October’s Book List

If you’re looking for a good book to read, look no further! Each month a new book list will be posted with some book suggestions along with a summary of each book. Most — if not all — of these books you can find in the library. Start reading!

FICTION

Babbitt, Natalie        Tuck Everlasting

The Tuck family tries to hide their unusual discovery. When young Winnie Foster who has been kidnapped, discovers their secret, will she make the same choice as they have? Would you? This is a masterful tale from a consummate writer.

 

Boyce, Frank Cottrell   Cosmic

Liam Digby has a problem that is also an irresistible temptation. He is so tall that people think he is an adult. Actually, he is only twelve years old, but looking like an adult opens up so many tempting possibilities, like entering a competition to fly a rocket into space. Of course he wins. It’s a dream come true for this devotee of video games, but you have to be careful what you wish for.

Choldenko, Gennifer     Al Capone Does My Shirts

Moose Flanagan lives on Alcatraz, the small island in San Francisco Bay that was a maximum security prison. Having the famous gangsters of the 1930s as neighbors may seem to give his life a little glamour, but it is balanced out by challenging family problems, the dangerous schemes of the warden’s daughter, and the isolation of his life.

Codell, Esme Raji     Sahara Special

Sahara is in special education. It is not where this budding writer belongs. Withdrawn and only interested in writing letters to the father who has left her, few can see the gifts she hides until she is assigned to a new classroom with a teacher as special as she is.

Connor, Leslie          Crunch

Dewey Marriss is in charge of the family bicycle shop, his older sister is in charge of the family in general, and everyone is expected to pitch in to take care of the farm while their parents take a short anniversary trip to Maine. Suddenly there is an unexpected severe gasoline shortage. Now the parents are stuck in Northern Maine until gas stations reopen. All five children, even the little twins, are managing well, until important, expensive bicycle parts go missing from the shop. The repair jobs pile up and frantic customers overwhelm the store. Think Home Alone with a twist.

Cummings, Pat         Red Kayak

When an ill-considered prank goes awry, Brady Parks is caught in a moral dilemma. He is being hailed as a hero in the local newspapers, when deep inside he knows he is not. Should he tell what he knows about the accident? If he does, what will happen to his best friends? How can he admit to his parents and his small Eastern Shore community the evidence he has found and kept secret?

Curry, Jane              Black Canary

James Parrett is on his way to London with his parents for the summer. His mother, a professional singer, has agreed to a concert tour of Europe. Unhappy about being shunted back and forth between grandparents to accommodate his parents’ professional commitments, James resists the expectation that he too will become a musician. All that changes when he slips through a time portal into the distant past.

Dhami, Narinder       Bindi Babes

Jazz, Amber, and Geena think they have the perfect set-up: three adorable daughters manipulating one doting, very overworked Dad. Then one day Auntie, their father’s younger sister, shows up to make them toe the line. As Auntie interferes and out manipulates them, they decide on the drastic measure of trying to marry her off.

Dowell, Frances O’Roark         Shooting the Moon

Jamie Dexter’s family has a long military tradition. It is their identity and even within their family her father is called “The Colonel.” It is disconcerting to watch “The Colonel” suddenly attempt every ploy to dissuade her brother TJ from enlisting to serve in the Vietnam War. TJ’s letters home are perfunctory but the film canisters he sends to Jamie, which she learns to develop into darkroom proofs, tell a more complex story.

Enzensberger, Hans The Number Devil

Robert hates math, but it’s surprisingly un-nightmarish when a red devil, a veritable maestro of numerical magic, haunts his dreams. It is a not very well kept secret that a certain WES Middle School director is particularly enamored of this book!

Feinstein, John          Last Shot; Vanishing Act; The Rivalry

They’ve both won the contest for the best sports writing by a middle school student. Their prize is a trip to the final four to shadow professional sports writers and cover the games for their local newspapers. They overhear a player being blackmailed to throw a critical game. The duo reunites in “Vanishing Act” to solve the mysterious disappearance of a star tennis player. In The Rivalry the duo once again face a mystery but this time it is at the annual Army-Navy game.

Giff, Patricia Reilly    Eleven

Sam has great difficulty reading, but he shows enormous talent in his grandfather’s woodworking shop. Hunting for the presents he knows he will receive for his eleventh birthday, Sam sneaks into the attic where he spies a newspaper article he can only partially decipher, but which prompts vague and troubling memories that bring into question his past. With the help of Caroline, a new friend at school, they search for answers as they build an intriguing miniature castle for a class project.

Henkes, Kevin         Olive’s Ocean

Martha Barstow, a sensitive and thoughtful young heroine, vacations with her family at her grandmother’s shoreline cottage on Cape Cod. This summer finds her navigating a sea of emotions. She makes peace with the memory of a classmate she barely knew, confronts the painful betrayal of a first love, worries over her grandmother’s health, and struggles with the thought of becoming a writer.

