Special Collections
Scholastic Guided Reading Level Y
Description: Guided reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of students who demonstrate similar reading behaviors and can read similar levels of texts. #Teachers
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The Boy Who Dared
by Susan Campbell BartolettiA Newbery Honor Book author has written a powerful and gripping novel about a youth in Nazi Germany who tells the truth about Hitler Bartoletti has taken one episode from her Newbery Honor Book, HITLER YOUTH, and fleshed it out into thought-provoking novel. When 16-year-old Helmut Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he's tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmut's story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times , to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.
Heroes of the Holocaust
by Allan Zullo and Mara BovsunThe accounts are based exclusively on personal, lengthy interviews conducted with or about each person featured in this book. Using real names, dates, and places, the stories are written as factual and truthful versions of the heroes' recollections, although some of the dialogue has been re-created.
How They Croaked
by Georgia BraggThis fascinating collection of remarkable deaths relays all the gory details of how 19 world figures gave up the ghost, including King Tut, Julius Caesar, George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry VIII.
All the Broken Pieces
by Ann E. BurgAn award-winning debut novel from a stellar new voice in middle grade fiction. Matt Pin would like to forget: war torn Vietnam, bombs that fell like dead crows, and the terrible secret he left behind. But now that he is living with a caring adoptive family in the United States, he finds himself forced to confront his past. And that means choosing between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom. By turns harrowing, dreamlike, sad, and triumphant, this searing debut novel, written in lucid verse, reveals an unforgettable perspective on the lasting impact of war and the healing power of love.
Gordon Parks
by Carole Boston Weatherford and Jamey ChristophGordon Parks is most famous for being the first black director in Hollywood. But before he made movies and wrote books, he was a poor African American looking for work. When he bought a camera, his life changed forever. He taught himself how to take pictures and before long, people noticed. This is a fixed-format ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book.
10 Days
by David ColbertYou're about to be an eyewitness to the ten crucial days in Abraham Lincoln's life, including: A tragic loss that sets a boy on a course for greatness. A career sacrificed to protest an unjust war. A state resorting to treason to preserve slavery. A president who learns the most difficult decisions are made alone. And a promise made to every citizen that American's salves will be free.
Artemis Fowl
by Eoin ColferTwelve-year-old villain, Artemis Fowl, is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom. But he's taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit). For a start, leprechaun technology is more advanced than our own. Add to that the fact that Holly is a true heroine and that her senior officer Commander Root will stop at nothing to get her back and you've got the mother of all sieges brewing!
Bodies from the Ash
by James M. DeemIn ancient times, Pompeii was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. Its 20,000 inhabitants lived in the shadow of Vesuvius, which they believed was nothing more than a mountain. But Vesuvius was a volcano. And on the morning of August 24, A. D. 79, Vesuvius began to erupt. Within twenty-four hours, the entire city of Pompeii and many of its citizens had been utterly annihilated. It was not until hundreds of years later that Pompeii saw daylight again, as archaeological excavations began to unearth what had been buried under layers of volcanic rubble. Digging crews expected to find buildings and jewelry and other treasures, but they found something unexpected, too: the imprints of lost Pompeiians, their deaths captured as if by photographic images in volcanic ash.
Get On Out of Here, Philip Hall
by Bette GreeneWhen a stunning loss--to Philip Hall, of course--sends Beth Lambert reeling, she'll have to show the town who's number one, once and for all! Beth Lambert has become the best student in Miss Johnson's class, as well as the president and chief presiding officer of the Pretty Pennies Girls Club of Pocahontas, Arkansas. She's even in the running for the Abner Jerome Brady Leadership Award from Old Rugged Cross Church, and Beth just knows she's the clear winner. So when Philip Hall gets the Abner Brady Award instead of Beth, she's furious. She immediately begins to plot her revenge, coaching the Pretty Pennies to victory in a relay race against Philip's own gang, the Tiger Hunters. But Beth is worried--what if she's not born to be a leader after all? This ebook features an illustrated biography of Bette Greene including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.
Pemba's Song
by Tonya Hegamin and Marilyn NelsonAs fifteen-year-old Pemba adjusts to leaving her Brooklyn, New York, home for small-town Connecticut, a black history researcher helps her understand the paranormal experiences drawing her into the life of a mulatto girl who was once a slave in her house.
