Words Literature Circle

Kit contains 10 copies of each book.
LOCATION: ST. Theresa

CHRISTIAN, PEGGY THE BOOKSTORE MOUSE

He lives in a bookstore behind a large WALL OF WORDS. He eats DELICIOUS WORDS from recipes. He throws SHARP WORDS and POINTED REMARKS at his enemy. And one day he slips through the words into a story that is the greatest adventure of his life. He is THE BOOKSTORE MOUSE. A clever and wise fable, this tale is for every book lover, every story lover, and every lover of words.

RL 4.8

CLEMENTS, ANDREW FRINDLE

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school – and he’s always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he’s got the inspiration for his best plan ever…the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn’t belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there’s nothing Nick can do to stop it.

RL 4.8 GRL R

DEGROSS, MONALISA DONAVAN’S WORD JAR

Donavan Allen doesn’t collect coins, comics, or baseball cards like most kids. Donavan collects words – big words, little words, soft words, and silly words. Whenever Donavan finds a new word, he writes it on a slip of paper and puts it in his word jar.

But one day, Donavan discovers that his word jar is full. He can’t put any new words in without taking some of the old words out – and he wants to keep all of his words. So how can he continue to collect new words? Donavan doesn’t know what to do until a visit to his grandma provides him with a perfect solution.

RL 2.6 GRL N

Word Play Literature Circle

Kit contains 8 copies of each book.

LOCATION: St. George

CLEMENTS, ANDREW FRINDLE

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school – and he’s always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he’s got the inspiration for his best plan ever…the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn’t belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there’s nothing Nick can do to stop it.

RL 4.8 GRL R

DEGROSS, MONALISA DONAVAN’S WORD JAR

Donavan Allen doesn’t collect coins, comics, or baseball cards like most kids. Donavan collects words – big words, little words, soft words, and silly words. Whenever Donavan finds a new word, he writes it on a slip of paper and puts it in his word jar. But one day, Donavan discovers that his word jar is full. He can’t put any new words in without taking some of the old words out – and he wants to keep all of his words. So how can he continue to collect new words? Donavan doesn’t know what to do until a visit to his grandma provides him with a perfect solution.

RL 2.6 GRL N

LUBAR, DAVID PUNISHED!

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the library…That’s what Logan thought, too, until he got a face full of magic dust that scrambled his brains. Now he can’t say anything without sounding like a pun-filled smart aleck. And nobody’s laughing (except his little sister) because these puns are bad – really bad – which is just what you’d expect if you were being…punished!

RL 4:3 GRL Q

WISHINKSKY, FRIEDA

A BEE IN YOUR EAR

Kate is determined to win the spelling bee, but the competition is fierce. She can almost put up with Violet’s mean teasing, but when Kate and Jake begin to fight with each other, Kate is miserable. She wants to win the contest, but she doesn’t want to lose her best friend.

War Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.

LOCATION: St. Gabriel

BARTOLETTI, SUSAN CAMPBELL

THE BOY WHO DARED

It's morning. Soft gray light slips over the tall redbrick wall. It stretches across the exercise yard and reaches through the high, barred windows. In a cell on the ground floor, the light shifts dark shapes into a small stool, a scrawny table, and a bed made of wooden boards with no mattress or blanket. On that bed, a thin, huddled figure, Helmuth, a boy of seventeen, lies awake. Shivering. Trembling.

It's Tuesday. The executioner works on Tuesday.

The story of a Hitler Youth who begins to question the atrocities happening around him and then does something about it.

RL 4.3

BOYNE, JOHN

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

If you start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year old named Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year olds). And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at the fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter one.

RL 8.3

HEHNER, BARABARS THE TUNNEL KING :

THE TRUE STORY OF WALLY FLOODY AND
THE GREAT ESCAPE

The Great Escape was one of the most daring prisoner of war breakouts of the Second World War. Yet few Canadians know the heroic story of Wally Floody. Wally was a Canadian figher pilot, imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, who was a key figure -- the Tunnel King -- in the carefully planned escape. Wally -- who had worked as a miner before the war -- knew the best way out was to tunnel underground.