Hoeye, Michael        Time Waits for No Mouse; The Sands of Time; No Time Like Show Time

Satire, charm, and animal fantasy join forces to create an amusing mystery. Hermux Tantamoq is a fussy, fastidious watchmaker who has set aside everything for a rush job. Linka Perflinger, the renowned aviatrix and adventuress, needs her watch fixed ASAP. When she doesn’t return to claim it Hermux is in a dither. Drawn by the memory of her allure, certain that she must be in some grave danger, he throws caution to the wind to solve her disappearance.

Lawrence, Ian          Lord of the Nutcracker Men

Johnny’s toymaker father enlists in the British Army during World War I.  Before he sets off for the frontlines, he gives his son three sets of toy soldiers: German nutcracker men, a metal set representing the French, and small wooden Tommies. With each letter he adds another English soldier, whittled in the trenches to occupy his time. Is it Johnny’s imagination or do his war games begin to mimic the progress of the war itself?

Landy, Derek           Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant is a man, or was a man, or is still partially a man, although mostly he is a skeleton. When Stephanie inherits her uncle’s estate, Skulduggery saves her from agents of Mevolent and becomes her ally. Her beloved uncle, an author, moved between the world of normal human beings and a parallel world full of magic and evil. When he died he controlled something that Skulduggery and others in this other world very badly want. This wonderfully witty fantasy, a sure-fire read, will soon have a sequel entitled Playing With Fire.

Lisle, Janet Taylor    Black Duck

David, an aspiring journalist, is interested in learning more about a hometown Newport, Rhode Island legend concerning rum running in the late 1920s. He tracks down an elderly man named Ruben Hart who he is certain holds the key to how a local hero and all his crew were killed by the Coast Guard during an encounter one very foggy night.

Paterson, Katherine The Master Puppeteer

Jiro, the starving son of a puppet maker in medieval Japan, apprentices himself at the Hanaza puppet theatre where he can count on being fed. Anxious to please the mercurial master puppeteer, he tries to immerse himself in his art, but is caught up in tracking down the identity of an outlaw who feeds the city’s poor.

Raskin, Ellen            The Westing Game

In this breezy murder mystery, the will of Sam Westing only distributes clues, unless one of the heirs can figure out which one of them is the eccentric millionaire’s murderer.

Riordan, Rick           The Red Pyramid; The Lost Hero

Rick Riordan is back with two new blockbuster series. The Red Pyramid follows brother and sister Carter and Sadie Kane as they deal with the disappearance of their father, a distinguished Egyptologist. Mixing in Egyptian mythology and breakneck action this book is hard to put down. The Lost Hero brings us back to Camp Half Blood but Percy is missing and a new set of demi-gods take up the challenge of saving earth from destruction. The Lost Hero will leave you eagerly awaiting its sequel.

Skelton, Matthew     Endymion Spring

In this riveting blend of fantasy and historical fiction, Blake Winter, the son of an American scholar at Oxford, is chosen by a 15^th century printer’s devil to save a magical blank book. Many have searched for the book, which is thought to contain priceless wisdom and knowledge, and the ruthless hunt continues into the present day. Written on dragon skin paper, words that appear and disappear could only be read by Endymion Spring, and now centuries later, by Blake. It is interesting to compare the setting described here to Pullman’s view of Oxford in The Golden Compass.

Sonnenblick, Jordan     Zen and the Art of Faking It

There are many things in San Lee’s life that make an easy transition to middle school in a new town unlikely. When confronted with an unexpected opportunity to reinvent himself as a master of all things cool, especially Zen, he jumps at the chance. When his new persona endangers his budding friendship with the girl he most wants to impress, he is forced to re-evaluate.

Springer, Nancy       The Enola Holmes Mystery Series

The younger sister of Sherlock Holmes is not about to be tied down by her brother’s dated opinions on the role of women. In fact, she decides to out-do him in the detective business. She manages to escape, avoid detection, and quickly solve mysteries her older brother once thought he was the only one clever enough to unravel. The Missing Marques begins this delightful series that includes five additional titles: The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, and The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye.

Stewart, Trent Lee   The Mysterious Benedict Society

After a series of ever more intriguing tests, Reynie and three other gifted children discover that they have been recruited to infiltrate a school, which is suspected of being a front for a sinister project to seize control of peoples’ minds worldwide. With little time to spare, the children must gather information and evidence so that their leader can derail the scheme. A website published in conjunction with the book can be reached by a link attached to the author’s name.

Tan, Shaun               Tales from Outer Suburbia

In this quirky collection of 15 stories, author Shaun Tan brings us the bizarre side of suburbia. In Tan’s world an exchange student is from another world, a water buffalo lives next door and the edge of the map is really the edge of the world. Tan’s tales are thought provoking and beautifully illustrated by the author.

Tarshis, Lauren         Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

Seventh-grader Emma-Jean Lazarus lives in a state of isolation from her peers. Her brilliant, curious, deductive mind, which incisively dissects everything, including her classmates, sets her apart until the day in the girl’s bathroom at school when an distraught classmate begs her assistance.

Tolan, Stephanie       Listen!

