Book Recommendations 2020

"The One and Only Ivan" has four characters: Ivan, Ruby, Bob, and Stella who live in a mall. Unfortunately Stella died due to her bad leg that she sprained. Ivan is a gorilla, Bob is a dog, and Ruby is an elephant. This is fiction, but based on a true story and is written by Katherine Applegate. This book is truly amazing. A man named George went to see Ivan where he was giving finger prints, so he got one. If you have read this book and want to read more by the same author, Katherine has a lot more books too. There is also "The One and Only Bob," which I am currently reading. These are both very good books. She also wrote Crenshaw, which you may have read before.

A big part of the book is about how Ivan will keep his promise to Stella about keeping Ruby safe. Ivan gets ideas about how to help Ruby. Ivan used art to communicate about the abuse the animals felt every day. When the people saw the signs, they protested and eventually the mall was closed. The animals were taken away to a zoo and they liked their new home. One message this book tells is that speaking up about abuses you see is a good thing.

Review by Alexandra

The Beyonders by Brandon Mull

The Beyonders series by Brandon Mull is definitely something to look at for more advanced readers. This fantasy book is about a kid named Jason who accidentally stumbles into another world called Lyrian. He tries to get home, but after some bad luck he becomes the enemy of the evil emperor called Maldor who has taken over Lyrian. Now, the only way to survive in this world is to try to destroy Maldor, before Maldor destroys him. As Jason and his friends try to get more people to join them, they keep making more enemies. I think that one of the book´s messages is that you become brave by doing what you are scared of, not becoming not scared before you do it. For example, when Jason accidentally came back into his world, he still tries to get back, because he knows that he can´t let the emperor have control over Lyrian, even though Jason might never get back again. I like this series because there is action in almost every chapter, so it never gets boring and you always want to keep reading. I recommend this series for more advanced readers because the books are very long, although they will seem short when you start reading them! Read The Beyonders series for good books that will bring you to the world of Lyrian.

Review by Zahed

The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin

The book “The Next Great Paulie Fink” By Ali Benjamin is a very good book. It is a realistic fiction novel about a kid named Caitlyn. Caitlyn just moved to a new town and she goes to a new school. At her new school, everybody talks about the legendary Paulie Fink. Caitlyn doesn't like it in Mitchell, Vermont because she thinks it looks ugly and she misses her friends. At the Mitchell school, they have a bell called the good day bell. You ring the bell when you had a good day, surprisingly. Some of the kids in her class are Diego, Yumi, Thomas, and Timothy. Diego is amazing at soccer and practices all the time. Caitlyn will be good friends with Diego later on in the book. A month after school starts, they have book buddies or minis as they call them. Caitlyn calls her mini Fuzzy. Fuzzy has a rabbit stuffed animal that she carries everywhere. Paulie is legendary because he was the best class clown ever. He did tons of pranks that everybody loved, even the teacher. Before Caitlyn came to Mitchell, Paulie suddenly disappeared. I hope you read “The Next Great Paulie Fink”.

Review by Reed

Who Was Jackie Robinson? by Gail Herman

“Who Was Jackie Robinson?” was my favorite book in fourth grade because I really like Who Was books, and it’s good to educate yourself about people who made a difference in life. That is why I recommend this book to you.

Jackie Robinson was an African American professional baseball player in the 1900s. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first African American to play in the major league. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I recommend this book to people who like baseball and history.

Wildwood tells the story of Prue Mckeel and how her world gets turned upside down when her baby brother, Mack, gets kidnapped by a murder (flock) of crows. This book is a great adventure novel that straddles the boundary between the ordinary world and the extraordinary world of Wildwood. One of the main themes of the book is showing what would happen if we worked with nature instead of against it. The story is filled with adventure, betrayal, and mystery. Prue and her friend Curtis search for Mack and run into many fantastic creatures along the way.

This book has some things in common with the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. For example there are talking animals and magical boundaries that only the main characters can cross. This book would be best for people who like adventure or fantasy novels. If you like the first book, there are three books in the series, the second book is titled Under Wildwood and the third is called Wildwood Imperium.

Review by Sawyer

Best Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

The book “Best Friends” by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham is a must read if you like graphic novels. Shannan is a starting sixth grader and Shannan’s sure good spot on her friend group is called the group. Jen is the most popular girl in the school, who is mostly Shannan's friend, but she makes all of the rules. She decides what songs and movies are the best and all of the other girls agree. The problem is Shannan has to always keep up and if she does not, she will be left out. She doesn't know who is cool to hang out with, which tv shows to watch, what boys are good to talk with. What will Shannan do? Will she follow the rules or make her own? Read the book “ Best Friends” to find out what happens.

“Best friends” is an important book because it shows people what it feels like to be left out and how it feels bad.

Review by Eliza

The Terrible Two by Barnell, John, and Cornell

My book is called “The Terrible Two” by Mac Barnell, Jory John, and Kevin Cornell. If you have a good sense of humor this is definitely the book for you. This book is about a kid named Miles, who was a very popular prankster at his old school. He had to move to a new place, called Yawnee Valley and it’s known for one thing - cows, and I’m not joking. When he moved into his new school (Yawnee Valley Science and Letters Academy) he decided he wanted to be a popular prankster there too, but the problem is there is already another prankster in that school. Who it is, is still a mystery, but you could figure out by reading the book. Enjoy!!!

