Book picks similar to
26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola
childrens
biography
newbery-honor
newbery
Moon Over Manifest
Clare Vanderpool - 2010
I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.
Knights of the Kitchen Table
Jon Scieszka - 1991
Fred plays tag and wields a baseball bat. Sam cleverly politicks. Joseph Arthur tricks with cards. But Merlin has "The Book" to get home.
Seabird
Holling Clancy Holling - 1948
A 1949 Newbery Honor Book The history of America at sea is presented through the travels of Seabird, a carved ivory gull.
The Swiss Family Robinson
Johann David Wyss - 1812
But things do not turn out as they had expected. The sole survivors of a terrible shipwreck, they wash ashore to learn that the danger has only begun. Their new world will test their courage, cleverness, endurance, and faith as they struggle to survive and create a civilization of their own in the wilderness. Note: This Townsend Library classic has been carefully edited to be more accessible to today's students. It includes a brief author's biography and an afterword that provides important context about the work.
One Crazy Summer
Rita Williams-Garcia - 2010
In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.In a humorous and breakout book by Williams-Garcia, the Penderwicks meet the Black Panthers.
Daughter of the Mountains
Louise S. Rankin - 1948
And her dream is realized when a trader brings Pempa to her parents' tea house. But after a band of robbers steals the valuable dog and quickly escapes with him into the mountains, Momo is determined to catch them and recover her beloved Pempa. To do so, she must follow the Great Trade Route across the mountains—a path that most people avoid, and which will surely put her life at risk. Momo undertakes a dangerous journey from the mountains of Tibet to the city of Calcutta, in search of her stolen dog Pempa.
Kildee House
Rutherford G. Montgomery - 1949
He was going to be a hermit—a lazy recluse who didn't have to work or think.Now here he was facing a crisis that needed immediate attention. At least that's what he would call the dozens of raccoons and spotted skunks that were now living in and under his home, coming and going as they saw fit.
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32
Joan W. Blos - 1979
So begins the journal of a girl coming of age in nineteenth-century New Hampshire. Catherine records both the hardships of pioneer life and its many triumphs. Even as she struggles with her mother’s death and father’s eventual remarriage, Catherine’s indomitable spirit makes this saga an oftentimes uplifting and joyous one. Quiet yet powerful, this Newbery Medal–winning book is sure to touch all who read it.
Roller Skates
Ruth Sawyer - 1936
But when Lucinda Wyman's parents go overseas on a trip to Italy and leave her behind in the care of Miss Peters and Miss Nettie in New York City, she suddenly gets all the freedom she wants! Lucinda zips around New York on her roller skates, meeting tons of new friends and having new adventures every day. But Lucinda has no idea what new experiences the city will show her.... Some of which will change her life forever.
Inside Out & Back Again
Thanhha Lai - 2011
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food . . . and the strength of her very own family.
Mary On Horseback: Three Mountain Stories
Rosemary Wells - 1998
Instead, she spent her life fording icy streams and climbing untracked mountains to bring medical help to those in need. More nurses on horseback joined Mary . . . and the Frontier Nursing Service was born. Mary's story is amazing. And it is true."Wells's realistic yet poetic prose perfectly captures the dichotomy of the majestic beauty of Appalachia and the harsh realities of mountain life. . . . This one's a gem."--School Library Journal
Across Five Aprils
Irene Hunt - 1964
The Newbery Award winning author of Up a Road Slowly presents the unforgettable story of Jethro Creighton—a brave boy who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War.
The Water Horse
Dick King-Smith - 1990
Kirstie and her brother Angus find the egg and take it home. The next day it has hatched into a tiny greeny-grey creature with a horse's head, warty skin, four flippers and a crocodile's tail. The baby sea monster soon becomes the family pet – but the trouble is, it just doesn't stop growing!