4th Grade Complete List (pdf) | Pick of the Decade Complete List (pdf)
Pick of the Decade 1995-2005: Best Fiction Maguire, Gregory. One Final Firecracker , May 2005. A giant spider and several other odd creatures from the earlier books in the Hamlet Chronicles return as the small Vermont town celebrates a grammar school graduation, Miss Earth's wedding, and the Fourth of July. (Last in a series which began with Seven Spiders Spinning .) Mahy, Margaret. The Horribly Haunted School , 1997, o.p. Monty is allergic to ghosts; if there's one around, he sneezes. When he discovers a ghost named Lulu haunting his home, his mother sends him away to Brinsley Codd School for Sensible Thought, where she hopes he will learn that there are no such things as spirits. But Monty has only been inside the school a minute when he starts to sneeze. Mead, Alice. Junebug , 1996. Junebug, a ten-year-old African-American, lives in the projects in New Haven and takes care of his little sister while his mother is at work. He struggles to avoid the older boys who want to lure him into gang life and dreams of becoming a boat captain. (Sequels: Junebug and the Reverend and Junebug in Trouble .) Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Starting with Alice , 2002. The first in a trilogy of prequels about Alice (the main character in the series that begins with The Agony of Alice ), Alice moves with her brother and father from Chicago to Maryland and has trouble finding friends in her new school. (Sequels: Alice in Blunderland and Lovingly Alice .) Pullman, Philip. I Was a Rat! 2000. A little boy turns life in London upside down when he appears at the house of a lonely old couple and insists that he was a rat. Ryan, Pam Munoz. Riding Freedom , 1998. A fictionalized account of the life of Charley (Charlotte) Parkurst who ran away from an orphanage in the 1860s, disguised herself as a boy, moved to California and fooled everyone by her appearance.
Rylant, Cynthia. Gooseberry Park , 1995. When a storm separates Stumpy the squirrel from her newborn babies, her animal friends come to the rescue. Shreve, Susan. The Formerly Great Alexander Family , 1995. Ten-year-old Liam is stunned to learn that his perfect family is about to be ruined when his parents announce that they are getting a divorce. Snicket, Lemony. The Bad Beginning , 1999. After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and their wits when it turns out that the distant relative who is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means necessary to get their fortune. (First in the Series of Unfortunate Events which includes: The Reptile Room ; The Wide Window ; The Miserable Mill ; The Austere Academy ; The Ersatz Elevator ; The Vile Village ; The Hostile Hospital ; The Carnivorous Carnival , The Slippery Slope , and The Grim Grotto .) Taylor, Mildred. The Well: David's Story , 1995. In Mississippi in the early 1900s ten-year-old David Logan's family generously shares their well water with both white and black neighbors in an atmosphere of potential racial violence. Van Draanen, Wendelin. Shredderman: Secret Identity , 2004. Fifth-grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called names by the class bully, has a secret identity-Shredderman! (Sequels: Attack of the Tagger , Meet the Gecko , and Enemy Spy .) Van Leeuwen, Jean. Hannah of Fairfield , 1999. For almost nine-year-old Hannah Perley of Fairfield , Connecticut , growing up means facing new challenges, both great and small-from saving the life of a baby lamb to helping the family prepare to send her brother Ben to join the colonial soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. (Sequels: Hannah's Helping Hands and Hannah's Winter of Hope .) Van Velde, Vivian. Smart Dog , 1998. Fifth grader Amy finds her life growing complicated when she meets and tries to hide an intelligent, talking dog that has escaped from a university lab. Wallace, Carol. That Furball Puppy and Me , 1999. Gray, a young cat, is dismayed when Christmas brings a Scottish terrier into the house, but he changes his mind when the new pet needs his help. Weeks, Sarah. Regular Guy , 1999. Because he is so different from his eccentric parents, Guy is convinced he has been switched at birth wit a classmate whose parents seem more normal. (Sequels: Guy Time , My Guy and Regular Guy .) Williams, Vera. Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart , 2001. A series of narrative poems tells how two sisters help each other deal with life while their mother is working and their father has been sent to jail.
Winkler, Henry. Niagara Falls or Does It? 2003. Fourth-graders Hank, Ashley and Frankie are excitedly preparing for a magic show when Hank's creative alternative to an English essay lands him in detention and he is grounded the week of the show. (First in the Hank Zipzer series which includes: I Got a "D" in Salami , Day of the Iguana ; The Zippety Zinger ; The Night I Flunked My Field Trip ; Holy Enchilada; Help! Somebody Get Me Out of Fourth Grade and Summer School! What Genius Thought That Up? ) Yep, Laurence. The Imp That Ate My Homework , 1998. Jim teams up with his grandfather, who is known as the meanest man in Chinatown , to defeat a powerful demon. |
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