HALILBEGOVICH, NADJA

MY CHILDHOOD UNDER FIRE :A SARAJEVO DIARY

"Bombs are exploding all over the city. I hide my feelings from everyone, but I am drowning in despair. When will this war end? For how long will my life consist of the dead space between two explosions?" Twelve-year old Nadja's life changed forever after the seige of her beautiful mountain-ringed city of Sarajevo. With constant tank and sniper fire, daily life was full of fear. Without reliable electricity, water or medical supplies, Nadja and her fellow citizens tried desperately to live normal lives while forced to scrounge for even the most basic necessities. This diary, covering the years 1992-5 is a monument to the thousands killed during the siege of Sarajevo and the millions of children around the world who still live -- and die -- under fire.

RL 5.1 GRL V

HOLM, ANNE I AM DAVID

David escapes from a concentration camp and flees across Europe. He is utterly alone -- who can he trust? What will await him back home?

RL 7.1

LAIRD, ELIZABETH ORANGES IN NO MAN’S LAND

Ayesha lives in a battle-scarred building with her granny. Outside, a war is ripping the city apart -- but Ayesha doesn't even know why the two sides are fighting. Life gets even scarier when Granny's medicine runs out. So Ayesha takes matters into her own hands -- and in her search for a doctor makes the forbidden journey across no man's land...

Time Travel Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: St. Clare

EAGER, EDWARD THE TIME GARDEN

Time and again the childrem from Knight's Castle have longed for another magic adventure. But you can't find magic just anywhere. It doesn't just grow like grass. It requires the right place and the right time -- or thyme, as the case may be.

For at Mrs Whiton's house, magic grows wild as the fragrant banks of thyme in her garden. Eliza insists that time doesn't grow, it flies -- yet growing in the garden is oldent time, future time, and common time. Or so says the Natterjack, the odd toadlike creature who presides over the garden and accompanies the kids on a series of perilous, hilarious, always unpredictable adventures. "Anything can happen," the Natterjack says with a wink, "when you have all the time in the world."

RL 6.9 GRL T

HAHN, MARY DOWNING TIME FOR ANDREW

What could be sacrier than ghosts in the attic? The possibility of becoming a ghost yourself! Eleven-year-old Andrew switches places with a ghost and travels back to the year 1910. Will he be able to fight his way back through time to reclaim his place in the present? Or will the host steal his life, and leave him trapped in the past forever?
RL 5.9 GRL S

HUTCHINS, HAZEL

WITHIN A PAINTED PAST

Suddenly Allison's summer holiday in the Rocky Mountains is tangling her up in a mystery. One day she notices there is snow falling out of the painting in her room! When she goes to invesitigate, she finds herself stepping right through the picture -- and into 1898.

there Allison meets Lily, who is twelve like her, and little Jo-Jo. They are in trouble and they desperately need help. Could this be why Allison was able to travel back in time? But will she know how to do the right thing?

Allison's adventures in the world of one hundred years ago are the biggest test of courage and strength that she has ever faced. But in time she finds out a great deal about herself, her present and her connection to the past.

RL 5.5

PEARCE, PHILIPPA TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN

Tom's Midnight Garden is an appealing story on many levels. Tom, a young boy, is sent away to spend the summer at the rented flat, or apartment, of his aunt and uncle. He is lonely and homesick but late one night discovers a mysterious, enclosed garden that although invisible during the day, appears after midnight. His excursions into this garden take him into a magical world where the past and present intersect, and he finds that he can visit with a girl from the past, who becomes his friend.

