Latimore, artist Dred Scott, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, and others, history at its best—along with deeper understanding of past and contemporary events. Readers will grasp reasons behind incidents ranging from bewildering Supreme Court decisions to the historical need for the black extended family. Intriguing and rousing." (Publishers Weekly starred review*).
Walter Dean Myers was a New York Times bestselling author, Printz Award winner, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, two-time Newbery Honor recipient, and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Maria Russo, writing in the New York Times, called Myers "one of the greats and a champion of diversity in children’s books well before the cause got mainstream attention."
Number the Stars
By Lois Lowry
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The unforgettable Newbery Medal–winning novel from Lois Lowry. As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family.
Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.
A modern classic of historical fiction, Number the Stars has won generations of fans and continues to speak to today's readers. Jessica Grose wrote in a November 2022 New York Times essay entitled "This Perfect Mother-Daughter Read Holds a Powerful Lesson for Fighting Antisemitism": “Number the Stars is particularly relevant to our family, and to this moment."
As School Library Journal put it: "Readers are taken to the very heart of Annemarie's experience, and, through her eyes, come to understand the true meaning of bravery."
Peter the Pumpkin-eater
By Janine Scott
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
When Peter enters the 'Grow and Show' gardening competition he plans to grow cactuses. However instead he manages to accidentally grow a crop of giant pumpkins. Now he just has to find a way to get rid of them. Suggested level: primary.
Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange
By Elizabeth Partridge
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Photographer Dorothea Lange captured some of the most famous and moving images of the Great Depression. This biography, written by the daughter of Lange's assistant, showcases 60 of Lange's most famous black-and-white photos which show how she caught her subjects in relation to harsh, powerful events, and to one another.
Rigby Literacy: Leveled Reader Grade 5 Glessner House: An American Home and Family
By Rigby
Category: Early Reader
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Grade 5 Leveled Reader exploring the history of the Glessner Family.
Robinson Crusoe (Scholastic Junior Classics)
By Retold From Daniel Dafoe
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe is alone on a desert island. Are there wild animals in the forest? Cannibals?
If he wants to stay alive, Robinson Crusoe must start to do things he never thought of doing before: build a house, weave baskets,, tame goals, raise grain, sew anima-l skin clothes.
He has no one to help him, no one to talk to. He has to decide for himself what to do. Then he has to do it.
How does Robinson Crusoe stay alive and safe on his island?
Ryan's Dog Ringo
By Marie Gibson
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Ryan wants a dog. But with his twin brother, Greg, in a wheelchair after an accident involving a dog, and Aunt Beth's feelings toward the species, Ryan doesn't have much hope. Everything changes when Ryan gets a job at the kennels. As he helps a small, unwanted dog named Trixie, he discovers that he may hold the key to helping his brother get well. He knows he can help both, but only if his father and Aunt Beth don't try to stop him before he has a chance.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
By Eleanor Coerr
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
“An extraordinary book, one no reader will fail to find compelling and unforgettable.” —Booklist, starred review
The star of her school’s running team, Sadako is lively and athletic…until the dizzy spells start. Then she must face the hardest race of her life—the race against time. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the courage that makes one young woman a heroine in Japan.
"[The] story speaks directly to young readers of the tragedy of Sadako's death and, in its simplicity, makes a universal statement for 'peace in the world.” —The Horn Book
"The story is told tenderly but with neither a morbid nor a sentimental tone: it is direct and touching." —BCCB
Samuel's Choice
By Richard Berleth
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Samuel is a fourteen-year-old enslaved African American in Brooklyn in 1776 when the fighting between the British and the colonists reaches his doorstep. "Liberty ain't for Africans," says fellow servants. "It got nothin' to do with us." But his friend Sana says, "Nobody here's gonna be free unless they take the risk." Soon the well-equipped Redcoats have trapped ragged American soldiers, who have no boats to escape, and a terrible storm blows up. Samuel, a strong boatman, must decide what he should do.
Sir Arthur
By Sunita Apte
Category: Early Reader
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Presents a short biography of the man who created Sherlock Holmes. Also presents selections of stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes.
Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella
By Alan Schroeder
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 5 - 7 years
In this variation on the Cinderella story, based on the Charles Perrault version but set in the Smoky Mountains, Rose loses her glass slipper at a party given by the rich feller on the other side of the creek.
Sounder
By William H. Armstrong
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The boy knows that times are tough for his family. Every night, his father goes out hunting with their great coon dog, Sounder, to try to put food on the table. But even with the little they bring back, there is still never enough for the family to eat.
Steal Away
By Jennifer Armstrong
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
In 1896, Mary Emmons is surprised when her grandmother takes her along to visit an old friend, in Toronto, named Bethlehem. Mary has led a sheltered life in New York City, far from hardship and danger. But when Mary meets the ancient woman, the personal history she shares removes the blinders from Mary’s eyes, forcing the girl to recognize prejudice and injustice for the first time.
As a young girl, Suzanna, Mary’s grandmother, is sent to live with her uncle in the South. Seeing slaves for the first time, and the horrible way they are treated, Suzanna decides to run away, back to her home in Vermont. When she leaves, though, she is not alone. Disguised as a boy, the young slave Bethlehem escapes with her. As the story of these two brave young women is told through alternating chapters, they share the dangers they face on the perilous journey from Virginia to freedom.
Strange Meetings
By Jenny Wagner
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
Michael's new in town and wants to make a good impression, especially where his new neighbor, Anita, is concerned. But wearing his cousin's baggy clothes doesn't help! Michael turns to his mother's new computer, the space-age Vector 3e, for company. Through the Vector's infrared modem he makes a new friend, Tania, and when they finally do meet face to face, Michael makes more of an impression the he'd bargained for!
Surviving the Applewhites
By Stephanie S. Tolan
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Will anyone take on Jake Semple? Jake Semple is notorious. Rumor has it he burned down his old school and got kicked out of every school in his home state. Only one place will take him now, and that's a home school run by the Applewhites, a chaotic and hilarious family of artists. The only one who doesn't fit the Applewhite mold is E.D.—a smart, sensible girl who immediately clashes with the unruly Jake. Jake thinks surviving this one will be a breeze . . . but is he really as tough or as bad as he seems?
Tales Mummies Tell
By Patricia Lauber
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
Explains how the study of mummies, both natural and man-made, including a frozen baby mammoth found in Siberia and the human mummies of Egypt, Peru, and Denmark, can reveal information about ancient civilizations and prehistoric life.
Television Drama
By Sue Cason
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Tim's dad is a high-profile children's entertainer. He sings and dances and acts like a clown - and all on national television! How embarrassing! But when a small child is in trouble, Tim's feelings about his father change dramatically...
Thanksgiving
By Steve Potts
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 9 years
Briefly discusses the history and customs connected to the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States.
The Bad Luck of King Fred
By Anna-Maria Crum
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 8 years
Oh no, Your Majesty! Wait! Stop! Don't touch that! Poor King Fred is having the worst luck ever, and he doesn't know what to do next. Even worse, his new royal adviser is working so hard to keep the king out of harm's way, that life in the palace is just no fun anymore. King Fred's suit is muddy, his mustache droopy, and he's getting a little grumpy. What does a king have to do to turn his luck around?
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
By Barbara Robinson
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, and swear. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale—the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies—has a lot of people up in arms. And their wild antics cause havoc throughout the play’s production. But the actual pageant is full of surprises for everyone, starting with the Herdmans themselves, as they ultimately lead the town in finding the true meaning of Christmas. They will make this year’s pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.
The Bizarre Bazaar Mirror Town
By Daniel Nayeri
Category: Graphic Novel
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Enter the Bizarre Bazaar, a phantasmagorical graphic novel series sure to enchant or entrap its curious customers! In this first twisted tale, a boy stumbles—literally—into Mirror Town, a world where he gets everything he's ever wanted...or so he thinks.
No one ever pays attention to twelve-year-old Abel Azari: not his parents, not the cool kids at school, and certainly not his crush, Ginny Mendoza. To them, he's always been practically invisible.
