Bibliography

Theme 2: Give It All You've Got

The books listed below may be available through publishers, distributors such as bookstores or online retailers, or library systems.

Recommended Leveled Books for Independent Reading

Below Level

Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Lee & Low 1993 (32p) also paper
Playing baseball in a Japanese internment camp helps keep up a young boy's spirits. Available in Spanish as El beisbol nos salvo.
Multicultural

Home Run by Robert Burleigh
Harcourt 1998 (32p) also paper
The career of one of baseball's greats, Babe Ruth, is told through prose and poetry.

True Heart by Marissa Moss
Harcourt 1999 (32p)
Bee, who has always loved the railroad, finally gets a chance to drive a train.

Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon by Jeannine Atkins
Farrar 1999 (32p)
Young Mary's persistent chipping away at a stone eventually reveals a fossil.

The Big Bike Race by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
Holiday 1995 (90p) also paper
Ernie thinks he must have a new sleek bicycle to enter the big bike race.
Multicultural

Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief
Viking 1999 (32p)
The Native American ballerina tells of her life and career in dance.
Multicultural

* Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest by Steve Jenkins
Houghton 1999 (32p)
Experience what it is like to climb to Earth's highest point.

* The Boy Who Loved to Draw by Barbara Brenner
Houghton 1999 (48p)
Artist Benjamin West was a painter from age seven.
Social Studies

Sisters in Strength by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Holt 2000 (48p)
Profiles of eleven women who made enormous contributions to society .
Multicultural

On the Course with Tiger Woods by Matt Christopher
Little 1998 (128p)
Golf's newest sensation has played the game since age two.
Multicultural

On Level

Play Like a Girl by Sue Macy and Jane Guttesman
Holt 1999 (32p)
Women and girls are playing and breaking records in almost every sport.

Abel's Island by William Steig
Farrar 1976 (128p) also paper
A gentleman mouse must learn to survive in the wild. Available in Spanish as La isla de Abel.

Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns by Wilborn Hampton
Candlewick 1998 (96p)
A cub reporter relates the difficulty of reporting one of the twentieth century's biggest stories.
Social Studies

Darnell Rock Reporting by Walter Dean Myers
Yearling 1996 (135p)
Darnell reluctantly joins the school paper and soon finds himself interested in reporting.
Multicultural

White Water by P. J. Peterson
Yearling 1998 (112p)
Greg must overcome his fear of the rapids to save his father's life.

The Midnight Fox by Betsy Byars
Viking 1968 (134p) paper
Tom does all he can to save a black fox. Available in Spanish as La zorra negra.
Classic

Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris
Hyperion 1996 (128p)
A Native American boy with vision problems wonders if he can ever do well in tribal customs.
Multicultural

* The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill
Houghton 1972 (89p)
When Rufus seeks a way to save on toothpaste, he becomes a millionaire.
Multicultural

Olympic Dream by Matt Christopher
Little 1996 (96p) paper
Doug transforms himself from an overweight video junkie into a self-confident cyclist.

Iditarod Dream by Ted Wood
Walker 1996 (48p)
Fifteen-year-old Dusty prepares for the grueling 158-mile Junior Iditarod in Alaska.

Above Level

The Barn by Avi
Camelot 1996 (106p)
Ben is convinced that if he builds a barn his father will recover from a serious illness.

* Ice Story: Shackleton's Lost Expedition by Elizabeth Kimmel
Clarion 1999 (112p)
When his ship is crushed by ice in the Antarctic, Shackleton must save his crew.
Social Studies

The Wild Colorado by Richard Maurer
Crown 1999 (120p)
A seventeen-year-old boy joins Powell on his second expedition into the Grand Canyon.
Social Studies

The Mozart Season by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Scholastic 2000 (256p)
Available again is the delightful story of Allegra's preparation for a violin competition.
Music