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Nancy's picks for the best junior novels
of Spring/Summer 2004. Compiled by Nancy Polette © 2004.
Last updated: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 |
- Brooks, Kevin. KISSING THE RAIN. Scholastic, 2004.
Gr 7-9
- To escape teasing, shoving and name calling, Moo
Nelson finds peace on a bridge high above traffic...until the
night he witnesses a car chase and a murder.
- Brown, Jackie. LITTLE CRICKET. Hyperion, 2004. Gr
4-6
- Life in the small village in Laos is shattered
when the soldiers come. Kia escapes the war, first in a refugee
camp and then in America where she is at first overwhelmed by her
new life but discovers that others are isolated as well.
- Bryant, Jen. THE TRIAL. Knopf, 2004.Gr 6-8
- Told in poetry form, this small novel takes the
reader inside the courtroom to the trial of Bruno Richard
Hauptmann, accused kidnapper of the baby of Charles Lindbergh. The
year is 1932 and the narrator is a twelve-year-old girl. It is
through her eyes that the reader meets the real life figures of
the trial.
- Crisp, Marty. WHITE STAR: A DOG ON THE TITANIC.
Holiday House, 2004. Gr 4-6
- Young Sam is traveling on the Titanic. Also on
board is an Irish setter named White Star. When the ship strikes
an iceberg, Sam knows something is very wrong. Whether Sam escapes
or not will depend on the bravery of the faithful dog.
- DeFelice, Cynthia. THE GHOST OF CUTLER CREEK. Farrar,
204. Gr 4-6.
- Allie Nichols attracts ghosts! But how can she
help a ghost who wont speak? And why did the ghost show up just
when a strange new boy and his father moved to town? Here is
another winner in this authors long list of solid, entertaining
stories.
- Dyer, Heather. THE FISH IN ROOM 11. Scholastic,
2004. Gr 3-6
- The orphan, Toby, lives in a hotel by the sea The
lonely boy befriends a family of mermaids. To keep his secret from
being discovered he disguises them as hotel guests.
- Griffin, Adele. WITCH TWINS AND THE GHOST OF GLENN
BLY. Hyperion, 2004. Gr 4-6.
- Claire and Luna are thrilled to visit an ancient
castle in Scotland with their five-star witch grandmother, Grandy.
But this is no ordinary vacation. The three witches are on a
mission to rid Glenn Bly castle of the terrifying ghost that
haunts it.
- Haptie, Charlotte. OTTO AND THE FLYING TWINS. Holiday
House, 2004. Gr 4-6
- The Hush family has always been conventional
until one day Ottos twin sistes begin to fly. Evil sources are
set to destroy the magic and Otto must help to stop them.
- Harlow, Joan Hiatt. THUNDER FROM THE SEA.
McElderry Books, 2004. Gr 4-6
- Tom rescues a dog in the middle of a squall. The
dog proves invaluable during an earthquake saving lives and
warning of danger.
- Hite, Sid. THE KING OF SLIPPERY FALLS.
Scholastic, 2004. Gr 4-6.
- A story about an ordinary boy, a mysterious
letter, a royal birth, a giant trout, a near-death experience and
an unexpected romance!
- Lowry, Lois. MESSENGER. Houghton-Mifflin, 2004.
Gr 5-8
- Matty gorws up under the care of a blind man, but
strange events ae taking place in the village that will soon be
closed to all outsiders.
- Magrs, Paul. THE GOOD THE BAT AND THE
UGLY.Athentum, 2004. Gr 4-6
- Tolstoy, a bat, is our for revenge on the show
biz puppets who have wronged him in the past.
- McMullan, Margaret. HOW I FOUND THE STRONG.
Houghton-Mifflin, 2004. Gr 5-7
- Frank is ten and too young to enlist yet the war
has taken his father, brother and grandparents and ultimately, his
boyhood.
- Morris, Gerald. THE PRINCESS, THE CRONE, AND THE DUNG-CART
KNIGHT. Houghton-Mifflin, 2004. Gr 6-8
- Sarahs quest for revenge for the murder of her
mother leades to an even greater adventure when she sees the queen
kidnapped.
- Philbrick, Rodman. THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SEA. Blue Sky
Press, 2004. Gr 5-7
- Skiff bails out the fishing boat month after
month just in case his father decides to fish again. Here is a
dramatic story of a determined boy who refuses to give up despite
overwhelming odds.
- Pietri, Annie. ORANGE TREES OF VERSAILLES.
Delacorte, 2004. Gr 5-7
- The gardners daughter has an unusual ability to
recognize and blend scents for the Marquise but finds the credit
for her work given to another. Here is the tale of a plucky
heroine in a 17th century setting.
- Randall, David. CLOVERMEAD : In the Shadow of the
Bear. McElderry Books, 2004. Gr 5-8
- Clovermead becomes aware of strange new powers
within her and realizes that her father is keeping secrets that
threaten to tear their small family apart.
- Rodman, Mary Ann. YANKEE GIRL. Farrar, 2004. Gr 4-6
- Alice finds herself in a new home town in 1964,
moving from Chicago to a very different life in Jackson,
Mississippi when the Civil Rights movement is in full force.
- Snyder, Zilpha Keatley, THE UNSEEN, Delacorte, 2004. Gr 5-7
- A glowing white feather is the key to an unseen
world both comforting and terrifying.
- Swope, Sam. JACK AND THE SEVEN DEADLY GIANTS,
Farrar, 2004. Gr 2-4
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Jack,
the village bad boy, is blamed when seven deadly giants appear but he
saves the day in unusual ways.
- Torley, Michele. VOYAGE OF ICE. Knopf, 2004. Gr 4-6
- Nick finds his dreams of sea to be a harsh
reality with the danger of monstrous whales, and a cruel and
dangerous captain.
- Wetter, Bruce. THE BOY WITH THE LAMPSHADE ON HIS
HEAD, Atheneum, 2004. Gr 5-7
- Shy Stanley is brave only in his dreams but this
changes when he meets a girl who needs his help.
- Williams, Maiya, THE GOLDEN HOUR. Amulet Books,
Harry Abrams, 2004. Gr 5-8
- Twins, an abandoned hotel, and a disappearing
girl throw Rowan into a game with rules he doesn't know.
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