The Pinballs

by Betsy Byars
I first read this book in 4th grade.  I didn't really connect with it then, but I did later.  It's about 3 children removed from various homes and placed together in a foster home.  As Carlie states, they are pinballs.  No one asks where they want to go, they just put the quarter in and send the kids off.  The two boys in the home with her are not her brothers, nor are they her friends, they are just two other balls that happened to settle in the same nook.  Carlie is right, to a point.  All these children are being hurt by forces and people beyond their control, and they can't stop it.  In the end they realize that the only thing they can choose is who they will be.  Each can make whatever life they choose, no matter where they are sent.

Audience

Some of my 3rd graders have read this book.  The language is simple, yet vivid.  It deals with abuse and abandonment, though not as harshly as it could.

What I Love About This Book

This author always gets some tears from me, and this book is no exception.  I love the nuances of the characters and their situations, and I love hoe Carlie, Harvey, and Thomas J all find they have what they need to be happy, regardless of the choices of others.  I also like the wise adult included in this book.  The foster mother is a minor, but pivotal character

Cautions
Two of the characters come from abusive homes.  There is some swearing in this book

Howl's Moving Castle

by Dianna Wynne Jones
When I started this book I intended to like it.  I did not intend to fall completely in love with it, but I did anyway.  In a land where fairy tales are seen as true, it cannot be denied that the oldest is doomed to fail.  Sophie has resigned herself to the fact and plans to work her life away in her fathers hat shop after his death.  Then one day the horrible Witch of the Waste comes and puts a curse on her, instantly turning her into a 90 year old woman.  Sophie knows she can't stay where she is, so she makes her way elsewhere.  She ends up at Howl's moving castle (hence the title) and presents herself as a cleaning lady.  Upon entering the castle she meets the fire demon, Calcifer, who agrees to break the spell on her in return for her breaking the spell that binds him to Howl.  Sophie meets the "Heartless Howl" and is unimpressed by the childish man.  As time goes on she begins to see how many wonderful things he does without a word.  As she starts to see him better, she wonders what he might see in her

Audience

I think it's appropriate for almost anyone.  Besides the stray swear word or two there is nothing objectionable.  I could see a high 5th grader going for this one.  I don't see any gender specificity

What I Love About This Book

One thing Howl say has had me thinking ever since I first read it.  After you know the ending send me a message and I'll tell you what it is.  I also love the characters.  Every one is understandable and every single one is quirky in the extreme.  But even with their quirkiness I felt I could relate to each of them in turn.  The love story captured my heart and made me want to experience the book all over again

Cautions

This is a trilogy series, but I haven't read the other two.  I'm not going to recommend this as a series until I do

The Little Princess

by Francis Hodgeson Burnett

This has been a favorite of mine since before I can remember.  Sara Crew is her father's darling, but now that he is off to war, they must leave their home in India and Sara must start at boarding school.  Even at her young age, she sees the injustice of her having so much and does her best to remedy it.  She sees the good in everyone and draws all kind people to her.  She imagines a better world and does her best to tell her friends about it, and to live in it as much as she can.  Then one day she learns that her father is dead and she is destitute.  In one moment she goes from being the parlour boarder to being a scullery maid.  Now she must draw on all her powers of imagination to survive.  Now she really can see if she has the ability to imagine a better place.

Audience
I'd recomend the audio to 3rd graders and the book to 4th graders.  This is definetly a girls book

What I Love About This Book

I always wanted to be like Sara, but more than that I wanted a friend like her.  I could relate to Sara more in poverty than in the beginning, but I have always had a place in my heart for Ermingaurde and Lottie.  This story gives me hope in trials and makes me happy.  I love how Sara grows and I love how everyone else becomes better just for being around her

Cautions

The descriptions of child mistreatment and of deprivation are fairly graphic.  Also, if you are used to the Liesel Mathews movie, this does not end the same.  The movie ending is happier and tidier, but I still like the ending of the book because it seemed more real to me.

Wringer

by Jerry Spinelli
Jerry Spinelli's works are generally hard hitting and this is no exception.  In the rural town where he lives, Palmer knows on his 9th birthday he will assume the role of a "wringer."  When there are pigeon shooting parties, he finds the wounded ones and puts them out of their misery.  It's what you do, and the cool kids do it best.  Palmer wants very much to be accepted and will do anything to get it, even turn his back on his childhood friend Dorothy.  But one day a pigeon flies into his room and he adopts it as a pet.  Dorothy is the only one who can help him care for his friend, whom he named Nipper.  The problem is that the pigeon festival is coming up fast, and he needs a way to keep his friend safe, but is it even possible?  And what if the secret comes out?

