Reading Resource

1. Reading Resource Mrs. Michael Mrs. Sochacki

2. Virginia Readers’ Choice • The purpose of the Virginia Readers’ Choice is to encourage young readers • To become better acquainted with contemporary books with outstanding literary appeal, • To broaden students’ awareness of literature as a life-long pleasure, • To encourage reading aloud in classrooms as a means of introducing reading for pleasure, • To honor favorite books and their authors.

3. Matt Pin would like to forget: • War torn Vietnam. • Bombs that fell like dead crows. • The terrible secret he left behind. • Now he is living with a caring adoptive family in the United States. • He finds himself forced to confront his past. • That means choosing between • Silence • Candor • Blame • Forgiveness • Fear • Freedom

4. Fans of true dog stories, Jack Russell terriers, and African wildlife will want to check out Bulu! • Born on a crocodile farm in Zambia the puppy seemed different from his littermates. • Nobody wanted him. • Enter Anna and Steve who had left behind their life in England to live in the African bush. • Bulu found his calling as a foster parent to orphaned baby animals. • Bulu's protective nature led him into terrifying situations in the wild. • Bulu's story is a joyful confirmation of dogs as unique spirits, capable of love, compassion, and bravery.

5. Ella and Zachary have been friends forever. • Zachary has always been “the weird kid.” • Zachary’s games were okay back in 3rd or 4th grade, but by now their other friends have ditched them both. • Ella’s the only black girl in their sixth grade class. • Bailey befriends Ella, because they are now the only two black kids in class. • Should she remain loyal to the boy who has been her best and only friend for years, or pass up the opportunity to be one of the popular kids that she has always longed to be.

6. Liam is a 12 year old boy who looks like he’s 30. • Sometimes this is a benefit. • Most of the time he feels “stuck between two worlds.” • He sneaks onto a space ship, which takes civilians into outer space. • Once again he is stuck between two worlds. • “…touching story of the many ways in which grown-upness is truly wasted on grown-ups.”

7. Ida Mae Jones wants to do is fly. • Her daddy was a pilot • She feels closest to him when she’s in the air. • But as a young black woman in 1940s Louisiana, she knows the sky is off limits to her • Until America enters World War II, and the Army forms the WASP-Women Airforce Service Pilots. • Is she willing to use her light skin to pass as a white girl? • Ida learns that denying one’s self and family is a heavy burden • Ultimately it’s not what you do, but who you are that’s most important.

8. 1841, a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. • They are rescued by an American ship. • Manjiro, a 14-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. • The captain adopts Manjiro. • Manjiro makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. • Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the emperor to ease open the boundaries around Japan; • He may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai.

9. Want to read a great book about military kids? Sign up for OPERATION YES! • Gari is trying to get her mom home safe from Iraq. • Their teacher, Ms. Loupe's brother goes missing in Afghanistan. • Ms. Loupe breaks down. • Gari, Bo, and the rest of the class have to improvise their way through their own "great battles" . . . and find a way to help their teacher fight hers. • The first middle-grade novel about the home front during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. • OPERATION YES is a poignant, funny, and generous book about an amazing teacher and the students she inspires.

10. The only thing you’ll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below. –Peak Marcello • Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper. • He’s left with a choice: • wither away in juvenile detention • fly to Kathmandu with his long-lost father. • Peak quickly learns that his father’s renewed interest in him has strings attached. • He wants his son to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summit. • The story of Peak’s dangerous ascent—told in his own words—is suspenseful, immediate, and impossible to put down.

11. Superheroes soar in this promising debut—and they’re kids! • Twelve-year-old Daniel, the new kid in town, soon learns the truth about his nice—but odd—new friends: • one can fly, • another can turn invisible • another controls electricity. • The superkids use their powers to secretly do good in the town. • They’re haunted by the fact that the moment they turn thirteen, their abilities will disappear—along with any memory that they ever had them. • Is a memory-stealing supervillain sapping their powers? • The answers lie in a long-ago meteor strike, a World War II–era comic book. • Superhero kids meet comic book mystery in this action-filled debut about the true meaning of a hero.

12. Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever. • Things start to unravel. • Sal, her best friend gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, • He shuts Miranda out of his life. • The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden is stolen. • Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. • I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. • I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. • Miranda realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. • Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. • Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.