Books for Independent Reading
VERY EASY
Alice Ramsey's Grand Adventure- by Don Brown
Houghton 1997 (32p)
Twenty-two- year-old Alice Ramsey drove her Maxwell touring car from New York to San Francisco in fifty-nine days, becoming the first woman to drive across America.
- The First Air Voyage in the United States: The Story of Jean-Pierre Blanchard
- by Alexandra Wallner
(Social Studies)
Holiday 1996 (32p)
On his hot-air balloon voyage from Philadelphia to Woodbury, New Jersey, in 1793, balloonist Blanchard carried a letter from President Washington, the first air mail letter in America.
- Nelly Bly's Monkey: His Remarkable Story in His Own Words
- by Joan W. Blos
(Social Studies)
Morrow 1996 (40p)
On Nelly Bly's famous trip around the world in 1889, the daredevil reporter acquired a monkey named McGinty, who tells his version of their trip.
- Aloha, Salty!
- by Gloria Rand
Holt 1996 (32p)
The adventures of Zack and his dog Salty continue when the two run into a severe storm while sailing to Hawaii.
EASY
- Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod
- by Robert Blake
Philomel 1997 (32p)
The Iditarod is seen from the point of view of Akiak, a lead dog who must be left behind when the snow freezes her paw, but who is determined to rejoin her team and finish the race.
- Kayuktuk: An Arctic Quest
- by Brian Heinz
(Multicultural)
Chronicle 1996 (40p)
A young Inupiat boy must cross the icy tundra to prove himself a brave and successful trapper.
- Mae Jemison: Space Scientist
- by Gail Sakurai
(Multicultural)
Childrens 1995 (32p)
Aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992, astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space.
- In Search of the Grand Canyon: Down the Colorado with John Wesley Powell
- by Mary Ann Fraser
(Social Studies)
Holt 1995 (70p)
In 1896, Major John Wesley Powell and his nine-man crew set out to explore the previously uncharted Colorado River, a dangerous journey on which they encountered rapids, whirlpools, and falls.
- Across the Wide Dark Sea: The Mayflower Journey
- by Jean Van Leeuwen
(Social Studies)
Dial 1995 (32p)
Based on records of one the Mayflower's passengers, this story tells of a boy and his father who sailed from England in 1620 for nine storm-filled weeks before arriving at their new home.
AVERAGE
- White Water
- by P. J. Petersen
Simon 1997 (107p)
Greg, reluctantly on a rafting trip with his father, must summon strength he didn't know he had when his father is bitten by a rattlesnake
and it's up to Greg to save him.
- The Healing of Texas Jake
- by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Atheneum 1997 (128p)
Marco and Polo, the cats from Naylor's The Grand Escape, are back with more adventures.
- Erie Canal: Canoeing America's Great Waterway
- by Peter Lourie
Boyds Mills 1997 (48p)
The author describes his 363-mile canoe trip and relates the history of the canal, called the first great technological achievement in the United States when it opened in 1825.
- Over the Top of the World: Explorer Will Steger's Trek Across the Arctic
- by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster
Scholastic 1997 (64p)
In 1994, Stegner was one of a six-member team who made a rigorous journey by dogsled and canoe-sled across the Arctic Ocean, from Siberia to the northern edge of Canada.
- Braving the Frozen Frontier: Women Working in Antarctica
- by Rebecca L. Johnson
Lerner 1996 (112p)
The author focuseson women who work in the dangerous Antarctic, including two seal researchers, a biologist working with penguins, and a school teacher who collects air samples at the edge of an active volcano.
- Dashing Through the Snow: The Story of the Jr. Iditarod
- by Sherry Shahan
Millbrook 1997 (48p)
The author discusses the history and background of the Jr. Iditarod, which trains young mushers in distance racing.
- Up in the Air: The Story of Bessie Coleman
- by Philip S. Hart
(Multicultural)
Carolrhoda 1996 (80p)
Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman pilot, trained in France because no American instructor would teach her, became a famous barnstorming pilot of the 1920s.
- Ships in the Air
- by Lynn Curlee
(Science)
Houghton 1996 (32p)
From its beginnings in 1783 when the Montgolfier brothers launched their hot air balloon, these ships of the air evolved into the zeppelins of World War I and present-day blimps seen at many sporting events.
- Racing a Ghost Ship: The Incredible Journey of Great American 11
- by Rich Wilson
(Social Studies)
Walker 1996 (48p)
When the author and his friend, Bill Biewenga, sailed their trimaran from San Francisco around Cape Horn to Boston in an effort to break the record set in 1853, their adventure was shared via an on-line service with school children around the country.
- The U. S. Space Camp® Book of Astronauts
- by Anne Baird
(Science)
Morrow 1996 (48p)
Featured in the latest of the U. S. Space Camp® books are the American astronauts and the international astronauts who enjoy a new era of cooperation in space exploration.
- Coast to Coast with Alice
- by Patricia Rusch Hyatt
(Social Studies)
Carolrhoda 1995 (72p)
In 1901, Alice Ramsey, determined to be the first woman to drive across the country, sets out in her Maxwell touring car accompanied by her sixteen-year-old friend Minna, who tells their true story.
- Iditarod Dream
- by Ted Wood
Walker 1996 (48p)
Fifteen-year-old Dusty Whittemore and his dogs need intense preparation to race the grueling 158 miles of Alaska's Jr. Iditarod.
CHALLENGING
- The Pearls of Lutra
- by Brian Jacques
Philomel 1997 (408p)
In the latest adventures of Martin the Warrior, the answers to six riddles reveal where the six pink pearls of Lutra are hidden in Redwall Abbey, and Martin must find them before the villain Ublaz does.
- Countdown
- by Ben Mikaelsen
Hyperion 1996 (256p)
In this action adventure, a young junior astronaut and a yound Masai herder, who become reluctant friends during radio communications, come face to face in Senegal when a space mission attempts to end an African drought.
- Red-Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II
- by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
(Multicultural)
Walker 1995 (136p)
Recounts the true story of the Red-Tail Angels, African American pilots trained in the Tuskegee experiment and who won the respect and admiration of their peers, as well as a hundred and fifty Distinguished Flying Crosses and Legions of Merit.
- Science on the Ice: An Antarctic Journal
- by Rebecca L. Johnson
(Science)
Lerner 1995 (128p)
The author journeys to Antarctica to join biologists, who study penguins and seals, and scientists, who seek to discover more about global temperature changes.
Now Out of Print
- Salty Takes Off
- by Gloria Rand
- Fly! A Brief History of Flight Illustrated
- by Barry Moser
- The Bell Reef
- by Sarita Kendall
- Amelia Earhart Takes Off
- by Fern G. Brown
Now Available in Paperback
- Ruth Law Thrills a Nation
- by Don Brown
Houghton
- Jocasta Carr, Movie Star
- by Roy Gerrard
Farrar
- Black Stars in Orbit: NASA's African American Astronauts
- by Kephra Burns and William Miles
Harcourt
- Crazy Weekend
- by Gary Soto
Scholastic
Now Available in Spanish
- The Midnight Horse (Caballa de medianoche)
- by Sid Fleischman