That all changes the day he discovers a peculiar mirror in his neighbor's garage. But this isn't any old mirror, as Abel finds out soon enough when he accidentally falls through it.
What waits for him on the other side is a world just like his, except something is...off. Suddenly, his busy parents are spending every minute with him, his classmates treat him like a king, and now the girl he's been crushing on wants to hang out? It's the life Abel’s always dreamed of; how could he possibly go back to the way things were before?
But not everything—or everyone—is as it seems. Mirror Town hides evil secrets, and Abel will have to unravel them fast before he ends up trapped there forever.
The Call of the Wild
By Jack London
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The adventures of an unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, forcibly taken to the Klondike gold fields where he eventually becomes the leader of a wolf pack.
The Colorado River
By Carol B. Rawlins
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Examines the location, origin, history, and uses of the Colorado River.
The Day the Women Got the Vote: A Photo History of the Women's Rights Movement
By George Sullivan
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Traces the history of women's rights in the United States, both before and after the achievement of the vote.
The Emperor's Teacup and More Tales from Near and Far
By Jacqueline Dembar Greene
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Here is a collection of stories from all over the world that have been told, retold, and treasured for years. These seven tales take you to the lands of emperors, kings, and clever ordinary folks. The stories come from Spain, Japan, Russia, Africa, Mexico, and North America. Read about the success of the characters in these tales as they use their brainpower, determination, and their good luck to get ahead.
The Flying Pig and the Daredevil Dog
By Alan Trussell-Cullen
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
What happens when Pig decides he wants to fly through the air like a bird? Nothing - until his enthusiastic friend Dog enters the picture with an unlimited supply of ideas for getting wingless Pig airborne! Follow Pig and Dog through their hilarious misadventures as they sneak around, look for fences, and almost get caught by Farmer. And of course, find out whether Pig really can fly!
The Girl who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl / Dear America Series
By Ann Warren Turner
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
As one of the latest editions to the Dear America series, this tale provides the first-hand account of a Navajo girl who, along with her family and friends, endured the hardships of the Long Walk in an effort to survive and reach her final destination.
The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else
By Ann Trunnell Herrell
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
Sara Burnett has had it! Her parents have just explained that they're going to have a baby, and Sara's already struggling to handle school, friends, and life with her genius brother. Even worse, the horrible Geoff Nelson seems to have made it his goal in life to torment her. Thank goodness for "Operation Slime Time"! It just might save the day!" This is her diary...
The History of Emigration from China & South-East Asia
By Katherine Prior
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
A colour illustrated history of emigration from China and South-East Asia, which features accounts of the experiences of various migrants and analysis of the contribution of immigrants to their new country. Part of the ORIGINS series and compatible with National Curriculum Key Stage 3.
The Journal, Dear Future II
By Meredith Costain
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 10 years
In the year 2198, a time capsule buried for over two hundred years is found under Anika's learning center. Inside it are books, paper, and a journal written in 1998 by a girl called Anna.
The Last Princess: The Story of Princess Ka'iulani of Hawai'i
By Fay Stanley
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
The day she was born, bells rang joyously and cannon fired noisy salutes--at last there was an heir to the Hawai'ian throne. But although this beautiful young princess worked tirelessly to prepare herself to rule, and fought bravely to protect the rights of her beloved people, she would never be queen.
When it was first published, The Last Princess: The Story of Princess Ka'iulani of Hawai'i won many honors for its sensitive text and brilliantly colored illustrations. "The full page paintings are reflecting the beauty of the islands and the handsome racially mixed people who live there...A visual treat," said School Library Journal in a starred review. A 1991 American Library Association Notable Book, it also won the Carter G. Woodson Award from the National Council Social Studies.
In this reissued edition of an inspired collaboration, author Fay Stanley, writing her only children's book, and daughter Diane Stanley, the celebrated author and illustrator, tell the touching, bittersweet story of Princess Ka'iulani and open a window onto a nation's history that is often forgotten.
