fall 2014
DESCRIPTION
This is a presentation given at the Fall 2014 Westerville City Schools Waiver Day by Karen Yingling, Blendon Middle School Librarian. An annotated bibliography is available.TRANSCRIPT
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Karen YinglingFall 2014
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Incorporating Research-Based Instructional Strategies and Resources to Meet the Needs of Every Learner.
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Field Research:“This is a good book. You’ll like it.”How often do we say this instead of “What would YOU like to read today?”
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
It’s important to know what books are out there so that you can recommend a variety of books.
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Have any students who will ONLY read Diary of a Wimpy Kid books?
What they often don’t notice is that the reading level and length of these books is often more challenging than many others.
Also, if a child really LIKES a book, more time is spent reading it even if it’s harder.
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Diary of a Wimpy KidBL: 5.2 - AR Pts: 3.0
How to Eat Fried WormsBL: 3.5 - AR Pts: 2.0
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Stick DogBL: 4.5 - AR Pts: 2.0
My Life as a BookBL: 5.2 - AR Pts: 4.0
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
I Can Read Books and similar shorter books might be too easy for reluctant readers (BL: 2.3 - AR Pts: 0.5), but give them a feeling of accomplishment.
If they read these books for thirty minutes and read steadily, it’s more reading than they would have done otherwise.
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
We Need Diverse Books
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
We Need Diverse Books
Mysteries
Fake ID
For readers who like:
•Inner city stories
•Evil corporations
•More YA murder mysteries
•A bit of sports
Knightley and Son
For readers who like:
•London
•On-the-lam books
•Investigative mysteries
•Series books
(February 2015)
The Book of Bad Things
For readers who like:
•Really creepy books
•Children in difficult situations
•Monsters or ghosts
•This author
The Prince of Venice Beach
For readers who like:
•Skateboarding
•California
•Living Rough
•Police investigations
Lantern Sam and the Blue Streak Bandits
For readers who like:
•Historical fiction
•Ohio history (Cedar Point!)
•Cats
•This author
Mystery on Museum Mile
For readers who like:
•New York settings
•Police investigations
•Art mysteries
Poached
For readers who like:
•Goofy mysteries
•Animals
•Friend Drama
Under the Egg
For readers who like:
•Art mysteries
•Blue Balliet
•Children on own
•Holocaust tie-ins
•Monuments Men
A Million Ways Home
For readers who like:
•Problem novels
•Animals
•Inner city crime
•Foster children
Historical
Just a Drop of Water
For readers who like:
•9/11
•Florida
•Running
•Racial Profiling
Manor of Secrets
For readers who like:
•Downtown Abby
•Romance and Intrigue
•Posh lifestyle
Beth’s Story, 1914
For readers who like:
•Downtown Abby
•Accessible historical fiction
•Series
•Posh lifestyle
The Winter Horses
For readers who like:
•Holocaust stories
•Horses
•Ukrainian history
•Survival stories
Stay Where Are and Then Leave
For readers who like:
•World War I homefront
•PTSD/Shell Shock
•Intrepid children
•England
Dead in the Water
For readers who like:
•War stories
•This author
•Battle descriptions
•Racial issues
The Secrets of Tree Taylor
For readers who like:
•1960s
•Investigative mysteries
•Small town stories
Revolution
For readers who like:
•Freedom Summer
•Multiple view points
•Nonfiction information mixed in
I Survived: The Destruction of Pompeii
For readers who like:
•This series
•Short reads
•Action/Adventure
•Ancient Rome
Sports
Snap Decision
For readers who like:
•Mix of real and fictional characters
•High school opportunities
•Florida
•A bit of religion
Jump Shot
For readers who like:
•This series
•Multiple sports
•Moral dilemmas
•Celebrity authors
Extra Innings
For readers who like:
•This series
•Multiple sports
•Moral dilemmas
•Celebrity authors
The Contract
For readers who like:
•Supportive parents
•Sports descriptions
•School problem solving
•Celebrity authors
The Crossover
For readers who like:
•Novels in verse
•Sibling rivalry
•Family problems
•Basketball strategy
Call Me By My Name
For readers who like:
•Historical fiction
•Racial issues
•Romance
•Southern settings
Screaming at the Ump
For readers who like:
•Odd baseball facts (umpire schools really exist!)
