Jeff Bakke
This is a list of books we have read. The list is intended to offer ideas for each other as readers and allow readers to provide their own thoughts on books listed by others in the class.
Swindle by: Gordon Korman; Mystery; Guided Reading Level T; Lexile 710
This book is a great mystery. There are 2 friends named Ben and Griffin who one night decided to stay in a supposed old haunted house and while he is in the house he finds an old Babe Ruth card. He goes to a sports collectible store and the clerk cons him and only pays him $200. The next day the clerk announces at a press conference that he is going to sell and the bidding will start at $5,000! and he hopes to sell it for $1,000,000!. Griffin and Ben try to catch up to the clerk and steal the card from him. I think the Theme or message from the author is never give up and stay hopeful.
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate; Fantasy; Guided Reading Level S; Lexile 570
Have you ever felt like you were trapped in a cage with no way out? Well, that was a reality for Ivan, a gorilla who is in captivity at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan is friends with and old and wise elephant named Stella. When a baby elephant named Ruby comes around, Ivan promises Stella that he will do whatever it takes to get Ruby out of this place and into a new home, where she will grow up with other elephants in a place she can call home. But this is a bit more of a challenge than he expected, with money issues at the Big Top, and how Ivan will communicate with the humans about what he would like to call home.
Smile by Raina Telgemeier lexile is 410 it is realistic fiction
It is about a girl who one day after girls scouts camp she and her friends all were raceing to her house and Raina falles and she has to go to the dentist and orthodontist and many other places to get her teeth fixed . Her normal 6th grade life is NOT going so well .
if you want to read this book you can find this at your local library or school library .
Duke by Kirby Larson; Historical Fiction; GR Level U; Lexile 540. This book will lead you wondering well what happens next? In this book a boy named Hobie and his best friend who is canine named duke are always together but world war 2 brings them apart. Hobie donates duke to the dogs of defense group to help people in the war, but he quickly regrets his decision and trys everything to get him back. Will Hobie have to betray his loved ones? Will dike be the same when he comes back from war? The motif for this story is love and friendship. Make sure to check it out!
Have your grandparents, or even you been in a war? What was it like? In this book it shows three different story paths, 47 choices, and 20 endings. This book is very descriptive, it makes you feel that you are in the book. The choices could lead to death, or you could stay living. I would recommend reading this since you get to choose your own path, you can read all the story paths, and it is very suspenseful.
cat found By; Ingrid Lee guided reading level Q lexile, 550 This Adventure book had me as a reader see how billy could take care of a brand new cat and figure out Cat's real parents and identity billy has help from a friend sally for help on the way.Billy is poor and mom can't afford a cat so he sneaks cat food into his room and helps the cat find his owner billy used to be irresponsible now he has learned that life isin't about making people do the work for you it's about working together
Among the Hidden was a book about a boy named Luke, who is the third child in his family. But in his society there can only be 2 children per family, so he has to hide in the shadows, and live in the attic. But before he knows it he meets another third child who is also hidden and everything changes.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin; Mystery; Guided Reading Level V; Lexile 750
This mystery book had us readers trying to figure out who killed Samuel Westing, the wealthy owner of Westing Paper Products, a paper company. The author provided the motives for each of the many characters who were split up into teams of two, each given their own clues. This book was incredibly confusing to listen to when read aloud, and we took too long to read it. Maybe reading it by yourself will be more enjoyable. If I had to pick out a message or theme, I'd say it is that even when we think we know who someone is, we don't really know the whole truth.
The Boston Massacre This action and adventure book had me deciding what path to take here I'll tell you a little about so in the book you first start off in the middle of the boston tea party which lead to the boston massacre and you choose first three option's ether join the boston army, or find out the life of samual adams servent, or you could be a servent to the king.
What path will you take?