RL 6.5 GRL V

PEARSON, KIT A HANDFUL OF TIME

When Patricia's mother sends her to her cousins' cottage for the summer, Patricia doesn't want to go. She doesn't know her cousins at all, and she's never been good at camping or canoeing, let alone making new friends.

When she arrives at the cottage, her worst fears come true: her cousin Kelly teases her, Aunt Ginnie and Uncle Doug fell sorry for her. She doesn't fit in. Then Patricia discovers an old watch hidden under a floorboard. When she winds it, she finds herself taken back in time to the summer when her own mother was twelve.

RL 6.1 GRL V

Suspense Literature Circle

Kit includes 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: St. Michael Corkery

APPLETON, VICTOR UNDER THE RADAR

Tom and his dad are in the park testing out Tom’s new invisibility suit when suddenly a van pulls up – and kidnaps Mr. Swift!

Tom is panicked – who would want to abduct his father? A strategy meeting is held and the FBI is called. But things get tricky when it looks like the kidnapping was an inside operation. Despite the FBI’s insistence that Tom stay out of the investigation, Tom and his sister, Sandy, are determined to find their father – and whoever is responsible for taking him, whether it’s TRB, their rivals at FUG, or even the FBI itself! One things for certain – Tom will test the limits of science to save his family.

BUNTING, EVE THE LAMBKINS

Kyle Wilson was the size of a regular ninth grader until crazy Mrs. Shepherd injected him with a shrinking formula. Now he’s a prisoner in her dollhouse, the fourth Lambkin in Mrs. Shepherd’s collection! She loves them and would never harm them, she says…as long as they don’t make her angry. One thing is for certain. Kyle and the others must figure out how to escape, and fast.

RL 3.6 GRL Q

COONEY, CAROLINE B. WANTED!

It all started with a phone call. In a tense voice, Alice’s very rational father suggests that she drive his precious Corvette and meet him. But Alice doesn’t have a driver’s license. “It doesn’t matter!” he yells. Yet he never shows up. Never calls. Something is very wrong. Then Alice hears an announcement over the radio. Her father is dead. And someone has already confessed to his murder via E-mail. That someone is Alice. Everyone, including her mother, believes that Alice is guilty. The police are after her. And the real murderer is too. It’s only a matter of time before somebody catches her…

RL 5.5 GRL S

HADDIX, MARGARET PETERSON DOUBLE IDENTITY

As Bethany approaches her thirteenth birthday, her parents act more oddly than usual: Her mother cries constantly, and her father barely lets Bethany out of his sight. Then one morning he hustles the entire family into the car, drives across several state lines – and leaves Bethany with an aunt she never knew existed. Bethany has no idea what’s going on.

Bethany’s only clue is a few words she overheard her father tell her aunt: “She doesn’t know anything about Elizabeth.” But Aunt Myrlie won’t tell Bethany who Elizabeth is, and she won’t explain why people in her small town react to Bethany as if they’ve seen a ghost. The mystery intensifies when Bethany gets a package from her father containing four different birth certificates from four different states, with four different last names – and thousands of dollars in cash. And when a strange man shows up asking questions, Bethany realizes she’s not the only one who’s desperate to unravel the secrets of her past.

RL 6.1 GRL X

KORMAN, GORDON CHASING THE FALCONERS

Aiden and Meg Falconer are their parents’ only hope. The Falconers are facing life in prison – unless Aiden and Meg can follow a trail of clues to prove their innocence. The problem? They’re trapped in a juvenile detention center. Until they escape one night – and find themselves on the run, both from the authorities and from a sinister attacker who has his own reason to stop them. The Falconers must use their wits to make it across the country – with plenty of tests along the way.

RL 3.7 GRL R

Survival Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: Our Lady of Fatima

COOK, LYN THE HIDING PLACE

It is 1650 in New France. The tragic fire that destroyed their home has left twelve-year old Justine and her younger brother, Denis, orphaned and at the mercy of their neighbour, the brutal Monsieur Gaudin. He wants Justine for his wife, and she will do anything to escape that fate; Denis will do anything to stay with Justine. They decide they must flee to a place where Monsieur Gaudin will never find them. But how will they survive in the treacherous Quebec wilderness?