Review by Jake S.

My favorite book is "Wings of Fire: Darkness of Dragons" book 10! It is really long, probably the biggest of the Wings of Fire series with 385 pages. It has the most action because the jade winglet Witch is Winter and Umber who ran away with his sister and who killed Carnelian. Sora was in trouble and she killed Bigtail by accident. Moon, Kinkajou, Qibli, Prince Turtle and Carnelian who died in book 6, are also characters in the book. To replace Umber and Cranlein, they got Anemone turtles sister who turned evil in this book because of her amunis magic. But Anemone turned good to fight Darkstalker. This is all in one book. They could not defeat Darkstalker because he was invincible and he had made a spell on paper and they used his magic against him. This is the most action packed book in the world in my opinion. Read the "Wings of Fire" series to learn more.

Review by Nathaniel

I read a really good book called Be Prepared by Vera Brosgil. If you like Raina Telgemeier books, then this will probably be a good choice. It's a comic book that's mostly true, but some stuff is made up. All of Vera’s friends usually go to camp except her, but this year she went to a camp. Vera is a girl who is 9 years old. She feels like she doesn't belong with her friends. Her friends are mean. She doesn’t fit because she's Russian. But now she's gone to a camp with only Russian people! When she was at the camp, she wanted to be friends with the older girls. She finally made it but the older girls were using her! She was all alone until she made friends with the younger girl. Read how Vera made friends and her story.

Review by Michelle

The book “The World According to Humphrey” is written by Betty Birney. This book is a fiction book that takes place in a classroom. In my opinion this book is really funny because it is about all the things a silly hamster does. Humphrey is a hamster that was adopted from a pet store by a substitute teacher named Mrs Mack. This book taught me that animals can always make someone feel happy. Also every chapter ends with a tip about hamsters.

The theme of “The World According To Humphrey” is friendship. Humphrey the hamster and Mrs. Mack are really good friends. Mrs. Mack saved the day for Humphrey because no one was adopting Humphrey, but Mrs. Mack did. Also Mrs. Mack saved Humphrey from being lonely too. Humphrey also helped Mrs. Mack by making sure she was not lonely by entertaining her and making her laugh. Humphrey likes to make people feel better. Humphrey didn't just have a relationship with Mrs. Mack he also has a relationship with lots of other people in the school like Aldo the janitor, Mrs. Brisbane his class room teacher, Mrs. Brisbane's husband Burt and the students in Mrs. Brisbane's classroom. One thing that I like about Humphrey is he is really funny. If you're a person that likes humor then I would recommend this book to you.

Review by Jake T.

After Ever After by Jordan Sonneblick

The book “After Ever After” is by Jordan Sonneblick and is definitely a must read for all ages 10 and up who understand that the world outside of their own can be a tough place. You think your life is hard until you hear that you have to have a bone marrow transplant. Think your life is tough now? No. This book is about the adventures of Jeffrey Alper, and his life recovering from leukemia. He and his friend Tad try to help each other out and train each other. In different ways though. Tad tutors Jeffery in math, while Jeffery teaches Tad how to walk again. They have trained each other for weeks now when Tad hears he has leukemia again. His sister Yvonne has to give him some marrow from her bones while Jeff rides fifty laps to raise money for cancer organizations. I would recommend this book because it has a good message to it. It made me thankful for what I have and don’t have. So if you want a book to change the way you think about things read this one!

Review by Teddy

I think that all the fourth graders should read "Guts," especially if you like graphic novels. It is about friendship and how this girl has to go to therapy because she is very afraid of vomit. Even the word makes here feel queasy, so she go to therapy and they take it step by step. Along the way her best friend found out that she was moving to a different town. They were both upset and there was this girl who made fun of what they eat and what they do. A few weeks later though, they became friends with her because she was starting to be nice. As the end of the year came around, the girl who was afraid of vomit got over her fear. Also her new friend had to go to the hospital. Finally the whole class made a poster for her and she felt a whole lot bettor for her surgery.

This book is by Raina Telgemeier. She also has many other books. One of my personal favorites is "Ghost" and it is about this girl who doesn't believe in ghosts. One day she had to move to a different town because her sister is not healthy. When she gets there, she find this guy when she was taking a walk with her sister. The next day they found out that same guy from their walk was their neighbor. They took a walk and found ghosts. At the end, there is a big party for the day of the dead where the ghosts appear. So that is a preview of "Ghost" but there is plenty more to check out.

Review by Izzy

Heidi Heckelbeck Lends a Helping Hand by Wanda Coven

The book "Heidi Heckelbeck Lends a Helping Hand" is a realistic fiction book about a girl named Heidi. In the beginning she helps with small things all around. For example, when they were in class making projects, Heidi helped cleaned up the mess. But at the end she does something that shocks everyone. But if you what to find out what she did, you have to read it. This book is important because Heidi demonstrates kindness and helping. You can make a difference just like Heidi Hechelbeck did!

Review by Isabella