Fiction A-C | Fiction D-G | Fiction H-O | Fiction P-Z
6th Grade Complete List (pdf) | Pick of the Decade Complete List (pdf)
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Pick of the Decade 1995-2005: Best Fiction Aiken, Joan. Midwinter Nightingale , 2003. Dido and her friend Simon, Duke of Battersea, have many perilous adventures trying to protect the ailing King James from the plotting of the evil Baron Magnus who is determined that his brutish son Lothar will be the next king of England. (Newest in the Wolves Chronicles which includes: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase ; Black Hearts in Battersea ; Night Birds in Nantucket ; Dido and Pa ; The Stolen Lake ; The Cuckoo Tree and Dangerous Games .) Almond, David. Kit's Wilderness , 2000. Kit goes to live with his grandfather in the decaying coal-mining town of Stoneygate , England , and finds both the old man and the town haunted by ghosts of the past. (See also: Fire-Eaters .) Auch, Mary Jane. Journey to Nowhere , 1997. In 1815, while traveling by covered wagon to settle in the wilderness of western New York , eleven-year-old Mem experiences a flood and separation from her family.
Barry, Dave. Peter and the Starcatchers , 2004. The young orphan Peter and his mates are dispatched to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They set sail aboard the Never Land , a ship carrying a precious and mysterious trunk in its cargo hold. Their journey quickly becomes fraught with excitement and danger. Billingsley, Franny. The Folk-Keeper , 1999. Corinna is never cold, always knows exactly what time it is, and her silvery hair grows two inches every night. An orphan, she disguises herself as a boy so that she can become the folk keeper of Rhysbridge, sitting hour after hour in the dark cellar, drawing off the anger of the fierce, gremlin-like, folk. She does this until Lord Merton summons her to the vast island estate of Cliffsend where she is to be both Folk Keeper and, inexplicably, a member of the family. Blackwood, Gary . The Shakespeare Stealer , 1998. A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty. (Sequels: Shakespeare's Scribe and Shakespeare's Spy .) Bloor, Edward. Tangerine , 1997. Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight. Boyce, Frank. Millions , 2004. After their mother dies, two brothers find a huge amount of money which they must spend quickly before England switches to the new European currency, but they disagree on what to do with it. Bradley, Kimberly. Weaver's Daughter , 2000. In 1791 after her family's journey from Pennsylvania, ten-year-old Lizzie suffers from the disease of asthma in her new home in the Southwest Territory (present-day Tennessee). Branford, Henrietta. Fire, Bed and Bone , 1998. In 1381 England , a hunting dog recounts what happens to his beloved master Rufus and his family when they are arrested on suspicion of being part of the peasants' rebellion. Brooks , Bruce . Vanishing , 1999. Alice is unwilling to return to live with her alcoholic mother and her stern stepfather, so she refuses to eat to the point of slowly starving herself, in order to remain in the hospital. Carbone, Elisa. Stealing Freedom , 1998. A novel based on the events in the life of a young slave girl from Maryland who endures all kinds of mistreatment and cruelty, including being separated from her family, but who eventually escapes to freedom in Canada .
Carmi, Daniella. Samir and Yonatan , 2000. Samir, a Palestinian boy, is sent for surgery to an Israeli hospital where he has two otherworldly experiences, making friends with an Israeli boy, Yonatan, and traveling with him to Mars where Samir finds peace over his younger brother's death in the war. Casanova, Mary. Curse of the Winter Moon , 2000. In sixteenth-century France , ruled by a Church that overtaxes peasants and burns heretics, Marius must postpone his apprenticeship to care for his six-year-old brother whose birth took their mother's life, and who the villagers believe will become a werewolf. Chabon, Michael. Summerland , 2002. After the death of his mother, Ethan Feld and his father move to Clam Island where the children all play baseball in an always-sunny spot called, "Summerland." Ethan is the worst baseball player in the world, but he agrees to keep on playing and is recruited by Ringfinger Brown to be a hero. Summerland connects a series of alternate worlds and magical creatures that are in danger of being destroyed by the trickster Coyote. They need baseball and Ethan to save them. Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen , 2002. When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it. Colfer, Eoin. The Supernaturalist , 2004. In futuristic Satellite City , fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, and together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that are invisible to most humans. (See also: Wish List .) Conly, Jane. What Happened on Planet Kid , 2000. To help her deal with her separation from her family, worry about her mother's serious operation, and suspicions about a new friend's abusive father, twelve-year-old Dawn creates an imaginary world while spending the summer of 1958 with her great-aunt and uncle in rural North Carolina . Cooper, Susan. The King of Shadows , 1999. While in London as part of an all-boy acting company preparing to perform in a replica of the famous Globe Theatre, Nat Field suddenly finds himself transported back to 1599 and performing in the original theater under the tutelage of Shakespeare himself. Coville, Bruce. The Monsters of Morely Manor , 2001. Anthony and his younger sister discover that the monster figures he got in an unusual box at an estate sale are alive, but they have no way of knowing that the "monsters" will lead them on fantastical adventures to other worlds in an effort to try to save Earth. Creech, Sharon. Absolutely Normal Chaos , 1997. Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou keeps a summer journal which chronicles her first experiences with romance, homesickness and death. (See also: Chasing Redbird ; Bloomability ; Ruby Holler ; Walk Two Moons and Heartbeat .) |
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