pink numbers = Horn Book Guide rating / red numbers= Follett reading level / green numbers=Lexile

Top Choices
The Real Benedict Arnold by Jim Murphy (Clarion, 2007) 2 / 8.9 / 1240 / Grades 5+
The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin (Roaring Brook, 2010) 1 / 7.3 / 990 / Grades 6-9

Samuel Colt, 1814-1862
Enslow has a new book on Samuel Colt:
The Man Behind the Gun: Samuel Cold and His Revolver (Genius at Work! series) by Edwin Brit Wyckoff (Enslow Elementary, 2010) 4 / 5.9
The new book can replace the only other book published for children:
Sam Colt and His Gun: The Life of the Inventor of the Revolver by Gertrude Hecker Winders (John Day, 1959)

Noah Webster, 1758-1843
There ‘s only one book on Webster available at this time:
Noah Webster: Weaver of Words by Pegi Deitz Shea (Boyds Mills, 2009) 3 / Grades 3-7
The following are out of print or available only in paper or e-formats. Keep them if you have them!
Noah Webster, Master of Words by David R. Collins (Mott Media, 1989) 5.3 / Grades 5-8
What Do You Mean? : A Story About Noah Webster (Creative Minds series) by Jeri Ferris (Carolrhoda, 1988) 5.4 / Grades 3-5
Noah Webster and the First American Dictionary (Library of American Lives and Times series) by Luisanna Fodde Melis (PowerPlus, 2005) Grades 5-8

pink numbers = Horn Book Guide rating / red numbers= Follett reading level / green numbers=Lexile

Grades 4-6
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys (Cornerstones of Freedom, 2nd series) by R. Conrad Stein (Children’s Press, 2003) 7.0 / 920
Ethan Allen (American War Biographies series) by Karen Price Hossell (Heinemann, 2004) 4 / 6.8

====================

Out of print biographies in library collections (consider weeding*):

*Gathering Storm: The Story of the Green Mountain Boys (Milestones in History series) by Clifford Lindsey Alderman (J. Messner, 1970) Held by 8 libraries
Ethan Allen: Revolutionary Hero (Revolutionary War Leaders series) by Virginia Aronson (Chelsea House, 2000) Held by 36 libraries
*Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys (Landmark Books series) by Slater Brown (Random House, 1956) Held by 30 libraries
*Story of the Green Mountain Boys (Cornerstones of Freedom series) by Susan Clinton (Children’s Press, 1987) Held by 30 libraries
Ethan Allen: A Life of Adventure by Michael T. Hahn (New England Press, 1994) 4 / Held by 13 libraries
Ethan Allen: Green Mountain Rebel (Signature Lives series) by Brenda Haugen (Compass Point, 2005) 7.0 / 1050 / Held by 38 libraries
*America’s Ethan Allen by Stewart Hall Holbrook (Houghton Mifflin, 1949) Held by 61 libraries
Ethan Allen: The Green Mountain Boys and Vermont’s Path to Statehood (Library of American Lives and Times series) by Emily Raabe (PowerKids, 2002) Held by 47 libraries
*Ethan Allen, Green Mountain Hero by Sheldon N. Ripley (Houghton Mifflin, 1961) Held by 10 libraries

