JEFF KINNEY - Books About the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Author

THE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID series has been one of the most popular series for elementary and middle school readers for quite a few years.

I know these books are ones that my son and I enjoyed sharing.  It was great to curl up (he did this even as a middle-schooler) on the couch and just laugh our heads off at Greg's and his family's exploits.  And I created this list because I thought young readers might be interested in this wonderful author.

There are now 3 books at the 4th Grade Reading level, which is the same level as the series.  I also found two others, one much longer book at the 5th Grade reading level and one short book at the 6th Grade level.

Enjoy!

**all ratings from GoodReads 
**all links to Amazon

Jeff Kinney
(Blastoff! Readers Level 4: Children's Storytellers)
by Christina Leaf

I couldn't find any reviews for this BlastOff book.  The description says that there are full color photos and simple language.

Reading Information
Word Count: 848
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reader: 4.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 176585

Jeff Kinney

(Capstone)
by Kelli L. Hicks
Michael Byers (Illustrations)

This short biography talks about Jeff's  childhood, education, and milestones as a best selling children's author.

There are photos, of course, but also information like the fact that the WIMPY KID books have been translated into 41 languages.  (How is that for popular!)

Word Count: 712
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reader: 4.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 160019
Lexile: 770L

Jeff Kinney
Abdo Publishing Company
(Checkerboard Biography)
by Megan M. Gunderson

4.18 avg rating — 94 ratings

This biography covers Jeff Kinney's life beginning with his early life in Maryland.  Interestingly it talks about his middle school memories, his love of reading, and what he is doing now.

Word Count: 1,823
Page Count:  24
Accelerated Reading level: 4.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 147470
--library binding

Who Is Jeff Kinney?
by Patrick Kinney
John Hinderliter (Illustrations)

Publisher's Blurb:

Even as a kid, everyone thought Jeff Kinney was talented. People loved his drawings, and when he went to college, his comic strip Igdoof was so popular that it spread to other universities! Still, Jeff faced challenges. His cartoons were rejected by syndicates that claimed his art was unprofessional. 

Then, an idea struck: Jeff would write a journal from the perspective of a child, illustrated with doodles just like a kid might do. And so, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series was born--and it was a hit! In this biography, Jeff's brother, Patrick Kinney, provides a knowledgeable look at the life of this best-selling author/illustrator. From Jeff's childhood pranks to his job developing online games, kids will love the chance to learn more about the creator of the popular Wimpy Kid books.

Word Count: 7,991
Page Count:  112
Accelerated Reader: 5.5 / points: 1.0
Ar quiz: 176429
Lexile: 830L
--available for Kindle

Jeff Kinney
(Remarkable Writers)
by Christine Webster

4.28 avg rating — 57 ratings

Did you know that Jeff was a computer programmer and that he worked on the wildly popular website Poptropica?  Tis true.  

And did you now he had an older brother who is not named Roderick?

This biography is at the 6th Grade reading level but has the advantage of being only 32 pages long. 

Word Count: 4,636
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reader: 6.1 / points: 1.0
AR quiz: 154778


compiled by Pam
updated November 2015 

To find the Diary of a Wimpy Kid list in English, check here.

For the Spanish version, check here.

JACQUELINE KELLY reading information

JACQUELINE KELLY earned a Newbery Honor award for THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE.   And she has picked up additional fans with her sequel to Kenneth Grahame's WIND IN THE WILLOWS.

**NEWBERY HONOR Book**

THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE
by Jacqueline Kelly

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

 3.95 avg rating — 14,140 ratings

In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

Common Core Aligned
Word Count: 80,972
Page Count: 352
Accelerated Reading level: 5.3 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 130075
Lexile: 830L
--Evolucion De Calpurnia Tate - SPANISH
(no reading information for Spanish edition)

RETURN TO THE WILLOWS
by Jacqueline Kelly
Clint Young (Illustrations)

3.95 avg rating — 216 ratings

A sequel to the much loved WIND IN THE WILLOWS.

