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by Doris Buchanan Smith Illustrated by Mike Wimmer

For a young boy, summer means endless days spent with his best friend, Jamie, a bright and clever boy, full of life and mischief. If the two of them aren't picking blackberries, they're wrestling or skipping stones across a creek. Together, these two boys are in constant motion.

The Summer of Riley

by Eve Bunting

Maybe that's one of the reasons people get dogs, to kind of close up the empty places inside them.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

by Eleanor Coerr Illustrated by Ronald Himler

Two-year-old Sadako Sasaki was living in Hiroshima when the atom bomb was dropped. Sadly, ten years later, she was diagnosed with leukemia, also known as "atom bomb disease."

Purge

by Sarah Darer Littman

Janie Ryman hates throwing up. So why does she binge eat and then stick her fingers down her throat several times a day? That's what the doctors and psychiatrists at Golden Slopes hope to help her discover.

On My Honor

by Marion Dane Bauer

"On my honor," Joel says to his father when he promises not to go anywhere except the park. But then Joel challenges his best friend, Tony, to a swimming race in a fast-moving river. Joel knows it's dangerous, but who knew one decision could change his entire life?

Old Yeller

by Fred Gipson

When a novel like Huckleberry Finn, or The Yearling comes along, it defies customary adjectives because of the intensity of the response it evokes in the reader.

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

This classic novel tells the tale of an unusual friendship between two very different men: the mentally challenged and sometimes violent Lennie, and his loyal yet reluctant caretaker George.

Jacob Have I Loved

by Katherine Paterson

Sara Louise Bradshaw is sick and tired of her beautiful twin Caroline. Ever since they were born, Caroline has been the pretty one, the talented one, the better sister.

Good Night, Mr. Tom

by Michelle Magorian

London is poised on the brink of World War 11. Timid, scrawny Willie Beech -- the abused child of a single mother -- is evacuated to the English countryside. At first, he is terrified of everything, of the country sounds and sights, even of Mr. Tom, the gruff, kindly old man who has taken him in.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

December is the time of the annual Ceremony at which each twelve-year-old receives a life assignment determined by the Elders. Jonas watches his friend Fiona named Caretaker of the Old and his cheerful pal Asher labeled the Assistant Director of Recreation.

A Day No Pigs Would Die

by Robert Newton Peck

Out of a rare American tradition, sweet as hay, grounded in the gentle austerities of the Book of Shaker, and in the Universal countryman's acceptance of birth, death, and the hard work of wresting a life from the land comes this haunting novel of a Vermont farm boyhood.

Charlotte's Web

by E. B. White Illustrated by Garth Williams

American prose stylist E.B. White presents one of the best-loved stories of all time. And a heartwarming portrait of one of the best-loved pigs of all time.

Bridge to Terabithia

by Katherine Paterson Illustrated by Donna Diamond

Free Teaching Resource: Bridge to Terabithia Audiobook Lesson

The Big Wave

by Pearl S. Buck

Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wipe out the whole village and Jiya's family, too.

All the Broken Pieces

by Ann Burg

Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by smoke and death, by the brother — and the terrible secret — he left behind.

Where the Red Fern Grows

by Wilson Rawls

Billy Colman roams the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma with his bluetick hound and his precious coonhound pup trying to "tree" the elusive raccoon. In time, the inseparable trio wins the coveted gold cup in the annual coon-hunt contest, captures the wily ghost coon, and bravely fights with a mountain lion.