====================
Last updated December 4, 2011

ALLEN, Ethan, 1738-1789 – a (2001) born in Litchfield
ARNOLD, Benedict, 1741-1801 – a (1956, 1976, 2002, 2007, 2010) born in Norwich
BARLOW, Joel, 1754-1812 – a (x)
BARNUM, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891 - a (1956, 1987, 2009)
BROWN, John, 1799?-1859 – a (1991, 1997, 2009 ) born in Torrington
BURR, Aaron, 1756-1836 – a (1968, 2003, 2004, 2008)
BUSH, George H. W., 1924-  - a (2000)
BUSH, George W., 1946- – a (x) born in New Haven
BUSHNELL, David, 1740-1826 – a (1963, 1991) born in Saybrook
COLT, Samuel, 1814-1862 – a (1959) born in Hartford
CRANDALL, Prudence, 1803-1890 – a (1955, 2001, 2005, 2007) lived in Canterbury
DAVIS, Bette, 1908-1989 – a (x) ?
DePAOLA, Tomie, 1934- – a(1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007) born in Meriden
EDWARDS, Jonathan, 1703-1758 – a (2001) born in East Windsor
FOSTER, Lafayette S. (Lafayette Sabine), 1806-1880 – a (x) born in Franklin
FOX, Michael J., 1961- – a () ?
GALLAUDET, Thomas Hopkins, 1787-1851 – a (1983, 1995) established school for the deaf in Hartford
GOODYEAR, Charles, 1800-1860 – a (x) born in New Haven
HALE, Nathan, 1755-1776 – a (1949, 1965, 2000, 2002, 2004) born in Coventry
HAMILL, Dorothy, 1956-  - a (1979) raised in Greenwich
HEPBURN, Katharine, 1907-2003 – a (x) born in Hartford
IVES, Charles, 1874-1954 – a (2002) born in Danbury
JENNER, Bruce, 1949- – a (x) ?
KISSINGER, Henry, 1923- – a (x) ?
LAND, Edwin Herbert, 1909-1991  - a (x) born in Bridgeport
LETTERMAN, David, 1947-  - a (x) ?
LIEBERMAN, Joseph I., 1942-  - a (x) born in Stamford
LOBO, Rebecca, 1973-  - a (x) born in Hartford
LUCE, Clare Boothe, 1903-1987 - a () ?
LUDINGTON, Sybil, 1761-1839 – a (1985) lived in New York, but made a famous trip to Danbury
McCLINTOCK, Barbara, 1902-1992 – a (2002) born in Hartford
MILLER, Arthur, 1915-2005 – a (x) died in Roxbury
MORGAN, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), Sr., 1837-1913 – a (x) born in Hartford
NADER, Ralph, 1934-  - a (1991) born in Winsted
NEWMAN, Paul, 1925-2008 – a (x) lived in Westport
OLMSTED, Frederick Law, 1822-1903 – a (1994) born in Hartford
POWELL, Adam Clayton, Jr., 1908-1972 – a (x) born in New Haven
PUTNAM, Israel, 1718-1790 – a (1965) lived in Pomfret
ROOSEVELT, Edith, 1861-1948 – a (x) born in Norwich 
SENDAK, Maurice, 1928-  - a () lives in Ridgefield
SHERMAN, Roger, 1721-1793 – a (x) died in New Haven
SIKORSKY, Igor Ivan, 1889-1972 – a (1969) died in Easton
SMITH, Venture, 1729?-1805 – a (1969, 2008) lived in Haddam Neck
SNICKET, Lemony, 1970- [Handler, Daniel] a () ?
SPOCK, Benjamin, 1903-1998 – a (x) born in New Haven
STEVENSON, James, 1929- – a (x) lives somewhere in Connecticut
STEWART, Martha, 1941-  - a (x) lives in Westport
STOWE, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896 – a (1965, 1968, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2003) born in Litchfield, died in Hartford
THUMB, Tom, 1838-1883 [Stratton, Charles] – a (2011) born in Bridgeport
TWAIN, Mark, 1835-1910 – a (1961, 1963, 1978, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011) lived in Hartford
WEBSTER, Noah,  1758-1843 – a (1988) born in West Hartford
WHITNEY, Eli, 1765-1825 – a (x) died in New Haven

pink numbers = Horn Book Guide rating / red numbers= Follett reading level / green numbers=Lexile

The Clear Favorite

Grades 4+
The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous life of Showman P. T. Barnum by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade, 2009) 2 / 980

Recommended by at Least One Source

Grades 5-9
P. T. Barnum: “Every Crowd has a Silver Lining” (Americans: The Spirit of a Nation series) by Thomas Streissguth (Enslow, 2009) 4 / 6.2 /

====================

Out of print biographies in library collections (consider weeding*):

Prince of Humbug: A Life of P. T. Barnum by Catherine M. Andronik (Atheneum, 1994) 3 / 7.1 / Held by 57 libraries
*P. T. Barnum (A See and Read Biography) by Anne Edwards (Putnam’s, 1977) Held by 11 libraries
P. T. Barnum: The World’s Greatest Showman by Alice Mulcahy Fleming (Walker, 1993) 3 / Held by 34 libraries
*P. T. Barnum, Circus Boy (Childhood of Famous Americans series) by Augusta Stevenson (Bobbs-Merrill, 1964) Held by 8 libraries
*Master of Ballyhoo: The Story of P. T. Barnum (Lives to Remember series) by Felix Sutton (Putnam’s, 1968) Held by 28 libraries
The Greatest Showman on Earth: A Biography of P. T. Barnum (People in Focus series) by Ann Tompert (Dillon, 1987) Held by 43 libraries
P. T. Barnum: Genius of the Three-Ring Circus (Historical American Biographies series) by Karen Clements Warrick (Enslow, 2001) 3 / Held by 39 libraries
P. T. Barnum (First Biographies series) by David K. Wright (Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1997) 4 / Held by 24 libraries

====================
Last updated December 4, 2011

pink numbers = Horn Book Guide rating / red numbers= Follett reading level / green numbers=Lexile

Top Choice for Replacement

Grades 5-9
Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature by George Sullivan () 2 / 7.5 / Grades 5-9

====================
Out of print biographies in library collections (consider weeding*):

*The Real Tom Thumb by Helen Reeder Cross (Four Winds, 1980) Held in 42 libraries.
*“Have You Seen Tom Thumb?” by Mabel Leigh Hunt (Frederick A. Stokes, 1942) Held in 20 libraries.

