Intermediate Fiction

Blacker, Terence. The Angel Factory. New York. Simon & Schuster’s Books for Young

Readers. 2001.

Tom Wisdom has the perfect parents, which he claims about to his best friend Gyp. Gyp convinces Tom that his parents might work for the CIA and breaks into Tom’s dad’s computer. Gyp discovers a code that when finally broken by their geeky math teacher, reveals that Tom isn’t who he thinks he is and that his parents are with the CIA, but an organization just as secret.

Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. New York. Puffin Books. 1977.

One August morning in 1945, young Sadako Sasaki leaves for school as she has every other normal school morning. But this morning was not a normal morning; no morning would ever be normal for her again. On this morning, Sadako and thousands of other residents of Hiroshima died or were injured when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on their city. The results of Sadako’s radiation exposure didn’t show up for nine years. When she develops leukemia, her friend reminds her of the Japanese legend – if you make 1000 origami golden paper cranes, you will live forever. Sadako begins her quest to beat leukemia with the help of her golden paper cranes.

Creech, Sharon. Love That Dog. New York. Scholastic Inc. 2001.

Told in free verse and rhyme, this is the story of Jack’s awakening to poetry. Resistant at first, Jack slowly sees that reading and writing poetry can be enjoyable and thought provoking. The title of the book comes from a poem Jack is inspired to write.

DiCamillo, Kate. The Tiger Rising. Cambridge. Candlewick Press. 2001.

It has been six month’s since Rob Horton’s mother died and he moved from Jacksonville to Lister. He has learned to keep his feelings to himself, not letting anyone else in. Sistine Bailey, a new girl at school, threatens to break the wall he has built. When they discover a tiger, caged in the back of the motel, they both learn to trust and to open up hearts that have been sorely bruised.

Haas, Jessie. Runaway Radish. Illustrated by Margot Apple. New York. Greenwillow Books.

2001.

Judy’s parents pick Radish to be Judy’s new pony. Radish is feisty, just what Judy needs. He teaches her patience, something she needs to learn. But soon, Judy grows too big to ride Radish. He is then given to Nina to be her pony. Radish misses Judy, but he soon comes to love Nina, who needs him as much as Judy did. But once again, Nina does what all little girls do, she grows up. Poor Radish is once again to loose the little girl her loves. Nina and Judy get together and solve the problem so that Radish never again has to say good-bye to someone he loves.

Howe, James. Invasion of the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6! New York. Simon & Schuster Children’s

Publishing Division. 2002.

Harold’s nephew Howie pens his own novel about mind swapping space creatures who plan to take over the Earth. Howie’s friend Delilah is captured by the alien’s and her mind is swapped with a squirrel. Together, Howie and Delilah have to come up with a plan to get her body back and save the planet from these devilish aliens.

Knight, Eric. Lassie Come Home. New York. Curtis Publishing Company. 1938.

The only thing that mattered in Joe Carraclough’s life was his dog, Lassie. She walked him to school every morning and met him when he came out at the end of the day. But times were hard for most people, there was a depression going on, and the Carracloughs were not exempted from hardship. When his father could not find a job, he was forced to sell the only thing they had of value, Lassie. Lassie couldn’t understand why she no longer lived with Joe and kept running away from her new home to be with him. Finally, her new owner sent her hundreds of miles away to be sure she wouldn’t run away again. But Lassie’s love for Joe, stronger than cages and the miles that separate them, compels her to try to get home to the boy she loves.

Korman, Gordon. No More Dead Dogs. New York. Hyperion Paperbacks for Children. 2000.

Wallace Wallace cannot tell a lie. So when Mr. Fogelman assigns his favorite book, Old Shep, My Pal, as the current book report book, Wallace Wallace gives him his honest opinion – the book stinks. Mr. Fogelman offers Wallace the chance to rewrite the report, but he refuses. As punishment, Mr. Fogelman gives him detention in the form of helping with the school play, Old Shep, My Pal. Everyone knows Wallace doesn’t want to be there, so when things begin to happen that threaten the success of the play, it is easy to believe Wallace is the culprit. Wallace has to prove he hasn’t deserted his football team, isn’t trying to destroy the play, and learn that sometimes a lie is the right thing to say.

Krensky, Stephen. Arthur and the Cootie Catcher. Boston. Little Brown and Company. 1999.

