Ages 9 - 11 Printer-friendly version A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman. J Bo and Mzzz Mad by Sid Fleischman When his father dies, Bo Gamage warily moves to the Mojave Desert home of his distant and estranged relatives, the Martinkas, and Aunt Juna hopes he´ll help search for the gold mine that started a family feud. J Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques In 1620, a boy and his dog are rescued from the doomed ship, Flying Dutchman, by an angel who guides them in traveling the world, eternally helping those in great need. J Charlotte’s Rose by A.E. Cannon As a twelve-year-old Welsh immigrant carries a motherless baby along the Mormon Trail in 1856, she comes to love the baby as her own and fear the day the baby´s father will reclaim her. J Dream Soul by Laurence Yep In 1927, as Christmas approaches, fifteen-year-old Joan Lee hopes to get her parents´ permission to celebrate the holiday, one of the problems of belonging to the only Chinese American family in her small West Virginia community J How Tía Lola Came to Visit Stay by Julia Alvarez Although ten-year-old Miguel is at first embarrassed by his colorful aunt, Tia Lola, when she comes to Vermont from the Dominican Republic to stay with his mother, his sister, and him after his parents´ divorce, he learns to love her. J Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson In a series of poems, eleven-year-old Lonnie writes about his life, after the death of his parents, separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school. J Pick and Shovel Poet: The Journeys of Pascal D´Angelo by Jim Murphy A biography of an Italian peasant who immigrated to America in the early twentieth century and endured poverty and the difficult life of an unskilled laborer, determined to become a published poet. jE184.I8 D166 2000 Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whale ship Essex by Nat Philbrick Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship "Essex" by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds. Based on the author´s adult book "In the Heart of the Sea." jG530.E77 P46 2002 Something Wickeds in Those Woods by Marisa Montes When their parents are killed in an accident, eleven-year-old Javier and his younger brother leave their home in Puerto Rico to go live with their aunt in Northern California where lots of strange things happen. J Stowaway by Karen Hesse A fictionalized journal relates the experiences of a young stowaway from 1768 to 1771 aboard the Endeavor which sailed around the world under Captain James Cook. J Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems by Kristine George A collection of poems capture the feelings and experiences of a girl in middle school. jPS3557.E488 S95 2002 The Great Ghost Rescue by Eva Ebbotson A young English boy decides to establish a sanctuary for an assortment of ghosts when the homes they have haunted are replaced by highways and other modern "improvements." J The Lamp, the Ice and the Boat Called Fish by Jacqueline Martin Tells the dramatic story of the Canadian Arctic Expedition that set off in 1913 to explore the high north. J The Rope Trick by Lloyd Alexander Motivated by her quest to learn a legendary rope trick, the magician Princess Lidi and her troupe embark on a journey through Renaissance Italy that intertwines adventure, love, and mystery. J The School Story by Andrew Clements After twelve-year-old Natalie writes a wonderful novel, her friend Zoe helps her devise a scheme to get it accepted at the publishing house where Natalie´s mother works as an editor. J The Tornado Watchers by Patrick Jennings A tired Ike stays up all night for four nights to warn his family of any approaching tornadoes. J Tooth and Claw: Animal Adventures by Ted Lewin Author/illustrator Ted Lewin relates fourteen of his experiences with wild animals while traveling the world, following each anecdote with facts about the featured animal and its habitat. jQL60.L5 2003 What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos Joey tries to keep his life from degenerating into total chaos when his mother sends him to be home-schooled with a hostile blind girl, his divorced parents cannot stop fighting, and his grandmother is dying of emphysema. J