====================
Last updated December 4, 2011

Suggestions from the Listserv* and Linda Williams:

Picture Books:
Berger, Carin. OK Go (Greenwillow, 2009)(9780061576669)
In this almost wordless picture book, car drivers stuck in traffic under smoggy skies seek “greener” alternatives to driving, including riding bicycles, walking, and playing.
Deedy, Carmen Agra. Agatha’s Feather Bed : Not Just Another Wild Goose Story* (Peachtree, 1991)(9781561450084)
When Agatha buys a new feather bed and six angry naked geese show up to get their feathers back, the incident reminds her to think about where things come from.
Erdrich, Louise. Grandmother’s Pigeon* (Hyperion, 1996)(OP)
Passenger pigeon hatchlings, thought to be extinct, are discovered in Grandmother’s room after she departs on a voyage to Greenland.
Formento, Alison. This Tree Counts! (Albert Whitman, 2010)(9780807578902)
Before they begin planting new trees, Mr. Tate tells his students to listen closely as the lone tree behind their school counts out ten ways it serves the needs of different animals.
Franco, Betsy. Pond Circle (Margaret McElderry, 2009)(9781416940210)
In the pond by Anna’s house, a food chain begins with algae, which is eaten by a mayfly nymph, which is eaten by a beetle, which is eaten by a bullfrog…
Kooser, Ted. Bag in the Wind (Candlewick, 2010)(9780763630010)
One cold, spring morning, an ordinary grocery bag begins blowing around a landfill, then as it travels down a road, through a stream, and into a town, it is used in various ways by different people, many of whom do not even notice it.
Lamstein, Sarah. Big Night for Salamanders (Boyds Mills, 2010)(9781932425987)
A boy and his parents go out into the rainy spring night to help salamanders cross a busy road on their annual migration to the vernal pools in which they breed. Includes glossary and facts about the life cycle of the salamander.
Muldrow, Diane. We Planted a Tree (Golden Books, 2010)(9780375864322)Simple text reveals the benefits of planting a single tree, both to those who see it grow and to the world as a whole.
Oldland, Nicholas. Big Bear Hug* (Kids Can Press, 2009)(9781554534647)
Oldland, Nicholas. The Busy Beaver* (Kids Can Press, 2011)(9781554537495)
Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth. Pond Walk (Marshall Cavendish, 2011)(9780761458166)
One summer day, Buddy and his mother take a walk around a pond and observe the animals and insects that live there.

Fiction:

French, S. Terrell. Operation Redwood (Amulet, 2009)(9780810983540)
In northern California, Julian Carter-Li and his friends old and new fight to save a grove of redwoods from an investment company that plans to cut them down.
Harley, Bill. Night of the Spadefoot Toads (Peachtree, 2008)(9781561454594)
When his family moves from Tucson, Arizona to Massachusetts, fifth-grader Ben has a hard time leaving the desert he loves, but when he finds a kindred spirit in his science teacher and ends up trying to help her with some of her problems, he finally begins to feel at home.
Hiaasen, Carl. Flush (Knopf, 2005)(9780375821820)
With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home. TEEN

Nonfiction:

Burns, Loree Griffin. Citizen Scientist : Be a Part of Scientific Discovery in Your Own Backyard* (Henry Holt, 2012)()(2/2012 - 9780805090628) 590.723
Galbraith, Kathryn O. Planting the Wild Garden* (Peachtree, 2011)()(3/2011 – 9781561455638) 581.467

Environmental Book Awards:
National Outdoor Book Award (Categories: Children’s, Nature and the Environment, Natural History Literature, Outdoor Literature, History/Biography, Classics, Design and Artistic Merit, Nature Guidebooks,Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks, and Intsructional)

Other Booklists Online:
Walk by the Water, Wander Through the Meadow by Barbara Wysocki, Curriculum Connections, SLJ 3/16/2010
Green Reading for Students (National Environmental Education Foundation)
Environment and Ecology Booklist (.pdf)(Office of Childhood Development and Early Learning’s SAS Resources and Information, Pennsylvania Department of Education)
The Environmental Change-Makers of Westchester / Los Angeles : Children’s Environmental Booklist (.pdf)

In the final months of World War II fourteen-year-old Alex, worried about the fate of his brother fighting in Europe, falls into the hands of two Nazi spies intent on sabotage.

Down the Rabbit Hole : An Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams. Laura Geringer, 2005.

Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her home town of Echo Falls [fictional town].

Defining Dulcie by Paul Acampora. Dial, 2006.

When sixteen-year-old Dulcie’s father dies, her mother makes a decision to move them to California, where Dulcie makes an equally radical decision to steal her dad’s old truck and head back home [to Connecticut].

Emma and the Night Dogs by Susan Bivin Aller. A. Whitman, 1997.

With the help of her aunt’s special dogs, Emma finds a young boy who is lost in the woods near her house. [Involves the Connecticut Canine Search and Rescue, Inc.]

Lost in the War by Nancy Antle. Dial, 1998.

Twelve-year-old Lisa Grey struggles to cope with a mother whose traumatic experiences as a nurse in Vietnam during the war are still haunting her. [New Haven, Connecticut & Washington, D. C.]

Frozen Summer by Mary Jane Auch. Holt, 1998.

