Book List for Grades 4th - 7th

Yesterday was Homeschool Play at the Park day, as I sat chatting with a mom she said she was  having a hard time finding books for her daughter, who reads well, but isn't ready for the subject matter in older books.  I told her it is a hard age when you want to be careful about the content but still have it be interesting and challenging.  We try very hard to keep books about black magic, darkness, violence, mature boy/girl relationships or other material we deem sinful out of her reading material.  Dancer and I went through the books she read at that age (her comlpete list of books can be found on her Goodreads link on the right), and picked out a few, the list quickly grew to 81 books, that she really enjoyed.  Her reading leans heavily on historial fiction, the era around Queen Elizabeth,  early America through WWII and animals.  Not all of her books are around those themes but they are some of her favorites.  Since we had them typed up, here they are.

Wenny has Wings - Janet Lee Carey


Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Brink

Matilda Bone - Karen Cushman

Redwall series - Brian Jacques

Ella Enchanted - Gail Levine

The Secret Garden - Frances Burnett

The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

Harry the Poisonous Centipede series - Lynne Banks

Love, Ruby Lavender - Deborah Wiles

Eddie Dicken Trilogy series - Philip Ardagh

The Midwife's Apprentice - Karen Cushman

Exploring the Chicago's World Fair 1893 - Laurie Lawler

Ulysses Moore Series - Pierdomenico Baccalario

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Roald Dahl

Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Giff

A Pebble and a Pen - Joan Donaldson

Rules - Cynthia Lord

Daughter of the Sea - Berlie Doherty

Water Street - Patricia - Giff

Weasel - Cynthia Deflice

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips - Micheal Morpurgo

Mary, Bloody Mary - Carolyn Meyer

The Counterfeit Princess - Jane Thomas

Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme - Joan Blos

The Two Princesses of Bamarre - Gail Lenne

Catherine Called Birdy - Karen Cushman

The Royal Diaries series - Kristiana Gregory

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman - Adrienne Kress

The Doll People - Ann M. Marlin

The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden

Kathleen: The Celtic Knot - Siohban Parkinson

Sheep - Valerie Hobbs

A Long Way From Chicago - Richard Peck

The Runaway Princess - Kate Coombs

There's An Owl in the Shower - Jean Craighead George

Island on Bird Street - Uri Orlev - this movie is good too

Bridge to America - Linda Glaser

Everything on a Waffle - Polly Horvath

An Occassional Cow - Polly Horvath

The Vacation - Polly Horvath

Joey Pigza series - Jack Gantos

The Barn - Avi

Baby Island - Carol Brink

I, Freddy series - Dietlof Reiche

Summer of the Swans - Scott O'Dell

Lady Grace Mysteries series - Grace Cavendish

Girl in a Cage - Jane Yolen

Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit

Peppermints in the Parlor - Barbara Wallace

The Perils of Peppermint - Barbara Wallace

Running Out of Time - Margaret Haddix

Petals in the Ashes - Mary Hooper

Summer of Monkeys - Wilson Rawls

The Mysterious Benedict Society series - Trenton Lee Stewart

Blueberries for the Queen - John Patterson

The Evolution of Culpurnia Tate - Jaqueline Kelly

Mine Eyes Have Seen - Ann Rinaldi

Edith Herself - Ellen Howard

Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech

Puddlejumpers - Mark Jean

Amos Fortune Free Man - Elizabeth Yates

The House of a Million Pets - Ann Hodgman

Ozma of Oz - Frank L. Baum

Chasing Redbird - Sharon Creech

The Egypt Game - Zilpha Snyder

Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage - Susanna Reich

Beowulf: A New Telling - Robert Nye

Bella at Midnight - Diane Stanley

The Dragonfly Pool - Eva Ibbotson

The Witch of Black Bird Pond - Elizabeth Speare

Tales from Shakespeare - Tina Parker

Holes - Louis Sachar - this movie is good as well

Hattie on Her Way - Clara Clark

Hill Hawk Hattie - Clara Clark

Blue Heron - Avi

Our Only May Amelia - Jennifer Holm

I, Coriander - Sally Gardner

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jennison - Lois Lenski