It’s a new school year, which means a new William Allen White booklist! Scroll down to see this year’s titles and put them on hold.
3rd-5th Grade Master List
Odder / Katherine Applegate
Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself–and about the humans who hope to save her
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Anybody here seen Frenchie? / Leslie Connor
Eleven-year-old Aurora Petrequin’s best friend has never spoken a word to her. In fact, Frenchie Livernois doesn’t talk. Aurora is bouncy, loud and impulsive. Making friends has never come easily. When Frenchie, who is autistic, silently chose Aurora as his person back in third grade, she chose him back. They make a good team, sharing their love of the natural world in coastal Maine. In the woods, Aurora and Frenchie encounter a piebald deer, a rare creature with a coat like a patchwork quilt. Whenever it appears, Aurora feels compelled to follow. At school, Aurora looks out for Frenchie, who has been her classmate until this year. One morning, Frenchie doesn’t make it to his classroom. Aurora feels she’s to blame. The entire town begins to search, and everyone wonders: how is it possible that nobody has seen Frenchie?
Book/ Large Print / Audio / eBook / eAudio
Invisible / Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Can five overlooked kids make one big difference? There’s George: the brain Sara: the loner Dayara: the tough kid Nico: the rich kid And Miguel: the athlete And they’re stuck together when they’re forced to complete their school’s community service hours. Although they’re sure they have nothing in common with one another, some people see them as all the same… just five Spanish-speaking kids. Then they meet someone who truly needs their help, and they must decide whether they are each willing to expose their own secrets to help… or if remaining invisible is the only way to survive middle school.
Manatee summer / Evan Griffith
Peter and his best friend, Tommy, have a goal for their last summer before middle school: finish their Discovery Journal, a catalog of the wildlife around their Florida town. When they spot a manatee in a canal, Peter knows they’ve found something special–and when the manatee is injured by a boat, something to protect! As Peter joins the fight to save Florida manatees, he also finds himself taking care of his ailing grandfather and facing an unwelcome surprise that jeopardizes his friendship with Tommy. Soon Peter is adrift, navigating shifting tides and realizing that he has as much to discover about himself as he does about the world around him.
Wildoak / by C.C. Harrington
Twelve-year-old Maggie’s stutter causes her much heartache and only her menagerie of pets, whom she can speak with fluidly, provide her comfort, but when she finds Rumpus, an abandoned snow leopard, in a forest in Cornwall, their chance encounter will change their lives forever.
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Choosing brave : how Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till sparked the civil rights movement / Angela Joy
A Caldecott-honor winning picture book biography of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son’s death into a call to action for the civil rights movement. Mamie Till-Mobley is the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy who was brutally murdered while visiting the South in 1955. His death became a rallying point for the civil rights movement, but few know that it was his mother who was the catalyst for bringing his name to the forefront of history. In Choosing Brave, Angela Joy and Janelle Washington offer a testament to the power of love, the bond of motherhood, and one woman’s unwavering advocacy for justice. It is a poised, moving work about a woman who refocused her unimaginable grief into action for the greater good. Mamie fearlessly refused to allow America to turn away from what happened to her only child. She turned pain into change that ensured her son’s life mattered. Timely, powerful, and beautifully told, this thorough and moving story has been masterfully crafted to be both comprehensive and suitable for younger readers.
Hummingbird / Natalie Lloyd
Twelve-year-old homeschooled Olive is tired of being seen as “fragile” just because she has osteogenesis imperfecta, otherwise known as brittle bone disease. She is thrilled when she finally convinces her parents to let her attend Macklemore Elementary. Unfotunately, a disastrous first day dashes her hopes of ever fitting in. Then Olive hears whispers about a magical, wish-granting hummingbird that supposedly lives near Macklemore. If she can find the bird and prove herself worthy, the creature will make her most desperate, secret wish come true.
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The sweetest scoop : Ben & Jerry’s ice cream revolution / Lisa Robinson
Chunky Monkey. Cherry Garcia. Phish Food. Truffle Kerfuffle. Chubby Hubby. Legendary ice cream makers Ben & Jerry are behind some of the wackiest, tastiest flavors we all know and love. It all began in 1965 when two groovy guys, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, met when they were twelve years old. Ben liked art, Jerry liked science, and they both loved food… especially ice cream! They eventually started a business together, and with no idea how to actually make ice cream, they kicked it off with teamwork, determination, and an appetite for fun and experimentation. When the doors of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream finally opened in Burlington, Vermont, crowds flocked. But the pair would still have a rocky road ahead-and ambitious, activist goals to fulfill. Chock-full of facts and humor, this entertaining biography about two hardworking partners living their Americone Dream gives readers plenty to chew on. Through their inventiveness, passion, and activism, Ben & Jerry dreamed of making the world a better, more delicious place-one scoop at a time.