Sequel to: Journey to nowhere. In 1816, twelve-year-old Mem’s new home in the  wilderness of western New York is disrupted when the birth of  another baby sends her mother into “spells” that disconnect  her from reality. [Mem moves from Connecticut to New York. The family plans to return to Connecticut]

Journey to Nowhere by Mary Jane Auch.  Holt, 1997.

In 1815, while traveling by covered wagon to settle in the wilderness of western New York, eleven-year-old Mem experiences a flood and separation from her family. Frontier and pioneer life. [Connecticut to New York, 1815]

A Sudden Change of Family by Mary Jane Auch. Holiday House, 1990.

The sudden and shocking revelation that Katy’s mother was adopted estranges the two of them from the Whitmarsh family and sends them on a search for their “real” family, forcing Katy to adjust to bizarre but intriguing new relatives. [Whitmarsh Point - fictional town]

Windcatcher by Avi. Bradbury, 1991.

While learning to sail during a visit to his grandmother’s at the Connecticut shore, eleven-year-old Tony becomes excited about the rumors of sunken treasure in the area and starts following a couple who seem to be making a mysterious search for something.

Sophia Scrooby Preserved by Martha Bacon. Little, Brown, 1968.

A six-year-old African chieftain’s daughter, sole survivor of her tribe, begins wanderings that take her into slavery in America, into the company of pirates in New Orleans, to fame and fortune in London, and finally to Canada and the only family she’s ever known. From flap copy: “At six she was nameless and the sole survivor of her tribe… by the time she arrived in New Haven aboard a slave ship, she had been given her first name, Pansy.”

Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt. Delacorte, 2010

When Shannon Card, a sixteen-year-old high school honors student, lies about her age to get a job at a Connecticut casino so she can earn money for her college tuition, she becomes involved in a secret poker society and falls deeper into a web of deceit.

Basketball (Or Something Like It) by Nora Raleigh Baskin. HarperCollins, 2005.

Hank, Nathan, Jeremy, and Anabel deal with the realities of middle school basketball, including family pressure, a series of coaches with very different personalities and agendas, and what it means to be a team–and a friend.

About Love by Nora Raleigh Baskin. Candlewick, 2008.

Natalie, almost sixteen, sneaks away from her Connecticut home and takes the bus to Florida, looking for the mother who abandoned her father and her when she was ten years old.

Tim and the Purple Whistle by Julie Forsyth Batchelor. Harcourt, 1955.

“Northtown,” Connecticut.

Thwonk by Joan Bauer. Delacorte, 1995.

A cupid doll comes to life and offers romantic assistance to A.J., a teenage photographer suffering from unrequited love. [Crestport - a fictional town]

Coverup: A Novel by Jay Bennett. Franklin Watts, 1991.

Teenage Brad is tormented by confused memories of a drunken ride with his best friend Alden, during which they may have hit and killed a man. [Elmont - a fictional town]

The Wavering Flame: Connecticut 1776 by Erick Berry. Scribner, 1953.

Historical fiction. From flap copy: “Jason Reeves, a young peddler in Connecticut, comes to Litchfield where he becomes apprenticed to a printer, and learns the trade. It is a fascinating and honorable trade, carrying greeat responsibility… most dramatic scene – the printing by Jason of the Declaration of Independence. We see also the famous melting down of the statue of George II, which actually took place in Litchfield. “

My Name Is Brain/Brian by Jeanne Betancourt. Scholastic, 1993

Although he is helped by his new sixth grade teacher after being diagnosed as dyslexic, Brian still has some problems with school and with people he thought were his friends. [Sharon]

Nick’s Mission by Claire H. Blatchford. Lerner, 1995

Nick, a deaf sixth grader, is upset about having to go to speech therapy over the summer, until he and his dog stumble on some dangerous smugglers and he learns the importance of being able to communicate. (BWI)

Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume. Orchard, 1993

Expelled from boarding school, Charles’ presence at home proves disruptive, especially for sister Rachel, a gifted seventh-grader juggling friendships and school activities. (BWI) [Palfrey's Pond]

Just as Long as We’re Together by Judy Blume. Orchard, 1987

Stephanie’s relationship with her best friend, Rachel, changes during her first year in junior high as she tries to conceal a family problem and meets a new girl from California.

Connecticut Low by Bruce Boehm. Houghton, 1980.

A 14-year-old boy who feels he has been a disappointment to his family proves himself by his heroic action during a great flood in the Connecticut River Valley.

The Mystery Candlestick by Jean Bothwell. Dial, 1970.

Historical fiction. From flap copy: “Pliny Barstow expects the summer of 1775 to be a dull one in Webbs Landing, Connecticut… discovers a strange candlestick containing a secret message that involves him in the spy network of the Colonial underground.”

Goodness and Mercy Jenkins by Bianca Bradbury. Washburn, 1963.

Long River by Joseph Bruchac. Fulcrum, 1995.

Young Hunter, who earlier led the Only People in a battle for survival against the Ancient Ones, has enjoyed a time of peace since the victory that apparently wiped out those ancient enemies. But the peace is about to be broken. One lone Ancient One survived. Now he has forged an alliance with Walking Hill, a wooly mammoth similarly bent on revenge against Young Hunter and the Only People. Once again, Young Hunter must be prepared to go out and hazard his life to save his people. (From “What Do I Read Next?”)

