Andrea's Best Of 2015 Second and Third Grade Books

Every year I have the joy and privilege of going into local schools to share my favorite books with second and third grade students. I read lots of early chapter books, but only the top twenty or so make it into the final cut. A few of the books are general crowd pleasers, there are several interesting non-fiction titles, some graphic novels, and hopefully there are some amazing books that I know most students would pass up because of the cover or subject matter. I am excited to present you with this year's list! Click on the titles to reserve a copy of a book.

--Andrea W., Headquarters

"Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split" by Anica Mrose Rissi

Best friends Anna and Sadie have a blowout over a pretty necklace. Can they ever be friends again?

"Appleblossom the Possum" by Holly Golberg Sloan

Disaster follows Appleblossom the acting possum when she makes friends with a person and sneaks into her house.

"Big Bad Detective Agency" by Bruce Hale

Wolfgang has to clear his name by finding out which citizen of Fairylandia trashed the Three Pigs' house.

"Cakes in Space" by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre

Astra has to save her hyper-sleeping family from man-eating cakes and salvaging aliens that love spoons.

"Dory Fantasmagory" by Abby Hanlon

Dory, called Rscal, has a crazy imagination, an older brother and sister, and an imaginary friend monster named Mary.

"Fart Squad" by Seamus Pilger

Four friends learn to harness the mighty power of gas and become the Fart Squad!

"Harriet the Invincible" by Ursula Vernon

This dragon-slaying hamster princess may need to save the prince in this twisted fairy tale!

"I Survived: The Joplin Tornado, 2011" by Lauren Tarshis

Dex worries for his soldier brother, not knowing that a giant tornado is headed his way.

"It Came From Beneath the Playground" by Kirk Scroggs

Are evil moles, a missing merry-go-round, and Gustavo Muchomacho a match for amateur sleuth Logan Lang?

"Little Robot" by Ben Hatke

When a lonely girl meets a robot, what will she do when the factory robots come looking for her new friend?

"Logan Pryce Makes a Mess" by Grace Gilmore

Can young inventor Logan Pryce invent a way to make more money to save the family farm?

"Mean Girl Meltdown" by Lindsay Eyre

A prank war starts when Sylvie decides to try out for captain of the new hockey team.

"Milo Speck: Accidental Agent" by Linda Urban

Sucked into the terrifying land of Ogregon, Milo Speck must work with the stubborn Tuck to save his dad and get back home.

"Ms. Rapscott's Girls" by Elise Primavera

At Ms. Rapscott's School for Girls of Busy Parents, girls travel by carboard box and learn how to have adventures.

"The Princess in Black" by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

It's hard to be a perfect princess when you are also a secret monster hunter.

"Red Riding Hood, Superhero" by Otis Frampton

Using her alien power-enhanced red cape, Ruby must save her president grandma from evil.

"Rise of the Earth Dragon" by Tracey West

Drake leaves his home to become a dragon master, but will he be able to discover his dragon's special power?

"Rutabaga the Adventure Chef" by Eric Colossal

Always on the hunt for exotic food, Rutabaga stumbles into many adventures and makes new friends.

"The Sasquatch Escape" by Suzanne Selfors

Boring Buttonville hides a terrifying secret, and the new worm doctor is behind it. Can Ben and his new friend Pearl figure out what's going on?

"The Slug" by Elise Gravel

Everything you didn't know you needed to know about slugs, but funny!

"Spring's Sparkle Sleepover" by Elise Allen

When it's time for Spring's first sleepover with her big sisters, she gets nervous. Will she be homesick? Will they think she's a baby?

"Weird and Wild Animal Facts" by Jessica Loy

Fantastic pictures and weird facts about all kinds of animals

"Extreme Illusions 2" by Gianni Sarcone

Crazy optical illusions to trick your brain.

Andrea's Best of 2014 Middle Grade Fiction

Every year I have the joy and privilege of going into local schools and sharing my favorite books with fourth and fifth grade students. I read lots of middle grade fiction year-round, but only the top twenty or so make it into the final cut. A few of the books are general crowd pleasers, there are several interesting non-fiction titles, some graphics, and hopefully there are some amazing books that I know most students would pass up because of the cover or subject matter. I am excited to present you with this year's list! Click on the titles to reserve a copy of a book.

Non Fiction

“A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin” by Jen Bryant--Horace Pippin was the grandson of a slave who loved to paint. When he went off to fight in WW1, he was permanently injured in his painting arm. Slowly he retaught himself to paint by holding his weak wrist with his strong hand. He painted from what he saw in life, and one day the famous painter N.C. Wyeth arranged for him to have an art show and Horace became famous.

“Deadly! The Truth About the Most Dangerous Creatures On Earth” by Nicola Davies—This book covers all the horrific ways that animals and bugs kill.

“Octopuses” by Melissa Gish—There are many animals books released all the time, but I find the mysterious and weird octopus to be particularly fascinating, so I included this lovely new volume that shows the different types of octopuses, where they live, and all their brilliant and quirky behaviors.

