Great Books for 5th Graders

Alexander, Lloyd    The Book Of Three

Valorous and humorous tales of Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, who determines to save the kingdom of Prydain from evil.

Anderson, M. T.   Whales On Stilts!

Racing against the clock, shy middle-school student Lily and her best friends, Katie and Jasper, must foil the plot of her father's conniving boss to conquer the world using an army of whales.

Avi    Don't You Know There's A War On?

In wartime Brooklyn in 1943, eleven-year-old Howie Crispers mounts a campaign to save his favorite teacher from being fired.

Birdsall, Jeanne    Penderwicks, The: A Summer Tale Of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, And A Very Interesting Boy

While vacationing with their widowed father in the BerkshireMountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.

Bowen, Fred   Winners Take All

When Kyle fakes a catch, his baseball team goes on to win the league championship but Kyle doesn't feel good about winning by cheating. Includes a section on the sportsmanship of Christy Mathewson, a pitcher who played professional baseball in the early 1900s.

Bridges, Ruby     Through My Eyes

Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

Bruchac, Joseph     Skeleton Man

After her parents disappear and she is turned over to the care of a strange "great-uncle," Molly must rely on her dreams about an old Mohawk story for her safety and maybe even for her life.

Burnford, Sheila, Every    The Incredible Journey

A Siamese cat, an old bull terrier, and a young Labrador retriever travel together 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their family.

Butler, Dori Hillestad     Trading Places With Tank Talbott

Jason, who would rather work on his horror movie screenplay than learn to swim, finds an unlikely ally in Tank, the class bully, who is being forced to take ballroom dance lessons.

Byars, Betsy Cromer    The Dark Stairs 

The intrepid Herculeah Jones helps her mother, a private investigator, solve a puzzling and frightening case.

Byng, Georgia     Molly Moon's Incredible Book Of Hypnotism

Unlucky and unloved, Molly Moon, living in a dreary orphanage in a small English town, discovers a hidden talent for hypnotism and hypnotizes her way to stardom in New York City.

Carbone, Elisa Lynn    Storm Warriors

In 1895, after his mother's death, twelve-year-old Nathan moves with his father and grandfather to PeaIsland off the coast of North Carolina, where he hopes to join the all-black crew at the nearby lifesaving station, despite his father's objections.

Carbone, Elisa Lynn    Starting School With An Enemy

Worried about finding friends when she moves from Maine to Maryland, ten-year-old Sarah gets off to a bad start by making an enemy of a boy.

Carman, Patrick    The Dark Hills Divide

When she finds the key to a secret passageway leading out of the walled city of Bridewell, twelve-year-old Alexa realizes her lifelong wish to explore the mysterious forests and mountains that lie beyond the wall.

Cassedy, Sylvia     Behind The Attic Wall

In the bleak, forbidding house of her great-aunts, neglected twelve-year-old orphan Maggie hears ghostly voices and finds magic that awakens in her the capacity to love and be loved.

Choldenko, Gennifer   Notes From A Liar And Her Dog

For Antonia MacPherson, lying is a way of life. If it weren't for her best friend, Harrison, and a tiny ball of fluff named Pistachio, she would be miserable...But when a teacher takes Ant under her wing, Ant's way of life may have to change. Just Carol likes the truth. And she won't take anything else.

Christopher, Matt     Olympic Dream

When overweight fourteen-year-old video whiz Doug Cannon is introduced to the sport of cycling, he begins a transformation that leads him to health and self-respect.

Cleary, Beverly   Strider

In a series of diary entries, Leigh tells how he comes to terms with his parents' divorce, acquires joint custody of an abandoned dog, and joins the track team at school.

Clements, Andrew   Lunch Money

Twelve-year-old Greg, who has always been good at moneymaking projects, is surprised to find himself teaming up with his lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of comic books to sell at school.

Cooper, Susan   The Boggart

After visiting the castle in Scotland which her family has inherited and returning home to Canada, twelve-year-old Emily finds that she has accidentally brought back with her a boggart, an invisible and mischievous spirit with a fondness for practical jokes.

Crisp, Marty     White Star: A Dog On The Titanic

Twelve-year-old Sam, a passenger on the Titanic's maiden sea voyage, volunteers to help care for the dogs in the ocean liner's kennel and becomes fast friends with the Irish setter of J. Bruce Ismay, the ship's owner.

Creech, Sharon    Pleasing The Ghost

Nine-year-old Dennis, whose uncle and father died within a year of each other, is visited by the ghost of his uncle, and together they settle some unfinished business, and help out Dennis' Aunt Julia at the same time.

Creech, Sharon    Ruby Holler

Thirteen-year-old fraternal twins Dallas and Florida have grown up in a terrible orphanage but their lives change forever when an eccentric but sweet older couple invites them each on an adventure, beginning in an almost magical place called Ruby Holler.