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea. Delacorte October 2010

Seven fifth-graders at Snow Hill School in Connecticut relate how their lives are changed for the better by “rookie teacher” Mr. Terupt.

Attack of the Turtle by Drew Carlson. Eerdmans, 2007.

During the Revolutionary War, fourteen-year-old Nathan joins forces with his older cousin, the inventor David Bushnell, to secretly build the first submarine used in naval warfare.

Stealing Bradford by Melody Carlson. Zonderkidz, 2008.

DJ’s efforts to make sense of Christianity, prayer, and the Bible only seem to make it harder for her to deal with the inability of the girls in her grandmother’s boardinghouse to get along, especially after Taylor begins flirting with Rhiannon’s boyfriend.

Bless This House by Anne Laurel Carter. Penguin, 2002.

When ten-year-old Elizabeth Brightman and her parents move from Connecticut to Nova Scotia in 1762 to farm the land left vacant after the expulsion of the Acadians, she is troubled that their new home looks just like the one in her recurring dream of a house on fire.

A Patriot Lad of Old Connecticut by Russell Gordon Carter. Penn, 1935.

Amistad Rising: A Story of Freedom by Veronica Chambers. Harcourt, 1998.

A fictional account of the 1839 revolt of Africans aboard the slave ship Amistad and the subsequent legal case argued before the Supreme Court in 1841 by former president John Quincy Adams.

Anywhere Else But Here by Bruce Clements. Farrar 1980.

When her father’s printing business goes broke, 13-year-old Molly wants to leave Schenectady, New York, and start over in Connecticut, but matters are complicated by two selfish, conniving people.Single-parent families.

The Bloody Country by James Lincoln Collier. Four Winds 1976.

In the mid-eighteenth century a family moves from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and becomes involved in the property conflict between the two states.

The Clock by James Lincoln Collier. Delacorte 1992.

In 1810 in Connecticut, trapped in a gruelling job in the local textile mill to help pay her father’s debts, fifteen-year-old Annie becomes the victim of the cruel overseer and plots revenge against him.

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier. Simon & Schuster 1984.

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. [A Connecticut farm in the 1770’s]

War Comes to Willy Freeman by James Lincoln Collier. Delacorte 1983.

A free thirteen-year-old black girl in Connecticut is caught up in the horror of the Revolutionary War and the danger of being returned to slavery when her patriot father is killed by the British and her mother disappears.

What Katy Did at School by Susan Coolidge. Roberts Brothers, 1874.

Katy and her sister Clover dread being sent away to boarding school, but discover that being away from home isn’t so bad after all.

Burning Up by Caroline B Cooney. Delacorte 1999.

When a girl she had met at an innercity church is murdered, fifteen-year-old Macey channels her grief into a school project that leads her to uncover prejudice she had not imagined in her grandparents and their wealthy Connecticut community.

Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney. Delacorte, 2007.

The Finches, a Connecticut family, sponsor an African refugee family of four, all of whom have been scarred by the horrors of civil war, and who inadvertently put their benefactors in harm’s way.

If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney. Delacorte, 2009.

Torn apart by tragedies and the publicity they brought, siblings Smithy, Jack, and Madison, aged fourteen to sixteen, tap into their parent’s courage to pull together and protect their brother Tris, nearly three, from further media exploitation and a much more sinister threat.

They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney. Delacorte 2010.

When fifteen-year-old Cathy decides to carpool from Norwalk to tony Greenwich, Connecticut, to study Latin in summer school, she does not expect the shocking events that occured five years earlier to suddenly come flooding back into her relatively settled life.

Groover’s Heart by Carole Crowe. Boyds Mills 2001.

When eleven-year-old Charlotte locates her long-lost uncle, she discovers the truth about her parents’ death and forges a new life for herself.

A Lttle Maid of Old Connecticut by Alice Turner Curtis. Applewood 1997.

In 1776 a young Connecticut girl, unaware that her hat box contains a mysterious package from a Tory prisoner, travels by stagecoach to visit her grandmother.

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh. Scribner, 1954.

An eight-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness, and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.

26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie de Paola. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999.

Children’s author-illustrator Tomie De Paola describes his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy. [Meriden] Also sequels: Here We All Are (2000), On My Way (2001), What a Year (2002), Things Will Never Be the Same (2003), I’m Still Scared (2006), Why? (2007), and For the Duration (2009).

The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1996.

After his family dies of consumption in 1849, twelve-year-old Lucas becomes a doctor’s apprentice. [Southwick]

Liberty Boy by Maxine Drury. McKay 1967.

Hearts of Iron by Kathleen Benner Duble. Margaret McElderry, 2006.

In early 1800s Connecticut, fifteen-year-old Lucy tries to decide whether to marry her childhood friend who unhappily toils at the Mt. Riga iron furnace or the young man from Boston who has come to work in her father’s store.

