The Strictest School in the World, : Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken

As you can probably tell from the subtitle, this book is a hilarious adventure that most readers will love! Emmaline lives in India in 1894 until her parents feel the time has come to send her to boarding school, and they decide to follow a friend's recommendation and send her to"the strictest school in the world." Emmaline travels to England to live with her Aunt Lucy till school begins, and while she is there, she has time for her favorite pasttime: building flying machines. Although she loves to build the machines following the plans of her great-great uncle, she is too afraid to try flying them herself. The problem is solved by the arrival of a young boy, Rubberbones, who can fall from great heights without getting hurt. They enjoy many attempts at flying until it's time for Emmaline to enter school, which turns out to be more of a prison.
     This book is made even better by illustrations by Bill Slavin. If you enjoy this book, there are others in the series, which I haven't read.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

Minli is a Chinese girl from a poor family, and her mother often complains about being poor and the things they lack. Minli's father, however, seems content and loves to tell Minli folktales and stories. Minli is distressed by her family's plight and embarks on a quest to find good fortune. She is helped by a talking goldfish, a dragon who can't fly, and an orphaned shepherd boy. The story is often interrupted by Chinese folktales which intertwine with the main plot. Although at first I didn't like the main plot interrupted by other stories, I soon realized that each story was a puzzle piece coming together to make a complete picture. Speaking of pictures, this book has beautiful illustrations! I think fifth graders will enjoy this book.

The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt

It is 1967, and Holling Hoodhood knows his 7th grade year at Camillo Jr. High School will be terrible. His teacher, Mrs. Baker, already hates him on the first day!To make things worse, it turns out that on Wednesday afternoon, when the Catholic and Jewish children in his class have religious instruction, Holling is stuck with Mrs. Baker all alone. At first he is given chores to do, but then Mrs. Baker has the brilliant idea that Holling should read Shakespeare! What could be worse?
This book could be very funny: two runaway rats, cream puffs, and a 12 year old boy wearing tights in a community play add humorous moments. It could also be sad: the Vietnam War touches the lives of the Holling's world, along with a runaway hippie sister. I loved this book because of the wonderful example of Mrs. Baker, who showed me that teachers could be strict and loving and go "above and beyond" their classroom requirements, and of course, as a Shakespeare lover, I was happy to see that Shakespeare could speak to a 12 year old boy in 1967.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

     Have you ever watched a movie with a surprise ending and then said,"I want to watch that again!"? When You Reach Me evoked that same reaction in me, and I actually flipped to the beginning of the book and started reading again.
     Miranda is a latch-key child in the late 1970's, and her life begins to change the day her best friend is punched by a stranger on the way home from school. Then she begins to get a series of mysterious notes, asking her to write a letter telling the sender odd things, like where her house key is hidden. The sender also mentions that someone's life is at stake.
     I find books and movies about time travel to be fascinating, and I think readers who like a little bit of mystery and science fiction will like this book also. It won the Newbery medal for 2009, so it's worth checking out! The book makes several references to A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle, and now I also want to go back and re-read this classic book about time travel.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

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The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

This is the third book of the Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart. This series is a favorite among my fifth grade students, probably because of the delightful characters and the non-stop action. The series is about four extremely gifted children who have been recruited by Mr. Benedict to fight the evil Mr. Curtain and his mind-altering machine, The Whisperer.All of the books contain puzzles which must be solved, and the kids combine talents to find their way out of the many difficulties which they face.
In this third book, many of the mysteries of the entire series are solved and loose plot ends are tied up. The children feel like prisoners in Mr. Benedict's house as they hide from Mr. Curtain's villainous Ten Men,but of course, they eventually leave the house and embark on a daring and dangerous adventure.This was actually my least favorite of all the books, but still worth reading. I love Mr. Stewart's writing style and his sense of humor.