Books
Did you know that the Language Arts teachers have lots of class sets of books that are just lonely and wanting desparately to be read? When Ms. White came to Longfellow, she discovered many class sets of unread books that are just waiting to be checked out. Here are some of the books below. Talk to Ms. White if any of these perk your interest.
I just finished reading A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin (yes, the same author as the Babysitter's Club books). As a Newberry Honor winner, this book dives into small town '60s life. Hattie, a young girl who really just wants a normal quiet summer, learns she has a relative she never knew existed. When Uncle Adam comes to town, her entire world is flipped upside down, and normal flies out the window.
Some might consider Max Kane as a thirteen year old "freak". He lumbers; he doesn't speak much; and he lives in the basement of his grandparents house. He also has a dark secret that haunts every day of his life...he might be just like his dad, Killer Kane. Yet when Kevin moves in next door, suddenly Max is not the weirdest kid in the neighborhood. Kevin has the body of a small child but the brain of imaginative adult. Together these two form a friendship through their differences. With Max's huge size and Kevin's quick wit, these two set off on adventures against bullies and their pasts to become "Freak the Mighty".
Fighting, stealing, and cursing, Gilly Hopkins is one tough cookie. She has been in and out of foster care homes three times in three years. She is brillant and, more often than not, unmanageable. She knows exactly what to do and what to say to get kicked out of these homes faster than you can Gilly Hopkins. What she wants, though, is to find her beautiful mother Courtney. What she gets is Maime Trotter, a fat illiterate widow who cares for puny, stuttering 7 year old William Ernest. Although she has a hard shell to crack, Gilly Hopkins will find love even in the most unlikely of people and places.
What if you could erase something from the world like thumbtacks or your neighbor's evil dog or the school cafeteria's spinach souffle? In the book The Word Eater Lerner Chase finds a worm that eats words instead of dirt. Whatever this little worm eats disappears forever from the world. It cannot come back. If Fip eats the word thumbtacks, then all thumbtacks in the world currently existing and the ones in the future just simply disappear. No other thumbtack can ever be made again. With great power comes great responsibility as Lerner begins to choose just what should and shouldn't be allowed to exist. Should school exist? Should bullies? Read The Word Eater to see if Lerner can make the right choices before it is too late.
Welcome to Sunset Towers, an exclusive condo building that neither faces the sunset or has towers. You have been invited to stay in room specifically designed just for you and your fellow residents for exactly what you need. Your fellow residents not only have a new home, but soon after moving in a murder investigation begins. You are all the prime suspects because you all have something to gain...the possibility to inherit the millions from Sam Westing.
As the only mystery to win the Newberry Award, The Westing Game is filled intrigue, clues, red-herrings, and a crazy cast of characters all hoping to inherit the millions left by Sam Westing, who was also murdered by one of the people who might inherit the estate.
It's 1840, and omething strange is happening in the Clifton village. All the children are getting sick. Usually the doctor has a miracle medication that can cure anything, but this time he has nothing. Jessie's mother knows something is wrong, something so wrong that in the middle of the night Jessie's mother decides to tell Jessie the deepest, darkest secret of the village. It isn't 1840 at all. The year is 1996, and their town is run from the outside world. Jessie must now venture into this unknown world to get help. She has to be careful who she trusts. Otherwise she and the other children might just run out of time.
This Newberry Medal winning novel features Karana, a twelve year old who must survive on an island alone after her people have left. She faces wild dog attacks, brutal storms, and of course the fear that the strangers who drove her people away could always come back. Foraging for food, making weapons, and building a shelter on a deserted island makes Karana a female Robinson Crusoe. Will she be able to survive? Will her family ever come back to save her? Read this based-on-a-true story to find out.
At one time in history, Native American culture was looked down upon. Young Navajos were sent to white boarding schools to forget their language, their customs, and their culture. Yet when World War II broke out, the United States needed a new secret code for delivering messages, one that didn't take hours to produce, but more importantly, one that the Germans and Japanese could not break. Ned Begay and other Navajos were then recruited by the Marines because they had a language almost forgotten that could be shaped into an indecipherable code. They became code-talkers.
Sarah Louise Bradshaw is sick and tired of being overshadowed by her twin sister in this Newberry Medal winning novel. Ever since they were born, Caroline hogged the attention of her parents, grandmother, and friends for her blonde hair, delicate features, and beautiful singing voice. Sarah Loiuse must find her own path away from Caroline and her own chances. As the story begins on the island of Rass right as World War II ignites, this tomboy grows up with disappointment and sacrifice amid a colorful cast of characters to find the courage to become who she was always meant to be.
Jess Aarons only wants to be the fastest boy in school, but his dreams are shattered when the new girl daringly races all the boys and wins. This was not supposed to happen. Against the somewhat rough start to a new friendship, Jess and Leslie soon become inseparable. They use their minds to create the magical kingdom of Terabithia. Then one day tradegy strikes, and Jess truly learns the courage and power that Leslie has given him. This book, too, has won the Newberry Medal.
Ida Bidson desparately wants more for her life than just a rural farm life. She wants to become a teacher, but when the school board closes the one-room schoolhouse that year, Ida's dreams of graduating eighth grade and going on to the high school are shattered. Her family cannot afford to wait to send her to high school. Her only hope is to keep the school open, secretly. Yet even a secret school needs a teacher. Ida can't be it...could she?