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