School!

School! Adventures at the Harvey N. Trouble Elementary School
by Kate McMullan


School! is an all around silly book and Kate McMullan meant it to be.  The star of the book is Ron Faster and each of the five chapters, where each chapter is one day long,  starts when Ron begins his day and ceases when Ron ends his day.  


Ron and his class mates have goofy adventures as they try to figure out if their sub will be boring on Monday, find Mrs. Fasollatidoo's wig on Tuesday, make a volcano on Wednesday, spend the day with the kindergarteners on Thursday.


During all their zany adventures five big questions emerge.

1. Will Ron's parents find jobs?
2. Will Mr. Stuckinaditch, the bus driver, every make it to school without getting stuck in a ditch?
3. Will Miss Ingashoe, the principal, ever find her missing shoe?
4. Will Mrs. Petzgalore, Ron's teacher, come back to school?
5. Will the janitors, Janitor Iquit and Assistant Janitor Quitoo, ever make it through a day of work without quitting?

If you read all the way through Friday you'll have a few laughs and find the answers to all these questions. 

P.S.  all the characters have funny names.

Published: 2010

Genre: Exaggerated Realistic Fiction

Locations: Classroom Library, your library, Public Libary, and Amazon

The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow

The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow
by Tim Kehoe


Vincent Shadow is a toy inventor, a middle school toy inventor, who has never successful created a toy. His ideas come from visions, powerful visions that blind him to everything except the toy that he sees in his mind.  
The only person that knows about this gift is his mother. With his mom's help he builds a secret workshop in the attic of his house where he works on his inventions and studies other inventors. He works incredible hard and knows that success is just around the corner. 


But then his mother dies, his father remarries, he picks up three step sisters, and he is forced to leave his home and lab behind in New York when his new family moves to Minnesota. 


In Minnesota, his toy visions cease and he gives up on inventing toys.  Then his crazy teacher Mr. Dennis brings toy inventing back into his life when he announces that all the students in class need to prepare an invention for Howard G. Whiz's invent a toy contest.  


Will Vincent be able to come up with a toy minus his visions?  And if he does will Vincent be able to win Howard G. Whiz' contest?  Read The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow to find out. 


Published: 2009


Genre: Science Fiction


Location: Classroom Library and Amazon

The Houdini Box

The Houdini Box
by Brian Selznick


Victor wants to be a magician just like Harry Houdini.  Whenever  Houdini comes out with a new trick, Victor tries them and fails.  Despite all of his failures, Victor never gives up and continues to dream of being a magician.  


Then by the luck of the gods, one day Victor meets Houdini at the train station.  During their quick conversation, Houdini promises to write Victor a letter.  


After an unbelievably long wait, the letter arrives at Victor's door.   He reads it and discovers Houdini has invited him over for a visit later in the year.  His patience has been used up so Victor rushes over to Houdini's house.


Now, I'm not going to tell you anymore.  I've given you enough to get going.  You need to read the book to find out what happens next.  Just as a warning, expect a few surprises as you read the rest of The Houdini Box.  


Published: 1991


Genre: Historical Fiction Picture Book


Locations: Class Library, Public Library, and Amazon

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
by Tom Angleberger


Can a Yoda, made out of paper, sitting on a sixth grader's finger really give good advice?  Does Yoda really know what's going to happen or is it just a piece of paper?  That's exactly what Tommy needs to find out because if Yoda can really give advice he has an extremely important question to ask.


First off, Origami Yoda is exactly what his name says he is.  He is a Yoda made out of origami paper.   The thing that's strange is that he resides on Dwight's finger and travels around school giving advice.  Yoda can't speak, so he does his speaking through Dwight.  Some students believe in Yoda's powers, others think it is a big hoax.  


And as I said before, Tommy needs to find out if Yoda is real or fake because he has a big problem that he needs help with.  Please read The Strange Case of Origami Yoda to find out if a little piece of folded paper can really help sixth grader Tommy with his pressing issues. 


Published: 2010


Genre: Realistic Fiction


Locations: Class Library, Public Library, Amazon

Intro # 2:

If you are an adult, you won't believe this story so don't bother reading it.  But if you're a kid who spends all day in a school exposed to all the different kinds of kids out there, you will believe this book, so read it!

Dwight is a sixth grader.  He wears pants, wears shirts, and goes to class just like you or me.  What is unique about Dwight is that he walks around with an Origami Yoda on his finger.  And another thing, Yoda gives out free advice. Sounds a little far fetched, but picture your school, your class, not so far fetched anymore is it.


Well, Tommy needs some advice but he's not sure he can trust Origami Yoda so he starts to investigate.  He interviews students that Origami Yoda has helped.  He then has to decide, can Origami Yoda help him or not?

Justin Case

Justin Case School Drool and Other Daily Diasters
by Rachel Vail


Worrywart, worrywart, worrywart!  Justin Case is a worrywart.  


Justin shares all of his thoughts as he opens up his journal to you.  He lets you see how he worries about his teacher, his classmates, his extra-curricular activities, and his life at home.  


As he worries his way through life you'll ask yourself tons of questions.  Will he survive in a third grade classroom that doesn't include his best friends Daisy and Noah but does include the scariest boy in school Xavier Schwartz?  Will he ever find his missing stuffed dog Wingnut?  Will he make it through soccer, basketball, and baseball seasons?  Will he survive living with Qwerty, his new pet dog?  As you can see, Justin has a lot to worry about.  Do you think he can make it through third grade?


Published: 2010


Genre: Realistic Fiction


Location: Class library, Public Library, and Amazon

Cabin Fever

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney


I'm not perfect.  You're probably not perfect.  Greg Heffley isn't perfect either. 


Greg Heffley tries to do awesome things.  He tries to do nice things.  But things often go wrong for him.  His mishaps make him easy to relate to because we've all made mistakes. 


When he tried to advertise his own holiday bazaar, he accidentally defaced school property.  Remember, he wants to do good, he just doesn't always pull it off.  Do you think he can redeem himself after ruining school property?


I really enjoyed reading Greg's story and think you will too. 

Published: 2011

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading Level: Below Fifth Grade

Locations: Public Library and Amazon