Next week we will be choosing our new books for literature circles. I would like you to examine the following information from
goodreads.com on the book choices to help you make a more informed decision about the book you prefer to read. You will get your first or second choice, so choose wisely.
Island of the Blue Dolphins
In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephants and sea birds abound. Once, Indians also lived on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind. — This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere — to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along.
Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at auction for a bargain price of $225. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master, Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it?
Claudia is determined to find out. Her quest leads her to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.
The Egypt Game
The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they'll have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard behind the A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect sport for the Egypt Game.
Before long there are six Egyptians instead of two. After school and on weekends they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code.
Everyone thinks it's just a game, until strange things begin happening to the players. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?
Wringer
Sometimes he wished it would come after him, chase him, this thing he did not want to be. But the thing never moved. It merely waited. Waited for him to come to it. In Palmer LaRue's homeworn of Waymer, turning ten is the biggest event of a boy's life. It marks the day when a boy is ready to take his place as a wringer in the annual Family Fest. It's an honor and a tradition.
But for Palmer, his tenth birthday is not something to look forward to, but something to dread. Because-- although he can't admit this to anyone -- Palmer does not want to be a wringer. But he can't stop himself from getting older, any more than he can stop tradition.
Then one day, a visitor appears on his windowsill, and Palmer knows that this, more than anything else, is a sign that his time is up. Somehow, he must learn how to stop being afraid and stand up for what he believes in.
Framed
by Frank Cottrell Boyce
A few things to know about Dylan. He is the only boy in his entire town so forget about playing soccer. His best friends are two pet chickens. His family owns the world's only gas station/coffee house. Their pies are to die for, but profits are in the hole. Criminal instinct runs in his family. HIs sister is a mastermind-in-training, and the tax men are after his father for questioning. And one more small thing about nine-year old Dylan. The crime of the century has just fallen into his lat.
With the same easy mix of wit, warmth and wonder that made his debut novel, Millions, an award-winning international bestseller, Frank Cottrell Boyce tells the story who reminds an entire town of the power of art.