•Financial difficulties
•Journalism
Double Reverse
For readers who like:
•Strong female roles
•Sports history
•Football strategies
•Well developed characters
•Short reads
Out of the Tunnel
For readers who like:
•More mature topics
•Hi/Lo books
•Football culture
•Doing the right thing
BL: 4.7 - AR Pts: 2.0
If You’re Reading This
For readers who like:
•More mature stories
•Military life
•Coming of age
•Romance
•Mystery
Speculative
Fire Wish
For readers who like:
•Arabian Nights
•Romance
•Magical powers
•Alanna, the First Adventure
Minion
For readers who like:
•Super powers
•“Evil” characters
•Fun/quirky parents
•Humorous books
Joshua Dread
For readers who like:
•Super villians
•Strong friendships
•Series
•Magical schools
Dark Inheritance
For readers who like:
•England
•Mysteries
•Paranormal
•Car chases
Jupiter Pirates
For readers who like:
•Space travel
•Sibling rivalry
•Piracy
•Space ships
Space Case
For readers who like:
•Star Trek
•Murder Mysteries
•Large cast of characters
•This author
Mindwar
For readers who like:
•Video Games
•Overcoming Adversity
•Football
•Series
The Winter of the Robots
For readers who like:
•Robots
•Close knit communities
•Ensemble casts
•Mystery
•Danger, Will Robinson!
Robots are the new black
No Such Thing As a Witch
For readers who like:
•Magical Realism
•Easy reads
•Predictable authors
•Vintage tales
•Nonseries stories
The Eighth Day
For readers who like:
•Dystopian books
•Arthurian Legends
•Alternate dimensions
•Children on their own
Space Rocks
For readers who like:
•Goofy extraterrestrials
•Humans as aliens
•Funny books
•Space travel
Action/Adventure
Boys of Blur
For readers who like:
•Beowulf
•Southern settings
•Mythological retellings
•Descriptions of icky mud
The Islands at the End of the World
For readers who like:
•Hawaii
•Dystopian/Apocalyptic
•Differently abled characters (epilepsy)
•Survival stories
Loot
For readers who like:
•International travel
•Spies/thieves
•Magical realism
•Quirky cast of characters
Jungle of Bones
For readers who like:
•Survival stories
•Bad kids
•Exotic locations
•Deadly animals
Stay Alive: Crash
For readers who like:
•Survivor-type attrition of characters
•Wilderness survival
•Series
•Scholastic offerings
Codename Zero
For readers who like:
•The Fourth Stall
•Goofy
•Children saving the day
•Pranks
Ice Dogs
For readers who like:
•Hatchet
•Sled dogs
•Strong female characters
•Snow!
Frenzy
For readers who like:
•Horror
•Scary animals
•Survival stories
•Problem novels
Fake ID
For readers who like:
•Horror
•
I eat you!
The Rule of Thre3
For readers who like:
•Dystopias that could actually happen.
•Life as we Knew It
•Neighborhoods/tribes
•Things exploding
Surrounded by Sharks
For readers who like:
•Dangerous animals
•Ocean life
•Old Man and the Sea
Blood in the Water
For readers who like:
•Holocaust stories
•Horses
•Ukrainian history
•Survival stories
Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly
For readers who like:
•Military tactics
•Daredevils
•Southwest
•Hispanic culture
Books for Boys
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
For readers who like:
•Unconventional families
•Anecdotal fiction
•Humor
•Multiethnic families
One Man Guy
For readers who like:
•New York City
•Armenian culture
•Skateboarding
•MG appropriate LGTBQ
Grandmaster
For readers who like:
•Chess
•Father/Son relationships
•Suspense
•This author
Three Bird Summer
For readers who like:
•Vacation books
•Camping
•Light Romance
•Family Issues
Ginger
For readers who like:
•Rescue animals
•Problem novels
•Dog’s perspective
•Historical notes
The Life and Times of Benny Alvarez
For readers who like:
•School stories
•Grandparents
•Anecdotal stories
Kinda Like Brothers
For readers who like:
•Inner City stories
•Foster children
•Sibling rivalry
•Inspirational stories
Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders
For readers who like:
•Humorous stories
•High school stories
•Physical fitness
•Musical groups
Shelter
For readers who like:
•Domestic abuse
•Hispanic culture
•Homelessness
•
No Place
For readers who like:
•Homelessness
•Mystery
•More YA
There Will Be Bears
For readers who like:
•Hunting
•Grandparents
•Survival stories
Ollie and the Science of Treasure Hunting
For readers who like:
•Geocaching
•Camping
•Boy Scouts
•Mystery
•Diverse cast
Absolutely Almost
For readers who like:
•Ordinary kids
•Urban adventures
•Nannies
Books for Girls
Kelsey Green, Reading Queen
For readers who like:
•School Stories
•Andrew Clements
•Series books
•Third grade students
Maddie’s Dream
For readers who like:
•Marguerite Henry
•Horses
•Series from different perspective
•Shorter books
All Four Stars
For readers who like:
•Cooking
•New York City
•Adventure
•Friend drama
The Fourteenth Goldfish
For readers who like:
•Science fiction
•Science experiments
•Grandparent fiction
•Goofy premiseshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91FeXVF-56E
Skies Like These
For readers who like:
•Southwest
•Astronomy
•Summer stories
•Children fighting the odds
If Only Romances
For readers who like:
•Romance
•Fun settings
•YA characters, MG appropriateness
Chapel Wars
For readers who like:
•Business settings
•Las Vegas
•Rivalries
•Grandparent issues
Welcome to Dog Beach
For readers who like:
•Summer stories
•Dogs
•Student run businesses
•Beaches
•This author
Cupcake Cousins
For readers who like:
•Extended families
