If you only read one VRC book this year make it this 2013 Newbery Award-winning book. This is the story of Ivan, a silverback gorilla who has lived for 27 years at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan lives in a small concrete "cell" next to Stella, an older elephant who has severe problems with her feet. They both interact with Bob, a stray dog who comes and goes as he pleases. Because the book is told from the perspective of Ivan we feel the pain of his confinement and his concern for Stella who is being neglected by the owner of the mall. When a baby elephant named Ruby is added to the menagerie, Ivan and Stella are determined to help her gain her freedom.
This book is sad but sometimes we need to read sad books to understand the world of animals kept in captivity. Everyone should read this book.
Each chapter of this unique and humorous book is told from the perspective of a different class pet. When Twitch, the school-yard squirrel is chased into the school one evening by a dog chaos ensues. The squirrel appeals to all the different pets to help him escape his sure demise by the crazy dog. He begins with Green Eggs and Hamster, the first grade hamster and runs his way through the school all the way to Galileo and Newton, the science lab geckos. Read all the way to end to find out the fate of all the pets and the identity of the "crazy" dog.
Zitlally and her family are from Mexico and speak a language called Nahuatl. They live in a trailer park surrounded by a forest littered with used cars and car parts. When her father is deported back to Mexico, Zitlally runs to the forest to cry and discovers a dog chained to an abandoned truck in the forest. Zitlally and Crystal, her neighbor name the dog Star and take care of the him as best they can. Together they teach him tricks. Zitlally becomes convinced that the dog is her father's animal spirit and that she must keep him alive and well so that her father survives his deportation. This book has Spanish and Nahuatl words included in the text and a glossary at the end of the book. Read this magical book to find out what happens to Star and Zitlally's father.
In this sequel to 7 X 9 = Trouble!, 3rd grader Wilson is still struggling with math. This time fractions are giving him a problem. His parents hire a math tutor and Wilson is embarrassed that he is the ONLY kid at his school with a tutor. All the kids at Hill Elementary School are working on their science fair projects and Wilson decides that he will do his project on his pet hamster. His little brother Kipper, a kindergarten math wiz, decides to do his project using tents and Wilson's best friend Josh is trying to determine the temperature at which pickles explode. Wilson discovers something about fractions. Who knew you could use hamsters as examples when working on fractions?
Fifth grader William is sad when papa walks out on the family again. Mama has always wanted a dog so she takes William and his four-year-old sister Elinor to chose a dog at the animal shelter. They end up with not just one dog but four dogs and a cat! They are one big happy family minus papa. The magic comes along when Elinor and William realize that they can hear the dogs talking to one another. Pretty soon they are talking to the whole family and some pretty interesting conversations take place. Read the book to find out other surprises that make this such a charming read.
This book is the first in the Ghost Buddy series. Eleven-year-old Billy Broccoli moves into a new house with his mom, new step-father, and step-sister, twelve-year-old Breeze. He immediately notices something strange about the house. There is a ghost in his room! Of course, he is the only one who can see and hear this ghost who has been stuck in the house for almost 100 years. Hoover Porterhouse III has just a few more months to improve his grades, including his "invisibility" grade, so he can break free of the house.
Billy has a problem also. He now lives next door to a bully, Rod Brownstone, who is determined to make Billy's transition to middle school miserable. How will Billy stand up to Rod and how will "The Hoove" help him overcome his dorkiness?
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams "were as different as pickles and ice cream" according to the author of this non fiction book about two important founders of our country. Jefferson was tall, thin, and quiet while Adams was short, round, and talkative. They worked together for years to shape our country before parting ways when Jefferson backed the Republican party and Adams backed the Federalist party. Read this humorous and heartwarming account to find out how they overcame their differences after an eleven year silence.
Mattie Breen is about to begin 5th grade in her 5th school. She and her mother have moved back into her mother's childhood home with Uncle Potluck who is the "Director of Custodial Arts" at Mattie's new school. Mattie is shy and sensitive and never fits in. She has decided on this last week of summer to help her Uncle Potluck at school with the hopes that he will help ease her transition to the new school. Mattie helps him get the school ready and records her "Custodial Wisdom" in a notebook which later becomes invaluable when certain events occur in the story. Mattie is also dealing with a visiting neighbor, Quinn, who wants to be friends but Mattie is suspicious of her motives. Read this book to find out how Uncle Potluck got his nickname and hear some of his witty stories which he always ends with "Hound Dog True."
If you like realistic fiction with a magical twist then this is the book for you! 10 year-old Frank has had it with his invisible sister, that's right, his older sister, Elizabeth was born invisible. Because of her frustration trying to fit in, she acts up by using her invisibility in unusual ways. The family has moved 8 times in 10 years and Frank must find a way for his sister to be happy so they can stay in this new community and put down roots. Can he do it?
This book is the sequel to The Lemonade War but you definitely don't need to read it first. This book stands alone. Jessie and Evan are entering 4th grade. Jessie has "skipped" 3rd grade and will now be in the same grade as her brother, Evan. Neither one of them is comfortable with this situation. Jessie tries to stay out of the way but she just can't let the class braggart, Scott, get away with cutting in line one day. When Scott then starts bragging about his new video game which costs exactly the amount of money stolen from Evan at a pool party, Jessie and Evan team up and decide to hold a school-yard trial to decide Scott's innocence or guilt. Both sides learn that things are not always what they seem. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
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