Despite coming from different backgrounds, fifth-graders Jess and Leslie develop a deep friendship. Together they create an imaginary place where they alone rule as king and queen. This Newbery Medal book is told with humor and sensitivity and is filled with the joy of friendship, the pain of losing it, and the hope of healing.
Simone is adopted. She’s always known it, but she’s never wanted to know anything about where she came from. She’s happy with her family just as it is. Then one day, Rivka calls, and Simone learns who her mother was; a 16-year-old, just like Simone. Who is Rivka? What does she want? Why is she calling now, after all these years? The answers lead Simone to deeper feelings of anguish and love than she has ever known and prompt her to question everything she has taken for granted about faith, the afterlife, and what it means to be a daughter.
Kosanovich, M. L., Reed, D. K., & Miller, D. H. (2010). Bringing literacy strategies into content instruction: Professional learning for secondary-level teachers. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on Instruction.
It’s a routine case, or at least as routine as a cases get when you’re a twelve-year-old private detective who’s been sleuthing for just a few months: Steve Brixton must don a neon wetsuit and work undercover to retrieve a stolen surfboard. But when the assignment goes all wrong, Steve finds himself caught inside mysteries involving wild surfers, pirate smugglers, thick-necked goons, and a sixth-grader who can’t find his gym shorts.
