Jim Trelease Read-a-Loud Handbooks suggested Novels
Mr. Popper's penguins by Atwater, Richard (1938)
Summary: With twelve penguins on his hands as pets, Mr. Popper finds himself unable to continue his occupation as a house painter.
Nothing but the truth : a documentary novel by Avi
Summary: A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.
Poppy (series) by Avi
Summary: Series of stories about Poppy, a deer mouse, her family and the animals of Dimwood Forest.
True confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Summary: As the only passenger, and the only female, on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, thirteen-year-old Charlotte finds herself caught between a murderous captain and a mutinous crew.
Tuck everlasting by Babbitt, Natalie
Summary: The Tuck family is apprehensive when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now know about their own fountain of youth.
Indian in the Cupboard (series) by Banks, Lynne Reid
Summary: A 9 year-old boy who receives a plastic Indian, a cupboard, and a little key is surprised when the Indian comes to life
Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Baum, L. Frank
Summary: After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy must seek out the great wizard in order to return to Kansas.
Tangerine by Bloor, Edward
Summary: Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.
Tales of a fourth grade nothing (series) by Blume, Judy
Summary: Peter finds his demanding two-year-old brother an ever increasing problem.
Caddie Woodlawn by Brink, Carol Ryrie
Summary: The adventures of an eleven-year-old tomboy growing up on the Wisconsin frontier in the mid-nineteenth century.
Secret garden by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Summary: The secret garden is the center of a story about a lonely, willful little girl and how she finds friends, health and happiness.
Midnight fox by Byars, Betsy Cromer
Summary: Tom dislikes spending the summer on his aunt's farm until he discovers a black fox in the forest and tracks her to her den.
Pinballs by Byars, Betsy Cromer
Summary: Three lonely foster children learn to care about themselves and each other.
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Cleary, Beverly
Summary: In letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his problems in coping with his parents' divorce and finding his own place in the world.
Mouse and the motorcycle (series) by Cleary, Beverly
Summary: A reckless young mouse named Ralph makes friends with a boy in room 215 of the Mountain View Inn and discovers the joys of motorcycling.
Ramona the Pest (series) by Cleary, Beverly
Summary: The adventures of the Quimby family featuring Ramona's view of the world.
Week in the woods by Clements, Andrew
Summary: The fifth grade's annual camping trip in the woods tests Mark's survival skills and his ability to relate to a teacher who seems out to get him.
My brother Sam is dead by Collier, James Lincoln
Summary: Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town.
Bud, not Buddy by Curtis, Christopher Paul
Summary: Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father.
Danny the champion of the world by Dahl, Roald
Summary: A young English boy describes his relationship with his father and the special adventure they share together.
James and the giant peach by Dahl, Roald
Summary: A young boy escapes from two wicked aunts and embarks on a series of adventures with six giant insects he meets inside a giant peach.
Because of Winn-Dixie by DiCamillo, Kate
Summary: Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
Twenty-one balloons by Du Bois, William Pene
Summary: The fabulous voyage of Professor William Waterman Sherman as he flies from San Francisco in a balloon and encounters strange and wondrous adventures along the way.
City of Ember by DuPrau, Jeanne
Summary: In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger, to run to new places in her beloved but decaying city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
My side of the mountain by George, Jean Craighead
Summary: The adventures of a young boy as he lives in the wilderness near the Catskill Mountains.
Lily's Crossing by Giff, Patricia Reilly
Summary: During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.
Year of Miss Agnes by Hill, Kirkpatrick
Summary: Ten-year-old Fred, short for Frederika, narrates the story of school and village life among the Athapascans in Alaska during 1948 when Miss Agnes arrived as the new teacher.
Stormbreaker (first book in Alex Rider adventure series, recommend all of them) by Horowitz, Anthony
Summary: After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.
Journey to the river sea by Ibbotson, Eva
Summary: Sent to live in exotic Brazil in 1910, Maia endures many hardships before fulfilling her dream of exploring the Amazon River.
Star of Kazan by Ibbotson, Eva
Summary: After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling in Vienna, inherits jewelry, a woman claiming to be her mother arrives and takes her to live in Germany.
Redwall (series) by Jacques, Brian
Summary: When the peace in ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny, Matthias, a young mouse, believes he must find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior to help.
Lassie come-home by Knight, Eric Mowbray
Summary: A collie undertakes a thousand-mile journey in order to once again meet her former master at the school gate.
