Book picks similar to
How I Got a Life and a Dog by Art Corriveau


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When Mischief Came to Town


Katrina Nannestad - 2013
    Her grandmother is stern, the people on the island are strange, and children are supposed to be seen and not heard. But no matter how hard Inge tries to be good, mischief has a way of finding her. Could it be that a bit of mischief is exactly what Grandmother and the people of Bornholm need?

The Skeleton Tree


Iain Lawrence - 2016
    The only survivors are Chris and a boy named Frank, who hates Chris immediately. Chris and Frank have no radio, no flares, no food. Suddenly, they've got to find a way to forage, fish and scavenge supplies from the shore. Chris likes the company of a curious friendly raven more than he likes the prickly Frank. But the boys have to get along if they want to survive. Because as the days get colder, and the salmon migration ends, survival will take more than sheer force of will. There in the wilderness of Kodiak, they discover a bond they didn't expect, and through it, the compassion and teamwork that might truly be the path to rescue.

The Hungry Fox


Kitty Barry - 2014
    He is very, very hungry... He visits different places in search of food... Do you think he will find something to fill his rumbling tummy?

Joe & the Gladiator


Catherine Cookson - 1971
    Then an unlikely friendship with an old rag-and-bone man, Mr. Prodhurst, leads him into the greatest challenge of his life. For Mr. Prodhurst bequeaths his peculiar-looking horse, The Gladiator, to Joe -- with only enough money for a couple of weeks feed!How can Joe possibly look after the horse properly? He is determined to try. Otherwise, The Gladiator will have to be put down...A tense and absorbing tale of one boy's courage and determination to succeed against all the odds.

The Polar Bear Explorers' Club


Alex Bell - 2017
    . .When Stella and three other junior explorers get separated from their expedition can they cross the frozen wilderness and live to tell the tale?

Hero on a Bicycle


Shirley Hughes - 2012
    The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though — and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings — with only a bicycle to help them — do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II.

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl


Stacy McAnulty - 2018
    She doesn't remember it, but it changed her life forever. The zap gave her genius-level math skills, and ever since, Lucy has been homeschooled. Now, at 12 years old, she's technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test — middle school!Lucy's grandma insists: Go to middle school for 1 year. Make 1 friend. Join 1 activity. And read 1 book (that's not a math textbook!). Lucy's not sure what a girl who does calculus homework for fun can possibly learn in 7th grade. She has everything she needs at home, where nobody can make fun of her rigid routines or her superpowered brain. The equation of Lucy's life has already been solved. Unless there's been a miscalculation?A celebration of friendship, Stacy McAnulty's smart and thoughtful middle-grade debut reminds us all to get out of our comfort zones and embrace what makes us different.

When Life Gives You O.J.


Erica S. Perl - 2011
    When her grandfather suggests that Zelly Fried show her parents she's ready for the responsibility of taking care of a dog by making a "practice dog" out of an orange juice jug, Zelly is not entirely sure about the idea.

The Line Tender


Kate Allen - 2019
    If she ever wants to lift the cloud of grief over her family and community, she must complete the research her late mother began. She must follow the sharks.Wherever the sharks led, Lucy Everhart’s marine-biologist mother was sure to follow. In fact, she was on a boat far off the coast of Massachusetts, preparing to swim with a Great White, when she died suddenly. Lucy was eight. Since then Lucy and her father have done OK—thanks in large part to her best friend, Fred, and a few close friends and neighbors. But June of her twelfth summer brings more than the end of school and a heat wave to sleepy Rockport. On one steamy day, the tide brings a Great White—and then another tragedy, cutting short a friendship everyone insists was “meaningful” but no one can tell Lucy what it all meant. To survive the fresh wave of grief, Lucy must grab the line that connects her depressed father, a stubborn fisherman, and a curious old widower to her mother’s unfinished research. If Lucy can find a way to help this unlikely quartet follow the sharks her mother loved, she’ll finally be able to look beyond what she’s lost and toward what’s left to be discovered.

Piddles the Penguin


Otto Fishblanket - 2013
    

Parched


Melanie Crowder - 2013
    She knows which tree roots reach down deep to pools of precious water. But now she must learn how to keep herself and her dogs alive. Nandi is the leader of those dogs. She knows they can’t last long without water—and she knows, too, that a boy is coming; a boy with the water song inside him.Musa is that boy. His talent for finding water got him kidnapped by brutal men, yet he's escaped, running away across the thirsty land that nearly claims his life. And so Sarel, Musa, and the dogs come together in what might be their last hope of survival.

Zero Tolerance


Claudia Mills - 2013
    While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a boy who's known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he's not the person she assumed he would be--and that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as she once thought. Claudia Mills brings another compelling school story to life with Zero Tolerance.

A Kind of Spark


Elle McNicoll - 2020
    Murphy told us about the witch trials that happened centuries ago right here in Juniper, I can't stop thinking about them. Those people weren't magic. They were like me. Different like me.I'm autistic. I see things that others do not. I hear sounds that they can ignore. And sometimes I feel things all at once. I think about the witches, with no one to speak for them. Not everyone in our small town understands. But if I keep trying, maybe someone will. I won't let the witches be forgotten. Because there is more to their story. Just like there is more to mine.

Beyond the Bright Sea


Lauren Wolk - 2017
    Abandoned and set adrift on a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar.Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn't until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, a chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger.

The Girl Who Thought She Was a Dog: World Book Day 2018


Clare Balding - 2018
    They do everything together, from curling up in their basket to playing fetch in the park. Twiglet understands Fennel like no one else, especially her life-long dream of winning Crufts. There's just one problem: Fennel isn't a dog. And a girl can't win a competition for dogs, no matter how much she acts like one.Can she?