Earth quake Terror by Peg Kheret; Realistic Fiction. A kid named Jonathon, his dog, and his little sister that is partly paralyzed are on a island by them selves when their mom breaks her ankle and the dad has to drive her to a hospital. Then series of Earth quakes come knocking down trees onto their camper leaving them no shelter. Later on the island starts to flood and leaves them on logs waiting to get rescued.
Jackpot by Gordon Korman- Realistic Fiction/Mystery - Lexile 760
Have your friends ever turned against you? That is the exact thing that happens to Griffin Bing in this book, Jackpot by Gordon Korman. There's a lottery ticket worth thirty million dollars unclaimed, and it's going to be worth nothing but dust in 3 weeks. Then, a kid named Victor steals Griffin's friends from him. With his whole team no longer behind his back, how will he ever find that missing ticket? I think the theme for this book is treat others how you want to be treated.
Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret; Fanasty; Guided reading level R; Lexile 730
Can a ghost dog save a real dog? this story is really suspenseful. A kid named Rusty and his friend Andrew find a dog chained up to a tree. Rusty and Andrew feel really bad and want to save the dog. Later in the story they name him Ra. The owner named Mr .Myres trys to hurt Rusty and Ra. To find out what happens read this book. The theam of this book is to treat otheres how you want to be treated.
*Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli *- Historical Fiction - GR Level Y; Lexile 510
Have you ever found yourself cheering for a thief? That's just the case for this book. Set in Warsaw Poland at the start of World War II, this story tells of an orphan boy living on the streets, stealing from others to survive. Along the way, he befriends Uri and other boys who are also homeless, and Janina, a Jewish girl along with her family. Spinelli offers a variety of messages and motifs, including determining our identity, accepting others, and the power of friendship, loyalty, and determination.
Click here for more Information from Amazon.com.
In the "Comments" section below, share your thoughts about Milkweed if you've read it too.
The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbit; Fantasy Adventure; GR U; Lexile 910
The Prime Minister is compiling a dictionary, and when no one at court can agree on the meaning of Delicious, the King sends his twelve-year-old messenger to poll the country.
I really liked this book because it was an adventure that featured a boy protagonist traveling around the country, meeting a wide variety of characters all over the fictional kingdom. By making everyone argue over what is most delicious, the author seems to suggest that sometimes people's arguments in the world may be over rather silly things.
Swimming Upstream by Kristine O'Connell George; Guided Reading Level Q
This poetry book is all about middle school adventures. It goes to field trips, to friends, to classes, to homework and to boys. All though they are short poems they mean a lot. I think this book helps prepare for middle school and it a funny book.
Ghost Dog secrets, by Peg Kehret, mystery
there this boy named rusty and his friend named Andrew that find a dog chained up with no food, water, or shelter.
and rusty and his friend try to save it with out being caught by rusty's mom or mean man the chained dogs owner
read to find out if the dog gets saved
The Music of Dolphins Karen Hesse Lexile: 560L Guided reading level:V
How long do you think you could live alone out in the ocean. Well that could be your whole life for Mila . She has to be trained by doctors pretty much how to be a human, for she spent the first few years of her life raised by dolphins. Will she ever get to see her dolphin family again? I think the theme of this book is live life the way you want to live it. Read Music of the Dolphins by Karen Hesse to find out. This book was okay in my opinion but I think Karen Hesse did a good job writing this book.
The Giver by Lois Lowry; science fiction; GR level Y; Lexile 760
The Giver was a really good book! It had me reading page after page after page. That is, until the end page. It had me wondering what Jonas, (the main character) was going to do about what he learned from the giver. It was very confusing at times, or interesting at other times. Jonas had to use his wits a lot, because I really don't know what I would do, having to hold in all of those memories over the past years. Oh, and how things had changed since then! There weren't colors! I have to say though, it totally had a theme to it. If I had to say it real quick, I would say that things may not always be what they seem to you. If you want a more or less bit of a quick read, I would definitely recommend this book!
