Al Capone Shines my Shoes by: Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Shines My Shoes is a historical fiction book about a boy named Moose. He lives on Alcatraz island with his autistic sister and a few other kids. This book is the sequel to the well known book, Al Capone Does My Shirts, and if you liked that one you're sure to love this one.
A lot has happened since the last book and now Moose's sister, Natalie, is at the Esther P. Marinoff school. She is coming back to visit the family on Alcatraz soon, but only for a week. That soon changes after Natalie brings home some mysterious items, getting everyone into trouble. Moose, while having to deal with Natalie, is having some problems of his own. All his friends have deserted him and he has no idea why! Even Jimmy, his best friend, who is mad at Moose for a couple of things. Things start to get a little awkward between Moose and two of the other kids named Piper and Annie. Moose and Piper have a little thing for each other and Annie can't stand it because she has a crush on Moose too. Suddenly something terrifying happens on the island and the kids have to work together to save the day. Natalie surprises everyone by having a leading part in saving the island. That changed her reputation forever in a very good way. We really enjoyed this book and hope you do too!

-abc123 and Blueshoe532

Change Up-Book Recommendation

Change Up is the fourth book in a four book series by John Feinstein. It is a mystery book about a reporter named Stevie Thomas who meets a pitcher for the Washington Nationals' Norbert Doyle, who's wife died in a car accident. What Stevie and his "girlfriend" Susan Carol Anderson are trying to figure out how she died. Stevie went to interview Norbert and he didn't tell the truth. so Stevie and Susan Carol went on a trip to Norbert's home town to ask some old friends and enemies of Norbert to see if they could help him make his story strait.
By Texas12

Devil's Arithmetic-Book Recommendation

The Devil's Arithmetic is one of my favorite books. Also, because since I'm Jewish it also helped me to understand my Jewish heritage.It is about a girl named Hannah who is going to a holiday dinner and opens the door to a the prophet Elijah. When she does she somehow time travels back in time and becomes the person who she was named after-Chaya Abramowicz in 1939 during the Halacaust. Somehow her brother is getting married when the Nazis come. They are taken away to the camp where the are supposedly going to be able to work for freedom. People that cannot do what the Nazis want at the camp are killed in a gas chamber. Chaya meets some friends along the way and tries to escape and there is great intrigue as to what will happen to all of the characters. It is not guaranteed that they will all make it to the end of the story. However, if you read the book you will find the true meaning of friendship in the story and really find the true meaning of family.

By Shelbytog

Eggs by Jerry Spenelli

Eggs is a sad,funny book about a nine year-old boy named David. He lost his mother from a
horrible accident. There was no wet floor sign, so she slipped and fell down a flight of stairs. Ever
since then he never wants to see the sun rise again without his mother.He also thinks if he follows all the rules,his mother will come back,but the only rules he doesn't follow are his grandmothers.One summers day,David was forced to go to a egg hunt by his grandmother.His
grandmother wanted him to have some friends,but all he wants to do is stay home.When he gets to the egg hunt he can't find any eggs so he decides to look behind a tree even though the adult said not to look there.Behind the tree he discovers an egg,underneath the egg he finds a girls body. He thinks she's dead so he tells the body everything about him. The next day he comes back to see the body but,it isn't there.He checks everyday,but the body isn't there.A week later he goes to the library and sees the girl that was dead.He freaks out and thinks she's a ghost,but they get to know each other and he finds out her name is Primrose.They DO NOT get along but they are the best of friends.They go on so many adventures around the town,but one of them gets them in HUGE trouble.Find out their ups and their downs in Eggs.

By:Thing 1

The Shadow Spinner recommendation

The Shadow Spinner is about a girl called Marjan who lives during the time of the Arabian Nights. For those of you who don't know about the Arabian Nights, a king called the Sultan was betrayed by his wife. He killed his wife and married another woman, only to kill her the next morning because he was angry at all women for his original wife's sins. After killing many women, he married a girl called Sharazad who told him a story the night he married her. The Sultan wanted to hear another story the next night so he didn't kill her. After 980 nights of stories, Sharazad is still living, but running out of new stories. So she hires Marjan to help her get stories.
Marjan's first task is to find the end of a story she heard the beginning to only once before, and many years before the main events of the book. What had seemed to be an easy job becomes a life risking adventure involving a troubled king, a paranoid Khutan(Queen), an old outlaw, the safety of all the girls in Persia, Marjan's past, and a single story of vital importance.
Will Marjan save the lives of herself and her friends? Or will all the women in Persia be doomed to a fateful marriage?