MOWAT, FARLEY LOST IN THE BARRENS

Orphan Jamie Macnair has left the safety of boarding-school life in the city to join his Uncle Angus, a trapper, in the icy reaches of the Canadian north. Jamie loves his new life and treasures his friendship with Awasin, a neighbouring Cree. When Jamie and Awasin have the chance to join a Chipeweyan expedition to the remote Barren Grounds, they jump at it. But when they are separated from the group and lose their canoe in treacherous rapids, they must face the wilderness with no food and no hope of rescue. Winter is approaching and survival wil test every ounce of their ingenuity and their resilience.

RL 7.1

PAULSEN, GARY HATCHET

Sitting next to the pilot in a single engine plane headed for the Canadian wilderness where he will visit his father for the first time since his parents’ divorce, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is haunted by thoughts of that divorce and his knowledge of the Secret that caused it.

When the plane crashes, Brian is the sole survivor. Left with only the clothes on his back and a hatchet his mother gave him as a parting gift, Brian must face the devastating truth. “Right now, I’m all I’ve got. I have to do something.” He must learn to survive.

RL 6.3, GRL R

O’DELL, SCOTT ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS

In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea birds abound. Once, Indians also lived on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one you girl was left behind.

Karana is the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year she waited for a ship to rescue her. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. Hers is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

RL 5.5 GRL V

SPEARE, ELIZABETH GEORGE

THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER

Now that twelve-year-old Matt and his father have finished building a comfortable cabin for their family in the Maine wilderness, Matt’s father must leave to bring the rest of the family to the new settlement. Until the day his father returns, Matt must try to survive on his own. Matt is brave, but he’s not prepared for an attack of swarming bees, and he’s astonished when he is rescued by an Indian chief and his grandson Attean.

As the boys come to know each other, Attean learns to speak English, while Matt becomes a skilled hunter. Many months pass with no sign of Matt’s family. Then Attean asks Matt to join the Beaver tribe and move north. Should Matt abandon his hopes of ever seeing his family again and go on to a new life?

RL 5.6 GRL U

Social Justice Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: St. Gabriel

D’ADAMO, FRANCESCO IQBAL

"You see, for Iqbal I was not invisible. I existed, and he made me free."
For Fatima and the other unseen children of Hussain Khan's carpet factory, Iqbal Masih's arrival is the end of hope and its beginning. It is Iqbal who tells them that their family's debt will never be cancelled, no matter how many inches of progress they make in their rugs, no matter how neat the knots or perfect the pattern. But it is also Iqbal who is brave enough to talk about the future. "Fatima," he promises, "next spring you and I are going to go and fly a kite. Remember that, whatever happens."
This is the story of the real Iqbal: a courageous thirteen-year-old boy who knew that his life was worth more than a rug, that chaining children to looms to work hours without rest was not right, and that there was a way to stop the abuse.

RL 4.0 GRL R

FRENCH, JACKIE HITLER’S DAUGHTER

When Anna starts her story about Heidi, ten-year-old Mark thinks that it is just going to be another one of Anna's tales. As the story unfolds though, Mark is gripped by the thought of what it must be like to be the young girl whose father is the infamous Hitler.

RL 4.2 GRL T

MULDER, MICHELLE

MAGGIE AND THE CHOCOLATE WAR

Maggie has been saving her delivery-job money for weeks to buy her best friend, Jo, a chocolate bar for her birthday. It’s 1947, and while the war is over and ration tickets are gone, food prices are going up. Then it is announced that the price of chocolate is going up too – now Maggie can never afford to buy a chocolate bar! And neither can the other kids. Maggie and her friends leap into action and wage a strike against the price hike. But what can a bunch of kids do? More than you think?