Everyone attends Prunella’s half-birthday. While everyone brings gifts, it is her sister Rubella’s gift that causes the most excitement. She gives Prunella a fortune-teller’s cootie catcher. Everyone is enthralled. Each person asks the cootie catcher a silly question. When their questions and answers start coming true, Arthur and his friends become believers in the cootie catcher. Soon, they are questioning the cootie catcher about everything and it is running their lives. Can Arthur break the hold the cootie catcher has over all their lives? Easy reading chapter book.

Lawson, Robert. Ben and Me. Boston. Little, Brown and Company. 1939.

Amos Mouse tells the story of how he, not Ben Franklin, is responsible for most of the inventions credited to Franklin. He becomes Franklin’s most trusted advisor and best friend during the early years of our country. Even though they are great friends, Amos and Ben experience one major falling-out. Amos cannot stand all the experiments Ben is doing with electricity. When Ben includes Amos in one of his experiments, Amos almost ends their friendship. An interesting way for students to be introduced to one of America’s founding fathers.

Levitin, Sonia. The Cure. New York. HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1999.

Gemm16884 lives in the perfect utopian society of 2407. But utopia isn’t enough for Gemm. He hates the masks everyone is required to wear and wants to express the emotions everyone must keep under control. When he suddenly bursts into song, medics arrive and sedate him. He is to be punished for this unseemly display of emotion. He is given the options to either try a radical new cure or to be recycled. He chooses the cure and is transported to Strasbourg, Germany, in 1348. He lives the life of Johannes, a 16 year-old Jewish musician. The Black Death is just beginning to ravage Europe and the people across the continent are afraid. Gemm/Johannes discovers that most of the fear and anger about the plague the villagers have is directed at the Jews. He is horrified by the treatment the Jews suffer at the hands of the Christians of Strasbourg. Gemm/Johannes’ cure teaches him about family, love, prejudice, and hate, but the final lesson he learns may be more than the Elders expected.

Not recommended for readers younger than 8^th grade.

Newbery Author

Lowry, Lois. Gathering Blue. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.

Lois Lowry once again takes a look at the post-apocalyptic world in this tale. Kira is alone in this world. Her only relative is her mother’s brother who could not take her in because he had a family of his own to tend. Kira is not only burdened with being an orphan, she is also crippled. Sensing her weakness, some of the villagers take her before the Council of Guardians, trying to take what little she has left, no just her land but her very life! The Council appoints a defender for her in the upcoming trial. Her defender, Jamison, saves her life, reminding the members of the Council of her skill with a needle. Because of this skill her life is spared and she is chosen to be the one who repairs the sacred cloak of the Singer. But, in the course of learning the skills she will need to improve her craft, she learns of the darker secrets of her village and why blue, the color of calm, could cost her her life.

Newbery Author

Lowry, Lois. A Summer to Die. New York. Random House Children’s Books. 1977.

Meg isn’t as pretty or as talented as her sister Molly. Meg feels so out of place, and when her family moves to the country so her father can finish his book, Meg feels it more so. She has to share a bedroom with Molly and that just heightens the tension between them. But soon, Meg has more to worry about than sharing a room. Molly is sick. So sick she has to go to the hospital. Through the help of kind neighbors, Meg leans to believe in herself and cope with Molly’s devastating illness.

Newbery Author

MacLachlan, Patricia. Baby. New York. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.

1995.

Larkin’s family lives on an island, frequented by summer tourists. All the islanders celebrate the day the tourists leave and they have their island all to themselves. But this day is different from others on the island. When Larkin, her parents, her best friend Lalo, and her great-aunt Byrd return to their house, they discover a baby has been left in their driveway. A note left with the baby tells them her name is Sophie and that her mother will be back for her someday. The baby fills the void left in their lives by the death of Larkin’s baby brother. No one has talked to each other about his death, something Larkin desperately wants to do. Sophie brings joy to their lives and helps them heal the rifts created when their nameless baby died.

McKissack, Patricia and Fredrick. Miami Makes the Play. Illustrated by Michael Chesworth. New York.

Golden Books Publishing Company, Inc. 2001.

Miami Jackson is off to baseball camp with his best friend String. Unfortunately, so is his arch-enemy, Destinee Taylor. Miami makes a friend of the older boy in his cabin, Kenneth, and Asher, a blind umpire. Destinee organizes a petition to have one camp team and let the girls at the camp be part of the all-star team. Kenneth hates Destinee and refuses to sign her petition. Finally, Miami has to decide between doing what is right or seeming to be cool.