By sushirox17

Deep and Dark and Dangerous book recomendation/summary

Have you ever wondered what it's like to come face-to-face with a ghost? Well, the book Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a perfect example of what it's like. In this book, a girl named Ali goes to a cottage in Maine with her Aunt Dulcie and her cousin Emma for the summer. One day when Ali and Emma are at the beach, they meet a girl named Sissy, a skinny and pale girl who is mean and seems to hate Ali. Sissy is a bad influence on Emma, who is only four years old. After that, Ali starts to have suspicions about Sissy and how her background doesn't make sense. One night, Emma and Ali go out to Aunt Dulcie's painting studio, where they find her standing by a ruined painting, with a warning and bones painted on it. Ali starts to find out about Teresa, a girl who drowned when Aunt Dulcie was little. Soon after that, Ali puts together the clues, and finds out that Sissy is Teresa's ghost. If you want to find out the ending, READ THE BOOK!!!!!

By,

Marlo997 and Dude77E

Fablehaven-The Series

Attention fantasy readers! Have any of you read the Fablehaven series? If not, get ready for a mind blowing book review! Fablehaven is about twins that spend a week with their grandparents. They find out that their grandparents are keeping a secret from them, the are the caretakers of a magical forest called Fablehaven! The forest thrives of magical creatures that live there. There are many dangers in Fablehaven as the twins Seth and Kendra will find. Bahumat is an evil demon that tries to slow down Seth, Kendra and their two grandparents from finding the five keys to the demon prison. The Evening Star Society is a group of people that are also in pursuit of the five keys. The books lead the Sorensons and their friends in a race against time and creatures of all shapes and sizes imaginable. The fifth book s yet to come, but if you haven't considered Fablehaven yet, consider it now.

By

WashingtonDCerny

the Uglies Series

To me the Uglies Series is an amazing series.This story is about a girl named Talley Youngblood and her adventures to stop people from becoming bubble heads. She is trying to figure out how people and why people do are turned into bubble head.A bubble head is someone who has become sort of a robot-they all have the same personality and act in a strange manner.

The story evolves around Talley and her friends Shay, Fausto, and the rest of the cutters or crims. The town of Prettyville, where the story is set, has different cliques. There are the crims, short for criminals, that are the dangerous and outcast in the cast. The cutters are younger characters who are stronger than the other characters. Their brains are programmed to make them believe they are better than everyone else.

There are many different types of characters and names for groups of people in this science fiction series. Read it to get in on the action and keep track of all the excitement.



by mammalanimal

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe-Book Recommendation

If you are in to fantasy and magical worlds (with lots of action) then "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" from the Narnia series. Even though I don't think that the other books are very exciting, this one is the best. The book is about four children that have to move to England because their parents have died. In England they are going to stay with a professor-and that's where the adventure begins. The kids are playing a game of hide-and-seek in the professor's mansion, and they discover a wardrobe that will take them to a secret world. But in this world, the people (and talking trees) are going through some tough times.
You'll have to read the book to see what happens next!

Recommended by,

Browns36 :)

Sisters Grimm-Series Recommendation

The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley are great books.It is about these 2 kids named Sabrina and Daphne Grimm whose parents got kidnapped by this mysterious organization called the Scarlet Hand.So they go to all these different people and foster homes.They finally ended up in Ferryport Landing with their grandmother.There they meet these people, animals, and things from fairy-tale stories called Everafters.The Everafters are trapped in the city because Wilhelm Grimm who is Sabrina's and Daphne's great-great-great (I'm not sure how many greats there are) grandpa worked with Baba Yaga, an old witch to put a magical barrier up and when the last Grimm dies or when all the Grimms move out of Ferryport Landing , the barrier goes down.So most of the Everafters in Ferryport Landing are trying to kill or get rid of the Grimms.The Grimms are staying in the city because if the barrier goes down the world would be in chaos.All Everafters won't die of age because they don't age,they could only die if someone killed them.It's a great action-humor-mystery series.The first book is called Fairy-tale Detectives.There are right now 7 books each with about 300-400 pages.It's a really good series and I highly recommend it.
Recommended by
Legodude!!

Bud, Not Buddy

If your looking for a book with a lot of funny parts and emotion you should read Bud, Not Buddy.
Bud, Not Buddy is a Historical Fiction about book about a boy named Bud. Bud's mom died and he's now trying to find out who his dad is. Bud's mom gave him some fliers as clues. The fliers show a band that is supposed to have his dad in it. Bud right ow lives at an orphanage and he has to run away to find his dad. Bud's dad lives by Grand Rapids so on the way out of town a guy stops and picks Bud up. A guy named Lefty Lewis comes and takes Bud. Lefty Lewis takes Bud back to his father. When he gets there his dad doesn't reconize him but takes Bud home to stay with him for a little. Bud figures out that he's sleeping in his dead mother's room. After this Bud knows that Herman E. Calloway isn't his father, but is really someone else important. To find out who is really is, read the book!

