Buttermilk Hill by Ruth White (2004)

When Piper's parents divorce and gradually begin to make new lives for themselves she finds all the changes difficult, but in time she starts to find her own way.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.9 Point Value: 5 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 79372EN

Websites:

Book Questions from Discovery School

Lesson Plans- South Carolina Book Award Program (see pg. 3)

Chicken Boy by Frances Dowell (2005)

Since the death of his mother, Tobin's family and school life have been in disarray, but after he starts raising chickens with his seventh-grade classmate, Henry, everything starts to fall into place.
ATOS Reading Level: 5.1 Point Value: 5 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 88484EN

Websites:

Author's Website

Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2003)

Twelve-year-old Anand is entrusted with a conch shell that possesses mystical powers and sets out on a journey to return the shell to its rightful home many hundreds of miles away.
ATOS Reading Level: 5.4 Point Value: 10 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 73959EN

Websites:

Reading Guide- Simon and Schuster

Lesson Plan- Suzy Red

Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles (2005)

Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.5 Point Value: 6 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 85982EN

Websites:

Lesson Plan- Suzy Red

Gossamer by Lois Lowry (2006)

While learning to bestow dreams, a young dream giver tries to save an eight-year-old boy from the effects of both his abusive past and the nightmares inflicted on him by the frightening Sinisteeds.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.4 Point Value: 4 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 105737EN

Websites:

Audiobook exerpt from Random House

Gregor the Overlander by Susan Collins (2003)

When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving humans, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.8 Point Value: 8 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 71754EN

Websites:

Booktalk- Booktalking Colorado

Teacher Guide- Lousiana Young Reader Award (pdf)

Internet Resources- Suzy Red

WebQuest- Suzanne Collins

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (2006)

Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy rabbit, loves only himself until he is separated from the little girl who adores him and travels across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.4 Point Value: 2 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 102971EN

Websites:

Official Website

Teacher's Guide- Candlewick Press (pdf)

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)

While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.7 Point Value: 8 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 88005EN

Websites:

Booktalk- Random House

Teacher's Guide- Random House- includes Reader's Theatre and cross-curricular activities (pdf)

Internet Resources- Suzy Red

Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broarch (2005)

Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.
ATOS Reading Level: 4 Point Value: 6 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 101237EN

Websites:

Booktalk- Booktalking Colorado

Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff (2005)

Eleven-year-old Meggie Dillon shares her feelings and experiences on the homefront during World War II after her family moves from Rockaway, New York to Willow Run, Michigan.
ATOS Reading Level: 4.2 Point Value: 4 Interest Level: MG Quiz: 100996EN

Websites:

Booktalk from Random House