Word Count: 52,211
Page Count:288
Accelerated Reader:  6.0 / points: 8.0
AR quiz: 154843
Lexile: 890L


compiled by Pam
updated January 2014

NEWBERY HONOR Books

This list features the NEWBERY HONOR books. 

We'll be expanding it in the future to include more information and more back-years. In the meantime, there are links to check out the reviews at Amazon.com.

You can find the Newbery Medal Winners here. That list includes book descriptions and other information like reading levels, book points, and quiz numbers for those who like those additional facts.

**all ratings from GoodReads

*sample pages are available for all of these books


2013


SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS
by Laura Amy Schlitz

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

 3.85 avg rating — 3,150 ratings

Clara Wintermute is the only child of a wealthy doctor.  When she sees  Gaspare Grisini fantastic puppet work she has him invited to her birthday party.  Gaspare agrees, but only because his criminal nature lets him see this as an opportunity to become rich.

Gaspare arrives with his two innocents assistants, Lizzie and Parsefall.  To the youngsters Clara's life seems marvelous.  But in fact it is not all it seems to be.  There are secrets and private grief and guilt.  And before the puppeteer and his helpers, Lizzie and Parsefall, can act, someone else kidnaps Clara.  

As they try to puzzle out who could have taken Clara, and where she is, Lizzie and Parse uncover Grisini’s criminal past.  Fleeing London, where they are suspects, they find themselves caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it’s too late. 

Reading Information:
Word Count: 102,088
Page Count: 400
Accelerated Reading level: 5.1 / points: 15.0
AR quiz: 153476
 Lexile: 670L 


BOMB: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** Kirkus

4.15 avg rating — 4,134 ratings

The story of the atomic bomb.  This tale includes espionage!

Word Count:  60,534
Page Count:  266
Accelerated Reading level: 6.9 / points: 10.0
AR quiz:153499
Lexile: 920L 


THREE TIMES LUCKY
by Sheila Turnage

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

4.01 avg rating — 4,965 ratings

Miss Moses LoBeau (Mo) lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC.  When she was a baby she was found on the shore after a hurricane, and she's been stormy ever since. 

She's found a home with the Colonel and Miss Lana.  And while she hopes one day to find her 'upstream mom', she's more than loyal to them.   So when a police detective comes to town investigating a murder, she can't help but get involved.

Word Count: 62,217
Page Count:  256
Accelerated Reading level: 3.9 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 151057
Lexile: 560L


2012

BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE
by Eugene Yelchin

**Starred Review**Horn Book
3.80 avg rating — 3,295 ratings 

Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:

• The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.
• A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.
• A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.

But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 15,128
Page Count: 160
Accelerated Reading level: 4.6 / points: 2.0
AR quiz: 146486



INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN
by Thanhha Lai

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

4.06 avg rating — 11,563 ratings 

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 14,925
Page Count: 272
Accelerated Reading level: 4.8 / points: 2.0
AR quiz: 142622
Lexile: 800L


2011

TURTLE IN PARADISE
by Jennifer L. Holm

**Starred Review** ALA BookList
**Starred Review** Kirkus

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

3.89 avg rating — 7,802 ratings 

11-year-old Turtle discovers that life isn't like the movies. She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935, and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle's mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida, to stay with relatives she's never met.

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 30,474
Page Count: 208
Accelerated Reading level: 3.7 / points: 4.0
AR quiz: 137063
Lexile: 610L

HEART OF A SAMURAI 
by Margi Preus

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

3.86 avg rating — 2,325 ratings

In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Word Count: 51,267
Page Count: 320
Accelerated Reading level: 5.4 / points: 8.0
AR quiz: 139383
 Lexile: 760L 

DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF NIGHT
by Joyce Sidman
Rick Allen (Illustrator)

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** HornBook
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

4.01 avg rating — 837 ratings

Table of Contents
Snail At Moonrise
Love Poem Of The Primrose Month
Dark Emperor
Oak After Dark
Night-Spider's Advice
I Am A Baby Porcupette
Cricket Speaks
The Mushrooms Come
Ballad Of The Wandering Eft
Bat Wraps Up
Moon's Lament
Welcome To The Night

This collection of poems celebrates the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.

Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night. 

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 2,604
Page Count:  32
Accelerated Reading level: 6.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 139110
Lexile: 1020L


ONE CRAZY SUMMER
(Gaither Sisters #1)
by Rita William-Garcia

Scott O'Dell Award (2011)
 National Book Award Nominee for Young People's Literature

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** HornBook
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 45,483
Page Count: 
Accelerated Reader:  4.6 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 135338
Lexile: 750L


2010

CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE
by Phillip Hoose

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** HornBook

 4.09 avg rating — 1,888 ratings

Presents the life of the Alabama teenager who played an integral but little-known role in the Montgomery bus strike of 1955-1956, once by refusing to give up a bus seat, and again, by becoming a plaintiff in the landmark civil rights case against the bus company.

Common Core Aligned
Word Count: 32,581
Page Count:  160
Accelerated Reader:  6.8 / points: 5.0
AR quiz: 129138
Lexile: 1000L

THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE
by Jacqueline Kelly

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

 3.95 avg rating — 14,140 ratings

In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

Common Core Aligned
Word Count: 80,972
Page Count: 352
Accelerated Reading level: 5.3 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 130075
Lexile: 830L
--Evolucion De Calpurnia Tate - SPANISH
(no reading information for Spanish edition)

WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON
 by Grace Lin

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

4.20 avg rating — 11,516 ratings 

Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish and then joins a dragon that cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of discovering how to change her family's fortune.

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 42,634
Page Count: 304
Accelerated Reading level: 5.5 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 131480
Lexile: 820L

The MOSTLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF HOMER P. FIGG
by Rodman Philbrick

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

 3.65 avg rating — 3,348 ratings 

Homer P. Figg escapes from his ruthless guardian's home in Pine Swamp, Maine, and sets out to find his beloved older brother, Harold, who has been illegally sold into the Union Army.

Common Core Recommended
Word Count: 45,255
Page Count: 240
Accelerated Reading level: 5.6 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 127487
Lexile: 950L


2009

THE UNDERNEATH
David Small (Illustrator)
by Kathi Appelt

**Starred Review** ALA BookList
3.90 avg rating — 4,651 ratings

There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for awhile, and then abandoned on the side of the road.

Others raved about it.  I happened to find this story to be dull and violent. Two traits that don't usually go together, but I'm not much for meanness in KidLit. 

It's one of those stories that follows different characters, where towards the end their paths cross.

Common Core Aligned
Word Count: 56,265
Page Count: 313
Accelerated Reading level: 5.2 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 122589
Lexile: 830L



THE SURRENDER TREE: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom
by Margarita Engle

**Starred Review** ALA BookList
3.95 avg rating — 912 ratings

Rosa is a nurse who turns hidden caves into hospitals. She helps everyone she can regardless of race, age....  This collection of poems addresses Cuba's long struggle to become truly free.  (set at turn of the 19th Century)

Word Count: 12,053
Page Count: 384
Accelerated Reading level: 6.4 / points: 2.0
AR quiz: 121475
Lexile: NP



SAVVY
(Savvy, #1)
by Ingrid Law

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** ALA BookList

3.95 avg rating — 21,435 ratings

When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he’d caused it.

In Mib's family, when you turn 13, you get your special ability.  Your SAVVY.

Book #2 is SCRUMBLE. 

Word Count: 57,148
Page Count: 342
Accelerated Reader: 6.0 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 122451
Lexile: 1070L

AFTER TUPAC & D FOSTER
by Jacqueline Woodson

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

3.63 avg rating — 1,680 ratings

This book looks at the world through the eyes three 12 year-old girls.  It deals with some 'heavy' issues, but at an age appropriate level, according to the reviews I've read.  (I've put it on my TBR)

Common Core Aligned
Word Count: 29,251
Page Count: 151
Accelerated Reader: 4.7 / points: 4.0
AR quiz: 120399
Lexile: 750L


2008

Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson


compiled by Pam
updated January 2014

HIS FAIR ASSASSIN series / LaFevers reading information

Robin LaFevers has penned this popular YA series that features action and intrigue.  

