The Fabled Fourth and Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming

The fourth graders at Aesop Elementary are, well, unusual. There’s Calvin Tallywong, who wants to go back to kindergarten. But when he actually gets the chance, he’s forced to do the squirrel dance and wear a yellow-school-bus name tag. The moral of his story? Be careful what you wish for.
Then there’s Amisha Spelwadi, who can spell wildebeest, no problem. She’s sure she’ll get 100 percent on her spelling test. But when the teacher, Mr. Jupiter, asks the class to spell cat, all Amisha can come up with is kat. The moral this time? Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Video: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=154344

Then read...
Welcome back to Mr. Jupiter's inimitable class at Aesop Elementary. His rambunctious, special students are fifth graders now . . . and they rule the school!
Bernadette Braggadoccio stirs things up when her probing investigative reporting for the school's TV station reveals some scandalous stuff. But . . . don't believe everything you hear. Is that new art teacher really a crazy lady with zillions of cats, or could there be more to this story?
For their last year at Aesop, the fifth graders are hoping for the coolest class pet—a unicorn, a pink-headed duck, or at least a giant squid. Imagine their disappointment when they get guinea pigs. But . . . appearances can be deceiving. These guinea pigs have some very unusual traits.

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve

Eleven-year-old Polly Peabody needs to make it start raining again. It rains every Monday afternoon on her family's rhubarb farm, until one Monday, when 1:00 P.M. passes without one raindrop. And then Polly's brother gets sick. Polly has to figure out how everything is connected and make it rain before her Aunt Edith sells the farm. Maybe with the help of her best friend, a talking rhubarb plant named Harry, Polly can face her fears and uncover her family's magical secret.

Author's Website: http://www.kathleenvancleve.com/

Book Talk

Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg

I had a bad August.
A very bad August.
As bad as pickle juice on a cookie.
As bad as a spider web on your leg.
As bad as the black parts on a banana.I hope your August was better.
I really do.

When Eleanor's beloved babysitter, Bibi, has to move away to take care of her ailing father, Eleanor must try to bear the summer without Bibi and prepare for the upcoming school year. Her new, less-than-perfect babysitter just isn't up to snuff, and she doesn't take care of things like Bibi used to. But as the school year looms, it's time for new beginnings. Eleanor soon realizes that she will always have Bibi, no matter how far away she is.

Author Website: http://www.juliesternberg.com/

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Some friends fade away....Others disappear.
Imagine you and your best friend head out West on a cross-country bike trek.
Imagine that the two of you get into a fight -- and stop riding together.
Imagine you reach Seattle, go back home, start college.
Imagine you think your former best friend does too.
Imagine he doesn't.
Imagine your world shifting....

Trailer: http://youtu.be/jGNYig_5Q6E

Available at Wonewoc Public Library or through interlibrary loan.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix.
Luckily, he's got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school's oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class-5,000 points! Running in the hallway-10,000 points! Pulling the fire alarm-50,000 points! But when Rafe's game starts to catch up with him, he'll have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if he's finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths he's been avoiding.

Book Trailer

Trailer: http://youtu.be/3VHqADGXKD8
Author interview: http://youtu.be/oMJLobDnxwA

Grounded by Kate Klise

After her brother, sister, and father die in a plane crash, Daralynn Oakland receives 237 dolls from well-wishers, resulting in her nickname: Dolly. But dolls are little comfort to a twelve-year-old girl whose world is rocked by the dramatic changes in her life, including her angry, grieving mother’s new job as a hairstylist at the local funeral home.

Dolly gets a job, too, where she accidentally invents a fashionable new haircut. But her real work begins when a crematorium comes to town, and someone has to save a dying business, solve a burning mystery, and resuscitate the broken hearts in Digginsville, Missouri, population 402.

Available through interlibrary loan.

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

Finn and Chloe have it all figured out. Their school guidance counselor has told everyone that it's not enough to get good grades or do community service anymore - kids like that are everywhere, and colleges are bored of them. So what do you do?

