November Grades 5-6 Book Club Suggestions

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

Fans of The Magician's Elephant, Savvy, and Roald Dahl will fall in love with Circus Mirandus, which celebrates the power of seeing magic in the world. Do you believe in magic? Micah Tuttle does. Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn't approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other--the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather. The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn't want to keep his promise. And now it's up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.


Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss

For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself, and might contain the only copy of his mysterious new game. Racing against time, Emily and James rush from clue to clue, desperate to figure out the secret at the heart of Griswold's new game--before those who attacked Griswold come after them too.


Nooks and Crannies by Jessica Lawson

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Clue when six children navigate a mansion full of secrets--and maybe money--in this humorous mystery with heart. Sweet, shy Tabitha Crum, the neglected only child of two parents straight out of a Roald Dahl book, doesn't have a friend in the world--except for her pet mouse, Pemberley, whom she loves dearly. But on the day she receives one of six invitations to the country estate of wealthy Countess Camilla DeMoss, her life changes forever. Upon the children's arrival at the sprawling, possibly haunted mansion, it turns out the countess has a very big secret--one that will change their lives forever. Then the children beginning disappearing, one by one. So Tabitha takes a cue from her favorite detective novels and, with Pemberley by her side, attempts to solve the case and rescue the other children...who just might be her first real friends.

September Grades 5-6 Book Club: Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

For September's Book Club, we read Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins. Andrew, Courtney, Elizabeth, Kelsey, and Rileigh were present.

Gregor’s life isn’t as easy or as happy as it used to be since his father disappeared. How has his life changed? Do you think these challenges in any way prepared him for his quest in the Underland?

-He didn't have his dad to teach him saxophone.
-Losing his father helped prepare him for harder times. When one of the Underlanders gives Gregor his dad's keychain, he was afraid to hope that his dad was still alive.He doesn't want to be let down again.
-I think he never thought realistically.
-Gregor wants to see his father again so much that that helped keep him going during the quest. Once he knew that his dad was alive, he wasn't going to let anything stop him.
-Knowing that his father was still alive gave him hope for the first time.

In the beginning of the story, Gregor believes his father will be back, but he has created a rule for himself that prohibits him from thinking about a future that includes his father. Why? How might this aid him in his quest? Does Gregor ever break his own rule?

-Breaking his own rule is arguable. You could say that he did or didn't break it. 
-He already believed that his father would be back; the Underlanders just helped him build on this belief.
-I think he doesn't want to grieve about his father having disappeared. He didn't want to have to think if what would happen if they found his dad dead.
-Getting into the Underland and finding out about his dad allowed to break his own rule. 
-I think the reason that Gregor made the rule so that he wouldn't have to think of all of the things that he could have been doing with his dad when he was gone. Disappointment could be inevitable.

What are some of the descriptions in the book that show how the Underlanders have adapted to their new environment? How do the adaptations help them survive? What might happen to them if they came back to the Overland?

-They to the rats by always washing themselves so the rats couldn't smell them. 
-You can see every vein in their bodies and they are so pale because there is no light in the Underland. 
-They made the city of Regalia out of things that were found in the Underland. Baths and toilets are made from the water that flows away from the city. 

The Underlanders see Gregor as the great warrior told of in the Prophecy of Gray, and because of that he is to lead the quest to prevent their annihilation. But Gregor sees himself differently—he says to Vikus, “You’ve got the wrong guy. Really, I promise you, I’m not the warrior.” Explain his feelings. Why is Vikus so convinced that Gregor is the right one?

-The prophecy is full of wordplay that can be taken for different meanings. The son of the sun is a big thing to them but no one knows for sure.
-Gregor sees himself as just another kid who has lost a family member. He lives with his mom, sisters and delusional grandma. 

How is Gregor like many soldiers who go off to war? Gregor has many qualities that we associate with the typical American hero. What are they? How are these traits different from those of Luxa and Henry?

-Because Gregor doesn't really believe in himself. He's not accustomed to his surroundings. Everyone else has made peace with who they are. Gregor is slightly insecure.
-Luxe and Henry are sure of themselves, they know who they are. They think very highly of themselves.
-He will do whatever it takes to find his dad and complete his mission. He will do his duty but he's not going to act like a servant to Luxe and Henry.

One of the most interesting characters in the novel is not human, but a rat that Vikus has enlisted to be the guide for the questers. Discuss Ripred’s traits that set him apart from the others, both rats and humans.

-He is sarcastic.
-He is lethal.
-He thinks ahead.
-He knows his facts about the other species who live Underland.

At one point, Ripred says, “Mutual need is a strong bond. Stronger than friendship, stronger than love.” What does he mean by this? In what ways do the various groups have mutual bonds that outweigh friendship and love? Do you think Ripred is wrong?

-Aries broke the bond to save Gregor. He risked being banished in order to be with someone who was good.
-Aries didn't save Henry who turned out to be evil.
-Luxe needs Vikus because she doesn't know how to run a kingdom.

Authors sometimes plant clues in a story to foreshadow future events. Often these clues can be very subtle and hard to pick up on. Look back in the story, and find things that Henry said and did that point to his treachery.

