Stone, Jeff. Tiger [The five ancestors #1]

Stone, Jeff. Tiger [The five ancestors #1] Yearling, 2006 [0-375-83072-3]
Before the Cangzhen Temple is destroyed, the grandmaster teaches his five youngest and promising students one of several different fighting styles. This first book follows Tiger after the master is killed on his wanderings into the forest. Here he must defend a real tiger and end up being captured by the people of a village. This first 196 page book is the beginning of a series for upper elementary students. I purchased it because on of my better readers saw it in the book club at school. He read book 1 and 2 so far and has not asked for book 3.

Rennison, Louise. Then he ate my boy entrancers [#6]

Rennison, Louise. Then he ate my boy entrancers [#6]. HarperTempest, 2005 [0-06-058937-x]
Once again, for the 6th time, we enter the strange and hilarious mind of Georgia Nicolson, a teenage HS girl. I just love how she plays with language. Not only is the reader dealing with the many "Britishisms" but also the many clever twists on words in Georgia's mind. In this story she goes to "Hamerger-a-go-go land" (the USA.). This series is an absolute riot and middle school girls just eat it up. Just be aware the main character is a HS girl and talks about descriptive"snogging" and other things such as "red bottomosity" so this book is not for elementary students.

Myers, Anna. Assassin

Myers, Anna. Assassin. Walker, 2005 [0-8027-8989-7]
This piece of historical fiction is told in alternating chapters by two people. One is a fictitious girl and the other, John Wilkes Booth. It is a very readable tale of the prelude to the Lincoln assassination and gets into the mind of John Wilkes Booth and his rationale for his deed. This 212 page book is much more approachable by more students than Rinaldi's "In an acquaintance with darkness" which partially covers the same period. If you school studies the Civil War, this is a must-have piece of historical fiction.

Lupica, Mike. Miracle on 49th Street

Lupica, Mike. Miracle on 49th Street. Philomel Books, 2006 [0-399-24488-3]
After Molly's mother dies of cancer she finds out that her father is a famous Boston Celtics basketball player. He does not know that Molly exists until one day she figures out a sneaky way to meet him alone and tell him. At first he doesn't believe her but after reading a letter her mother wrote he begins to face the possibility that it might be true. Unfortunately, the jeopardizes his endorsement contracts because he is billed at one of few "clean cut" athletes. He wants they to get genetic testing but she refuses saying that she wants he to want her for who she is, not just because of a DNA test. At the end of the story, the reader is flipped back and forth, sure of how the story will end. This 246 page book wraps up nicely on Christmas Eve, the night Molly must decide who she will live with.

Prue, Sally. Cold Tom

Prue, Sally. Cold Tom. Scholastic, 2001 [0-439-48269-0]
Tom was one of the "Tribe" and he was becoming blind so they wanted to get rid of him. He wanders away from them and goes into the town of the "demons" Where he hides out with two young demons. When others came he would call down the stars and become invisible. The two demon friends were trying to figure out what he was... he could make himself invisible and his body was ice cold. One day when one of these demons (the reader now realizes they are human beings) tries to force Tom to become invisible, he blows up a house instead. Should Tom run back to the tribe where they want to kill him or should he stay with the demons where they just don't understand and are scared of him. This 187 page book starts out confusing the reader who slowly starts to figure things out. It is an interesting tale of people who are different and whether they can get along.

Pullman, Philip. The scarecrow and his servant

Pullman, Philip. The scarecrow and his servant. Knopf, 2005 [0-375-81531-7]
One day a scarecrow gets hit by a bolt of lightening and he becomes alive. He starts out on an adventure with a boy who becomes his servant. As they travel across the countryside many of there adventures of course have to do with birds since that is the expertise of the scarecrow. This is 229 page book is a very enjoyable story which is cross between Don Quixote and the Wizard of Oz. It will be fun for elementary through Jr. HS.