Cummings, Priscilla    Saving Grace

When Grace's family is evicted from their Washington, D.C., apartment just before Christmas 1932, and she and her younger brothers are sent to the Mission, Grace wonders what will become of her sick older brother, her pregnant mother, and her out-of-work father.

Fleischman, Sid   Disappearing Act

After their archaeologist mother fails to return from Mexico and they discover that someone is stalking their Albuquerque house, twelve-year-old Kevin and his opera-singing older sister flee to Venice, California, where they hope that new identities will keep them safe.

Funke, Cornelia Caroline    Dragon Rider

After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.

Gantos, Jack     Jack On The Tracks: Four Seasons Of Fifth Grade

After moving with his unbearable sister to Miami, Florida, Jack tries to break some of his bad habits but finds himself irresistibly drawn to things disgusting, gross, and weird.

Going, K. L.    The Liberation Of Gabriel King

In Georgia during the summer of 1976, Gabriel, a white boy who is being bullied, and Frita, an African American girl who is facing prejudice, decide to overcome their many fears together as they enter fifth grade.

Gutman, Dan    The Million Dollar Shot

Eleven-year-old Eddie gets a chance to win a million dollars by sinking a foul shot at the National Basketball Association finals.

Hahn, Mary Downing    The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story

Tired of the rules that have bound them ever since "the bad thing happened," twelve-year-old Diana ignores her brother's warnings and befriends the daughter of the new caretaker, setting in motion events that lead to the release of the spirit of an evil, crazy woman who once ruled the old Willis place.

Holm, Jennifer L.   Our Only May Amelia

As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington state in 1899.

Ibbotson, Eva    Dial-A-Ghost

A family of nice ghosts protects a British orphan from the diabolical plans of his evil guardians.

Konigsburg, E. L.   The View From Saturday

Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

Korman, Gordon   Chasing The Falconers

With their parents facing life in prison, Aidan and Meg Falconer race against time to evade the authorities and an unknown attacker to prove their innocence.

Kurzweil, Allen     Leon And The Spitting Image

Leon, a fourth grader at The Ethical School, tries to outwit the school bully and learn to sew for fanatical teacher Miss Cronheim, with unexpected help from his final project-- a doll with magical powers.

Lawrence, Caroline   The Secrets Of Vesuvius

Ten-year-old Flavia and her friends encounter the Roman admiral Pliny before making a journey to her uncle's farm near Mt.Vesuvius, where they try to solve a riddle, reunite a family, and get out of the path of a natural disaster.

Lord, Cynthia    Rules

Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.

Mccloskey, Robert   Homer Price

Six episodes in the life of Homer Price, including one in which he and his pet skunk capture four bandits, and another about a donut machine on the rampage.

Mcgraw, Eloise   The Moorchild

Feeling that she is neither fully human nor "Folk," a changeling learns her true identity and attempts to find the human child whose place she had been given.

Morpurgo, Michael   The Amazing story of Adolphus Tips

When Boowie reads the diary that his grandmother sends him, he learns of her childhood in World War II England when American and British soldiers practiced for D-Day's invasion in the area of her home, and about her beloved cat, Adolphus Tip, and the cat's namesake.

Morpurgo, Michael   Kensuke's Kingdom

When Michael is swept off his family's yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive--until he finds he is not alone.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds    The Fear Place

When he and his older brother Gordon are left camping alone in the Rocky Mountains, twelve-year-old Doug faces his fear of heights and his feelings about Gordon--with the help of a cougar.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds    Polo's Mother

Polo the cat finds his mother and tries to impress her with his courage as he and the other members of the Club of Mysteries set out on new adventures.

Park, Barbara    Skinnybones

Alex's active sense of humor helps him get along with the school braggart, make the most of his athletic talents, and simply get by in a hectic world.

Peck, Richard   Fair Weather

In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and members of her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.

Peck, Richard   A Year Down Yonder

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.

Ryan, Pam Munoz    Becoming Naomi Leon

When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.

Sachar, Louis     WaysideSchool Is Falling Down

More humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of WaysideSchool, where students learn to tango, face the cafeteria's dreaded Mushroom Surprise, and study a hobo during Show and Tell.

Selznick, Brian    The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel In Words And Pictures

When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toy seller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized (This book looks long but a number of pagers are illustrations that are part of the story).

Van Leeuwen, Jean    Cabin On Trouble Creek

In 1803 in Ohio, two young brothers are left to finish the log cabin and guard the land while their father goes back to Pennsylvania to fetch their mother and younger siblings.

Woodson, Jacqueline    Show Way

The making of "Show ways," or quilts which once served as secret maps for freedom-seeking slaves, is a tradition passed from mother to daughter in the author's family.

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