-He tried to kill Ripred even though Vikus trusted him with their lives. 
-If Gregor hadn't woken open, Ripred might be dead.
-The Prophecy of Bane is foretold by Luxe at the end of the book.

At the end of the story, Gregor does not accept Bartholomew of Sandwich’s sword, a gift from Vikus. Why? Even after the quest is over and Gregor has helped the Underlanders avoid annihilation, do you think Gregor thinks of himself as a warrior?

-No, Gregor just helps the Underlanders. He doesn't see himself as a warrior.
-His mom wont' let him have a pocketknife.
-He didn't think about the Prophecy of the Gray. He didn't think that he was responsible for it. He just did what he had to.

Rate this book between 1 and 5 with 5 being the best.

-5.5555
-5.9999
-5
-4
-5
-4 1/2
 
In October, we will be reading by Nightbird by Alice Hoffman . We will be meeting on Wednesday, October 14 at 4:00 p.m. Copies of the book will be available behind the Circulation Desk. Please register for Book Club so that Miss Lisa knows how many snacks to buy!
 
"Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumored to hide a monster. And two hundred years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig's family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It's time to break the spell. What Other Authors Are Saying "I loved Nightbird. Such a clever mix of fantasy and reality; the fantasy is so persuasively meshed with the story that the reader accepts everything. Alice Hoffman enters brilliantly into the twelve-year-old mind and winds her account of a disordered family into the twists and turns of an elegantly crafted narrative in which past and present unite to solve a magically intriguing problem of witches, feathers and owls." -summary
 

October Grades 5-6 Book Club Suggestions

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein

What if your favorite characters came to life? Billy’s spending the summer in a lakeside cabin that belongs to the mysterious Dr. Libris. But something strange is going on. Besides the security cameras everywhere, there’s Dr. Libris’s private bookcase. Whenever Billy opens the books inside, he can hear sounds coming from the island in the middle of the lake. The clash of swords. The twang of arrows. Sometimes he can even feel the ground shaking. It’s almost as if the stories he’s reading are coming to life! But that’s impossible . . . isn’t it? 

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman

Twig, aged twelve, is practically ignored by classmates and other residents of Sidwell, Massachusetts, but gets along fine with just her mother and brother, whose presence must be kept secret, until descendants of the witch who cursed her family move in next door and want to be her friends.

Kate Walden Directs: Night of the Zombie Chickens by Julie Mata

Kate Walden wants to be a famous film director. However, she has to deal with her mother's job of raising back yard chickens as well as a best friend who has recently been hanging with the popular girls in school. Without her main actress, and crazy chickens in the way, can she accomplish her movie making dreams?

August Grades 5-6 Book Club: Greenglass House by Kate Milford

For August's Book Club, we read Greenglass House by Kate Milford. Those attending were Courtney, Elizabeth, Kelsey and Rileigh.  Here are our thoughts...

If I could be a character from this book it would be:

-I would like to be Addie because she's a ghost. I want to be able to walk through walls.
-I want to be Clem because I love her hair and I want to be a cat burglar.
- Milo beause he is a foundling who knows nothing about himself and is trying to find out everything.
-I would like to be the ghost.
-I want to be a ghost but she has such a sad past.

Talk a little bit about family in this story. Could you relate to Milo at all?:

-I can relate to Owen because he didn't know that he had a family related to the house he went to. Once I met a cousin at a party that I didn't even know I was related to.
-Except for Mr. Vinge, it seemed like all the guests and people living at the inn are one big family. They are one big dysfunctional family.

Do you think that this story happens in our world or another one, one in which smugglers are commonplace?: 


-This probably took place in the 1900's.
-There was no TV or modern electronics.



What did you think of the guests? Were they interesting?:

-Two girls who came to the same place to compete for the same man. A couple of smuggler's from an underground train. A lady who went there for a magic item. 2 men who went for the same treasure. Yes, they are pretty interesting.

What do you think about the ending of the book? Was it a good conclusion to all of the adventures?:

-It was awesome.
-I was surprised that Meddy was a ghost. 
-It was a good conclusion.
-I liked how they outsmarted Mr. Vinge and his cronies. 
-I liked how they gave back Doc Holystone's final cargo.


Do you think that Meddy will visit other places when she's not at Greenglass House or does she just disappear?:

-She'll visit other places and help other kids. 

-I think that Meddy can't really leave the area around Greenglass House because that's where she died and that's where she's buried. She may be trapped there by rules of ghosts.

If you were Milo, would you tell your friends at school about Meddy?:

-No.
-I would wait and see if Meddy came back and showed herself to them. Then he could tell them that she was a ghost and her friend.
-It would be hard to keep the secret but if the subject never came up, I wouldn't say anything.
-I would be scared of being sent to a mental asylum.
 

Did you like the author's style? Did you like the bits of humor? How about the threat of violence at the end?:

-I liked the humor of the ghost face.
-I thought it might be boring. But it ended up being an interesting and captivating book. I liked the author's writing style.

