Good Books For 3rd Through 5th

	The Big Book of Things to Make  Feeling bored? This book is the perfect cure! Inside you'll find loads of things to make, do, and find out. Whether you prefer making things, picking up new skills, or testing your knowledge with brain-busting quizzes, this is the book for you!
	Please Write in this Book by Mary Amato  When Ms. Wurtz leaves a blank book in the Writer's Corner with a note encouraging those who find it to "talk to each other" in its pages, the student's entries spark a classroom-wide battle.
	Nobody's Perfect. I'm as Close as it Gets by Jim Benton  As Jamie continues to grapple with middle school's Big Questions she drops even more snarky gems of wisdom such as, Everybody knows that the more you love somebody, the less you try to look nice for them, and People don't appreciate how much willpower it takes to do the wrong thing. (But Jamie STILL has no idea that anybody is reading her diary. So please, please, please don't tell her.)
	Planet Tad by Tim Carvell  Twelve-year-old Tad navigates a year filled with girl problems, school antics, and the worst summer job in history, all told in the form of hilarious, illustrated blog entries.
	Cloneward Bound by M. E. Castle  After his clone escapes to Hollywood and becomes an actor, Fisher Bas goes on a school trip to get him back before their secret is discovered.
	The Trouble with Chickens : a J.J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin  A hard-bitten former search-and-rescue dog helps solve a complicated missing chicken case.
	Candy Smash by Jacqueline Davies  Explores the distinctive power of poetry and love--fourth grade style.
	The Goblin Baby  by Berlie Doherty  After nine-year-old Tam's baby sister is stolen away by faeries and replaced by a goblin baby, he must journey to the land of the faeries to retrieve her and bring her back home.
	Halfway to Perfect  by Nikki Grimes  Despite what Dyamonde and Free say, Damaria worries that she is getting fat, until a classmate's problem with diabetes causes her to change her thoughts about body image.
	Miss Kraft is Daft! by Dan Gutman  When Mr. Granite falls ill, A.J. and the gang endure a wacky week with a perpetually cheerful substitute teacher who wears a clown costume, uses hand puppets to talk, and uses magic tricks to saw students in half and make them disappear.
	You Only Die Twice by Dan Gutman  Genius twins Coke and Pepsi McDonald embark on a trip to Graceland and are horrified by the reappearance of their supposedly deceased arch nemesis Dr. Herman Warsaw, who marries their aunt Judy.
	How to Save Your Tail : if You are a Rat Nabbed By Cats Who Really Like Stories About Magic Spoons Wolves with Snout-warts Big Hairy Chimney Trolls-- and Cookies Too  by Mary Elizabeth Hanson  When he is captured by two of the queen's cats, Bob the rat prolongs his life by sharing fresh-baked cookies and stories of his ancestors, whose escapades are remarkably similar to those of well-known fairy tale heroes.
	Words of (questionable) Wisdom from Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang  by Amy Ignatow  Twelve-year-old best friends Julie and Lydia are reunited after six months apart, but the news that their friend Sukie's mother has died after a long illness causes them to reevaluate their goals and focus on being supportive of the friends they already have.
	The Clan of the Scorpion by Gareth Jones  A tiger is missing from the Hong Kong Zoo, but this is no ordinary big cat-- and she won't be found simply by sticking lost posters on lampposts. When the Meerkats find a clown-shaped clue in the poo at the zoo, it can only mean one thing-- the ringmaster and his circus goons are in town!
	Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns : a Muslim Book of Colors  by Hena Khan  In simple rhyming text a young Muslim girl and her family guide the reader through the traditions and colors of Islam. unpaged 2012
	The Grand Plan to Fix Everything  by Uma Krishnaswami  Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so when she learns that her family is moving to India for two years, her devastation over leaving her best friend in Maryland is tempered by the possibility of meeting her favorite actress, Dolly Singh.
	The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson  Throughout the twentieth century, Miss Kanagawa, one of fifty-eight dolls made to serve as ambassadors from Japan to the United States, travels the country learning to love while changing the lives of those who need her.
	Forgive Me, I Meant to Do it : False Apology Poems by Gail Carson  Inspired by William Carlos William's famous poem, "This Is Just to Say," a collection of ironic apology poems imagines how tricksters really feel about the mischief they make.
	Dumpling Days by Grace Lin  When Pacy, her two sisters, and their parents go to Taiwan to celebrate Grandma's sixtieth birthday, the girls learn a great deal about their heritage.