Ranger's Apprentice-Book One: Ruins of the Gorlan Book Recommendation

If you are looking for a book with a lot of action then this book is for you! Rangers apprentice is a series of books about a 15 year-old orphan named Will. Will's dad died when Will was a baby. His father had been a knight. Will's mother was a courier but also died. Will became an orphan at a very young age. In the story, the action takes place in the kingdom Arulen. There is a tradition in Arulen that any one at the age of 15 must become an apprentice. Will wanted to be a knight like his dad but when he tries to get in to battle school the battle master tells him he is to small and a mysterious ranger named Halt takes him under his wing to be a master at the art of camouflage. Halt also teaches Will how to become a master at the double scabbard and how to develop killer accuracy with a long bow. He has no idea of what he is in for!

The rest of the story involves Will's journeys as an apprentice ranger. He is attempting to become an official ranger. Will has to help Halt and the other rangers stop Mogerath. Mogerath is attempting to bring destruction and take over Arulen. Read the book to see how the battle plays out!

By ihechuco

Letters From Camp-Book Recommendation

Letters From Camp is a great mystery. It is about six children (brothers and sisters) that go to a camp called Happy Harmony where they are going to get along. The counsels at first seem nice but in the end they turn out mean. At the camp the kids are made to do work day and night. The counselors try to poison the kids and make them wear hideous clothes! One of the counsels (Dorothy) is using too much money and they are going bankrupt! Dolly and Dwayne are trying to poison their siblings! This is a very visual book and that is one reason why we recommend this book. This book is told through letters, journal entries, pictures, recipes, ledgers, receipts,and other papers that give the story a uniqueness about it that you will not see in other mysteries. Another reason we like this book the way it is written from each child's perspective, and each letter is different. As you can see there's a lot going on but you'll have to read the book to find out what happens at the end! This is a great book for your mystery project.

Enjoy your reading!

By Cat 47 and bloomable1

Absolutely Normal Chaos-Book Recommendation

The book Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech is a wonderful book. This book is about a city girl named Mary Lou. Mary Lou Finney has to write a journal about her summer for her new English teacher, Mr. Berkeley. Mary Lou writes about her shy cousin, Carl Ray, that moves into her house over the summer. Mary Lou must make Carl Ray's bed and clean his room everyday for the rest of the summer. Across the street from the Finney's house lives Mr.Furtz and his family. Then there was death in the neighborhood that changed EVERYTHING. Over the summer she meets a boy. His name was Alex Cheevey. Alex Cheevey comes from a very unusual family. When its time for Mary Lou to meet the rest of the Cheevey family Mary Lou doesn't know what to think of them. Mary Lou's friend, Beth Ann goes boy crazy over...well you have to read to find out, Sorry! Later on Carl Ray and Mary Lou take a trip to West Virgina (Carl Ray's real home). That trip didn't go so well. Carl Ray's many siblings make fun of the new city girl, Mary Lou. Carl Ray finds out a secret that may change his relationship with his dad, Carl Joe. When Mary Lou and Carl Ray get back to the city, Carl Ray won't answer ANY of Mary Lou's calls. WHAT'S WRONG?!?! To find out what happens in the rest of the summer you'll have to read it for your self. This outstanding book will be impossible to put down!. You'll love it! Hope you enjoy Absolutely Normal Chaos as much as we did. Happy reading!

32sing and chahos23

Biggest Klutz in 5th Grade-Book Recommendation

If your looking for a great book this is the book for you. It's called The Biggest Klutz In Fifth Grade.The main character is Pat Berry his nickname is fat pat berry the twinkle toes fairy he is now known as The Klutz! He and his friends all play football in his friend, Doug's backyard. They all like this one girl named Tiffany. She is the girl in the grade that all the boys like. Fortunately, Doug's backyard is right next to Tiffany's so they get to see her tan on her air mattress. What a coincidence! Unfortunately Doug's backyard is not the best for football because there are pecan trees in the middle of where they play. There is also another downer they have to play with a bully named Neal Moffett. Then Neal has a bet with Pat that says that he can't get hurt all summer! So this is going to be a struggle for Pat. The loser has to kiss this girl named Kristine Plimpton and her nickname is the Blimp. She is on the plump side and no boys like her. She really is only friends with Tiffany. They are nothing alike.

The rest of the story describes the attempts by Pat to avoid getting himself injured so that he can win his bet versus Neal Moffett. Will Pat lose the bet? Will he have to kiss The Blimp? Or will Neal have to kiss her? If you want to know you have to read the book!

We highly recommend this story as a funny, interesting, and charming read about life in the fifth grade. There are many copies in the guided reading room-check out the story if you have not already!

By soccerddd3 and soccerlover11