Based on real events, Maggie and the Chocolate War is filled with photographs and newspaper documents covering an amazing historical moment that united children from British Columbia to the Atlantic coast.

SCWARTZ, ELLEN YOSSI’S GOAL

Yossi Mendelsohn, a Jewish immigrant boy, works hard to help his poor family survive. Yossi longs to play "le hockey" with the French boys and decides to save for a pair of skates. His family is struggling in their new country and his father becomes very ill because of the poor working conditions. Yossi's sister and her fiancée organize a walkout at Mr. Steiner's sweatshop. Will Yossi be able to save enough in these difficult circumstances for his hockey dream to come true?

WINTHROP, ELIZABETH

COUNTING ON GRACE

1910. Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a “ doffers” on their mothers’ looms in the mill. Grace’ s mother is the best worker, fast and powerful, and Grace desperately wants to help her. But she’ s left handed and doffing is a right-handed job. Grace’ s every mistake costs her mother, and the family. She only feels capable on Sundays, when she and Arthur receive special lessons from their teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a man with a camera shows up. It is the famous reformer Lewis Hine, undercover, collecting evidence for the Child Labor Board. Grace’ s brief acquaintance with Hine and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself, her future, and her family’ s future.

RL 4.7 GRL T

Slavery Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.

GOFF-CLARK, MARGARET

FREEDOM CROSSING

When Laura Eastman comes home from a vacation with relatives in the South, her loyalties are challenged by abolitionist ideals. Her own father and brother are helping runaway slaves escape. Will Laura help them?.

RL 6.3, GRL R

HAMILTON, VIRGINA THE HOUSE OF DIES DREAR

A black family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
RL 5.9, GRL V

SCWARTZ, VIRGINIA FRANCES

IF I JUST HAD TWO WINGS

Thirteen-year-old Phoebe dreams of a life different than the one she knows working as a slave on a plantation. After she is introduced to Liney, a strong, young mother who picks cotton next to her, they run away in search of the Underground Railroad.

RL 4.1 GRL T

SMUCKER, BARBARA UNDERGROUND TO CANADA

'There's a place the slaves been whisperin' around called Canada. The law don't allow no slavery there. They say you follow the North Star, and when you step onto this land you are free ...' Taken away from her mother by a ruthless slave trader, all Julilly has left is the dream of freedom. Every day she spends huddled in the trader's cart travelling south, or working on the brutal new plantation, she thinks about the land where it is possible to be free, a land she and her friend Liza may reach some day. So when workers from the 'underground railway' offer to help the two girls, they are ready. But the slave catchers and their dogs will soon be after them...

RL 5.0

WOODS, BRENDA

MY NAME IS SALLY LITTLE SONG

Sally Harrison and her family are slaves on a plantation in Georgia. But when Master decides to sell Sally and her brother, the family escapes to seek shelter with a tribe of Seminoles who are rumored to adopt runaway slaves. After a perilous journey, Sally's family finds and joins the tribe. But while her father and brother easily adjust to Indian ways, Sally can't seem to find her place.

RL 4.5, GRL S

Science Fiction Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: St. George

GAIMAN, NEIL INTERWORLD

Joey Harker isn’t a hero. In fact, he’s the kind of guy who gets lost in his own house. But one day, Joey gets really lost. He walks straight out of his world and into another dimension.

Joey’s walk between worlds makes him prey to armies of magic and science, both determined to harness Joey’s power to travel between the dimensions. The only thing standing in their way is Joey – or, more precisely, an army of Joeys, all from different dimensions and all determined to save the worlds.

Now Joey must make a choice: return to the life he knows or join the battle to the end.