Goaded by her father, Charley takes to the woods she knows so well to exercise and strengthen her leg, which was shattered in a car accident. She is feeling deserted by her best friend and alienated from her father, who has buried himself in work since the death of Charley’s mother. The solitude of the woods provides a form of solace. Here Charley is drawn to an undernourished, badly frightened stray dog that she decides to tame.

Tolan, Stephanie       Surviving the Applewhites

Jake Semple has one last chance. Expelled from every school he has attended, sent to live with a grandfather who can’t cope with him, Jake ends up at the Applewhite’s Creative Academy on a farm called Wit’s End. Is this budding juvenile delinquent ready for a zany clan of artistic, self-absorbed, temperamental, eccentrics? Actually the results of this placement are hilarious.

NONFICTION

Belloli, Andrea         Exploring World Art

Art is given its best and widest interpretation in this nicely illustrated survey of paintings, sculpture, and artifacts from all the world’s cultures.

Burns, Loree Griffin Tracking Trash

Oceanographer, Curtis Ebbesmeyer, tracks trash. His career took this interesting turn when a ship carrying goods from Korea to the U.S. lost twenty-one cargo containers in a storm. Five of the containers were packed with sneakers that began washing up on shores worldwide. Dr. Ebbesmeyer realized that this was an amazing opportunity to better understand, and perhaps protect, the oceans.

Curlee, Lynn            Parthenon

With exquisitely precise acrylic paints and clear, concise text, the author discusses all the aspects of ancient Greek culture and society that came into the building, and later the restoration, of the Parthenon. He covers the ongoing controversy surrounding the Elgin Marbles, now housed in the British Museum, but once an integral part of the finest accomplishment of Greek art and architecture.

D’Aulaire, Edgar Parin and Ingri            D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths

This oversized, lavishly illustrated collection of Greek myths is a long-time favorite. It provides a solid, unforgettable, easily attained knowledge of Mt. Olympus and its inhabitants. This is highly recommended background reading for the sixth grade curriculum.

Deem, James M.      Bodies From the Ice

In 1991, mountain climbers in the Italian Alps came across a body uncovered by the melting of a glacier. First thought to be from the 1800s – a long missing hiker perhaps. Scientific investigation revealed that the person was actually 5,300 years old. Beginning with this fascinating story, the author looks at how the melting of glaciers is revealing a previously unknown historical record.

Freedman, Russell    The Adventures of Marco Polo

Just who was Marco Polo? Was he a man of a million lies or did he actually find his way from his home in Venice, across the roof of the world, to China and the court of Kublai Khan? His experiences as penned by a cellmate were too much for many in his day to believe. Russell Freedman, one of the best historical writers for young people, recounts Polo’s travels in a beautiful volume illustrated with period artwork.

Hautzig, Esther         The Endless Steppe

In this gripping autobiography, the author recounts the experience of being sent via cattle car to a Siberian forced labor camp at the age of ten. Her family had been accused of being capitalists by Russian forces invading her native Poland.

Hawass, Zahi           Curse of the Pharaohs

The author, who is the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, takes readers behind the scenes to share his many adventures and discoveries. His fascinating narrative is organized around a discussion of the belief that those who touch ancient tombs run the risk of retribution.

Hawass, Zahi          Tutankhamun: The Mystery of the Boy King

The author, an esteemed archeologist, who has directed several excavations in Egypt, draws on impressive first-hand experience, including his own research at Tutankhamun’s tomb, to write a compelling biography of the boy king. Extraordinary photographs and archival materials enrich the narrative.

Murphy, Jim             Blizzard!

Today we take for granted a vast system of weather tracking and long-range reports until the predictions fail us. In 1888, the U.S. Army Signal Corps, a forerunner of today’s National Weather Service, was tracking two storms, but no one stopped to consider what might happen should there be some change.

Salkeld, Audrey       Climbing Everest

An experienced climber and acknowledged expert on Mt. Everest describes in documentary style the attempts throughout history to conquer the world’s highest mountain. The photographs, maps, glossary, list of resources, timeline, capsule biographies, and taut writing make this a thrilling and informative read.

Schlitz, Amy             The Hero Schleimann

With wit and scapula, the author separates truth from self-invention in this brief biography of the would-be archeologist and scoundrel who claimed to have discovered Troy.

Schyffert, Bea Uusma   The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon

While the attention of the world is on the two astronauts walking on the moon, Michael Collins circles the moon fourteen times in the crew’s spacecraft. Whenever he slips behind the moon he is completely out of touch with earth. During his twenty-eight hour solo flight he executes 850 computer commands by pushing buttons in precise sequences. Don’t miss this amazing inside story of the Apollo 11 Mission.

Sutcliff, Rosemary    Black Ships Before TroyPrimarily known for her historical fiction, the author applies her considerable gifts for recreating another time to a retelling of the Trojan War. Those who love legend and myth will find the storytelling absorbing.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

O’Connor, George       Zeus: King of the Gods; Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess

George O’Connor brings to life Zeus and Athena in these stunning graphic novels. The tale of how Zeus defeats the Titans is retold using brilliant illustrations as are five of Athena’s adventures. These books take full advantage of the graphic novel format and make these oft told tales must-read once again.