 
What's Milo's/Negret's next adventure going to be?:

-Finding the mystery of the stolen underpants.
-Finding more treasure in the attic. There's a lot of cool stuff there.
-His next campaign mission should be exploring the house and finding out more (not dangerous) secrets about it.
-He should explore the dumbwaiter.


Please rate this book from 1-5, with 5 being the best:

-pi
-4.99999999939999995
-5
-5

The book for the next Book Club meeting is Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins. We will be meeting on Wednesday, September 9th at 4:00 p.m. Copies of this book will be available behind the Circulation Desk within the next few days. Please come with recommendations for October's Book Club selection. Thanks!

September Grades 5-6 Book Club Suggestions

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.



The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech

In the little town of Blackbird Tree live two orphan girls: one Naomi Deane, brimming with curiosity, and her best friend, Lizzie Scatterding, who could talk the ears off a cornfield. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens. For she knows all the peculiar people in town--like Crazy Cora and Witch Wiggins and Mr. Farley. But then, one day, a boy drops out of a tree. The strangely charming Finn boy. Then the Dingle Dangle man appears, asking all kinds of questions. Curious surprises are revealed--three locked trunks, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy. Soon Naomi and Lizzie find themselves zooming toward a future neither could ever have imagined. Meanwhile, on a grand estate across the ocean, an old lady whose heart has been deceived concocts a plan. . . .


11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again.

July Grades 5-6 Book Club: The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

 

For July's Book Club, we read The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. Cecilia, Courtney, Kelsey and Rileigh were present. This is what we discussed.


1. Why is Holling convinced Mrs. Baker hates him?

-Because he gets glares like (facial example)
-Instead of making him learn, she makes him clean chalkboard erasers and other tasks like that
-He thinks she is trying to bore him to death


2. Mrs. Baker says that Shakespeare "is never boring to the true soul." What does she mean by that remark...what is a "true soul"?

-A "true soul" is someone who does not have hatred but passion
-I have no idea
-There were a lot of people who were not true souls like Mickey Mantle and Holling's father


3. What is it about Shakespeare that Holling comes to appreciate?

-Throughout the book, he was able to relate to Shakespeare and the characters. The cross-country tryouts were similar to things in Shakespeare
-I think that he was able to appreciate the Shakespearean curses
-As he continues to read, he grows to appreciate more than the curses.He appreciates the stories in the plays.


4. How do the Shakespearean plays Holling reads reflect the events in his life?

-In Hamlet, the Danish prince was trying to find himself. Holling's sister intended to go to California to find herself but only made it to Minneapolis.


Side Notes

-It's funny when Mrs. Baker can't find the word for "buttocks".
-The rats


5. What do you think about Holling's parents? What kind of parents are they? What is uppermost in Mr. Hoodhood's life?

-The dad is hard and the mom is comforting.
-The most important thing in Holling's dad's life is his business
-The dad didn't even really care about Holling being hit by the bus


6. Does the author do a good job of describing the problems faced by seventh graders—friendship, bullying, parents, siblings, teacher expectations?

-Yes because Holling is being bullied by older kids and that's something that happens all the time in real life
-Friendships: I had a friend in kindergarten and now we don't hang out. People change.
-Some people think that one group is more popular than another
-Bullying becomes a real issue, especially in middle school


7. What episodes did you find especially funny? The rats episode, the yellow tights, the cream puffs?

-The yellow tights. 
-The rats meeting their end with the newly elected principal


8. Talk about the line, "when the gods die, they die hard." What symbolic "gods" die for Holling?

-Mickey Mantle
-His dad
-Holling's dad didn't really care that his son was unhappy


9. In what way does Holling grow by the end of the book? What does he learn...how does he change?

-He grows to like Shakespeare
-He thinks that Mrs. Baker only hates his guts sometimes
-He hates his sister at the beginning but then they were friendly at the end


10. Mrs. Baker advises Holling to "Learn everything you can—everything. And then use all that you have learned to be a wise and good man." Does, or will, Holling live up to that advice?

-Yes, because of life
-Yes because of all that he has learned from the book.

For August's Book Club, we will be reading The Greenglass House by Kate Milford. We will be meeting on Wednesday, August 5th at 4:00 p.m.

It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo’s home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook’s daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House—and themselves.

Please be sure to pick up your copy of the book at the Circulation Desk and sign up for the Book Club so that Miss Lisa knows how many snacks to buy!


 

August Grades 5-6 Book Club Suggestions

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity—a classic in the making.

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Lyson

The Boy on the Wooden Box, is the moving account of a happy childhood shattered by the Holocaust. Leyson was fortunate enough to survive, thanks largely to Oskar Schindler. As the youngest member of Schindler’s list, Leyson offers a unique perspective on the man who became his lifelong hero and his first-hand account of day-to-day existence in the factory--which did not alleviate the fear or deprivation--and his personal interaction with Schindler is powerful and special. The Boy on the Wooden Box is an important work, helping mature young readers understand the Holocaust through the life of a young person who lived it.

The Greenglass House by Kate Milford

It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo’s home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook’s daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House—and themselves.