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Recommended Reading

Daisy Dawson is on Her Way
by Steve Voake

Grades 1-3

Daisy Dawson is a daydreaming animal lover and a dawdler who never quite makes it to school on time. On her way to school one morning, after she stops to free a butterfly trapped in a spider’s web, something amazing happens. She is suddenly able to understand not only the words of kind hearted Boom, her favorite stray hound, but also those of the classroom gerbils and a singing ant.

When Boom is captured by a dogcatcher, Daisy teams up with a horse and a squirrel to rescue him. A sweet and whimsical adventure for beginning chapter book readers and an appealing read aloud as well.

- Karen 7/08

My Dad’s A Birdman
by David Almond, Illustrated by Polly Dunbar

Me and the Pumpkin Queen
by Marlane Kennedy

Realistic Fiction
Grades 4 and up

Mildred dreams of growing a prize winning pumpkin, a pumpkin weighing over a thousand pounds. However, some things that look easy turn out to be extremely difficult.

According to Mildred's Guide to Growing a Giant Pumpkin, you must:

1. Get the right seeds. These days, no one grows a Pumpkin Show winner without Howard Dill's Atlantic Giant seeds.
2. Convince your dad that having a pumpkin patch in your backyard is a good idea.
3. Make sure that your dogs stay far, far away from your seedlings.
4. Don't let your busybody aunt interfere with your "pumpkin obsession," no matter how much she wishes you were interested in boys or clothes or anything other than pumpkins.
5. Find a best friend who can help out in a pinch.
6. Never, ever, ever give up.

Check out the real heavyweights at the Circleville Pumpkin Show!

Case of the Mossy Lake Monster book cover

The Case of the Mossy Lake Monster: and other super-scientific cases
by Michele Torrey

Mystery
Grades 3-5

Fifth grade detectives Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey quickly solve four fantastic mysteries by using scientific deduction. Their cases include a hungry cat, endangered penguins, a fish-eating monster and defaced posters from a school election. As an added bonus, there is a section with instructions for the experiments used to solve the mysteries. Teachers and homeshoolers will welcome this second book in the series with read-aloud fun and built in science activities.

- Sylvia 8/07

The Road to Paris
by Nikki Grimes

Realistic Fiction
Grades 4-7

Life has been difficult for eight-year-old Paris and her older brother Malcolm. They’ve been sent to live with one abusive foster family after another, and the only people they have been able to rely on are each other. That is, until that fateful day when the foster care system broke them apart and sent the siblings to live in different cities.

When Paris moves in with the Lincolns, the only African-American family on their block, she expects the worst. However, Paris slowly begins to love and trust this new family who includes her as one of their own. Even when Paris is confronted with the harsh reality of racism, she knows she can rely on the love and support from the place she can now call “home.” Readers will undoubtedly cheer for Paris as she embarks on her road to self discovery.

- Shana 4/07