2008 Rising 5th Grade Summer Reading
Required: Frindle by Andrew Clements
Annotation: Of all Nick's ideas, the frindle is his most successful. It's a pen, or what used to be called a pen. Soon, much of the nation is crazy about frindles--except for Mrs. Granger, Nick's teacher, who, although she doesn't realize it, was the inspiration for the idea.
PLUS
Choose one book from this list that you have not previously read:
The Missing ‘Gator of Gumbo Limbo by Jean Craighead George
Annotation: Liza and her mother live in the last balanced ecosystem in North America. While the Gumbo Limbo Hammock in the Florida Everglades is protected by a majestic alligator named Dajun, one day a state official comes in with orders to kill Dajun. Liza must find Dajun and save him, and her search will lead her into an exciting eco-mystery.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Annotation: Esperanza Ortega lives in a beautiful home filled with servants and the promise of one day presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee from Mexico to California and settle in a farm labor camp.
Black Star, Bright Dawn by Scott O’Dell
Annotation: A young Eskimo girl encounters frightening obstacles when she takes her father's place in the Iditarod, the annual 1,172-mile dogsled race in Alaska.
Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell
Annotation: The winner of the International Children's Book Award, this novel tells the funny and touching tale of classroom redemption. Sahara Jones is going into fifth grade--again. Although she won't be "Sahara Special" (special needs, that is) anymore, she soon learns to find a way to redefine special for herself.
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Annotation: When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?
A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements
Annotation: Although he doesn't want to go camping with his fifth grade class, new kid Mark Chelmsley realizes he could prove himself to his science teacher Mr. Maxwell, who doesn't like rich kids. But soon, both teacher and student learn some lessons they'll never forget.
Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney
Annotation: Eben McAllister's pa challenges him to find seven wonders in boring and predictable Sassafras Springs that rival the real Seven Wonders of the World. Little does Eben know that what he'll discover will give him the adventure of a lifetime. Illustrations.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Choose a book from this series—best if read in order:
No. 1 The Magician’s Nephew; No. 2 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; No 3 The Horse and His Boy; No. 4 Prince Caspian; No. 5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; No. 6 The Silver Chair; No. 7 The Last Battle |