The Long Walk Home
By Pauline Cartwright
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
When Brad's mom decides to sell their family house, Brad thinks his parents will never get back together. And his mom's new friend, Gary, seems to be very happy with the situation. That's when Brad decides to leave!
The Martian Tales
By Marilee Robin Burton
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 10 years
The Message (Animorphs #4)
By K. A. Applegate
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
The wildly popular books by K.A. Applegate are back! The Animorphs return in this update of the classic series. It all started with the dreams. But Cassie didn't pay much attention to them. She and her friends have been having nightmares ever since they acquired the power to morph. But when Cassie discovers that Tobias has been having dreams too -- the exact same dreams -- about the ocean, and a voice that's calling to them for help, she decides it's time to start listening. Now she and the others have to figure out if the dreams are a message, or a trap.
The Midnight Pig
By Carol Krueger
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 9 years
Kylie discovers that owning a pet pig who eats at midnight, disrupts the gardening contest, and shows up unexpectedly at school functions is more that just fun: it's a handful.
Mind you, it's pretty useful to have a pig as clued in as Fred. When Kylie becomes involved with dangerous bank robbers, it's the Midnight Pig who comes to the rescue.
The Moon Bridge
By Marcia Savin
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The friendship between San Francisco girls Mitzi Fujimoto and Ruthie Fox is changed when World War II begins and Mitzi and her family are forced to go into an internment camp.
The Power of Un
By Nancy Etchemendy
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Everyone knows that a computer's "undo" command can erase a mistake. Gib Finney has been given a device that allows him to do the same thing - in real life. At first, the possibilities seem endless. Flunk a test; take it over again. Keep swinging at the same pitch until you finally hit the winning home run. But when his younger sister is gravely injured in a traffic accident for which he feels responsible, Gib has to figure out which events in a two-day period should be changed in order to ensure that the accident never takes place. Did it all begin when Gib and his friend Ash set out for the carnival? Or when he argued with Rainy Frogner about the salt in their science experiment? Or when he shot the spitball at his math teacher? Gib finds himself "correcting" far more than he intended to, and the consequences quickly become impossible to predict.
The Real Thief
By William Steig
Category: Young Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 9 years
The goose who is Chief Guard of the Royal Treasury is unjustly accused of stealing by King Basil the bear and his faithless friends.
The Star Fisher
By Laurence Yep
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
The Westing Game (Puffin Modern Classics)
By Ellen Raskin
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER • Ellen Raskin's unforgettable, timeless classic continues to be cherished by young readers of each new generation.
"Great fun for those who enjoy illusion, word play, or sleight of hand." —The New York Times Book Review
A highly inventive mystery begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of the very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Westing. They could become millionaires, depending on how they play a game. All they have to do is find the answer—but the answer to what? The Westing game is tricky and dangerous, but the heirs play on—through blizzards, burglaries, and bombings. Sam Westing may be dead ... but that won't stop him from playing one last game!
Ellen Raskin has created a remarkable cast of characters in a puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot filled with humor, intrigue, and suspense.
The Word Eater
By Mary Amato
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
They Came from Center Field
By Dan Gutman
Category: Young Chapter
Reading Level: 7 - 9 years
A team of youngsters takes on a crew of extraterrestrials determined to learn the game of baseball.
Timedetectors
By Sally Farrell Odgers, Sally Odgers
Category: Young Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
When Tom and Coxie go on a camping trip, the discovery of some mysterious objects sends them on an adventure to another time. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.
Today is Halloween
By P.K. Hallinan
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 6 - 8 years
Halloween is a frightfully fantastic time of year for people of all ages but is especially fun as a child! Through simple verse and bright illustrations, P.K. Hallinan awakens the excitement that children feel on Halloween, from describing the fun and colorful costumes of friends to trick-or-treating treats to the delightfully scary house decorations.
Hallinan not only brings the Halloween spirit to life for children, but also inspires safe and appropriate Halloween behavior, including advice on choosing bags with extra-strong handles and always saying “thank you.” Hallinan gently encourages children to sift through their candy with a parent before indulging—and he subtly suggests waiting to munch until the next day.
