Fifth Grade

The Carrollton Public Library recognizes the fact that every child learns to read and develops as a reader at his/her own unique pace. The following list is very general, and is in no way designed to be prescriptive.

Babbit, Natalie. Tuck everlasting.
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

Babbit, Natalie The search for delicious.
The Prime Minister is compiling a dictionary and when no one at court can agree on the meaning of delicious, the King sends his twelve-year-old messenger to poll the country.

Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan.
The adventures of Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up.

Barron, T. A. The lost years of Merlin.
A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures. First book in The lost years of Merlin series.

Bauer, Marion. On my honor.
When his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.

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Clements, Andrew. The report card.
Fifth-grader Nora Rowley has always hidden the fact that she is a genius from everyone because all she wants is to be normal, but when she comes up with a plan to prove that grades are not important, things begin to get out of control.

Codell, Esme Raji. Vive la Paris.
Fifth-grader Paris learns some lessons about dealing with bullies of all kinds as she wonders how to stop a classmate from beating up her brother at school and as she learns about the Holocaust from her piano teacher, Mrs. Rosen.

Coville, Bruce. Aliens ate my homework.
Rod is surprised when a miniature spaceship lands in his school science project and reveals five tiny aliens, who ask his help in apprehending an interstellar criminal.

Creech, Sharon. Absolutely normal chaos.
Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou grows up considerably during the summer while learning about romance, homesickness, death, and her cousin's search for his biological father.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons go to Birmingham: 1963.
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

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Codell, Esme Raji. Sing a song of tuna fish : hard-to-swallow stories from fifth grade.
Provides fictionalized anecdotes of the author's childhood as a ten-year old living in Chicago.

Farley, Walter. The black stallion.
Pulled to a desert island by a wild black stallion he has freed during a shipwreck at sea, then rescued by a southbound freighter, a seventeen-year-old boy befriends the horse, trains him by night, and rides him to victory in a match race.

George, Jean Craighead. My side of the mountain.
A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.

Going, K.L. The liberation of Gabriel King.
In Georgia during the summer of 1976, Gabriel, a white boy who is being bullied, and Frita, an African American girl who is facing prejudice, decide to overcome their many fears together as they enter fifth grade.

Gutman, Dan. The homework machine.
Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments.

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Hamilton, Virginia. M.C. Higgins, the great.
As a slag heap, the result of strip mining, creeps closer to his house in the Ohio hills, fifteen-year-old M. C. is torn between trying to get his family away and fighting for the home they love.

Juster, Norton. The phantom tollbooth.
A journey through a land where Milo learns the importance of words and numbers provides a cure for his boredom.

Lofting, Hugh. The voyages of Doctor Dolittle.
Presents the story of the good doctor who learned the language of animals and made adventurous voyages.

L'Engle, Madeleine. Meet the Austins.
The life of the Austin family is changed by the arrival of self-centered young Maggy Hamilton, orphaned by the sudden death of her pilot father.

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella enchanted.
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

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Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. The agony of Alice.
Eleven-year-old, motherless Alice decides she needs a gorgeous role model who does everything right; and when placed in homely Mrs. Plotkins's class she is greatly disappointed until she discovers it's what people are inside that counts.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Shiloh.
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.

Park, Linda Sue. Project Mulberry.
While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more.

Rawls, Wilson. Where the red fern grows.
A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters.

Sachar, Louis. There's a boy in the girls bathroom.
An unmanageable, but lovable, eleven-year-old misfit learns to believe in himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit too.

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Staples, Suzanne Fisher. The green dog: a mostly true story.
During the summer before fifth grade, Suzanne, a daydreaming loner who likes to fish and walk through the woods, acquires a canine companion. Based on the author's childhood in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee.
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.

Taylor, Mildred. Roll of thunder, hear my cry.
A black family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.

Wright, Betty Ren. The dollhouse murders.
A dollhouse filled with a ghostly light in the middle of the night and dolls that have moved from where she last left them lead Amy and her retarded sister to unravel the mystery surrounding grisly murders that took place years ago.

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Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - Chronological Sequence of Titles
The magician's nephew. (sixth book published)
When Digory and Polly try to return the wicked witch Jadis to her own world, the magic gets mixed up and they all land in Narnia where they witness Aslan blessing the animals with human speech.
The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. (first book published)
Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
The horse and his boy. (fifth book published)
A boy and a talking horse share an adventurous and dangerous journey to Narnia to warn of invading barbarians.
Prince Caspian. (second book published)
Four children help Prince Caspian and his army of Talking Beasts to free Narnia from evil. Sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
The voyage of the Dawn Treader. (third book published)
Lucy and Edmund, accompanied by their peevish cousin Eustace, sail to the land of Narnia, where Eustace is temporarily transformed into a green dragon because of his selfish behavior and skepticism.
The silver chair. (fourth book published)
Two English children undergo hair-raising adventures as they go on a search and rescue mission for the missing Prince Rilian, who is held captive in the underground kingdom of the Emerald Witch.
The last battle. (seventh book published)
When evil comes to Narnia, Jill and Eustace help fight the great last battle and Aslan leads his people to a glorious new paradise.

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