Summer Reading List

MR. C URRAN’ S

READING LIS T Summ er 20 06 THE BEST OF THE BEST!!! Balliett, Blue CHASING VERMEER When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. Balliett, Blue THE WRIGHT 3 In the midst of a series of unexplained accidents and mysterious coincidences, sixth-graders Calder, Petra, and Tommy lead their classmates in an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Robie House from being demolished. Bailey, Carolyn Sherwin MISS HICKORY Miss Hickory is very worried. Her owner has moved to Boston, and she is just a doll whose body is an apple -wood twig and whose head is a hickory nut, and whose house is made of corncobs. Cooper, Susan THE DARK IS RISING On his eleventh birthday Will discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark. The first book in a great series! Flake, Sharon THE SKIN I’M IN Maleeka’s teacher shows her that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Funke, Cornelia THE THIEF LORD Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them, two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice, finding shelter with a gang of street children and their leader, the thirteen-year-old "Thief Lord," while also eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany. Gantos, Jack JOEY PIGZA SWALLOWED THE KEY Joey Pigza can’t sit still. He can’t pay attention, he can’t follow the rules, and he can’t help it—especially when his medications aren’t working. He knows he’s a really good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Keith, Harold RIFLES FOR WATIE A classic Civil War adventure, filled with action, suspense, and intrigue. Peck, Richard A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother. Raskin, Ellen THE WESTING GAME The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance. Taylor, Theodore THE CAY Phillip, a resident of a war-torn island, is forced to leave his home. After he and his mother flee, their ship is torpedoed by a German submarine. He is marooned on a tiny island, blinded in the shipwreck, alone with a cat and an old West Indian sailor. This book is action packed! White, Andrea SURVIVING ANTARCTICA: REALITY TV 2083 In the year 2083, five fourteen-year-olds who were deprived by chance of the opportunity to continue their educations reenact Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole as contestants on a reality television show, secretly aided by a Department of Entertainment employee.

THE BEST OF THE REST!!! Banks, Lynne Reid ANGELA AND DIABOLA A story about two girls; one is perfectly good and the other is perfectly evil. Bloor, Edward TANGERINE Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness; he slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight. Choldenko, Gennifer AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS. A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. Colfer, Eoin THE SUPERNATURALIST In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures. Creech, Sharon GRANNY TORELLI MAKES SOUP With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend, Bailey, the boy next door. Curtis, Christopher Paul BUCKING THE SARGE Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother's shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan, fourteenyear-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home For Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher. DiCamillo, Kate THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin. DuPrau, Jeanne THE CITY OF EMBER In the year 2041, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse unknown regions. Fleischman, Paul GRAVEN IMAGES Three stories by the author of Seedfolks and Weslandia. Fleishman, John PHINEAS GAGE Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years. Funke, Cornelia INKHEART What would you do if an evil literary figure jumped out of a book and into your living room? Giff, Patricia Reilly PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her. Haddix, Margaret RUNNING OUT OF TIME When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteenyear-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1995 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it’s up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the dying children. Hamilton, Virginia THE HOUSE OF DIES DREAR A family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home where two fugitive slaves and Dies Drear, the abolitionist who had made the house into a station on the Underground Raiload, were murdered. The ghosts of the three were said to walk its rooms... Hannigan, Katherine. IDA B: …AND HER PLANS TO MAXIMIZE FUN, AVOID DISASTER, AND (POSSIBLY) SAVE THE WORLD In Wisconsin, fourth-grader Ida B spends happy hours being home-

schooled and playing in her family's apple orchard, until her mother begins treatment for breast cancer and her parents must sell part of the orchard and send her to public school. Howe, James THE MISFITS Can a band of middle school misfits, cruelly taunted by classmates, inspire change? Hunt, Irene ACROSS FIVE APRILS Young Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he is left to take care of the family farm in Illinois during the difficult years of the Civil War. Jacques, Brian REDWALL When the peaceful life in and around ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior. This book is full of action and adventure is the first in a series! Macaulay, David UNDERGROUND The intricate support systems that lie beneath the street levels of our cities are examined. Also try other titles in this excellent series: Castle, Cathedral, Pyramid, Unbuilding, and Mill. Nelson, Juster THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH A journey through a land where Milo learns the importance of words and numbers provides a cure for his boredom. O'Brien, Robert MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse, discovers to her astonishment that the rats under the rosebush are not ordinary rodents but highly intelligent creatures that escaped from a laboratory after being taught to read. Peck, Richard A YEAR DOWN YONDER During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent is live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois. You’ll laugh out loud. Ritter, John H. THE BOY WHO SAVED BASEBALL The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato. Robinson, Sharon SAFE AT HOME Can Jumper build a new life and hold on to the past? Rockwell, Thomas HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS Because of a bet, Billy has to eat fifteen worms in fifteen days. Sachar, Louis HOLES As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Shannon, George STORIES TO SOLVE Brief folktales in which there is a mystery or problem that the reader is invited to solve. Sonnenblick, Jordan DRUMS, GIRLS, & DANGEROUS PIE 13-year-old Steven’s life is turned upside down when he learns his kid brother has leukemia. Yee, Lisa MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS How can you be normal when you’re an 11-year-old genius? GREAT SERIES TO DISCOVER Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton Deltora by Emily Rodda Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Spy X by Peter Lerangis A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (Book the Thirteenth is released 10/13/06!)