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Konigsburg, E. L.
Summary: Twelve-year-old Claudia and her brother run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lion, the witch and the wardrobe ( Chronicles of Narnia series book 2) by Lewis, C. S.
Summary: Four children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
Call of the wild by London, Jack
Summary: The classic adventure story of a dog's savage struggle for survival in the Alaskan wilderness.
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Lord, Bette
Summary: In 1947, a Chinese child comes to Brooklyn, where she starts to feel at home and make friends when she discovers baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Number the stars by Lowry, Lois
Summary: In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
Homer Price by McCloskey, Robert
Summary: Six episodes in the life of Homer Price including one in which he and his pet skunk capture four bandits and another about a doughnut machine on the rampage.
Kensuke's kingdom by Morpurgo, Michael
Summary: When Michael is swept off his family's yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive--until he finds he's not alone.
Scorpions by Myers, Walter Dean
Summary: After reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang the Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he acquires a gun until a tragedy occurs.
Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH by O'Brien, Robert C.
Summary: Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived.
Bridge to Terabithia by Paterson, Katherine
Summary: The life of a boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.
Hatchet (series) by Paulsen, Gary
Summary: After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce.
Mr. Tucket (series) by Paulsen, Gary
Summary: In 1848, while on a wagon train headed for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians.
Woodsong by Paulsen, Gary
Summary: For a rugged outdoor man and his family, life in northern Minnesota is an adventure involving wolves, deer, and sled dogs. Includes an account of the author's first Iditarod, a dogsled race across Alaska.
Day no pigs would die by Peck, Robert Newton
Summary: To a thirteen-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig who cannot produce a litter.
Freak the mighty by Philbrick, W. R.
Summary: At the beginning of eighth grade, learning-disabled Max and his new friend, Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces, they make a powerful team
I was a rat! By Pullman, Philip
Summary: A little boy turns life in London upside down when he appears at the house of a lonely old couple and insists he was a rat.
Where the red fern grows : the story of two dogs and a boy by Rawls, Wilson
Summary: Having finally earned the fifty dollars to buy coonhounds, Billy must now train them in time for a contest.
Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone (series) by Rowling, J. K.
Summary: Rescued from the neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy proves his worth while attending Hogwart School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Holes by Sachar, Louis
Summary: Stanley is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
Sideways stories from Wayside School by Sachar, Louis
Summary: Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.
Finding Buck McHenry by Slote, Alfred
Summary: Eleven-year-old Jason, believing the school custodian Mack Henry to be Buck McHenry, a famous pitcher from the old Negro League, tries to enlist him as a coach for his Little League by revealing his identity to the world.
Bad beginning (Series of unfortunate events series )by Snicket, Lemony
Summary: After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on their wits when a distant relative tries to get their fortune.
Sign of the beaver by Speare, Elizabeth George
Summary: Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in 18th century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
Loser by Spinelli, Jerry
Summary: Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Donald Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.
Maniac Magee : a novel by Spinelli, Jerry
Summary: After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
Land by Taylor, Mildred D.
Summary: Paul-Edward, son of a white plantation owner and a slave mother of African-Indian heritage, follows his dream of owning his own land through hard work and determination.
Let the circle be unbroken by Taylor, Mildred D.
Summary: Four black children growing up in rural Mississippi during the Depression experience racial antagonisms and hard times, but learn from their parents the pride and self-respect they need to survive.
Roll of thunder, hear my cry by Taylor, Mildred D.
Summary: A black family living in the South during the 1930's are faced with prejudice and discrimination which their children don't understand.
Cay by Taylor, Theodore
Summary: Phillip Enright, and the ship's cat are castaways on a barren Caribbean island after their ship is torpedoed during World War II. The book describes the struggle for survival.
Listening for lions by Whelan, Gloria
Summary: Left an orphan after the influenza epidemic in British East Africa in 1918, thirteen-year-old Rachel is tricked into assuming a deceased neighbor's identity to travel to England.
Charlotte's web by White, E. B.
Summary: Wilbur, the pig, is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him.
Stuart Little by White, E. B.
Summary: The adventures of the debonair mouse Stuart Little as he sets out in the world to seek out his dearest friend, a little bird who stayed a few days in his family's garden.
Adam Canfield of the Slash by Winerip, Michael
Summary: While serving as co-editors of their school newspaper, middle-schoolers Adam and Jennifer uncover fraud and corruption in their school and in the city's government.