Freaked by J. T. Dutton. HarperTeen, 2009.

In the mid-1990s, Grateful Dead fan Scotty Loveletter must wade through the privileged world of his East Coast prep school while dealing with his absent mother, a famous sex therapist. OLDER YA.

Magic or Not? by Edward Eager. Harcourt 1999.

When the family moves to Connecticut, twins James and Laura make new friends and begin a series of unusual adventures after discovering an old well that seems to be magic in their backyard.

Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962.

A seven-day book of magic proves to be fractious for five children, who must learn the book’s rules and tame its magic. [Butterfield - fictional town]

Willy: The Little Jeep Who Wanted to Be a Fire Truck by Don Estes. Attic Studio Press 2003.

Willy’s lifelong dream of becoming a fire truck comes true and sends him on a journey from Clinton Corners, New York, to Clinton, Connecticut, and back home. Based on a true story.

The Moffat Museum by Eleanor Estes. Harcourt 1983.

Jane Moffat decides to open a family museum in the barn behind the little grey house at Twelve Ashbellows Place in [fictional] Cranbury, Connecticut.

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes. Harcourt 1969.

The adventures of the four Moffat children before they move away from their big yellow house on New Dollar Street in [fictional] Cranbury, Connecticut.

The Forgotten Flag: Revolutionary Struggle in Connecticut by Frances Y. Evan. White Mane Kids 2003.

In 1779, when British and Hessian troops invade Fairfield, Connecticut, the town militia resists, resulting in a crisis for Ben and Thomas Middleton’s family and their neighbors.

McBroom Tells the Truth by Sid Fleischman. Price Stern Sloan 1998.

After leaving their rocky Connecticut farm to seek their fortunes in the West, Josh McBroom, his wife Melissa, and their eleven redheaded children stop in Iowa where they become the owners of a small but very unusual piece of property.

The Homeschool Liberation League by Lucy Frank.  Dial, 2009.

Thirteen-year-old Katya convinces her parents to try homeschooling her for a month, but while she is finally excited about learning–and about Milo, the violin prodigy who lives nearby–not everything works out as she had hoped.

The Other Half of Me by Emily Franklin. Delacorte, 2007.

Feeling out of place in her athletic family, artistic sixteen-year-old Jenny Fitzgerald, whose biological father was a sperm donor, finds her half sister through the Sibling Donor Registry and contacts her, hoping that this will finally make her feel complete.

Temping Fate by Esther Friesner. Dutton, 2006.

Ilana is temping for the extraordinary Greek mythological goddesses, the Fates, who spin, measure, and cut the life-threads of every human being on the planet. (BWI)

The Secret Diary of Jeb & Abigail: Growing Up in America, 1776-1783 by Jean Fritz. Readers Digest 1976.

Diary of two children describing everyday life on a Connecticut farm in 1776.

The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante.  Bloomsbury, 2008.

When her grandmother takes fourteen-year-old Agnes, her younger brother, and best friend Honey and escapes Mount Blessing, a Connecticut religious commune, Agnes clings to the faith she loves while Honey looks toward a future free of control, cruelty, and preferential treatment.

Hope’s Crossing by Joan E. Goodman. Houghton 1998.

During the Revolutionary War, thirteen-year-old Hope, seized by the band of Tories who attack her Connecticut home, finds herself enslaved in a Tory household on Long Island and uses all her resources to escape from her captors and make her way home.

When JFK Was My Father by Amy Gordon. Houghton 1999.

Feeling neglected by her father in Brazil and her mother in Washington, D.C., Georgia Hughes tries to cope with life at a boarding school in Connecticut by imagining relationships with John Kennedy and Miss Beard, the ghost of the former headmistress of the school.

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein. Random House, 2008.

When eleven-year-old Zack Jennings moves to Connecticut with his father and new stepmother, they must deal with the ghosts left behind by a terrible accident, as well as another kind of ghost from Zack’s past.

The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein. Random House, 2009.

While working at a summer stock theater, eleven-year-old Zack and his stepmother encounter the ghost of one of Connecticut’s most notorious criminals.

The Smoky Corridor by Chris Grabenstein. Random House, August 2010

With the help of his stepmother, his dog Zipper, and new friend Malik, Zack Jennings faces ghosts and zombies at his new middle school, which is said to house a lost Confederate treasure.

Beneath Another Sun by Marjory Hall. Westminster 1970.

When her father joins the Confederates in the Civil  War, a sixteen-year-old girl, her little sister, and mother unwillingly  move from Connecticut to Richmond.

You’ve Been Away All Summer by Sheila Hayes. Dutton 1986.

After a summer spent away in Connecticut,  twelve-year-old Fran looks forward to resuming her usual activities  with her best friend Sarah, but Sarah has a new friend that seems to  claim all her time and attention.

Fourth of July Raid by Wilma Pitchford Hays. Coward-McCann, 1959.

Pemba’s Song : A Ghost Story  by Tonya Hegamin & Marilyn Nelson. Scholastic 2008.

