SSYRA Grades 3-5

Photographer Horace Carpetine is commissioned to do a portrait for society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht; however, the photos evoke both the image and the ghost of the Von Macht's dead daughter, Eleanora, who has returned to seek vengeance on those who killed her. Lexile Level 720

Twelve-year-old Lily, believing she could have prevented the accident that caused her brother's death, has quit speaking leaving everyone to think that she is brain damaged, but in her silence she sees everything, and when sly newcomer Tinny comes to town, Lily suddenly has a lot to talk about--if only she can make herself speak the words. Lexile Level 840

After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Lexile Level 700

Obie the gerbil must fend for herself in a dangerous household, consisting of a dog, three cats, a parrot, and a mouse hidden in the attic, when the Armstrongs go on vacation and instructions for taking care of Obie get lost. Lexile Level 740

Kenny Rabbit tries to save his friend, the dragon, after he is labeled a community nuisance by the simple people of Roundbrook village, who arrange for the creature to be fought by St. George.. Lexile Level 820

Twelve-year-old Gil Goodson competes against thousands of other children at extraordinary puzzles, stunts, and more in hopes of a fresh start for his family, which has been ostracized since his father was falsely accused of embezzling money from Golly Toy and Game Company. Lexile Level 590

Piper McCloud's ability to fly sets her apart from the other kids, so her mother sends her to an exclusive school for children with exceptional abilities, but even there she does not fit in with the other students. Lexile Level 920

When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his eleventh birthday, it brings forth memories from his past, and, with the help of a new friend at school and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are eventually answered. Lexile Level 600

Twelve-year-old Mitch, spending the summer with his grandparents at Bird Lake after his parents' separation, becomes friends with ten-year- old Spencer, who has returned with his family to the lake where his little brother drowned years earlier, and as the boys spend time together and their friendship grows, each of them begins to heal. Lexile Level 740

Piper is sad about leaving her home and friends behind when her father, a Navy aircraft mechanic, is transferred yet again, but with help from her often-annoying sisters and a surprise from their parents, she finds happiness in their new home in Pensacola, Florida. Lexile Level 610

Nick Crandall's new foster parents are both professors who know nothing about sports, and his new teammates feel he is too young to play varsity baseball; but Nick is out to prove that he belongs not only to his team, but to his parents as well. Lexile Level 960

After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again. Lexile Level 650

When Mogo is cast out of his burrow to make room for a new litter, he learns how to survive and as an unlikely friendship with a young baboon blooms, Mogo finds the joy of friendship and love. Lexile Level 480

From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, eleven- year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as "proper Germans" for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history. Lexile Level 820

Eight-year-old Henry and nine- year-old Chin love to read about heroes in popular "penny dreadful" novels, until they both witness real courage while trying to survive the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Lexile Level 510