“Ouch!” by Joe Rhatigan—Have you ever wondered why your bruises turn green? Or what makes pink eye pink? Look no further than Joe Rhatigan’s compendium of medical pain, “Ouch!: The weird and wild ways your body deals with agonizing aches, ferocious fevers, lousy lumps, crummy colds, bothersome bites, breaks, bruises and burns and makes them feel better!” Packed full of useful and humorous pictures, this book will get you up to speed on the causes and treatment of all normal forms of illness and accident.

“The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups” by David Wisniewski—An oldie but goodie, this book contains all the truth in life that you never knew! If it doesn’t make you laugh, there’s something wrong with you!

“Wild Boy” by Mary Losure—In 1797, a young boy was discovered in the woods of France, completely naked and living off what he could forage. He was taken captive a few times, but always managed to escape. Until one day he was escorted to a school where a Doctor tried to teach him how to speak. He became a sensation, and people came from all over to see the “Savage of Aveyron,” as he was called. He never learned how to talk, but he did communicate and become partly civilized. The doctor’s accounts of his teaching methods changed the face of education for special needs children and inspired Maria Montessori, who came up with her now popular method of education.

A Touch of Magic

“A Tangle of Knots” by Lisa Graff—From a seemingly impossible tangle of unrelated characters comes a wonderful and mysterious adventure surrounding the “Lost Luggage Emporium” There’s Cady, an orphan looking for a forever family who has a Talent for baking everyone’s perfect cake, “V,” who is recovering from a stroke and can’t communicate, rebellious Zane with a Talent for spitting, an archeologist knitter, a man who’s a chameleon, and a Talent thief. 

“Flora & Ulysses” by Kate DiCamillo—This book is almost indescribable. It starts with girl and ends with a squirrel. Somewhere in between are super-heroes, arch-villains, trolls, a giant donut, poetry, and maybe even some new friends. For a fuller review, go here.

“The Desperate Adventures of Zeno& Alya” by Jane Kelley—Zeno is a proud African Grey Parrot. Alya is an eleven year old girl living in Brooklyn. They don’t yet know that they need each other. Not until Zeno realizes that he is alone, and Alya realized that she has forgotten how to try. Both parrot and girl have to change in order to survive, and the journey is harrowing. One fights capture and nature, the other fights cancer. Will they survive? Will they ever be together?

Science Fiction

“Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” by Chris Grabenstein—A brand new library becomes a giant technological puzzle that a group of 12-year olds have to solve before they can leave. See if you can figure out the mystery before the contestants!

“The Water Castle” by Megan Frazer Blakemore—After his father suffers a debilitating stroke, Ephraim Appledore-Smith’s family relocates to the old family estate in Maine for his recovery. The old house, called the Water Castle by the locals, has been looked after by the Green family for as long as it’s been around, but Mallory, the youngest Green, is tired of hearing the old myths surrounding the house about the Fountain of Youth. Only there really is something strange about the town, as Ephraim soon finds out. Desirous of standing out from his athletic older brother and brilliant little sister, he hopes that Crystal Springs will be a chance for him to stand out. Only it turns out the everyone in town is extra-athletic and extra-smart. On top of that, classmate Will Wylie has a century-long grudge against Ephraim that he just doesn’t understand. Through a class assignment about explorers, the three kids with no reason to be friends begin a reluctant adventure to figure out exactly what happened at the Water Castle that makes the land so different.

Realistic Fiction

“Anna Was Here” by Jane Kurtz—Anna has a contingency for every emergency. She is the founding member of the Safety Club, after all. So when her Dad informs her that her family will be leaving their Colorado town for Kansas, Anna is understandably upset. After all, she knows everything in her town, and Kansas has tornadoes! Before even arriving, Anna decides that she is not going to like anything about her dad’s hometown. She even sleeps in her sleeping bag so that she won’t get used to her new bed. But there are a lot of strange relatives to meet, and secrets to find out, and emergencies to face head on until Anna finds that maybe a contingency plan is not always what’s needed in life.

“Counting by 7’s” by Holly Goldberg Sloan—Willow Chance is odd. She loves to garden. As in, she’s an expert horticulturalist. She finds comfort counting by sevens. She’s African-American and her parents are Caucasian. And she’s only ever had one friend. So when she starts middle school, she picks out her favorite gardening outfit and hopes that her chances of making a friend will be better. Life gets even more challenging when tragedy strikes, and it takes a strange mix of characters to put Willow’s life back together again and help her to understand others.

“The Boy On the Porch” by Sharon Creech—Marta and John’s lives change on the day they find the boy curled up sleeping on their porch. When he finally wakes, the boy says nothing, but hands them a note that says, “Plees tak kair of Jacob. He is a good boy. Wil be bak wen we can.” Not knowing when that is, Marta and John keep the boy hesitantly, letting him run free on their farm and quietly questioning people in town to find out if there’s a missing boy. Month eventually go by with no one coming for Jacob, and they all decided to start looking for where he came from. What happens next, no one is expecting, especially not Marta and John. This is not a story for someone looking for excitement, but lots of heart and maybe just a little bit of magic.