•Cooking
•Embarassing mishaps
•Summer settings
Switched at Birthday
For readers who like:
•Magical Realism
•Girl Drama
•Funny Books
•Romance
•School plays
Being Sloane Jacobs
For readers who like:
•Figure Skating
•Hockey
•Switching places
•Romance
•Canada
Multicultural
Medal for Leroy
For readers who like:
•WWI
•Little known historical events
•Racial identity
The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond
For readers who like:
•Grandparents
•Racial identity
Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood
For readers who like:
•Travel books
•Discovering absent parents/extended family
•Celebrities
•Personal identity
A Time to Dance
For readers who like:
•Novels in verse
•Problem novels
•Overcoming adversity
•Dance
The Turtle of Oman
For readers who like:
•Learning about other cultures
•Moving stories
•Grandparent stories
Silver People
For readers who like:
•Novels in verse
•Other side of the story
•Various cultures
•Adventure/exotic locales
The Great Green Heist
For readers who like:
•Schemes and plots
•Multicultural cast
•The Fourth Stall
•Stories set in Ohio•http://www.katemessner.com/diversity-in-kidlit-update-to-the-great-greene-heist-challenge/
Charmed Life
For readers who like:
•Scholastic choices
•Series
•Camp stories
•Magical Realism
•This author
Saving Kabul Corner
For readers who like:
•Mysteries
•Extended family
•Family business
•Kids working together against corrupt adults
Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn
For readers who like:
•Florida stories
•Overcoming adversity
•Gross aliens
•News reporters
Notebook Novels
Sisters
For readers who like:
•Smile; this author
•Comic strips
•No one reads these for the content; they just like the pictures!
Frank Einstein
For readers who like:
•Science Fair
•Robots (it’s the new big thing!)
•This author
•Goofy books
Stick Dog
For readers who like:
•Series
•Talking animals
•Completely pointless stories
•Bad art
Poop Fountain
For readers who like:
•Gross books
•Quirky characters
•Adventure
•Children left to own devices
Bowling Alley Bandit
For readers who like:
•The picture book
•Pet food (Arnie is a “doughnut dog”)
•Improbable situations
Nonfiction
Bombs Over Bikini
For readers who like:
•War and weaponry
•Exotic locations
•Government machinations
•Literary nonfiction
Fighting Fire
For readers who like:
•Disasters
•How history affects current practice
•Vintage photos
Spending Spree
For readers who like:
•Social history
•Consumerism
•Trivia about every day life
Freedom Summer
For readers who like:
•Civil Rights
•Anniversaries
•Background for lots of fiction books
The Freedom Summer Murders
For readers who like:
•Mysteries
•Social Injustice
•In depth historical investigations
The Girl from the Tarpaper School
For readers who like:
•Civil disobedience
•Historical topic from one person’s perspective
•Almost a picture book
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods
For readers who like:
•This author
•Greek Gods
•Who DOESN’T want to read this?
Babe Conquers the World
For readers who like:
•Awesome athletes
•Multiple sports
•Pop Culture figures
•Overcoming Adversity
•Rich Wallace
GO
For readers who like:
•Popular culture
•Visual cues
•Psychology of art
•Graphic design
Stubby the War Dog
For readers who like:
•Nonfiction companions to fiction
•Little known historical events
•Brave dogs
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
How can I possibly read all of these books so I know what to recommend to my students?
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
• Ask your librarian!• Goodreads.com• Read the Scholastic book order
forms• Ask other teachers at lunch• Ask students what they like!
And….
As always, shameless plug for my blog:
http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com
It’s like reading a book a day in five minutes!
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
Feedback:Please fill out the form provided or do the online survey. Caveat: I don’t get to see the online survey.
What would you like to see next Waiver Day? Another 100 new books? Backlist favorites? What percentage of each?
If you have a question, concern, or problem with these sessions, and you want me to actually know about it, the best way is to e mail me directly.
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades
“This is to allow for the participants to have time to discuss and reflect on the session. One of the largest concerns that has come out of our Waiver Day surveys is that too many sessions are "sit and get" for the entire time. Please be mindful of this as you finalize your presentation. I have attached a PowerPoint that was utilized with secondary math teachers this summer that offers suggestions on getting participants to discuss what they are learning. ”
So. Discuss.
100 Great New BooksFor Middle Grades• What books do you see your students reading
most?• What books have you read that you recommend?• How well do you know your students and what
they personally like to read?• Have you recommended books to students that
you read as a child? How were those books received?
• How do you make lists of recommendations available to students?
• How do you showcase what students have read?• How do you utilize social media to keep students
informed of your own reading habits?• How do you use resources to locate new materials
to read?