HUGHES, MONICA THE FACES OF FEAR

Joanna is everything Joan wants to be. She’s a sleek warrior with cascading raven hair; she is smart and brave and daring. The catch? Joanna exists only in the Virtual Reality program of Joan’s computer. Devastated by her recent accident, and unable to walk, Joan is searching for a new reality. She think she’s found one in an exciting experimental computer game she plays with her new friend Whizkid (a.k.a. Steve). But Joan and Whizkid are discovering that their game is becoming a little too real – and dangerous. There’s only one way out: Joan and Steve have to confront their own fears.

L’ENGLE, MADELEINE A WRINKLE IN TIME

It was a dark and stormy night. Out of this wild night, a strange visitor comes to the Murray house and takes Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O’Keefe on a most dangerous and extraordinary adventure – one that will threaten their lives and our universe.

RL 5.8, GRL W

SLADE, ARTHUR

INVASION OF THE IQ SNATCHERS

Someone is delivering plates of scrumptious Nanaimo bars to every home in town. And the people who eat them are behaving very strangely. This is a case for aspiring scientist, Gordon Whillckers, and his brave sidekick Sophis. And Gordon’s brilliant parrot, Archie. Along the way they find other unusual allies. But can they discover the truth before every IQ in Nanaimo gets stolen forever?

SLEATOR, WILLIAM THE BOXES

When Uncle Marco goes on one of his mysterious trips, he leaves Annie in charge of two exotic, sealed boxes on one condition: she must not open either one while he is away. But of course she is tempted…and soon she has unleashed the unspeakable. The creatures inside the box are crablike and grotesque. And they possess a power Annie could never have imagined…

RL 4.8

School is Fun--ny! Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: Guardian Angel

CLEMENTS, ANDREW NO TALKING

The fifth-grade girls and the fifth-grade boys at Laketon Elementary don't get along very well. But the real problem is that these kids are loud and disorderly. Then one day Dave Packer, a certified loudmouth, bumps into an idea -- a big one that makes him try to keep quiet for a whole day. But what does Dave hear during lunch? A girl, Lynsey Burgess, jabbering away. So Dave breaks his silence and lobs an insult. And those words spark a contest: Which team can say the fewest words during two whole days? And it's the boys against the girls. How do the teachers react to the silence? What happens when the principal feels she's losing control? And will Dave and Lynsey plunge the whole school into chaos? This funny and surprising book is about language and thought, about words unspoken, words spoken in anger, and especially about the power of words spoken in kindness.

GRL R

KLISE, KATE REGARDING THE FOUNTAIN

The Dry Creek Middle School drinking fountain has sprung a leak, so principal Walter Russ dashes off a request to Flowing Waters Fountains, Etc. "We need a new drinking fountain. Please send catalog." Designer Flo Waters responds: "I'd be delighted but please understand that all of my fountains are custom-made."

Soon the fountain project takes on a life of its own, one chronicled in letters, postcards, memos, transcripts, and official documents. The school board president is up in arms. So is Dee Eel, the water supply company. A scandal is brewing and Mrs. Sam N.'s fifth grade class is turning up a host of hilarious secrets buried deep under the fountain.

RL 4.8 GRL S

SACHAR, LOUIS

SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL

There's been a terrible mistake. Wayside school was supposed to be built with thirty classrooms all next to each other in a row. Instead, the classrooms are stacked one on top of the other...thirty stories tall! That's probably the reason all kinds of wacky things happen at Wayside School...especially on the thirtieth floor. That's where you'll meet Mrs. Gorf, the meanest teacher in the whole school -- before she turned into an apple and was replaced by Mrs. Jewls, who has her own special way of teaching arithmetic. The kids are a weird bunch too -- from big-mouth Jason to stinky Sammy to sweet and pretty Maurecia, who can beat up any boy in the class. You'll never guess Allison's secret, or figure out how mean Mrs. Gorf came back to haunt the kids on the thirtieth floor. But you will discover the funniest, craziest, most mixed-up place that ever called itself a school!