Vlad the Impaler
by Sid JacobsonFrom the bestselling author illustrator team of the 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptationcomes the truly gory tale of the historical Dracula The Dracula myth has sparked a legacy of endlessly entertaining creepy tales. The fictional character, originally penned by Bram Stoker, was inspired by and named after a real-life fiend-Prince Vlad Dracula, the fifteenth-century ruler of Wallachia-a man infamous for massacring and impaling his enemies. In brilliant four-color illustrations, Vlad the Impaler tells the ghastly prince's life story from his seizure as a boy by the Turkish Sultan, to his love life, to his maniacal attempts to retain power regardless of whose throat he must slit. From the bestselling writer and illustrator team who brought us The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation-hailed by Stan Lee as "beautifully and compellingly written and illustrated. . . . It will surely set the standard for all future works of contemporary history, graphic or otherwise"-this graphic novel, based on a true story, is replete with gory details of torture tactics. Ideal for readers who made 30 Days of Nightand World War Zbestsellers, the combination of riveting legend and blood-and-guts drawings will be an anticipated addition to the graphic novel fan's library.
Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.
Weedflower
by Cynthia KadohataTwelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in California, Sumiko is used to being the only Japanese girl in her class. Even when the other kids tease her, she always has had her flowers and family to go home to. That all changes after the horrific events of Pearl Harbor. Other Americans start to suspect that all Japanese people are spies for the emperor, even if, like Sumiko, they were born in the United States! As suspicions grow, Sumiko and her family find themselves being shipped to an internment camp in one of the hottest deserts in the United States. The vivid color of her previous life is gone forever, and now dust storms regularly choke the sky and seep into every crack of the military barrack that is her new "home." Sumiko soon discovers that the camp is on an Indian reservation and that the Japanese are as unwanted there as they'd been at home. But then she meets a young Mohave boy who might just become her first real friend...if he can ever stop being angry about the fact that the internment camp is on his tribe's land. With searing insight and clarity, Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Kadohata explores an important and painful topic through the eyes of a young girl who yearns to belong. Weedflower is the story of the rewards and challenges of a friendship across the racial divide, as well as the based-on-real-life story of how the meeting of Japanese Americans and Native Americans changed the future of both.
The Fences Between Us
by Kirby LarsonNewbery Honor author Kirby Larson brings us the first new Dear America diary in years, taking readers through the attack on Pearl Harbor, the start of World War II, and the Japanese incarceration.
With this sweeping tale of life on the World War II homefront, Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson brings her incredible talent to the Dear America series. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, America is finally unable to ignore the wars raging in Europe and Asia any longer. And one girl's entire life is about to change when everything she knows is turned on its head. After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, where her brother, a navy sailor, is stationed, Piper Davis begins chronicling her compelling journey through one of history's most tragic and unforgettable eras.
We've Got A Job
by Cynthia Y. LevinsonWe've Got a Job tells the little-known story of the 4,000 black elementary-, middle-, and high school students who voluntarily went to jail in Birmingham, Alabama, between May 2 and May 11, 1963. Fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi s and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. s precept to fill the jails, they succeeded where adults had failed in desegregating one of the most racially violent cities in America. Focusing on four of the original participants who have participated in extensive interviews, We've Got a Job recounts the astonishing events before, during, and after the Children's March.
Truce
by Jim MurphyOn July 29, 1914, the world's peace was shattered as the artillery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire began shelling the troops of the country to its south. What followed was like a row of falling dominoes as one European country after another rushed to war. Soon most of Europe was fighting in this calamitous war that could have been avoided. This was, of course, World War I. But who could have guessed that on December 25 the troops would openly defy their commanding officers by stopping the fighting and having a spontaneous celebration of Christmas with their enemies? In what can only be described as a miracle, this beautiful and heart rending narrative will remind everyone how brotherhood and love for one another reach far beyond the boundaries of war and politics.
Assassin
by Anna MyersWould you betray your president to win the heart of America's most celebrated actor? Bella isn't evil. But even people with good intentions can end up doing bad things. Especially when they meet people with the power to persuade them to do almost anything, like John Wilkes Booth--the most charismatic and famous actor of his time. So when Booth sets his sights on Bella, an assistant seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln, to help with his plot to kidnap President Lincoln, he is able to persuade her to betray her president and even turn her back on the boy she has loved her entire life. Bella believes Booth is only trying to force the North to release Southern war prisoners, and will not harm her dear friend Mr. Lincoln. But the kidnapping plot fails, and now Booth will stop at nothing--even if it means harming Bella in the process. Anna Myers has crafted a provocative new look at the Lincoln assassination through the eyes of both a young White House insider and the assassin himself. An author's note provides the historical background to this tragic event.
Bad Boy
by Walter Dean MyersInto a memoir that is gripping, funny, heartbreaking, and unforgettable, Walter Dean Myers richly weaves the details of his Harlem childhood in the 1940s and 1950s: a loving home life with his adopted parents, Bible school, street games, and the vitality of his neighborhood.