“The Thing About Luck” by Cynthia Kadohata—Summer is nervous that all of her classmates will experience “the big change” while she’s away working the wheat harvest with her grandparents. After her parents leave to take care of her great-grandparents in Japan, Summer and her brother Jaz have to travel around the country with their grandparents. Jiichan drives a combine and Obaachan cooks for the harvest crew. But Obaachan has terrible back pain, which means that Summer is the one cooking and making sure that her little brother, Jaz, doesn’t hurt himself or destroy anything in his angry moments. As she worries about catching malaria again, what it would be like to kiss the foreman’s son Robbie, and the mysterious mortgage that keeps them all working so hard, Summer begins to learn what it means to grow up.

Historic Fiction

“Bluffton” by Matt Phelan—What would it be like if an elephant, a zebra, and a whole host of entertainers moved to your town for the summer. What if one of the entertainers was the brilliantly comic Buster Keaton? You no longer have to wonder, because Matt Phelan has created the gorgeously illustrated graphic novel,"Bluffton", about young Buster Keaton's summers in Michigan.

“Navigating Early” by Claire Vanderpool— After his mom suddenly dies, thirteen-year-old Jack moves from Kansas to a Maine boarding school. There he meets Early, a boy with no parents and a love for math. Together they set out on a journey to track down a legendary bear on the Appalachian Trail, running into pirates, a volcano, and lumberjacks on the way.

“Sugar” by Jewell Parker Rhodes—10-year-old sugar wants to leave River Road plantation. Her mother has died and she is no longer a slave now that the Civil War is over; but Sugar holds out hope that the Daddy she doesn't remember will some day return for her. Unfortunately, her best friend Elizabeth moves north, leaving her the only child left on the sugar plantation besides Billy, the owner’s son. And they have been forbidden to play together. One day, Sugar hears rumors of men from China coming to work in the cane fields. The former slaves are afraid of their jobs being taken away, but Sugar is curious about the new men and where they have come from. Always getting into mischief and wanting to play, Sugar becomes a part of change in her community.

“The Birchbark House” by Louise Erdrich—Omakayas lives in a birchbark house on an island on Lake Superior with her voyageur father, mother, beautiful older sister, and two baby brothers. In the spring, her family moves from the village to live on the shore in a birch bark house. Omakayas’ job is to look after her pesky little brother, scrape hides, and chase crows away from the family corn. Somehow she can’t seem to stay out of trouble. One winter, the entire village is stricken with smallpox, and Omakayas is the only one of her family to not fall ill. It is only then that she learns the truth of who she is through a woman in her village. If you like it, you can read the rest of the series!

Fantasy

“Fortunately, the Milk” by Neil Gaiman—In a short illustrated story that is fun for the whole family, a father goes on an unlikely adventure fetching milk from the corner store.

“The Real Boy” by Anne Ursu—Oscar is the magician’s hand, or helper, on the magical island of Aletheia, where magic keeps everyone safe. Wolf, the magician’s apprentice, runs the magic shop and pesters Oscar in his free time, while Oscar is happy to stay in his herb closet, away from people who are mystifying to him. Until one day when Wolf leaves Oscar in charge of the shop and everything starts to fall apart, including people. With the help of the healer’s apprentice, Callie, and the baker, Oscar is left to piece together the true history of Aletheia that everyone is trying to forget.

“The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp” by Kathi Appelt—A boy missing his grandfather, a group of marauding feral hogs, an unusual patch of sugarcane, an alligator wrestler, a greedy man and two raccoons to watch over it all come together in this unusual and very Southern Sasquatch tale. In order to save their swamp, twelve-year-old Audie and two young raccoons have to use their ingenuity and courage, overcoming mean critters both animal and human.

“The Twistrose Key” by Tone Almhjell—There is a world where all loved pets go to when they die. It’s called Sylvaros, and every once in awhile, Sylvaros is in danger. When that danger comes, a Twistrose, or a brave child, is called into their world to rescue them. When Lin loses her pet vole Rufus, she knows none of these things until a key is delivered to her house. Not knowing where the lock that fits the key resides, Lin heads to the always-locked basement of her rented house first off. Down the stairs she finds strange things, but the strangest of all is the rose bush that becomes a portal to a snowy world. There she discovers her lost pet, a magical world, and a boy of ice who needs rescuing. And it’s up to her to find him before the day ends.

“Rump” by Liesl Shurtliff—Rump takes his unfortunate name and tries to fix the disaster he caused by spinning straw into gold. For a full review, go here.










I hope that you found something you liked! For more suggestions, visit your local branch.

--Andrea W., H.Q.