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Accelerated Reader Middle Grade Collection
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The Fighting Ground
by AviApril 3, 1778
He may be just thirteen, but Jonathan knows he's ready to go to the war against the British. He can handle a gun. He yearns to battle for glory, just like his brother and cousin.So when Jonathan hears the tavern bell toll, calling men to fight, he runs to join them. He doesn't realize that in just twenty-four hours, his life will be forever altered -- by the war, by his fellow soldiers, and by the terrible choices he must make.
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Crispin
by Avi"Asta's Son" is all he's ever been called. The lack of a name is appropriate, because he and his mother are but poor peasants in 14th century medieval England. But this thirteen-year-old boy who thought he had little to lose soon finds himself with even less - no home, no family, or possessions. Accused of a crime he did not commit, he may be killed on sight, by anyone. If he wishes to remain alive, he must flee his tiny village. All the boy takes with him is a newly revealed name - Crispin - and his mother's cross of lead.
A Newbery Award Winner.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy
by Tedd ArnoldAfter accidentally swallowing her grandson's pet fly, Grandma tries to retrieve it by consuming progressively larger animals.
Super Fly Guy
by Tedd ArnoldFLY GUY is off to school. Will he make trouble? Or will he save the day? A funny story by bestselling author and illustrator Tedd Arnold.
Shoo, Fly Guy!
by Tedd ArnoldFly Guy returns home to discover that Buzz has gone on a picnic without him!
Sad and hungry, Fly Guy takes off in search of his favorite food.
He gets shooed away from a hamburger, a pizza, a dog's bones, and even roadkill--leaving readers to guess what Fly Guy's favorite oozy, lumpy, smelly, and brown food could possibly be!
I Spy Fly Guy!
by Tedd ArnoldWhen Fly Guy and Buzz play hide-and-seek, Fly Guy hides in his favorite place, the garbage can. But as Buzz finishes counting, the garbageman drives away with the garbage and Fly Guy, too!
A very worried Buzz follows the truck to the dump, where he sees zillions of flies. Where is Fly Guy? Time after time, Buzz thinks he spies Fly Guy, only to be snubbed, boinked, or bitten. Then he realizes they've been playing a game. He yells, "I give up. You win!" And Fly Guy leaves his new hiding place -- he was on top of Buzz's hat all along!
Winner of the Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor
Hooray for Fly Guy!
by Tedd ArnoldFly Guy joins Buzz's football team, despite Coach's misgivings, and hits the field for a special, secret play.
Hi! Fly Guy
by Tedd ArnoldWhen Buzz captures a fly to enter in The Amazing Pet Show, his parents and the judges tell him that a fly cannot be a pet, but Fly Guy proves them wrong.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for K-1 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Winner of the Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor
Fly High, Fly Guy!
by Tedd ArnoldMom and Dad won't let Fly Guy go along on the family road trip because they're afraid he'll get lost. But when Dad accidentally shuts him in the trunk, Fly Guy goes along for the ride.
First Fly Guy gets lost at the picnic site, but he shows up in the garbage can. Then he gets lost at the art museum, but he shows up as part of a modern painting. At the beach, he turns up in a shell, and at the amusement park, on Buzz's hot dog (yuck!). Then, Dad can't figure out how to get home, and the whole family is lost -- until Fly Guy leads the way! Picture descriptions present.
Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl
by Tedd ArnoldFly Guy has a new friend! When Fly Guy meets Fly Girl, he is amazed and smitten.
Buzz Boy and Fly Guy
by Tedd ArnoldThe excitement is jam packed in Fly Guy's newest episode, which features a comic book within the story. Buzz and Fly Guy are superheroes. The dynamic duo must battle a fiery dragon and a band of pirates.
Sheep Out to Eat
by Nancy E. Shaw and Margot AppleThe sheep are back, and this time they're hungry, venturing into a tea shop for even more rollicking fun and, of course, disasters.
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate and Patricia CastelaoIvan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.
Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home-and his own art-through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it's up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.
Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan's unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.
Newbery Medal Winner
Crenshaw
by Katherine ApplegateIn her first novel sinceThe One and Only Ivan, winner of the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience. Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either.
His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything? Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.
Nominee for the 2018 Young Reader's Choice Award (Pacific Northwest Library Association)
The Underneath
by David Small and Kathi AppeltThere is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road.
A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath.
Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten’s one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning. For everyone who loves Sounder, Shiloh, and The Yearling, for everyone who loves the haunting beauty of writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Flannery O’Connor, and Carson McCullers, Kathi Appelt spins a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale about the power of love—and its opposite, hate—the fragility of happiness and the importance of making good on your promises.
Newbery Medal Honor book
Maybe a Fox
by Alison Mcghee and Kathi AppeltWorlds collide in a spectacular way when Newbery and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt and Pulitzer Prize nominee and #1 New York Times bestseller Alison McGhee team up to create a fantastical, heartbreaking, and gorgeous tale about two sisters, a fox cub, and what happens when one of the sisters disappears forever.
Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie. Better than just sisters, better than best friends, they'd be identical twins if only they'd been born in the same year. And if only Sylvie wasn't such a fast--faster than fast--runner. But Sylvie is too fast, and when she runs to the river they're not supposed to go anywhere near to throw a wish rock just before the school bus comes on a snowy morning, she runs so fast that no one sees what happens...and no one ever sees her again.
Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe what all the others believe, that--like their mother--her sister is gone forever. At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born--half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She too is fast--faster than fast--and she senses danger. She's too young to know exactly what she senses, but she knows something is very wrong. And when Jules believes one last wish rock for Sylvie needs to be thrown into the river, the human and shadow worlds collide.
