Summer Reading

Fifth Grade

Summer is a wonderful time for children to relax and read a good book; I hope the following list proves useful when selecting books for your child. The books listed vary in subject matter and in reading level and not every book will suit your child’s interests or abilities. I encourage you to play an active role in selecting and evaluating the books and in providing support for and encouragement of your child’s reading over the summer and throughout the school year.

Summer is also a wonderful time for parents and children to read books together. Reading aloud to your child creates memories and bonds that last forever and is the single most important factor contributing to a child’s academic success. Furthermore, discussing books and their themes with your child allows a way for you to explore the world and the human condition together and to nurture character development without having to “preach.”

One internet site to use to find book synopses is the Barnes and Noble website. Click the book link on the home page of the site and type the title of a book, which links to a book summary. Usually you need to click “more” to get a full synopsis of the book.

These are the books the fifth graders will probably read in class during the school year. Please do not choose these books for summer reading. I will order books so all students will have the same copy and can refer to the same book pages for analysis during class. Book fees will be billed to parents.

• Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
• The Fledgling, Jane Langton
• Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech
• The View From Saturday, E. L. Konigsburg
• Bud Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
• Secret of the Andes, Ann Nolan Clark
• D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths, Ingri D'Aulaires
• Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis

Sincerely,

Gini Peterson (5th Grade English teacher)

Classics

• The Arabian Nights: Their Best-known Tales, ed. Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith
• Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken
• The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Incredible Journey, Sheila Burnford
• The Black Stallion, Walter Farley
• The Magic World, E. Nesbit
• Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery
• Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, Anna Sewell

Realistic Fiction

• Moving Day, Meg Cabot
• Summer Begins, Elizabeth Doyle Carey
• P.S. Longer Letter Later, Paula Danziger
• The Homework Machine, Dan Gutman
• Hoot, Carl Hiaasen
• Rules, Cynthia Lord
• Secret Letter from 0-10, Susie Hoch Morgenstern
• Project Mulberry, Linda Sue Parks
• Surviving the Applewhites, Stephanie Tolan
• Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Lisa Yee
• Brooklyn Bridge, Karen Hesse
• Looking for Bapu, Anjali Banerjee
• Lost and Found, Andrew Clements
• Ruby Holler, Sharon Creech
• 4 Kids in S-E & 1 Crazy Year, Virginia Frances Schwartz
• Millions, Frank Boyce
• Sahara Special, Esmé Raji Codell
• My Man Blue: Poems, Nikki Grimes
• Silk Umbrellas, Carolyn Marsden
• The Mozart Season, Virginia Euwer Wolff
• Junebug, Alice Mead

Mysteries and Adventure Stories

• Down the Rabbit Hole, Peter Abrahams
• Chasing Vermeer, Blue Balliett
• Peter and the Starcatchers, Dave Barry
• Dovey Coe, Frances O’Roark Dowell
• The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke
• Running Out of Time, Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, In Letters, of Liars and Leaks, Kate Klise
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
• The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
• Holes, Louis Sachar
• The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Homes Mystery, Nancy Springer
• The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine, Diane Stanley
• Heir Apparent, Vivian Vande Velde
• Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
• Brian’s Winter, Gary Paulsen
• Buddha’s Diamonds, Carolyn Marsden
• Jack Plank Tells Tales, Natalie Babbitt
• The London Eye Mystery, Siobhan Dowd
• Masterpiece, Elise Broach
• The Name of this Book is Secret, Pseudonymous Bosch
• The Wright 3, Blue Ballett
• Nicholas, Rene Goscinny
• Secret Identity, Wendelin Van Draanen
• Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America, Gordon Korman

Fantasy, Imaginary Journeys, Legends

• The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander
• Peter Pan in Scarlet, Geraldine McCaughrean
• The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great, Gerald Morris
• Over Sea Under Stone, Susan Cooper
• The Castle Corona, Sharon Creech
• The Transmorgrification of Roscoe Wizzle, David Elliot
• The Scarecrow and His Servant, Philip Pullman
• The Anybodies, N. E. Bode
• Half Magic, Edward Eager
• Inkheart, Caroline Cornelia Funke
• Coraline, Neil Gaiman
• Tunnels, Roderick Gordon
• Dragon Rider, Caroline Cornelia Funke
• The Owl Service, Alan Garner
• Gregor the Overlander, Suzanne Collins
• Mossflower, Brian Jacques
• Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Robert C. O’Brien
• The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
• The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
• Magyk, Angie Sage
• The Changeling, Delia Sherman
• Matilda, Roald Dahl
• The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
• The Rope Trick, Lloyd Alexander