As fifteen-year-old Pemba adjusts to leaving her Brooklyn, New York, home for small-town Connecticut, a Black history researcher helps her understand the paranormal experiences drawing her into the life of a mulatto girl who was once a slave in her house.

The Ten-Speed Babysitter by Alison Cragin Herzig. Dutton 1987.

In a coastal  town in Connecticut, a fourteen-year-old babysitter’s job is filled with  suprises when his employer jets off to the Caribbean for the weekend and  leaves him in charge of a toddler.

The Purple Car : A Novel of Mystery and Adventure by Robert Holland. Frost Hollow Publishers, 1998.

Maria, Peter, and Brian are drawn into a mystery surrounding the 1940 shooting and disappearance of a gangster on the farm they’ve just moved to in Connecticut. Ride for Freedom: The Story of Sybil Ludington by Judy Hominick and Jeanne Spreier. Silver Moon 2001.

In 1777, on a cold and stormy night in the New York Colony, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington makes a dangerous and difficult ride to warn the local militiamen that the British Army is looting and burning nearby Danbury, Connecticut.

Cassandra: Live at Carnegie Hall! by Nancy J. Hopper. Dial 1998.

Moving with her parents and younger sister from Connecticut to her father’s studio in Carnegie Hall during World War II is difficult for thirteen-year-old Cassandra.

New Boy by Julian Houston. Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

As a new sophomore at an exclusive boarding school, a young black man is witness to the persecution of another student with bad acne.

Open Ice by Pat Hughes. Wendy Lamb 2005.

Hockey has been Nick Taglio’s life since he was five years old, so when a massive concussion benches him–possibly for good–everything seems to fall apart, including his schoolwork, his family relationships, his friendships, and his love life.

Five 4ths of July by Pat Hughes. Viking, 2011.

On July 4th, 1777, fourteen-year-old Jake Mallory and his friends are celebrating their new nation’s independence, but over the next four years Jake finds himself in increasingly adventurous circumstances as he battles British forces, barely survives captivity on a prison ship, and finally returns home to Connecticut, war-torn and weary, but hopeful for America’s future.

Through the Lock by Carol Otis Hurst. Houghton 2000.

Etta, a twelve-year-old orphan in nineteenth-century Connecticut, meets a boy living in an abandoned cabin on the New Haven and Northampton Canal and has adventures with him while trying to be reunited with her siblings.

Worlds Afire: The Hartford Circus Fire of 1944 by Paul Janeczko. Candlewick 2004.

In this novel written as a collection of eyewitness poems, the excitement and anticipation of attending the circus on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, turns to horror when a fire engulfs the circus tent, killing nearly 180 people, mostly women and children.

Pocket Change by Kathryn Jensen. Macmillan, 1989.

When her father’s behavior becomes erratic and violent, sixteen-year-old Josie suspects that it may be connected to his wartime experiences in Vietnam. [Groton]

Horrible Harry Goes to Sea! by Suzy Kline. Viking 2001.

The students in Miss Mickle’s third-grade class enjoy a boat trip on the Connecticut River after a class discussion of ancestors reveals that Sidney and Ida both have connections to the sea.

Orp and the Chop Suey Burgers by Suzy Kline. Putnam 1990.

Eleven-year-old Orville enters a cooking contest, which he has high hopes of winning with his recipe for chop suey burgers. [Orp lives in Connecticut]

A Place to Call Home by Jackie French Koller. Atheneum, 1995.

Caring for her two younger siblings after their unreliable mother abandons them, fifteen-year-old Anna discovers the difficulties of trying to be a parent.

Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson. Viking, 1944.

The wild animals living on Rabbit Hill learn that “new folks” are moving into the house that has been empty so long. The animals soon learn the people are kind and are willing to share their garden with the animals.

Horseback on the Boston Post Road, 1704 by Laurie Lawlor. Pocket 2000.

As war with the French and Indians begins in 1704, Madame Sarah Kemble Knight is instructed to bring twin servant girls Hester and Philena on a perilous journey by horse from Boston to New Haven, Connecticut.

An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Farrar 1989.

Polly’s  visit to her grandparents in Connecticut becomes an extraordinary  experience as she encounters old friends and mysterious stangers and  finds herself traveling back in time to play a crucial role in a  prehistoric confrontation.

Blueberry Corners by Lois Lenski. Lippincott 1940.

Flood Friday by Lois Lenski. Lippincott 1956.

We Live in the Country by Lois Lenski. Lippincott, 1960.

Stories of the way of life on four farms where  there are neither cows nor hay: a chicken farm in Connecticut; a cotton  farm in Arkansas; a sheep farm in Texas; and a tree farm in Louisiana.

The Spinner’s Daughter by Amy Littlesugar. Pippin, 1994.

When Elspeth,  a hardworking Puritan girl, receives a cornhusk doll from a Pequot  Indian, her mother fears that Elspeth will become idle.

Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted. Aladdin, 2009.

After thirteen-year-old Cody and his father, an undercover agent, are nearly killed, Cody moves in with his aunt in Connecticut, where he is helped with his adjustment to the trials of attending public school for the first time and investigating a threat in nearby woods by a wounded Iraq War veteran.

