Books

=We've been reading books as a class right after lunch. The books that we're reading are on the list for Battle of the Books.=

"Night of the Twisters" by Ivy Ruckman. This suspenseful novel is about a boy named Dan who lived in Grand Island, Nebraska, and his family's encounter with a monstrous tornado.
===="Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney. This folk story about Eben McAllister was set in the summer of 1923 on a farm in Missouri. Eben has been challenged to find Seven Wonders, like the Seven Wonders of the World, in seven days, in his home town. His prize will be a trip to Colorado, where he wants to see a mountain.====



===="Jennifer Murdley's Toad" by Bruce Coville. This fictional story is a Magic Shop Book about plain-looking fifth grader Jennifer Murdley and her adventures with Bufo, the talking toad. Jennifer's adventures with this voice-impersonating toad will hopefully lead her to understand that her inner qualities are more important than her outward appearance.====



===="The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963" by Christopher Paul Curtis. This historical fiction book is about an African-American family and their journey from Michigan to Birmingham in the early 1960s. There are funny and powerful moments as we witness the struggles of this family during a time of interracial turbulence.====



===="Among the Hidden: Shadow Children #1" by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This futuristic novel focuses on a totalitarian government that limits the number of children that families can have. Luke was the third child born to a family that is only allowed two children, and he lives in fear of the Population Police. His secret life is lonely, until he thinks he sees another child in the shadows.====



===="Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech. Ruby Holler is a beautiful and mysterious place, deep in the country, a "basin in the hills . . . where cool breezes drifted through the trees, and where the creek was so clear that every stone on its bottom was visible." An older couple, Tiller and Sairy, live in the holler and are looking for new adventures, each of them hoping to set off on a trip. When they invite the "trouble twins", Dallas and Florida, to join them, all of their lives take new turns. ====