Chloe decides they should get attention another way. She and Finn will stage her own disappearance - and then Finn will be the only who finds and saves her.

What college wouldn't want them after that kind of attention? It seems like a good plan -- until things start going very wrong.

Available through interlibrary loan

Ellray Jakes is Not a Chicken by Sally Warner

"Buk, buk, book," Jared whispers, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Eight-year-old EllRay Jakes is sick of getting picked on. But every time he tries to defend himself against class bully Jared Matthews, EllRay is the one who winds up in trouble. It's just not fair!
Then his dad offers him a deal: If EllRay can stay out of trouble for a week, they'll go to Disneyland! So now EllRay has a lot to prove - he's not a troublemaker, and he's not a chicken.

Available through interlibrary loan.

Stolen By Lucy Christopher

It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him. This is my story. A letter from nowhere.

trailer: http://youtu.be/YWiEoPgYeg0
author interview about the book: http://youtu.be/Dp6VHn8OjtA

A Printz Honor Book

Duckling Ugly by Neal Shusterman

Cara is so ugly, mirrors break. They really break. Not even her parents can deny her ugliness. Cara is tormented and tortured by her everyone she meets in Flock's Rest. Cara's life is miserable as the Flock's Rest Monster. But Cara gets a shimmering note from some exotic place and Cara starts to search for her destiny. Cara does discover her valley of dreams... a place where an ugly duckling can be a swan. But this swan has a thirst for revenge...deadly revenge!

Being by Kevin Brooks

Do you know what is inside of you?
Are you normal?
Robert is not normal... but what is he?

Trailer- http://youtu.be/DgpfQ2kJJwQ

Available at the Wonewoc Public Library or through inter-library loan.

When I was Joe by Keren David

Joe is popular. Joe is an amazing runner. Joe is everything. But Joe isn't a real person. Joe is the person Ty becomes after he witnesses a murder and tells the police. Now dangerous people are after him and will stop at nothing to keep him from testifying in court.

Now Ty is stuck in the witness protection program with his mother, Nicki. Despite the worries and drastic changes, he is enjoying his new life as Joe, and the sweet girl with dark secrets of her own.

Secrets, lies and danger lurking in every corner... The mysteries all unravel one page at a time in this addictive book.

Author's Blog- http://wheniwasjoe.blogspot.com/p/reviews.html
A little Brit Glossary you may find helpful when translating the Britishisms used in this book into American. http://wheniwasjoe.blogspot.com/p/tossers-and-trainers-glossary-for-non.html.

Read the rest of the story in "Almost True"

Does Ty testify? Is he able to live happily? Is he telling the truth? or is there more to the story???

Hard Cash Trilogy by Kate Cann

It sucks to be poor... the girl he likes won't give him the time of day- he has to scrounge off his friends- he has to wear the same old clothes. But then fortune decides to change for Rich. Does money change you?

Book 2- Shacked Up
Book 3- Speeding
Available at the Wonewoc Public Library or through inter-library loan.
http://www.katecann.com/bookGroups.asp?g=n&i=6

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Tennyson:
"Don't get me started on The Bruiser. He was voted "Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty" by the entire school. He's the kid no one knows, no one talks to, and everyone hears disturbing rumors about. So why is my sister, Bronte dating him? One of these days she's going to take in the wrong stray dog, and it's not going to end well."

Bronte:
"My brother has no right to talk about Brewster that way- no right to threaten him. There's a reason why Brewster can't have friends- why he can't care about too many people. Because when he cares about you, things start to happen. Impossible things that can't be explained. I know, because they're happening to me.

Brewster:
"Stealer of screams and thief of anguish, I am a criminal, but you can't see it, blinded by your own relief as my body becomes a battlefield in a war that can't be won. Will I be the bullet that ends your pain, or will you end mine?"

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman has crafted a chilling and unforgettable novel about the power of unconditional friendship, the complex gear work of a family, and the sacrifices we endure for the people we love. (http://www.storyman.com/)

Book Trailer- http://youtu.be/JviG8GN_G70