Tuesday, February 15, 2005

SUGGESTIONS FOR 6TH GRADE GIRLS

From Yalsa Listserv

East by Edith PattouColibri by Ann CameronAshes of Roses by Mary Jane AuchInkheart by Cornelia FunkeI Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee WilsonA Girl Named Disaster by Nancy FarmerTangled Threads by Pegi Deitz SheaZazoo by Richard MosherHeir Apparent by Vivian Vande VeldeEsperanza Rising and Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz RyanOnce Upon a Marigold by Jean FerrisAngel on the Square, Homeless Bird and others by Gloria WhelanWitch Child, Sorceress, and Pirates by Celia ReesChinese Cinderella : The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mahany Sharon CreechHow about these oldies but goodies:The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George SpeareUp a Road Slowly by Irene HuntRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. TaylorThe Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Jaqueline Woodson, Cormier's _THE RAG AND BONE SHOP_,some of the newer Konigsburg titles (_SILENT TO THEBONE_, _OUTCASTS OF SCHUYLER PLACE_), Mildred Taylor,Virginia Hamilton, Joan Bauer, Jerry Spinelli.


A great crying book is A Time for Dancing by DavidaHurwinI love Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen. It's awonderful coming of age story.The Sammy Keyes series are part real-life, partmystery.

*The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (grown-up's fairy tale)
*Crispin, The Cross of Lead (great action)
*A Single Shard (very sensitive)
*Bud, Not Buddy (very "quest-like")
*Out of the Dust (sad, upbeat)
*The View from Saturday (a great Battle of the Books type)
*The Midwife's Apprentice (enough "yuck" for the boys)
*Walk Two Moons
*Hatchet (for adventure)
*An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (don't read this while eating a bowl of spaghetti)
*Island of the Blue Dolphins
*Where the Red Fern Grows
*The Secret Garden
and my two latest "favorites"...
*Coraline (I had no fingernails left after this one)
*The Thief Lord (magical)
And you can't beat "Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown" for old-fashioned fun.


- The Year of Secret Assignments - Jaclyn Moriarty - I don't rememberanything offensive in this book but there may have been some language (Itend to miss those words for some reason)- Out of the Dust - Karen Hesse- Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine PatersonMaybe too obvious but L.M. Montgomery's books:- The entire Anne of Green Gables series, especially Anne of the Islandand Rilla of Ingleside (will definitely make them cry!).- The Emily of New Moon series - I remember several of my friendsbawling over these back in sixth grade, but they did nothing for me- The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery - no one seems to have heard ofthis one, but it's Montgomery's most feminist work (for the time, not somuch at all any more!)Fantasy but with a real-life feel:- Beauty by Robin McKinley- East by Edith Pattou- The Theif Lord - Cornelia Funke

I just finished THE LEGEND OF BUDDY BUSH (Sheila Moses) and it did all those things. I think it would be a great title for 6th graders. Really well done.

What about A VIEW FROM SATURDAY (Konigsburg)? That's a great story. Not so sad but about real life and tons of fun.

Hesse's WITNESS might work too and also ALEUTIAN SPARROW.

A Year Down Yonder - Richard PeckWalk Two Moons - Sarah CreechNumber the Stars - Lois LowryJacob Have I Loved - Katherine PatersonA Ring of Endless Light - Madeline L'Engle

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt, and LOVED it and feel it would be terrific for your group. If only the cover was half as enticing as the book is great.
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg
The Misfits by James Howe
Hope Was Here By Joan Bauer
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond
Any Sharon Creech
Any Sonia Sones

Sahara Special by Esme Raji CodellPictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly GiffHoot by Carl HiassenHush by Jacqueline WoodsonLeon's Story by Leon Walter Tillage (nonfiction)

Sahara Special by Esme Raji CodellPictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly GiffHoot by Carl HiassenHush by Jacqueline WoodsonLeon's Story by Leon Walter Tillage (nonfiction)

Ida B