North of Nowhere
By Liz Kessler
229 pages

When Mia's vacation gets replaced by a trip to her Gran's house, she is miserable.  Not only do her grandparents live in a tiny out-of-the way seaside village without cell-phone reception or friends, but she has never gotten on well with her Gran.  Mia is even unhappier when she learns the reason for the emergency visit: Grandad has disappeared.  Escaping her grandmother's grief and her mother's anxiety by taking long walks on the beach with the dog, Mia makes some mysterious discoveries and soon she is keeping secrets, meeting strangers and having adventures of her own.

Also by Liz Kessler in our library,

 

another fast-reading mystery!

Grade 5



This Year's Silver Birch Award Winner!

Making Bombs for Hitler
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
186 pgs

Lida is an 8 year old Ukrainian girl who is captured by the Nazis and separated from her sister Larissa.  As she is taken from everything familiar  and forced to work in a labour camp making bombs for the war, Lida nonetheless sustains the hope that she will one day be reunited with her sister.  A book with diverse appeal to both boys and girls - and this year the Silver Birch readers' choice!



A Long Walk To Water
by Linda Sue Park
128 pg

This short and thought provoking story describes two characters at two different times in history.  In the frame story, set in 2008, eleven year old Nya travels two hours from her village in southern Sudan twice a day to fetch water for her family.  The alternating story is in 1985, of Salva, also eleven years old and a refugee from his town in war-torn Sudan.  A simple but powerful glimpse into the lives of children forced to face famine,  abandonment and hardship.
Grade 5

Hold Fast

by Blue Balliett

320 pages

With the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of her father, Early, her mom and her brother are forced from their home and into a shelter in downtown Chicago. It is only with courage and resourcefulness that Early can help her family to survive when all hope seems lost.

Grade 5. 

 

Three Times Lucky
by Sheila Turnage
324 pages
An often funny murder mystery featuring an orphaned girl whose life is defined by her search for her lost mother.
Grade 5

Walls Within Walls

By Maureen Sherry

349 pages

After their father strikes it rich, the Smithfork kids discover that they don't like their new life: their Fifth Avenue apartment, their nanny, their lack of friends and their new schools.  Everything changes when they discover that their apartment, once owned by a multimillionaire, was designed to be a giant puzzle concealing the family fortune.   The treasure hunt takes them all over New York City, exploring history, poetry, landmarks and architecture along the way.  Grade 5.

Home of the Brave

Katherine Applegate

267 pages

Written by the same author as "The One and Only Ivan," and written in the same understated way, this is a story about Kek, a boy refugee from Africa, who has lost his immediate family and has immigrated to America.  He still holds out hope for the survival of his mother, while trying to cope with the enormous culture shock inherent in the experience of cold weather, the plentifulness of food, and learning a new language.  Grade 5.

Out of My Mind

Sharon M. Draper

295 pages

Melody, an 11 year old girl with Cerebral Palsy, can't talk but is brilliant. She doesn't fit in and gets frustrated because she is more intelligent than anyone her age. With the help of neighbor, Mrs. V., and her aide, Catherine, she finds a computer that allows her to finally speak her mind.  Grade 5.

Wildwood

By Colin Meloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis

541 pages
 

Prue McKeel lives an ordinary life - until the day her baby brother is snatched and carried off by a murder of crows into Wildwood, an "Impassable Wilderness."  Prue and her friend Curtis know they have to rescue him, but they are not prepared for the world they find there.  A fantastical quest journey full of animals; illustrations by Carson Ellis (The Mysterious Benedict Society).  Grade 5.

Inside Out and Back Again

By Thanhha Lai

262 pages

The year is 1975.When war threatens, Hà, her mother, and her three older brothers are forced to flee Vietnam.The refugees travel by overcrowded boat to an uncertain future, leaving behind family, school, friends, home and all that is familiar.This award-winning story, written in free verse, poignantly describes how Hà finds herself again in a brand new place where everything feels alien, where a unfamiliar language is spoken, and where she is regarded as different and strange.  Grade 5.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

Christopher Healy, illustrated by Todd Harris

438 pages

What happens when the four princes of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel get tired of being unknown "Prince Charmings" and unite their forces to claim their own heroic status? The bards will need to rewrite their songs when Princes Liam, Gustav, Frederik and Duncan battle trolls, witches, bandits and dragons to save their kingdom. This fun caper turns the well-known fairy tales on their heads.
Grade 5.