Children’s books which are generally suitable for children age nine to twelve
Published: 2013 Theme: Growing up Best for: Girls 8 to 10 "As she handed me back my most worn-out underwear, I realized she wasn't going to be at camp with me at all. Not even to help me put my things away...Or tuck me in, under my thin sleeping bag." In this children's book, we go away with Eleanor to summer camp, which starts out dreadful, and ends up wonderful. It's a great book for any young girl going off to sleep-away camp for the first time
Published: 2012 Theme: Against Stereotyping Best for: 9 and up "The whole idea that he might try to walk away from puzzles-even for a day- suddenly seemed ridiculous. A weekend of puzzle games at some famous person's mansion? How could Winston not jump at this?" The most recent book in the Winston Breen series, this one has some wonderful elements in it that surpass the previous books, including culture (music), and pathos (end of life.)
Published: 2009 Theme: Integrity Best for: 9 and up "Let me tell you what's going to happen. You're going to face six puzzles. The first team to send me the answers to all six puzzles will win fifty thousand dollars for their school." In addition to lots of puzzles to solve, this book presents the ethical dilemma: is it ethical to win at all costs?
Published: 2002 Theme: Baseball Best for: Baseball fans, ages 10 and up "I looked at my mother. A few minutes ago, she was refusing to give me permission to travel through time because it was so dangerous. Now she was asking me to go..". This book is a cross between fantasy-- time travel; and historical fiction-- we go back to Shoeless Joe's time...
Published: 1956 Theme: Survival, War Best for: ages 9 and up "The family pig, the three ducklings, and the little stone mill to grind the rice for the baby sister– these they have saved from the mud house of the family of Tien...Besides these they had saved absolutely nothing, except Beauty-of-the-Republic, Tien Pao's baby sister." It's never easy to read a story about war, even if it's packaged in a children's book. Yet there's no denying that it is important to help children understand just how difficult war can be.
Published: 2008 Theme: Finding yourself Best for: 11 and up "The big deal is that we'll be living in the middle of nowhere! There will be NOTHING around us for miles and miles. No people. No restaurants. No stores. No movie theaters. NOTHING. Who lives like that?" In this very thoughtful children's book, we watch two teen girls, and a teen boy, go through terrific transformation, discovering who they really are...
Published: 2014 Theme: Fantasy Best for: 9 to 11 "Celie was the one the Castle loved best. She was the one who had raised and trained a griffin. She was the one who had found the broken piece of the Eye and restored it to is rightful place..." This book is written simply enough for a good reader in the third or fourth grade to easily manage the book, yet it is a complex fantasy.
Published: 2010 Theme: Responsibility for the Future Best for: 9 to 12 "Y'know, I like baseball too," he said quietly. "I'm a Mets fan. They stink I know...But listen, man, there are other things in life that are more important than baseball." In this 9th book of the series, the author introduces the readers to topics bigger than baseball - like responsibility for the future of the planet...
Published: 2007 Theme: Puzzles and Mystery Best for: 9 and up "One of his favorite puzzles was: What is something you can break just by saying your name?" "Oh, wait, I know that one," Winston said. This is the first children's book in a series of puzzle and mystery books that aim directly for kids who love both puzzles and mysteries..
Published: 2013 Theme: Acceptance, Transformation Best for: 11 and up "I've got some toddler memories, but my first sequence recall is kindergarten... My parents said the place was going to be all kinds of fun. It wasn't. It was here that I first committed the crime of questioning the system." A fabulous children's book, told through the first person character of a genius who also may have autism. Her very presence brings out kindness in others.
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