Lawn Boy

Tears of a Tiger Book Trailer

Ironman by Chris Crutcher

Anger management is the key to getting out of the mess that Bo has gotten himself into. Throughout the story, he tries to face the issues he has with his dad. His best friends turn out to be the students in his anger management support group. There is a lot of strong language in this story but can be overlooked because Crutcher does a fantastic job presenting a variety of issues kids face these days.

Jade Green

This started off as a suspenseful, ghost story but I was very disappointed in the ending. Judith goes to live with her uncle and finds out a girl committed suicide in her uncle's house 3 years ago. There is still a blood stain on the floor. Her uncle has forbidden any trace of the color green in the house but Judith broke that rule when she moved in. This awakens the ghost of Jade Green and Judith must suffer the consequences.

Hitler's Canary

Bamse's theatrical family chooses to ignore the dangerous circumstances of the Nazi Invasion in Denmark. Orlando, Bamse's older brother, refuses to act like Hitler's canary. He joins the Resistance and soon Bamse and the rest of the family join too. Through the voice of 12 year old Bamse, you find his courage growing as he and thousands of other Danes step forward to help evacuate Jews to Sweden. The plotline of this book is similar to Lois Lowry's Number the Stars.

A Child Called It (trilogy)

Documented as one of the worst child abuse cases in the state of California, Dave Pelzer shares bits and pieces of his lost childhood. What started out as a loving "mommy-son" relationship took a turn for the worse as his mother became an alcholic. No longer was David considered her son... but simply "It". The mommy that Dave lost drowned herself in alcohol and turned her aggression on Dave.

This is the first book documenting his life. The Lost Boy and A Man Named Dave continues his story through his adolescence and adult life.

Danger Zone By David Klass

Whew! I know as a reading teacher, I used to tell my students to, "Get in the Zone!" all the time. I wanted them to emerse themselves in the books they were reading. Danger Zone does just that. This is an action-packed basketball story about a boy named Jimmy Doyle who has been asked to represent the U.S.A. by becoming a member of a 10-player American basketball team. This team get sthe chance to travel to Rome and play in an International Basketball Tournament. But real-life issues such as athletic pressures, racial tensions, and death threats get in the way of the game. Can Jimmy Doyle and his teammates survive in Italy and win the tournament? This book leaves you spinning because

of everything the characters are up against throughout the story.

Sent By Margaret Peterson Haddix

Being sent back into the year 1843 becomes a big challenge for Jonah and his sister, Katherine. They are under a lot of pressure to set history right for their friends Chip and Alex. The antagonist in this story is King Richard V who has stolen the throne away from Chip. Will Jonah be able to make things right and bring Chip and Alex back to the 21st century safely?

Margaret Peterson Haddix takes bits and pieces of real history and creates a suspenceful time travel adventure. The sequel to Found takes the reader back in time. As you near the end of the book, the reader knows there will be another time travel adventure in our midst soon. The question, "Where did all 36 babies come from?" will be answered with each new book she writes in The Missing series.

Lost Childhood

This is a memoir about Annelex Hofstra Layson who kept her imprisonment in a Japenese Prison Camp during World War II a secret for over 60 years of her life. Back in 1942, Japanese forces took control of Java, an island that is now known as Indonesia, and rounded up Dutch citizens and sent them to these prison camps. Annelex spent 3 1/2 years of her childhood in these camps with her mother and grandmother. This is a powerful story.

Football Champ by Tim Green

This is the sequel to Football Genius and Troy continues to keep us guessing when his football secret is exposed by a sneaky reporter who wants to ruin Seth Halloway's career with the Atlanta Falcons. Will Troy and his friends be able to prove there was a scam so Seth, Troy, and his mom's names can be cleared of any wrong doing? Will Troy and his mom lose their jobs with the Falcons? Will Seth have to give up his NFL career?

Football Genius by Tim Green

Troy White is the underdog in this top-notch football story. Troy and his football coach are at odds which explains why Troy has to sit the bench quite often. When his mom goes to work for the Atlanta Falcons, his life takes some amazing twists. Troy is no ordinary boy when it comes to football. Find out why!

Do You Know These Historical Figures?

Here is an interesting site I came across that shows many historical figures in a painting. If you scroll across each face and double click you can learn more about them. Very Interesting....
http://cliptank.com/PeopleofInfluencePainting.htm

Summer Reading Chats

Would you like to chat about books you are reading this summer? I would love to hear from you so share your stories...

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

The World Record books are never on our shelves for long and Scholastic has thought of a great way to inspire children to "Keep Reading" this summer with the Summer Reading Challenge. Beginning May 1st, 2009 through August 31, 2009 students can keep track of the minutes they read and try to break the world record and if they are one of the top 20 schools, they will be featured in the Scholastic World Record Book 2010. You can find out more at www.scholastic.com/summerreading

Shelfari of the 2009-2010 Bluebonnet Nominees

my Shelfari consists of the 2009-2010 Bluebonnet Award Nominees. You may find out more about these titles at TLA's website.

http://www.txla.org/groups/tba/index.html

Our Library Home Page

You can visit our Library Catalog Home page to explore an enormous amount of great websites on reading, math, science and more. There are a lot of great student websites and teacher resources. Have fun!

http://destiny.magnoliaisd.org

Nichols Sawmill Elementary