Parents can depend on P.K. Hallinan to provide not only fun stories, but also teaching tools for their children. Prepare your child for an exciting, yet safe, Halloween evening in Today is Halloween!
Triumph on Everest (Direct Mail Edition): A Photobiography of Sir Edmund Hillary
By Broughton Coburn
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
This exciting photobiography celebrates the extraordinary life of the New Zealand farm boy who in May 1953 became the first person known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. With climbing partner Tenzing Norgay, the iron-willed Hillary crossed deadly icefalls, clawed his way up vertical walls, and persevered through gale-force winds until he finally stood at the top of the world. Along with this gripping adventure, readers follow the explorer’s trek to the South Pole, his quest to find the Abominable Snowman, and his continuing efforts to help the Sherpa people, without whom, Hillary is convinced, he never would have scaled Everest.
Tuckers' Gold
By L.L. Owens
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
Twelve-year old Penelope Tucker is not happy when her family decides to head out West. Uncle James hopes to strike it rich in the California gold fields, but Penelope would rather stay in Independence, Missouri. The journey on the Oregon-California trail is difficult. When they finally reach their destination, Penelope finds it not to her liking, until...
Un Día Nublado (a Cloudy Day)
By Robin Nelson
Category: Early Reader
Reading Level: 6 - 8 years
This book summarizes the signs and effects of a cloudy day. It also provides activities for children on a cloudy day.
Uncle Tease
By Ellen Javernick
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
A story in 10 chapters about a pair of twins' disgruntlement over the fact their uncle is going to get married, because "married people aren't much fun." They plot to destroy the romance, and then have second thoughts. Black and white illustrations. At one point Uncle Tease gives the kids flashlights and tells them how to flash coded messages to each other. The book includes a table of the letters and numbers of the International Morse Code. Uncle Tease is listed with several other books under the heading "Friends and Friendships," apparently a series published by Shortland Publications and Rigby.
Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens
By Patricia Lauber
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
In this extraordinary photographic essay, Patricia Lauber details the Mount St. Helens eruption and the years following in Volcano: Eruption and Healing of Mt. St. Helen's.
Through this clear accurate account, readers of all ages will share the awe of the scientists who witnessed both the power of the volcano and the resiliency of life.
Weird and Wonderful Plants
By Joanne Mattern, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company
Category: Young Chapter
Reading Level: 6 - 10 years
Science leveled reader - What are the characteristics of some plants that allow them to survive.
What Is Anti-Racism?
By Hedreich Nichols, Kelisa Wing
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
Race in America has been avoided in children's education for too long. What Is Anti-Racism? explores the idea of actively working against racism in a comprehensive, honest, and age-appropriate way. Developed in conjunction with educator, advocate, and author Kelisa Wing to reach children of all races and encourage them to approach race issues with open eyes and minds. Includes 21st Century Skills and content, as well as a PBL activity across the Racial Justice in America series. Also includes a table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, sidebars, educational matter, and activities.
Where Can You Find Different States of Water?
By Romaytha Abdullah
Category: Early Reader
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Leveled reader science book exploring water in its various states on Earth.
Where the River Runs: A Portrait of a Refugee Family
By Nancy Price Graff
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The story of a Cambodian refugee family now living in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. After six years in the U.S., the grandmother, mother and three sons are participating in their new culture while keeping Cambodian traditions alive in their lives in this new land. Where the River Runs explores the school, foods, cooking, language struggles, community and daily life of the Prek family.
Which Way Jack
By Diana Short Yurkovic
Category: Early Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 11 years
An adaptation of the classic fairytale, Jack and the beanstalk. Children are invited to choose Jack's adventures with the plot-your-own story format.
Who Will Look Out for Danny?
By Marie Gibson, Kelvin Hawley
Category: Young Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Thirteen-year-old Abby doesn't want her family to spend the summer picking fruit at an orchard; being stuck out in the country with no access to a computer means she has no hope of entering the story competition. And to add to her worries are seven-year-old Danny, who needs constant attention, and her older brother Leo who thinks only about himself. Suggested level: intermediate.