Who Was Jackie Robinson?

Author: Gail Herman
AR Level: 4.5 (1 point)
Lexile: 670

A Brief Word From Your Teacher:  I have finished another book in the Who Was series.  This time the book was about Jackie Robinson, and it takes you from his childhood in the south in 1920s through his retirement from baseball in 1956 and his Civil Rights Movement contributions in the 1960s.  The informational excerpts in this one include information about Jim Crow Laws, the Brooklyn Dodgers, mini biographies on other players of the time, the New York Yankees, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Grade: A-

The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

AR Level: 5.1 (10 points)

Lexile: 820

A Brief Word From Your Teacher: The Graveyard Book tells the story of a boy named Nobody Owens, Bod for short.  When he was a baby his family was murdered, but he managed to escape.  He is then raised in the local Graveyard by ghosts.  He makes friends in the graveyard and finds himself in many adventures, however he is in danger.  If he leaves the graveyard he is at risk of being murdered by the man Jack, the man who murdered his family and is still looking for Bod after all of this time.

You can obviously tell from the title and description, this book is a little dark.  Sensitive kids who easily scare should probably stay away from this book, but kids around 5th and 6th grade who enjoy the dark side will like this (kids who enjoy this book will probably be future Tim Burton fans).  I liked this book, but did not love it.  My sister loved this book and recommended it to me last year.  I started reading it back then, but stopped because I was having a hard time getting into it because it is a little slow.  I recently tried to read it again, and although I got through it all this time, I once again had a hard time getting into it.  It's a matter of personal taste.  This is a Newberry Award winner, so obviously somebody loved it :)

Grade: B

Who Is: Stan Lee?

Author: Geoff Edgers
AR Level: 5.4 (1 point)
Lexile: 790

A Brief Word From Your Teacher:  This book comes from the "Who is" series, which is a large series of biographies for kids.  This series has a wide variety of biographies from celebrities, athletes, to politicians to, historical figures.  The books are quick reads (usually around 90 pages with pictures) that most kids can get read in a day or two.  I finished this one in one morning.

This is the third book in the "Who is" series that I have read.  I started getting into these this year because I was looking for ways to get more non-fiction into my classroom.  After I finish a novel with my class, we take a few days break before starting the next novel to read one of these.

These biographies are kid friendly and include illustrations.  Another thing about these books I enjoy is that there are always side notes to go a little deeper.  In this particular book, they include a side note about the Great Depression after mentioning that Stan Lee grew up during that time.  They include many other side notes that go into the history of comic books.

There is such a wide variety of people covered in this series of books that there is something for every type of kid.  If you are wanting to get your young reader into more non-fiction, this is an excellent place to start.

Grade: A-

Pie

Author: Sarah Weeks
AR Level: 5.6 (5 points)
Lexile: 930

A Brief Word From Your Teacher: I finished reading this book to my 4th grade class today.  They really enjoyed it.  In Pie, a small town is dealing with the aftermath of the death of Polly.  Polly owned the local pie shop and has the record for winning more Blueberry Awards than anybody else in history.  Everybody in town is missing Polly's pies, but nobody seems to be missing Polly herself besides her niece Alice.  Alice and her best friend Charlie are on a mission to uncover the truth about the adults in town who seem to stop and nothing to be the next Blueberry Award winner.

Though the main character in this book is a young girl, the boys in my class enjoyed this book too.  This is a cute story about friendship that has many funny parts including a scene with a cat that appears to be drunk.

Grade: A-

The People of Sparks

Author: Jeanne DuPrau
AR Level: 4.9 (11 points)
Lexile: 760

A Brief Word From Your Teacher: This is the second book in The City of Ember series.  I recommend this book to kids who like survival stories about kids going on adventures.  The City of Ember (the first book in the series) is about a group of people who have survived for many years living under ground after the world above them was thought to be destroyed.  The People of Sparks is about what happens to these people after they discover they are not the only people still in existence.

I recently created a study guide to this novel, because after my high ability 4th graders read the first book in the series they urged me to let them read the sequel.  They love these books.  I recommend this book to 4th-6th graders.  There are a couple of violent moments as the characters in the book decide whether or not they need to fight a war, so if your family does not allow you to read books that discuss war and violence, this is not the book for you.

Grade: A

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J.K. Rowling
AR Level: 5.5 (12 points)
Lexile: 880

A Brief Word From Your Teacher:  By now you have probably heard the story of Harry Potter.  In Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, the first book in the series, Harry first discovers he is actually a wizard after he gets a letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  During his first year, Harry makes a lot of new friends (and a couple of enemies), joins the Quidditch team, and goes on an adventure with his new friends to find out the secret behind the Sorcerer's Stone.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a good adventure story.  Although this book has a 5th grade level, I think this book could also be enjoyed by more advanced 3rd and 4th graders, and even younger than that if their parents read it to them.  There are some darker moments in this book, but it is the most tame out of the series.  Some of my 4th graders have read and enjoyed this book. However, they don't always give it it's fullest attention when reading it because they have seen the movie, so they assume that means they know the book.  Because of this, I do see many kids struggle with the AR quiz on this book.  To fully focus and enjoy this book, I suggest you read it before you see the movie.

Grade: A