	Stealing Magic : a Sixty-eight Rooms Adventure by Marianne Malone  Chicago sixth-graders Jack and Ruthie return to the Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago and once again go back in time while trying to stop an art thief from endangering the miniature rooms.   One Tough Chick by Leslie Margolis  As the school talent show nears, Annabelle's plan to display her dog training skills goes awry and she is asked to be a student judge instead, which seems perfect until her friends begin asking for special treatment.   Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace by Nan Marino  When musical prodigy, Elvis Ruby, completely freezes up on television, he is forced to hide out in the Pinelands of New Jersey and try to find his way back to the music once again with the help of a new friend.   Hawkeye Collins & Amy Adams in the Secret of the Long Lost Cousin & 9 other Mysteries by M. Masters  The reader is asked to help two twelve-year-old sleuths, "Hawkeye Collins" and Amy Adams, solve eight mysteries using Hawkeye's sketches of important clues.   The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough  When World War I breaks out, nine-year-old Anna thinks of a way to save her family's beloved New York City doll repair shop. Includes brief author's note about the history of the Madame Alexander doll, a glossary, and timeline.   How to Steal a Dog : a Novel by Barbara O'Connor  Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.   The Sky's the Limit Ellie O'Ryan  Phineas and Ferb have decided it's high time to break the record for the largest airplane ever built, but when the boys invent an antigravity machine, Major Monogram and Carl the intern become suspicious.    A Field Guide to Monsters : Googly-eyed Wart Floppers Shadow-casters Toe-eaters and other Creatures by Johan Olander  Reports the habitat, diet, lifecycle, and other characteristics of a variety of unusual monsters, as observed and recorded by a monstrologist.   Wonder by R. J. Palacio  Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.   Big Nate Flips Out by Lincoln Peirce  "In this latest misadventure, Nate, the all-time record-holder for detentions, gets to see how the other half lives as he follows his best friend Francis's example and becomes a total neat freak; has Nate totally flipped out?"   Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-boxers : the Tenth Epic Novel by Dav Pilkey  George and Harold are forced to contemplate a world without Captain Underpants.    Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney  In 1936, three children meet at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans in New York State, and while not all three are orphans, they are all dealing with grief and loss which together, along with the help of a sympathetic staff member and the boxing matches of Joe Louis, they manage to overcome.    Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian 3 : The Birthday Party of Dread by Michael Rex  Fangbone and his friends are full of ideas for Eastwood Elementary's "Invention Convention." Unfortunately, Venomous Drool has ideas of his own--like sending a curse to crush Fangbone! But when the misdirected spell sends a terrifying monster to attack Bill at his birthday party instead, Fangbone must invent a way to save his best friend--and fast!   Bookspeak! : Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas  A collection of wacky, whimsical poems about books and all the treasures they contain. Characters plead for sequels, book jackets strut their stuff, and we get a sneak peek at the raucous parties in the aisles when all the lights go out at the bookstore! Illustrator Josée Bisaillon's mixture of collage, drawings, and digital montage presents page after page of richly colored spreads filled with action and charm.     My Cousin the Alien by Pamela F. Service  While at a resort on a vacation trip his uncle won, Zack begins wondering if his cousin has been telling the truth for years--that he really is an alien prince sent to Earth for protection, and who is now being chased by enemy aliens disguised as bald, fat men.   The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan Long Shang  Eleven-year-old aspiring basketball star and interior designer Lucy Wu is excited about finally having her own bedroom, until she learns that her great-aunt is coming to visit and Lucy will have to share a room with her for several months, shattering her plans for a perfect sixth-grade year.   Meanwhile by Jason Shiga  In this choose-your-own adventure graphic novel, a boy stumbles on the laboratory of a mad scientist who asks him to choose between testing a mind-reading device, a time machine, and a doomsday machine.   Mirror Mirror : a Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer  A collection of short poems which, when reversed, provide new perspectives on the fairy tale characters they feature.   Encyclopedia Brown and his Best Cases Ever by Donald J. Sobol  Encyclopedia solves mysteries for the neighborhood kids through his detective agency. But his dad is also the chief of police, and every night, Encyclopedia helps him solve his most baffling crimes. Join Encyclopedia Brown on fifteen of his toughest, most exciting cases ever, including a case of stolen diamonds, a skunk ape, a hit-run car, an Arctic explorer, and more. And with the clues given in each case, you can solve these mysteries, too!   Stick Dog by Tom Watson  Stick Dog and his four friends - Stripes, Mutt, Poo-Poo and Karen - will do anything to steal some sweet-smelling hamburgers from a family at Picasso Park!   Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson  When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong in making fun of new student Maya's shabby clothes and refusing to play with her.