Although Walter spent much of his time either getting into trouble or on the basketball court, secretly he was a voracious reader and an aspiring writer. But as his prospects for a successful future diminished, the values he had been taught at home, in school, and in his community seemed worthless, and he turned to the streets and his books for comfort. Here in his own words is the story of one of the strongest voices in children's and young adult literature today.
[riot]
by Walter Dean MyersAs the Civil War rages, another battle breaks out behind the lines. During a long hot July in 1863, the worst race riots the United States has ever seen erupt in New York City. Earlier that year, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft-a draft that would allow the wealthy to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver, more than a year's income for the recent immigrant Irish. And on July 11, as the first drawing takes place in Lower Manhattan, the city of New York explodes in rage and fire. Stores are looted; buildings, including the Colored Foundling Home, are burned down; and black Americans are attacked, beaten, and murdered. The police cannot hold out against the rioters, and finally, battle-hardened soldiers are ordered back from the fields of Gettysburg to put down the insurrection, which they do-brutally. Fifteen-year-old Claire, the beloved daughter of a black father and Irish mother, finds herself torn between the two warring sides. Faced with the breakdown of the city-the home-she has loved, Claire must discover the strength and resilience to address the new world in which she finds herself, and to begin the hard journey of remaking herself and her identity. Addressing such issues as race, bigotry, and class head-on, Walter Dean Myers has written another stirring and exciting novel that will shake up assumptions, and lift the spirit.From the Hardcover edition.
The Yearling
by Marjorie Kinnan RawlingsNo novel better epitomizes the love between a child and a pet than The Yearling. Young Jody adopts an orphaned fawn he calls Flag and makes it a part of his family and his best friend. But life in the Florida backwoods is harsh, and so, as his family fights off wolves, bears, and even alligators, and faces failure in their tenuous subsistence farming, Jody must finally part with his dear animal friend. There has been a film and even a musical based on this moving story, a fine work of great American literature.
Pulitzer Prize Winner
Larklight
by David Wyatt and Philip ReeveArthur (Art) Mumby and his irritating sister Myrtle live with their father in the huge and rambling house, Larklight, travelling through space on a remote orbit far beyond the Moon. One ordinary sort of morning they receive a correspondence informing them that a gentleman is on his way to visit, a Mr Webster. Visitors to Larklight are rare if not unique, and a frenzy of preparation ensues. But it is entirely the wrong sort of preparation, as they discover when their guest arrives, and a Dreadful and Terrifying (and Marvellous) adventure begins. It takes them to the furthest reaches of Known Space, where they must battle the evil First Ones in a desperate attempt to save each other - and the Universe.Recounted through the eyes of Art himself, Larklight is sumptuously designed and illustrated throughout.
Profiles #2
by Aaron RosenbergFull-color series--six bios in one! It takes more than one person to bring about change and innovation. Find out how key players from yesterday and today influenced and interacted with each other during some of the world's most memorable periods. So much more than just your typical biography, Profiles focuses on six of the most prominent figures during World War II. This book includes all of the biographical information kids need to know (background, family, education, accomplishments, etc.) about FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower, Hitler, Stalin, and Hirohito. Photographs, maps, and quotes will be interwoven throughout the text.
The Jumping Tree
by René Saldaña Jr.These lively stories follow Rey Castaneda from sixth through eighth grade in Nuevo Penitas, Texas. One side of Rey's family lives nearby in Mexico, the other half in Texas, and Rey fits in on both sides of the border. In Nuevo Penitas, he enjoys fooling around with his pals in the barrio; at school, he's one of the "A list" kids.As Rey begins to cross the border from childhood into manhood, he turns from jokes and games to sense the meaning of work, love, poverty, and grief, and what it means to be a proud Chicano-moments that sometimes propel him to show feelings un hombre should never express. It's a new territory where Rey longs to follow the example his hardworking, loving father has set for him.From the Hardcover edition.
Tentacles
by Roland SmithAfter their parents' disappearance, 13-year-old twins Marty and Grace O'Hara are living with their Uncle Wolfe, who is fascinated by creatures that appear in myths. Wolfe has planned an expedition to New Zealand to track a giant squid, and he's rented a freighter for the trip. But someone on board is determined to sabotage their mission.
Milkweed
by Jerry SpinelliHe's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham. He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who steals food for himself and the other orphans. He's a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he's a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody. Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable-- Nazi-occupied Warsaw of World War II-- and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan. "From the Hardcover edition. "