**all ratings from GoodReads

GRAVE MERCY
(His Fair Assassin #1)

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist


3.97 avg rating — 23,169 ratings

In this alt-Earth setting that is medieval in flavor, Ismae (17)  has been sired by St. Mortain (Death) to be his handmaiden.  Entering his convent she finds that the sisters are training the acolytes to be Death's assassins.

Her first assignment gets complicated, when she falls madly in love with the man she might have to kill if he turns out to be a traitor.

Reading Information:
Word Count: 123,258
Page Count: 549
Accelerated Reader:  5.9 / points: 20.0
AR quiz: 150408

DARK TRIUMPH
(His Fair Assassin #2)

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** ALA Booklist


4.25 avg rating — 4,934 ratings

Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price.

Word Count: 122,645
Page Count: 400
Accelerated Reading level: 6.1 / points: 20.0
AR quiz: 158056

MORTAL HEART

AVAILABLE for PreOrder

Will hit the shelves on November 4, 2014

"Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own."

Other reviews you might be interested in

• The THRONE OF GLASS series by Sarah Maas

compiled by Pam
updated June 2014

THE QUEEN'S THIEF reading information (Megan Whalen Turner)

THE QUEEN'S THIEF series by Megan Whalen Turner is one collection of books --as is THE HUNGER GAMES and the HARRY POTTER series-- that I whole-heartedly recommend to adults who enjoy YA.  

Turner's series features excellent world-building with realistic politics... and adventure, along with a mature plot line.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.  

**all ratings from GoodReads


THIEF! (The Queen's Thief, #0.5)
by Megan Whalen Turner
Chad Cameron (Illustrator)

3.63 avg rating — 562 ratings

How strange.  This is short story about young Eugenides that was printed in a Disney magazine.  Currently you can read it here:  http://meganwhalenturner.org/DisneyAdventureThief.html

THE THIEF

Newbery Honor (1997)
ALA Best Book For Young Adults
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature (2011)
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (1998) 

3.99 avg rating — 16,665 ratings

Eugenides, Gen, is a thief and the beloved of the Thief God.  In this story told in his own voice, Gen appears at first to be a bedraggled thief who has been imprisoned because he stole the king of Sounis' personal seal.

Because of his skills though, this very king has his court scholar take Gen on a journey into the  mountains of Eddis, to the kingdom of Attolia.  Their mission is to steal something that is said to be a myth: a valuable relic that many others have died trying to pry it from the maze.

Word Count: 68,519
Page Count:  280
Accelerated Reading level: 6.0 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 15792
Lexile: 920L
--sample pages and a variety of reviews available

QUEEN OF ATTOLIA

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** Publisher'sWeekly
**Starred Review** HornBook

Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL)
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Best of 2000 Award

4.25 avg rating — 11,209 ratings

Gen is the Queen of Eddis' thief.  And as such he goes into Attolia to harass it's young queen.  This queen, who lost face when Gen stole her relic in THE THIEF, takes him captive and then takes his hand --a penalty meant to end his thieving.

Told in third person, we get to see the ravaging effect that this loss means to a thief who loved his craft.  And throughout we see politics twist and turn until war seems eminent.

Word Count: 82,579
Page Count: 368
Accelerated Reader:  6.7 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 36676
Lexile: 860L
--sample pages and a variety of reviews available

KING OF ATTOLIA

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** Publisher'sWeekly
**Starred Review** HornBook

ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2007)
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature (2011)
Common Core Aligned

4.40 avg rating — 11,358 ratings

Don't read this if you haven't read QUEEN OF ATTOLIA.  THERE'S A SPOILER.

Gen is now the King of Attolia. It wasn't the crown he wanted, but it's the crown his inherited.  He plays the clown for the court, and he is so aggravating that at one point a captain of the guard strikes him in the face.  

Rather that have his head, Gen sets out to win over the captain.  To prove that there is more to him than it first appears.