Historical Fiction

• Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
• Jason’s Gold, Will Hobbs
• The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, Rodman Phillbrick
• Elijah of Buxton, Christopher Paul Curtis
• Fever 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson
• Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko
• The Wonderful Winter, Marchette Chute
• Revolution is Not a Dinner Party, Ying Chang Compestine
• Rodzina, Karen Cushman
• Lily’s Crossing, Patricia Reilly Giff
• Missy Violet and Me, Barbara Hathaway
• Boston Jane, Jennifer Holm
• The Green Glass Sea, Ellen Klages
• Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor, Kathryn Lasky
• The Kite Rider, Geraldine McCaughrean
• Snow Treasure, Marie McSwigan
• Mary, Bloody Mary, Carolyn Meyer
• Beware Princess Elizabeth, Carolyn Meyer
• Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller, Sarah Miller
• My Name is not Angelica, Scott O’Dell
• A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck
• Yellow Star, Jennifer Roy
• Riding Freedom, Pam Munoz Ryan
• All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
• A Jar of Dreams, Yoshiko Uchida
• Daughter of Madrugada, Frances M. Wood

Nonfiction

• Exploring the Ice Age, Margaret Cooper
• Rescues!, Sandra Markle
• Sneeze, Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkel
• The American Story, Jennifer Armstrong
• Just For Elephants, Carol Buckley
• Mistakes that Worked, Charlotte Flotz Jones
• Pirateology, Dugald A. Steer
• Bull Run, Paul Fleischman
• All Stations! Distress! April 15, 1912, the Day the Titanic Sank, Don Brown
• Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past, James M. Dean
• Secrets of the Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H. L. Hunley, Sally M. Walker
• We Are the Ship: the Story of Negro League Baseball, Kadir Nelson

Biography and Autobiography

• Seeker of Knowledge, James Rumford
• Michelangelo, Diane Stanley
• The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World, Julius Lester
• Basher five-two: The True Story of F-16 Fighter Pilot Captain Scott O’Grady, Scott O’Grady,
• She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer, Sally Hobart Alexander
• The Other Mozart, Hugh Brewster
• A Boy Named Beckoning, Gina Capaldi
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr
• Helen’s Eyes, Marfe Ferfuso Delano
• To Dance, Siena Cherson Siegel
• Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, Russell Freedman
• Lincoln: A Photobiography, Russell Freedman
• The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights, Russell Freedman
• My Life with Chimpanzees, Jane Goodall
• We Were There Too!: Young People in U. S. History, Phillip M. Hoose
• The Cod’s Tale, Mark Kulansky
• Anne Elizabeth’s Diary: A Young Artist’s True Story, Anne Elizabeth Rector
• The Poet King of Tezcoco, Francisco Serrano
• Dear Mr. Bell… Your Friend, Helen Keller, Judith St. George
• A Young Painter:  the Life and Paintings of Wang Yani, Zheng Zhensun
• Boys of Steel: the Creators of Superman, Marc Tyler
• Christo and Jean-Claude: Through the Gates and Beyond, Jan Greenberg
• Knucklehead, Jon Scieszka
• The Trouble Begins at 8: a Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West, Sid Fleischman

Humor

Poetry

• We the People, Bobby Katz
• Insectopedia, Douglas Florian
• Through the Paper Doorway, Dean Koontz
• The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear, Edward Lear
• 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Naomi Shihab Nye
• Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)
• The New Oxford Book of Children’s Verse, Neil Philip
• The New Kid on the Block, Jack Prelutsky
• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, ed. Jack Prelutsky

Sports

• Heat, Mike Lupica
• Honus & Me, Dan Gutman
• The Million Dollar Shot, Dan Gutman
• The Roar of the Crowd, Rich Wallace
• S. O. R. Losers, Avi
• Out Standing in my Field, Patrick Jennings
• Tiger, Jeff Stone
• Girls Got Game: Sports Stories and Poems, ed. Sue Macy
• Winning Ways: A Photohistory of American Women in Sports, Sue Macy
• A Whole New Ball Game, The Story of the Girls in the Professional Baseball League,
• Sue Macy
• Play Like a Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports, Sue Macy
• Annie Oakley: Young Markswoman, Ellen Wilson
• Athletes (Women In Profile Series), Leslie Strudwick
• Babe Didrikson: Athlete of the Century, Leslie Strudwick
• A Winning Edge, Bonnie Blair with Greg Brown
• A Turn for Lucas, Gloria Averbuch
• Always Dream, Kristi Yamaguchi with Greg Brown
• Boonsville Bombers, Alison Cragin Herzig
• The Broadway Ballplayers, Maureen Holohan
• Blowing Bubbles with the Enemy, Alison Jackson
• Bonnie Blair: Golden Streak, Cathy Breitenbucher
• Careers for Women Who Love Sports: Get in the Game, Robin Roberts
• Cat Running, Zilpha Keatley Snyder