2009 Elementary School Summer Reading List
4th-5th
Grade: Fiction Chapter Books
Babbitt, Natalie. The Search for Delicious. The King is compiling a
dictionary and when no one can
agree on the meaning of
delicious, he sends his 12-year-old messenger to poll the country. Lexile: 910
Balliett,
Blue. The Calder Game. When Calder Pillay
disappears from a remote English village—along
with an Alexander Calder
sculpture—his friends Tommy and
father find him. Lexile: 830
Birney,
Betty. The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. Eben McAllister searches his small town
to see if he can find
anything comparable to the real Seven Wonders of the World. Lexile:
790
Clements, Andrew. Lost and Found. Twin
brothers learn about friendship and honesty after taking
advantage of a mistake in which
their new school thinks there is only one of them. Lexile:
780
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Elijah,
the first free-born child in
his wits to try to bring to
justice the lying preacher who stole money that was to be used to buy a
family’s freedom. Lexile: 1070
Enright,
Elizabeth. The Saturdays. Four
each do a special activity on
a Saturday. Lexile: 820
Hiassen,
Carl. Scat. Nick
and Marta are both suspicious when their biology teacher disappears and
they try to uncover the truth
despite everyone’s insistence that nothing is wrong. Lexile:
810
Horvath, Polly. My One Hundred Adventures. Jane, who lives in a
run-down house with her family, has
an eventful summer after she
decides to have 100 adventures to make her life more interesting. Lexile: 810
Law, Ingrid. Savvy.
Follows the adventures of Mibs
Beaumont, who has just had her
Savvy—a magical power—revealed. Lexile: 1070
Preller,
James. Six Innings. Earl Grubb’s Pool Supplies
plays Northeast Gas & Electric in the Little
League Championship game, while Sam, who is in a wheelchair has to call the play-by-play instead of
Joining in the game. Lexile: 690
2009 Elementary School Summer Reading
List
4th-5th
Grade: Nonfiction Books
Brown,
Don. All Stations! Distress! April 15, 1912, the day the
Titanic Sank. An
engaging
account of this historical event is provided in a
manner appropriate for students. Lexile: N/A
Greenberg,
Jan. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Through the
Gates and Beyond. Examines
the lives
and work of two artists who create environmental art installations
around the world. Lexile: N/A
Hartman, Dan and Patent. When the Wolves Returned: Restoring
Nature’s Balance in
National
Park, helped restore balance to the ecosystem. Lexile
1040
Lewin, Ted and Betsy. Horse Song: The Naadam of
people and activities encountered in
Nelson,
Kadir. We are the Ship: The
Story of Negro League Baseball. Explores
the history of
Negro League Baseball, covering all facets
from trials and tribulations to triumphs. Lexile: 900
Nivola, Claire. Planting the
Trees of
who taught the people living there how to plant trees and care
for the land.. Lexile: 1030
Nobleman, Marc Tyler. Boys
of Steel: The Creators of Superman. Tells the compelling story of
Teens Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster’s creation Superman and success of the comic. Lexile 760
Thimmesh, Catherine. Team Moon: How 400,000
People Landed . A brief biography of the life
and achievments of Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, who fought for women’s right to vote. Lexile:
1060
Thomas,
Peggy. Farmer George Plants a Nation. Details how George Washington built his farm
at
Weathorford, Carol Boston. Before
John was a Jazz Giant.
A biography of John Coltrane
that focuses on his inspirations and development as a musician
during his childhood and teen
years. Lexile: 1090
2009 Elementary School Summer Reading
List
4th-5th Grade:
Picture Book Stories to Share
Brumbeau, Jeff. The Quiltmaker’s Journey. The quiltmaker
grows up wealthy and sheltered, but
changes her life after she
discovers the poverty and need outside her home. Lexile:
840
Bryany, Jennifer. A
biography of American poet William
Carlos Williams, who studied to become a doctor, but still found
time to write poetry. Lexile: 820
Fraser, Debra. Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster. When Sage’s spelling and definition of a
word reveal her
misunderstanding of it to her classmates, she is at first embarrassed but then
uses
the mistake as an inspiration
for a special project. Lexile: 690
Gonzalez,
Lucia M. The Story Teller’s Candle. During the Great Depression, librarian Pura Belpre
introduces the public library to
immigrants. Presented in English and Spanish. Lexile: 730
Gutman,
Dan. Casey Back at Bat. Presents a humorous sequel to Ernest Lawrence
Thayer’s classic
“Casey at Bat,” with
colorful illustrations and rhymes. Lexile: 810
Janezcko, Paul D. A Kick in the Head: an
Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms.
Presents a
collection of poems which showcase
29 different poetic forms, each with a definition. Lexile:
N/A
McGill, Alice. Way Up and Over Everything. In this retelling of a
folktale, five Africans escape
slavery by simply disappearing
into thin air. Lexile: 730
Rumford,
James. Silent Music: A Story of
calligraphy to distance himself from
the war. Lexile: 830
Schulman,
Janet. Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of
Male, a red-tailed hawk living in
become one of the city’s
most-watched celebrities. Lexile: 1030
Stone, Tanya Lee. Sandy’s
Circus. A beautifully illustrated
account of mobile artist Alexander
Calder’s creation of a
miniature circus from wire, string, cloth, and other found objects. Lexile:
750