Word Count: 87,218
Page Count: 432
Accelerated Reading level: 5.7 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 103361
Lexile: 840L
--sample pages and a variety of reviews available

CONSPIRACY OF KINGS

**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** Publisher'sWeekly
**Starred Review** HornBook
**Starred Review** ALA BookList

4.07 avg rating — 6,420 ratings

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature (2011)
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2010)
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature (2010)
Booklist Top Ten Science Fiction/Fantasy Novels for Youth (2010)
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (2011)
Andre Norton Award Nominee for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (2010)

This book really breaks from the series, and I think originally the author and publisher meant it to be a 'story of Eddis' type of book.  But readers just wouldn't allow that and it got labelled #4.

However, Gen does not appear in this book, except in memory.  A new character,  Sophos, is introduced and his struggle is to become the king he wants to be. 

Common Core Aligned
Word Count: 76,812
Page Count: 352
Accelerated Reader:  6.6 / points: 13.0
AR quiz: 137746
Lexile: 940L
--sample pages and a variety of reviews available


compiled by Pam

You can find short story collections that includes Ms. Turner's works here.

2000's Newbery Winners (2001 to 2009)

Here are the Newbery Medal Winners for the Twenty-teens. This list includes book descriptions and other information like reading levels, book points, quiz numbers, and reader ratings.

**all ratings from GoodReads

2000's
2009: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2008: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
2007: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
2006: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
2005: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
2004: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
2003: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
2002: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
2001: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck 
2000: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis


2009

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Dave McKean (Illustrations)

Hugo Award for Best Novel (2009)
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** ALA BookList
**Starred Review** Horn

4.09 avg rating — 142,394 ratings

When Bod's parents are murdered, he flees to a graveyard, where the ghosts decide to be his guardians. There are adventures in the graveyard but Bod must be careful of the dead and the undead who want to silence him.

Common Core Aligned

Reading Information:
Word Count: 67,380
Page Count:  312 
Accelerated Reading level: 5.1 / points: 10.0
AR quiz: 125535
Lexile: 820L
--sample pages and other reviews available

Espanole
Libro Del Cementerio


2008

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! 
Voices from a Medieval Village
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Robert Byrd (Illustrator)

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** ALA BookList

3.62 avg rating — 3,516 ratings

22 brief monologues that provide insight into life in a medieval village.

Common Core Recommended

Word Count: 12,495
Page Count:  85
Accelerated Reading level: 5.6 / points: 2.0
AR quiz: 115900
Lexile: NP
--sample pages and other reviews available


2007  

The Higher Power of Lucky
(The Hard Pan Trilogy, #1)
by Susan Patron

 ALA Notable Book For Children
**Starred Review** Kirkus

3.52 avg rating — 6,312 ratings

Lucky is a girl full of fear.  Her mother died young and her father never wanted children which leaves her, oddly enough, with her dad's first wife, Brigitte, who is French. That wouldn't be a problem except that Lucky fears Brigitte might return to France.

Trying to cope, Lucky listens to a 12 Step Program from which she gathers that she needs to run away in order to 'reach her higher powers'. 

Common Core Recommended

Word Count: 29,977
Page Count:  160
Accelerated Reading level: 5.9 / points: 5.0
AR quiz: 110101
Lexile: 1010L
--sample pages and other reviews available

Espanole
Poder Superior De Lucky


2006   

Criss Cross
by Lynne Rae Perkins

3.27 avg rating — 4,338 ratings

Criss-Cross is one of Perkins' more subtle stories. As a consequence some people hate it, while others just love it. The story is about regular people. The theme is how we try to communicate, and fail; and how we love and yet frequently work at cross purposes.

Common Core Aligned

Word Count: 48,221
Page Count:  337
Accelerated Reader:   5.5 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 101361
Lexile: 820L
--sample pages and other reviews available


2005 

Kira-Kira
by Cynthia Kadohata

**Starred Review** ALA BookList
3.85 avg rating — 9,477 ratings

kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra) means glittering; shining in Japanese.

Katie and her sister move from a Japanese community in Iowa to southern Georgia where they are an oddity. Lynn explains to her little sister why people stop and stare at them on the street, and she keeps Katie's spirits up in the midst of all the change their family is experiencing.