Audience
The coming of age themes make it hard for me to see anyone under the age of 12 understanding this book.  Then again, where I teach, my children are already facing these coming of age problems at 8.  The vocabulary lends itself to a 6th grade reading level

What I Love About This Book

I think a lot of people, especially boys, are still forced into a mold in society.  I also think no one truly fits those molds.  This story is incredibly relevant to anyone that realizes their desires do not match what others expect of them.  This book is poignant at every turn, and the ending is one I thought about for days after I'd finished the book

Cautions

This story is emotionally very intense.  If you want a light read, go somewhere else.  Also, hazing is talked about as being a part of life.

Extra Credit

by Andrew Clements
Abby Carson gets a note sent home that she is in serious danger of failing 6th grade.  The only way she can save herself is to get high scores for the rest of the year, do all her homework, and do an extra credit project.  The project she chooses is to find a pen pal from another culture and create a bulletin board in her classroom from what she learns about their culture.  She chooses Afghanistan because she hears about it on the news and knows that they have mountains there, unlike her home in Illinois

When the village elders in Afghanistan get the request for a pen pal they know the only person fluent enough to write back would be Sadeed Bayat.  Unfortunately it is unacceptable for a boy to correspond with a girl in this way, so Sadeed's sister is given the chance to write Abby, with Sadeed's help.  Abby and Sadeed are both shocked at the thoughts and culture of the other, and changed in ways they did not expect to be.

Audience

I'd say 4-7 of either gender.

What I Love About This Book

I just found the whole story very sweet.  It shows problems in both societies, but it shows how positive changes happen.  I also love Clement's theme of teacher smart enough to manipulate students into growth situations

Cautions
The end is not entirely satisfying.  It left me dreaming about the future for those two children.  The story is not graphic, but there is prejudice and violence.

Number the Stars

by Lois Lowry
Danish Annemarie and her friend Ellen are racing home one day when stopped by a German soldier.  They are on all the street corners these days, the Nazi occupation of Denmark, so the girls think it's no big deal.  Their parents feel otherwise, especially when they are told a few days later that the Jewish Ellen must go into hiding with Annemarie's family.  They will take her to their Grandpa's farm on the coast, and from there get her to safety in Sweden.  Annemarie now has to become aware of the courage of her family and the evils of the soldiers occupying her land.  The courage of one little girl may not be much in the big war, but it can be enough to save her friend.

Audience

I read it in 7th grade and loved it.  My friend read it in 3rd and loved it.  I really do think that 5th might be the best option, especially since that is the age of the heroine.

What I Love About This Book
This book doesn't even touch on concentration camps.  It is the triumph of the Danish people in choosing the safety of their Jewish people over their pride as a country.  It's the courage of the resistance fighters in persevering through danger and tragedy to save so many lives

Cautions
The end of this book is bittersweet.  Some characters live to the end of the story, some do not.  It is an accurate representation of the challenges in occupied Denmark through the eyes of a child.

The Little Prince

by Antoine de St. Exupery
It's common to use this classic as a read aloud in a 3rd grade class.  The story told by a pilot.  As a little boy he wanted to draw, but no adult understood his drawings.  Reluctantly he let go of the imagination of childhood and set into a career.  When he crashes in the middle of the Sahara desert he finds a strange boy dressed as a prince.  This boy has a single request "Please, will you draw me a sheep?"  After some tries, the pilot does so, only for the boy to realize that sheep eat flowers.  The boy is heartbroken that the flowers are being killed by the sheep and insists he needs a way to protect them.  The pilot thinks this is foolish and says so.  Over the course of the book the pilot learns of the boys love for his flower, and comes to see how love changes the core of who we are.

Audience
I think 3rd grade is the youngest I'd go with this one, but in 3rd grade they would need adult guidance.  I read this story when I was in college and it changed me as a person.  I think every human being should read it.

What I Love About This Book

This one deals with a very adult theme of how one can show love.  It remains an innocent story, but it challenges us to reevaluate our thinking and feeling.  As we adventure through the Sahara with the Pilot and as the Prince recounts his adventures of traveling through space to find how to love someone, we start to contemplate what it means to love.  I'm not sure I can give an apt description of this book, but it challenged a few of my perceptions.  The theme is that when you truly love someone (remember we aren't even talking about romantic love here) it changes the whole world for you.

Cautions
I can't spoil the ending, it's too beautiful.  Suffice it to say, if you have moral issues with the book "The Giving Tree" this is not the book for you.  Also, the personality of the rose is that of a fickle woman in some ways, but the theme is loving those who are imperfect.