Park, Barbara. The Kid in the Red Jacket. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. 1987.

Howard Jeeter’s family uproots his life, moving him from Arizona to Massachusetts. He has to be the new kid in class, to make friends, to learn the ropes. The only kid he knows is a 6 year-old pest by the name of Molly Vera Thompson. Howard learns to make concessions and that being known as ‘the kid in the red jacket’ isn’t so bad after all.

Park, Barbara. Mick Harte Was Here. New York. Random House. 1995.

Thirteen year-old Phoebe Harte is ten months older than her brother Mick. She narrates this story about her brother’s death and the impact it made on her family. Mick was killed in a bicycle accident as he was riding home from school. Phoebe can’t believe he’s dead and is afraid she will forget him. Her mother keeps taking sleeping pills so she won’t have to deal with her pain. Her normally immaculately dressed father is now going around in sweat pants and footy slippers. Phoebe is left on her own to deal with her pain and come to terms with how to go on without her beloved brother.

Philbrick, Rodman. The Last Book in the Universe. New York. Scholastic, Inc. 2000.

Set in the distant future, civilization has broken down. The rich live totally isolated, separate from the poor and criminal elements. For the poor, life is dismal and colorless. No one knows what life is like for the rich; they only know that where they live is called “Eden”. Spaz works for one of the crime gangs operating in an outer sector. It is his job to go shake down people for some of their meager belongings. It is as he is doing his job that he meets Ryter. Spaz ends up telling Ryter about his sister, Bean, and the reason he can never see her again – epilepsy. Ryter gets a message about his sister – she is dying and wants to see him one last time. Spaz enlists Ryter’s aid in getting through the different gang territories so he can see her one last time. When he finally gets to her, having faced the dangers of the different areas he had to cross, Spaz discovers his former foster parents are the ones who sent for him for they know he is the only one who can cross the barrier into Eden and save Bean. It is up to Spaz, with Ryter’s help, to make the journey into the land of the rich and find a way to save his sister.

Pilkey, Dav. Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs. The Jurassic Jackrabbits From Jupiter. Illustrated by Martin

Ontiveros. New York. Scholastic Inc. 2002.

Ricky Ricotta is the proud owner of a wonderful Mighty Robot. For his birthday, Ricky’s parents are taking Ricky, his Mighty Robot, and his cousin Lucy to the museum. Little do they know, the evil General Jackrabbit has come to Earth to take over the planet. General Jackrabbit creates three monsters, using the DNA of dinosaurs. It is up to Ricky, his Mighty Robot, and Lucy to thwart General Jackrabbit’s evil plan of conquest.

Pullman, Phillip. I Was a Rat. New York. Alfred A Knopf. 1999.

One dark and stormy night, Old Bob the Cobbler and his wife, Joan the Laundress, hear a knock at their door. Upon opening it they discover a small boy whose only words are, “I was a rat.” They name him Roger and try to find out where he belongs. Finding no answers as to his origins, they decide to keep him and send him to school. Roger doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. Taking Roger into their home and hearts becomes an adventure they could never have imagined.

Pullman, Phillip. Spring-Heeled Jack. Illustrated by David Mostyn. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. 1989.

Before there was Batman, The Dark Knight, there was Spring-Heeled Jack, the mysterious hero of the night. He comes to the rescue of three orphans trying to run away from the Alderman Cawn-Plaster Memorial Orphanage to make a new life in America. Before they can reach the ship to take them to freedom, Ned, the youngest of them all, is kidnapped and held for ransom. Spring-Heeled Jack offers to help Rose and Lily get their brother back and get them safely to the ship to America. Along the way, Lily and Rose are captured by the evil overseers of the orphanage, are helped by a barmaid and sailor, and have their dearest wish come true. This novel combines straight storytelling with graphics which moves the story along.

Roop, Peter and Connie. Take Command Captain Farragut! Illustrated by Michael McCurdy. New York.

Antheneum Books for Young Readers. 2002.