When Katie is 10, Lynn falls ill, and slowly their roles become reversed. Katie becomes the caregiver and together they prepare for Lynn's death.  A tale of small beautiful moments.

Common Core Recommended

Word Count: 44,326
Page Count: 272
Accelerated Reader:  4.7 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 74071
Lexile: 740L
--sample pages and other reviews available

Espanole
Kira-Kira

Word Count: 44,613
Accelerated Reader:  4.8 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 74071


2004  

The Tale of Despereaux
Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
by Kate DiCamillo

3.96 avg rating — 56,924 ratings

An interesting tale that involves a princess, a servant girl, a mouse, and a devious rat. 

The mouse, Despereaux, is in love with the princess, Pea, who is sad because her mother just died.  The servant girl, Miggery Sow, who is unattractive, longs to be a princess.  And the rat, Roscuro, tries to take advantage of all this to take Pea hostage in the dungeon.  Despite some dark themes, the book manages to reward readers with a tale where good eventually overcomes evil. 

Common Core Recommended

Word Count: 32,375
Page Count: 267
Accelerated Reader: 4.7 / points: 5.0
AR quiz: 70401
Lexile: 670L
--sample pages and other reviews available

Espanole
Despereaux


2003  

Crispin: The Cross of Lead
by Avi

3.57 avg rating — 10,198 ratings 

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this book and I wouldn't recommend it to Adults or Young Adults who are widely read. The characters are predictable and flat, as is the plot.

Tweens and Middle-schoolers might enjoy this book, and it would be a nice accompanying piece for a history unit on the 14th Century. I think Avi recreates the historical era very accurately.

The story is about a boy who is born out of wedlock, and who lives in almost unbearable poverty with his mother.  When she dies great events are set into motion.  Asta's son learns from the village priest that his Christian name is Crispin, and that his mother could read and write.  He also learns that he must leave the estate because the steward means to have him murdered.

Escaping he meets up with a red-haired juggler who becomes a teacher and protector.  A 'satisfying' ending awaits readers in the right age range, as the pauper becomes much more.

Word Count: 48,194
Page Count: 320
Accelerated Reading level: 5.0 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 58513
Lexile: 780L
--sample pages and other reviews available

A Guide for Using Crispin: The Cross of Lead in the Classroom
Page Count: 48 pages


 2002  

A SINGLE SHARD
by Linda Sue Park

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** ALA BookList

3.85 avg rating — 14,892 ratings

The setting is 12th century Korea. In this story Tree-ear is a 12-year-old orphan who lives in a seaside village where he longs to make something of himself.  In short order he becomes interested in the celadon pottery that his village is famous for.  And he becomes the apprentice of Min, a short-tempered and difficult potter. He works hard and eventually gains his master's approval.  

When tasked to deliver sample pottery to the royal court in order to convince the king's representative to give Min a commission Tree-ear sets off, only to run into difficulties so that he arrives at the court with only a single shard to show them.  

Common Core Recommended

Word Count: 33,726
Page Count: 176
Accelerated Reading level: 6.6 / points: 6.0
AR quiz: 49768
Lexile: 920L
--sample pages and other reviews available


2001

BUD, NOT BUDDY
by Christopher Paul Curtis

Coretta Scott King Award

3.82 avg rating — 37,697 ratings

 Bud --"not Buddy"-- Caldwell is 10 year's old and an orphan on the run.  It's the 1930s and Bud has gotten the notion that Herman E. Calloway, a standup-bass player, is his father.  

Being 10, Bud heads out to track down Calloway, and on the way gets into all sorts of trouble.  He barely manages to escape a monster-infested woodshed, and he ends up stealing a vampire's car... and more.  Humorous and touching.

Common Core Recommended

Word Count: 52,179
Page Count:: 256
Accelerated Reading level: 5.0 / points: 8.0
AR quiz: 29554
Lexile: 950L
--sample pages and other reviews available

Espanole
Me Llamo Bud, No Buddy


compiled by Pam
updated September 2013



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