RL 4.9 GRL P

MCMAHEN, CHRIS KLUTZHOOD

Arlo thinks his mother is crazy for taking a job in a small town, far away from his old home and his good friends. And to make matters worse, the students at his new school are crazy-hockey crazy. Arlo has never laced up a pair of skates in his life, and he's not about to start. To avoid making a complete fool of himself in front of his classmates, Arlo joins a group of misfits called the Dumpster Dudes, who set him a series of wild initiation tests that unleash mayhem on the school. Broken windows in the classrooms, angry ants in the hallways, bicycles in the library and monsters in the air ducts-can East Bend Elementary survive Arlo? And will Arlo survive East Bend?

PECK, RICHARD

THE TEACHER’S FUNERAL : A COMEDY IN THREE PARTS

If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it," says Russell Culver, fifteen, who's raring to light out for the endless skies of the Dakotas to join a team of harvesters working the new 1904 all-steel threshing machines. School's only standing in the way of his Dakota dreams. Maybe now with his teacher in the ground, Hominy Ridge School will shut down for good.

No such luck. Russell and his schoolmates are about to be ruled by a new teacher who is Russell's worst nightmare.

Despite stolen supplies, rustic vandalism, a blazing boys' privy, and more snakes than you can shake a stick at, the new teacher will keep the school afloat and set Russell on a new course entirely.

RL 5.6 GRL V

Rescue! Literature Circle

Kit contains 6 copies of each book.
LOCATION: St. Jerome

DAHER, ANITA FLIGHT FROM BIG TANGLE

Ever since her father and his plane disappeared in the Caribbean, Kaylee has been afraid to fly. Now, in the midst of a raging forest fire, the only way to safety is resting on pontoons at the end of the dock.

Will Kaylee be able to overcome her fear and fly herself and her dog out of the fire?

DAHLER, ANITA RACING FOR DIAMONDS

They carried on in the dark, not speaking. Only the wind and the sound of the sled swooshing over fresh snow broke the silence.
"Whoa!" Colly called.
Jaz could hear open water. That wasn't all she heard.
Woooo!
Wolves. And they were close!

What Jaz thinks of as an adventure, her mom and dad call trouble, but Jaz just can't seem to help herself. When she joins the Junior Canadian Rangers and is teamed up with an annoying partner, she has no idea that all her new-found skills will soon be put to a life-and-death test.

KENT, JENNIFER MCGRATH

CHOCOLATE RIVER RESCUE

"Get off of there, Craig!" shouted Shawn. "I can't! I'm slipping!" wailed Craig. Shawn leaped back onto the ice. He took a breath and jumped over the widening crack, grabbing his little brother by the coat as he flew through the air. Both boys fell heavily to the ice on the other side. The boys stared in horror as the crack widened to reveal an eddy of churning, foaming brown water.

Tony, Craig and Shawn are trapped on an ice floe on the Petitcodiac River in the dead of winter, and the rapid current is pulling them toward the ocean. Twelve year-old Petra arrives and the boys think they're saved -- but their dangerous journey is only just beginning.

This exhilarating adventure is inspired by true events.

WALTER, ERIC SAFE AS HOUSES

On October 15th, 1954, Lizzie Hardy walks the children she babysits -- David McBride and his kid sister, Suzie -- home from school through the pouring rain to their new house near Humber River in Weston, Ontario. Soon the children realize this is no ordinary rainstorm: first Lizzie notices the river roiling over its banks and into the backyard, then the McBrides call to say the roads are flooded and they are having trouble getting home. Soon the lights go out, then the phone goes dead. In a few short hours, the freezing water had invaded the house -- and it's rising fast!

WITHERS, PAM PEAK SURVIVAL

Jake, Peter and Moses are looking forward to heli-skiing and snowboarding in the backcountry near Whistler. But just after they are dropped off on a mountain peak, bad weather closes in and a helicopter crashes. It's up to them to rescue any survivors and overcome avalanches, hypthermia and wild animals to make their way to safety.