David Farragut was one of the great naval heroes of out county. This story, told in diary form, recounts a chapter of his youth when he was a young lieutenant on the frigate Essex. The time was 1812 when are nation had just begun the second war for independence. The Essex was captured in the Pacific by the warship Cherub. David writes a journal to share with his father, telling about how difficult it was to get the men to obey because of his age, the battles he fought, and the thrill of his first command as the interim captain of the ship Alert.

Saint-Exupéry, Antoine. The Little Prince. New York. Harcourt, Inc. 1943.

The last thing the downed pilot narrator expected was to meet someone in the middle of the Sahara Desert but into his life walked the Little Prince. From their first encounter when the Prince asks the aviator to draw him a sheep to their final goodbye at the well, they form a strong bond of love and friendship. What they both learn is that loving and leaving is the hardest thing a person can ever do.

My personal favorite book of all-times.

Rees, Celia. Witch Child. Cambridge. Candlewick Press. 2000.

Set in 1659, Witch Child tells the story of Mary Newbury, a young woman sent from England to America to spare her persecution from those who believe she is a witch. Mary joins a group of Puritans sailing for a settlement outside of Salem, Massachusetts. Mary is not comfortable living in the settlement. She would much rather live in the forest like JayBird. JayBird teaches her the forest lore, what plants are for healing and which are for killing, how to go unnoticed amongst the trees, how live like the native people. Her strange ways make Mary the target of accusations of witchcraft. Soon, Mary must fight for her life and the life she wants to lead.

Scieszka, Jon. The Time Warp Trio. Illustrated by Lane Smith. New York. Penguin Putnam

Books for Young Readers.

Sam, Fred, and Joe make up the Time Warp Trio in this continuing series. In each book, opening The Book leads them on a wild adventure in time. Their objective is to find The Book so they can return to their own time. Most of the books contain facts relating to history or mythology of the time period they find themselves in.

Knights of the Kitchen Table. (1991) – The trio travels to the time of King Arthur, meet Sir Lanceot, Guinevere, and the Black Knight. They have to outwit a giant, a dragon, and the most powerful magician of all time, Merlin.

2095. (1995) – The boys travel 100 years into the future and meet their great-great granddaughters, finding out in the process some of the great things they are destined to do.

Tut, Tut. (1996) – Sam, Fred, and Joe travel back to the time of the first female pharoh, Hatshepsut. Their goal - save Joe’s sister Anna, her cat Cleo, and get home before the evil high priest turns them all into mummies.

It’s All Greek to Me (1999) – The boys are off again, this time into Greek mythology. They encounter Zeus, Hera, the rest of the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, and the monsters of mythology. They have to find The Book before they are destroyed by either god or monster.

Weeks, Sarah. Regular Guy. New York. HarperCollins Children’s Books. 1999.

Guy Strang is convinced his parents aren’t his real parents. Who else has a father who sucks oysters through his nose, in public! Who else’s mom tie dyes all their underwear because white is boring. He doesn’t even look like them. When Guy discovers that the weirdest boy in 6^th grade, Bob-o Smith, has the same birthday as him, he hatches a plan to be returned to his real parents.

A Prince and the Pauper tale told for the 21^st century.

White, E. B. Charlotte’s Web. New York. Harper & Row. 1952.

Fern Arable rescues a runt pig from her father’s ax and is charged with raising him. She names him Wilbur and treats him as her baby. Wilbur thrives under Fern’s attention and soon, no one would ever know her had been the runt of the litter. Fern’s father decides their farm is not the place for Wilbur to live and sells him to Fern’s uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Wilbur is lonely at the Zuckerman’s farm until he meets Charlotte, a wise and gentle spider. When Wilbur learns that Zuckerman’s ultimate plan for him is to turn him into ham and sausages, it is up to Charlotte to save Wilbur’s life.

A sweet and charming tale of love, friendship, and sacrifice.

Wiggin, Kate Douglas. The Birds’ Christmas Carol. New Jersey. Watermill Press. 1988.

Early one Christmas morning the Birds welcomed into their family a new baby girl. They named her Carol, for what other name is appropriate for a Christmas baby? Carol had a lovely, generous nature and is beloved by everyone who knows her. Sadly, Carol was never very strong. For most of her life she had to stay in bed, weak and sick. Despite her infirmity, Carol continued to love and plan for Christmas. This year she plans the most elaborate party for the poor children who live next door, the Ruggles. Carol, with the help of her Uncle Jack, works to make this the best Christmas ever for everyone she loves.

From the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.