The courage of Cat Campbell ; the reading level 3-7 it is a adventure book
I recently finished the courage of Cat Campbell and it is really like a sequel to the power of Poppy Pendle, I personally think if you read the power of poppy pendle first it will make more since. Cat is the daughter of a witch, and really wants to be a witch, although her mother poppy dose not like being a witch. cat is desperate to become a witch but she has no magic Yet! Cat finds her mothers old books of magic and she practices fwill she becom a true witch read it to find out what happens.
Author is Bob Temple the gender is history
Imagine your going on the Titanic and you are working on it. Then suddenly you hear a worker from the crows nest. There are 31 choices, 15 endings, and 3 story paths. Almost all of them are the titanic sinking or you die from the cold waters and died. The three paths for you to begin are 13 year old going on the titanic, the second one is work on the first deck, the third you can work o the third level on the titanic.And you think you are going that makes you stay alive but you always end up on page 99. You need to figure that out. Read this book to find out what happens do you live or do you die? This book is about you choosing the right path, be smart about what you do and how you do it.
The Vile Village By: Lemony Snicket ; 1080L ; Reading Level V
Have you ever been running from somebody just praying to get away? Well the Baudelaire parents died giving them a a fortune but, that fortune is wanted by a man named Count Olaf who is a person that does acts on stage, so his troop is helping him get the Baudelaire fortune. So the three Baudelaire children are trying to escape but over and over they are found by count Olaf in his disguises hiding his identity so when they get to the vile village they try and discover the meaning of VFD. They end up in a village with so many rules like no books on any of the broken rules so there is only books on the rules left so here they have to find out how to get away from count Olaf's clutches.I think the Theme of this book is too not lose hope no matter the situation. I would recommend to start book 1 The Bad Beggining
Pinocula by Obert Skye
In the book Pinocula, Robert Burnside finds an odd creature that came from his closet. The creature looks like a mix of Pinocchio and Dracula, so he calls it Pinocula. Pinocula shares some of the same characteristics as Pinocchio and Dracula. For example, Pinocula tends to lie a lot and when he does, his nose grows longer. And he likes to be in the dark and is very active at night. Pinocula's lying habit has rubbed off on to Rob and he tells his friends that he has a limo to ride in for his middle school dance, and that cameras will be filming them and it will be on TV so people will know what a real school dance is like. Rob is very worried because he does not know what to tell his friends when he goes to pick them up without a limo. To make things worse, Pinocula's pet half cricket half bat named Jim bites Rob and he starts to turn him into a vampire. Rob doesn't sleep at night and his eyes hurt in the light. Rob finds Jim later at the dance and then he is healed and does not feel like a vampire anymore. The theme of the story is to always tell the truth no matter how bad it is because lying will make it worse.
My book that I was reading was Waiting for the magic. I fell like it had a really good theme it had. The theme was something with the Dad. He went a way for like about 2 mounts and then he came back. That is why I think that it is called waiting for the magic. If we could rate 1-5 the book that we are reading I would give mine a 5 because I feel like it was a very good them.
The Black Circle by Patrick Carman; Reading level 4.4 lexile 700
The Black Circle is about 2 orphan kids trying to get a power that know one has gotten to for hundreds of years even their long dead grandmother tried there is just one warning: Beware the Madragles. later in the book comes with sneaking spying and on there opponents. Later on in the book they find out something they would rather not know.... what will happen? will they get the 7th piece of the puzzle like the other 6? find out in the book: The Black Circle. If I could rate this book I would give it a 4. Because it can get confusing at parts but overall it's a really good book.
Stranded by Jeff Probst realistic fiction
Have you ever felt that there was no more hope for your life? well thats how Carter, Vanesssa, Buzz, and Jane are feeling. Carter, Vanesssa, Buzz, and Jane suposed to be on vacation, but that all ends when a major storm hits their sail boat and sends the two adults off the boat and into the ocean. Now it is up to Carter, Vanesssa, Buzz, and Jane to survive on this deserted island and make it out alive. I think the theme of this story is to never lose hope.
