After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee’s life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.

Liz says:

“This is Jerry Spinelli at his best and is a must read for 5th graders.”

Cap lives in isolation with his grandmother, a former hippie; but when she falls from a tree and breaks her hip, Cap is sent to a foster home where he has his first experience in a public school.

Liz says:

“Capricorn (Cap) knows nothing of life outside of the “hippie commune” that only he and his grandmother live in. When his grandmother has to go to the hospital for a broken hip, he goes to stay with an old friend of his grandmother’s and is sent to a local middle school. Cap is totally naive and is easy prey for the other students. In the end, his naivete makes him the most popular kid the school has ever seen! This is a sure winner!”

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.

Liz says:

“Andrew Clements is just an amazing author. He can write about so many different topics but this one is the most amazing and fantastical. Bobby has gone invisible and he is desperate to reappear. His father is a physicist who just can’t seem to help him. One day when Bobby makes a trip to the local library he encounters Alicia who is blind. His invisibility, therefore, is irrelevant. Through their relationship, Bobby learns the true meaning of being invisible. This book sheds a lot of light on how people feel when they are disregarded.”

Alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839 while his father is recovering from an injury, eleven-year-old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of revenge.

Liz says:

“Cynthia DeFelice is a children’s librarian and storyteller and you can tell by the way this is written. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger and kids will love either reading this to themselves or having it read to them. Both a survival and an historical fiction book, it’s one of my all time favorites. However, it is a little frightening so please take that into account.”

As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town’s annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.

Liz says:

“Palmer LeRue is one of those unforgettable characters. He very much wants to fit in with other kids and with his community but also needs to be true to himself. This is a must read!”

When thirteen-year-old San Lee moves to a new town and school for the umpteenth time, he is looking for a way to stand out when his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, gained in his previous school, provides the answer–and the need to quickly become a convincing Zen master.

Liz says:

“San Lee is absolutely hilarious. He causes himself a lot of grief by trying to portray himself as something he is not. In the end, however, he and everyone around him benefits from his charade. This is a fun book that is packed with meaning.”