Writing in alternate voices--one Jules's, the other the fox's--Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee tell the searingly beautiful tale of one small family's moment of heartbreak, a moment that unfolds into one that is epic, mythic, shimmering, and most of all, hopeful.
The Little Prince
by Richard Howard and Antoine de Saint-ExupéryFew stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince.
Richard Howard's translation of the beloved classic beautifully reflects Saint-Exupéry's unique and gifted style. Howard, an acclaimed poet and one of the preeminent translators of our time, has excelled in bringing the English text as close as possible to the French, in language, style, and most important, spirit. The artwork in this edition has been restored to match in detail and in color Saint-Exupéry's original artwork. Combining Richard Howard's translation with restored original art, this definitive English-language edition of The Little Prince will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.
This title has been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar (Grades 4-5, Stories).
Chains
by Laurie Halse AndersonFrom acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling first novel in the historical middle grade The Seeds of America trilogy that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.
The Inquisitor's Tale
by Adam Gidwitz and Hatem AlyOn a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon.
On the run to escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can perform the miracles of saints. Join William, an oblate on a mission from his monastery; Jacob, a Jewish boy who has fled his burning village; and Jeanne, a peasant girl who hides her prophetic visions. They are accompanied by Jeanne's loyal greyhound, Gwenforte... recently brought back from the dead.
In a style reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales, our narrator collects their stories and the saga of these three unlikely allies begins to come together. Beloved bestselling author Adam Gidwitz makes his long awaited return with his first new world since his hilarious and critically acclaimed Grimm series.
Winner of Newbery Honor
The Creature of the Pines
by Adam Gidwitz and Hatem AlyA fully illustrated, globe-trotting new middle grade fantasy-adventure series about mythical creatures and their cultures of origin, from the Newbery Honor-winning author of The Inquisitor's Tale.
Elliot Eisner isn't exactly excited about starting at a brand-new school in a brand-new town; he'd much rather stay at home and read a book. But things take an unexpected turn when he finds out his weird new teacher, Professor Fauna, has planned a field trip for Elliot's very first day. Along with a new friend--brave, outspoken Uchenna Devereaux--Elliot gets caught up in a secret group of adventurers, The Unicorn Rescue Society, whose goal is to protect and defend the world's mythical creatures.
Together with Professor Fauna, Elliot and Uchenna must help rescue a Jersey Devil from a duo of conniving, greedy billionaires, the Schmoke Brothers. Unicorn Rescue Society is an exciting and hilarious new series about friendship, adventure, and mythical creatures from around the world by Newbery Honor-winning author Adam Gidwitz teamed up with Mixtape Club founders Jesse Casey and Chris Smith, and Hatem Aly, illustrator of The Inquisitor's Tale.
A New York Times Bestseller
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
by Julia Alvarez“Simply wonderful.” —Los Angeles Times Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez’s brilliant and buoyant and beloved first novel gives voice to four sisters recounting their adventures growing up in two cultures. Selected as a Notable Book by both the New York Times and the American Library Association, it won the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for books with a multicultural perspective and was chosen by New York librarians as one of twenty-one classics for the twenty-first century. Ms. Alvarez was recently honored with the 2013 National Medal of Arts for her extraordinary storytelling. In this debut novel, the García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their father’s role in an attempt to overthrow a tyrannical dictator is discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wild and wondrous and not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try to hold on to their old ways, but the girls try find new lives: by forgetting their Spanish, by straightening their hair and wearing fringed bell bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents sets the sisters free to tell their most intimate stories about how they came to be at home—and not at home—in America. “A joy to read.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer
How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
by Julia AlvarezThe Garcias Dr. Carlos (Papi), his wife Laura (Mami), and their four daughters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia belong to the uppermost echelon of Spanish Caribbean society, descended from the conquistadores. Their family compound adjoins the palacio of the dictator s daughter.
So when Dr. Garcia s part in a coup attempt is discovered, the family must flee. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Dominican Republic.
Papi has to find new patients in the Bronx. Mami, far from the compound and the family retainers, must find herself. Meanwhile, the girls try to lose themselves by forgetting their Spanish, by straightening their hair and wearing fringed bell bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating being caught between the old world and the new, trying to live up to their father s version of honor while accommodating the expectations of their American boyfriends.
Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez s brilliant and buoyant first novel sets the Garcia girls free to tell their most intimate stories about how they came to be at home and not at home in America. This edition, republished in 2010, includes a reader's guide with discussion questions.
Before We Were Free
by Julia AlvarezAnita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tio Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government's secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo's dictatorship.
Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind.
From renowned author Julia Alvarez comes an unforgettable story about adolescence, perseverance, and one girl's struggle to be free.
Winner of the Pura Belpre Medal
The Chalk Box Kid
by Clyde Robert Bulla and Thomas B. AllenA classroom favorite about the power of art and creativity. A new neighborhood. A new school. A lonely birthday. Life isn't easy for nine-year-old Gregory. Then he finds an abandoned chalk factory behind his house. It's a secret place, just for him! Now he can draw anything he imagines on the dark brick walls. What amazing thing will Gregory draw first?
Miss Nelson is Missing!
by Harry Allard and James MarshallThe kids in Room 207 were misbehaving again. Spitballs stuck to the ceiling. Paper planes whizzing through the air.
They were the worst-behaved class in the whole school.
So begins this quirky classic, first published in 1977 and still relevant today as a lighthearted reminder to show our appreciation to those we value.
The students don't proffer a shred of respect for their good-natured teacher Miss Nelson, but when the witchy substitute Miss Viola Swamp appears on the scene, they start to regret their own wicked ways.
James Marshall's scritchy, cartoonish full-color ink and wash illustrations are hilarious. A back-to-school perennial!
Images and image descriptions available.