A Steig, William. Abel's Island. McGraw-Hill, 1976.
It's about a mouse named Abel and his wife, Amanda. They go out for a picnic and there is a storm. Abel is taken away to an island. On his travels to get back home, he finds new friends and gains a new understanding of his world.

B Brittain, Bill. The Ghost Beneath the Sea. HarperCollins, 1992.
The story is about a house that was saved by boys named Tommy, Books, and Harry. But an amusement park will threaten the park again. And the boys along with a ghost will try to stop it.

C Hurwitz, Johanna. Class Clown. Morrow Junior Books, 1987.
It is about a boy and he gets in trouble with his friend named Cricket. And his teacher name is Mrs. Hochaday. And he starts to be a class clown. So read it.

D Clifford, Eth. The Dastardly Murder of Dirty Pete. Pocket Books, 1981.
In this book the dad and his two daughters are on their way to their grandma and grandpa's house. When the dad sees a sign that says Inn of the Whispering Ghost. Since the dad is a newspaper writer he gets really to be in a ghost town. When they get there they find an old newspaper that has an article about sorehead Jones. They spend the night at the Inn of the Whispering Ghost. Over the next day and night some pretty exciting things happen. So read and find out by yourself.

E Ragz, M.M.. Eyeballs for Breakfast. Pocket Books, 1990.
This book is about Peter a boy. He met this one girl and she said her name was Miss Marvelous. But her real name was Ashly Douglas. Peter was going to a new classroom and his friend wants him to make a good impression instead of getting in trouble. Murphy, Peters friend was so mad he stuck some paste in Ashley's hair.

F Naylor, Phyllis. The Fear Place. Simon and Schuster, 1994.
It is about a boy named Doug and his brother Gordon. Gordon is the youngest one. In this story Doug,Gordon, and their mom and dad go camping. While they are camping their uncle dies. Doug's mom and dad go to the funeral, and leave the two boys alone. While their parents are gone, the boys go mountain climbing. While they were up the mountain, Gordon gets hurt. They try ejecting down but they run from a mountain lion. What will they do!

G Gorman, Carol. Graveyard Moon. Avon Flare, 1993.
I would recommend this book because I think it is very well written. Here is one of the parts in the book, "In the blackness her eyes catch a shape in the shadows." If you want a really good mystery book than get Graveyard Moon. One of the main characters is Lisa. I really like this book a lot. If I was going to pick a chapter book I would pick Graveyard Moon. It also is very interesting, I had a lot of fun reading it.

H Smith, Alison. Help! There's a Cat Washing in Here. E.P Dutton.
This book is about when Henry's mom needs money so she starts a job where she has to take care of her brothers and sisters. Every morning he has to pack their lunch.

I Honeycutt, Natilie. Invisible Lissa. Bradbury Press, 1985.
Lissa thinks that she is invisible because everyone ignores her. At the end there is a great conclusion: she just starts being everyone's friend.

J Fitzgerald, John. The Great Brain Does it Again. The Dial Press, 1975.
The Great Brain Does it Again is a very good book because it is humorous, exciting, and true. J. D. is the main character as well as story teller. The Great Brain swindles another couple of victims by helping them solve problems. He helps a fat kid lose weight and helps operate a carnival ride.

K Shura, Mary. Kate's House. Apple, 1990.
It's about a girl named Kate and her family in Oregon, but she will not accept sleeping in the woods, because she hears sounds in the woods. Finally she gets to be with her family.

L Lobel, Arnold. Fables. Scholastic, 1980.
First the baboon took a walk through the jungle. Then he passed by his friend. After that the friend asked, "Why are you carrying an umbrella?"
"It will not shut, and plus I just can't leave it here, it is black."

M George, Jean. My Side of the Mountain. Puffin Books, 1991.
In this book, a boy named Sam runs away to the woods. He has a bird named Frightful. It is a falcon. Sam knows the way back because he knows the woods. Sam stays in the woods for a year and a half. At the end his parents find him. Sam keeps rightful.

N Wortis, Avi. No More Magic. Pantheon Books, 1975.
I am reading about No More Magic. It is about this kid. He meets a boy named Eddie. And they bike ride. While they were riding they met a friend named Muffin who had moved to town. But she moved back to Minnesota. But they wrote letters back and forth.

O Bunting, Eve. Our Sixth Grade Sugar Babies. Trumpet Club, 1990.
The book is about two girls. One of their names are Ellie. There's a mystery boy.

P King-Smith, Dick. Pigs Might Fly. The Viking Press, 1982.
Little does Mrs. Barleylove know that her piglet, Doggy Dogfoot, can swim and fly.

Q Cohen, Barbara. Queen for a day. Lothrop, 1981.
This book is really good. There is this girl and she always wants to be a queen. And she always wakes up at 6:00 a.m. because if she doesn't her grandmother will slap her. She has already slapped her once or twice. She also has to go to the market, and gets rolls before a quarter to 7:00. At the end she gets to be queen for a day.

R Fitzgerald, John. The Return of the Great Brain. The Dial Press, 1974.
I recommend this book because it is a great sequel to The Great Brain book. My favorite part of the book was when Tom was on trial and lost. His sentence was a year without playing with friends.

S Collier, James. My Brother Sam is Dead. Scholastic, 1974.
This book is about Sam, the older brother. And his dad who fought a lot. And Sam wants to go fight in a war. He does not want him to go because he doesn't want him to die. So Sam runs away to the war and steals his dad's rifle. A couple of months later Sam gets shot and dies.<

T Wallace, Barbara. The Twin in the Tavern. Aladdin, 1993.
This book is about sinister thieves that steal a boy's family possession. The thieves make the boy, Tabby, a prisoner and make him work cruel hours.

U Salisbury, Graham. Under the Blood-Red Sun. Yearling Books,1994.
This book is about Tomikazu, a boy. His grandfather was in World War II. And his mom says he was still alive. But Tomikazu doesn't know that his dad died in the war. Tomikazu has to be the man of the house. To help his mom and sister to survive.

V Burton, Robert. Venonomous Animals. Crescent Books, 1978.
I suggest this book because it is a neat book to read. It is about venomous animals. It talked about a lot of different animals.

W Carrick, Carol. What a Wimp! Clarion Books, 1983.
It's about a boy named Barney, and he moves to the country. And he gets a new sled. And there's two boys who want to use it and Barney lets them use it. And they took it too long. So he says "I want my sled back."

X Myers, Walter. Malcolm X. Scholastic, 1993.
This is a biography of one of the most controversial African-Americans in United States history.

Y Lowry, Lois. Your move J.P. Houghton, 1990.
A twelve-year-old is in love. His name is J.P.. He will go to many lengths to impress this girl. Her name is Angela Galsworthy. He will go so far as to catch a rare and deadly disease called triple Framosis.

Z O'Dell, Scott. Zia. Houghton, 1976.
Zia is a great sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins. Zia is about a girl named Zia. She and her brother Mando find a boat and go off to save her aunt (Karana) on The Island of the Blue Dolphin.

--These books selected and annotated by members of Miss Russ's fourth/fifth grade multi-aged class at Harrison Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Miss Russ got married and now she is Mrs. Klostermann and teaches at Hiawatha Elementary in the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

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