Drawing the Ocean  by Carolyn MacCullogh. Roaring Brook, 2006.

A gifted artist, Sadie is determined to fit in at her new school, but her deceased twin brother Ollie keeps appearing to her.

Ferryboat by Betsy & Giulio Maestro. HarperCollins, 1987.

A family crosses a river on a ferryboat and observes how the ferry operates.

Swoon by Nina Malkin. Simon Pulse, 2009.

In rural Connecticut, when seventeen-year-old Dice tries to exorcise a seventeenth-century man who is possessing her cousin Pen, she inadvertently makes him corporeal–and irresistible.

Gianna Mia by Virginia J. Marangell.  Dood, Mead,  1979.

The youngest of the Dellesantos chronicles the lives of the family in their Italian community of New Haven from 1937-1953.

Dawn on the Coast by Ann M. Martin (Baby-Sitters Club). Scholastic, 1989.

Since her parents’ divorce, Dawn lives in Connecticut with her mother while her brother and father are in California, but after a week’s vacation in sunny, healthy southern California, Dawn isn’t sure she wants to return to the East Coast.

My Tiki Girl by Jennifer McMahon. Dutton, 2008.

Fifteen-year-old Maggie, still grieving the loss of her mother in an accident that also gave her a limp, has turned her back on old friends but connects with a new student, Dahlia, who makes her part of her quirky family and plans their future together as roving musicians and lovers.

Junebug by Alice Mead. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1995.

An inquisitive young  boy who lives with his mother and younger sister in a rough housing  project in New Haven, Connecticut, approaches his tenth birthday with a  mixture of anticipation and worry.

Jubilee Journey by Carolyn Meyer. Harcourt, 1997.

Emily Rose has always felt comfortable growing  up in Connecticut with her African American mother and her “French  American” father, but when they spend some time with her  great-grandmother in Texas, Emily Rose learns about her black heritage  and uncovers some new and exciting parts of her own identity.

The Secret of the Sachem’s Tree by F. N. Monjo. Coward McCann, 1972.

The Wadsworth children must abandon their plans for Halloween mischief to help prevent the King’s representative from taking away Connecticut  Colony’s charter.

Jude by Kate Morgenroth. Simon & Schuster, 2004.

Still reeling from his drug-dealing father’s murder, moving in with the wealthy mother he never knew, and transferring to a private school, fifteen-year-old Jude is tricked into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit. [Jude lives in Hartford with his father. After his father is murdered, he moves to West Hartford, where his mother runs for Mayor. The Hartford Courant is mentioned often]

Spy!  by Anna Myers. Walker, 2008.

In 1774, twelve-year-old Jonah becomes a pupil of Nathan Hale, who inspires him to question his beliefs about the impending revolution, and two years later, Jonah makes a decision that leads to Nathan’s execution.

The Beast by Walter Dean Myers. Scholastic, 2003.

A visit to his Harlem neighborhood and the discovery that the girl he loves is using drugs give sixteen-year-old Anthony Witherspoon a new perspective both on his home and on his life at a Connecticut prep school.

The Red Petticoat by Joan E. Palmer. Lothrop, 1969.

In 1777 a thirteen-year-old Connecticut girl gets a chance to help the Revolutionary forces.

Hold Fast to Dreams by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Morrow, 1995.

Twelve-year-old Deirdre, whose passion for photography has earned her the nickname “Camera Dee,” feels uncomfortable being the only black student at her new school. [Wexford - a fictional town]

Abby Carnelia’s One and Only Magical Power by David Pogue Roaring Brook 2010

After eleven-year-old Abby discovers that she has a completely useless magical power, she finds herself at a magic camp where her hope of finding others like herself is realized, but when a select group is taken to a different camp, a sinister plot comes to light.

The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color, 1832 by Ann Rinaldi. Hyperion, 2000.

In 1832, Prudence Crandall begins admitting black girls to her exclusive Connecticut school, scandalizing white society and eventually causing her arrest and the closing of her school.

The Onion Maidens by A. K. Roche. Prentice-Hall, 1968.

The young maidens of colonial Wethersfield,  Connecticut, weeded and wept in the town’s famous onion fields, but they  became the best-known cooks of the region.

The Pumpkin Heads by A. K. Roche. Prentice-Hall, 1968.

In colonial New Haven all men and boys had their hair cut around a special cap–until the day the cutting cap disappeared and a replacement had to be found.

The Fresh Air Kid by Brigette Roux-Lough. Viking, 1990.

Leigh, a  street-smart teenager living in a tenement building in the Bronx, spends  the summer in suburban Connecticut.

The Birds of Killingworth: Based on a Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Robert D. San Souci. Dial, 2002.

When her father persuades their colony to kill all the birds because they are eating the crops, Almira joins the schoolmaster in trying to prove that the birds are both beautiful and useful.

Aurora Means Dawn by Scott R. Sanders. Bradbury, 1989.

After traveling from Connecticut to  Ohio in 1800 to start a new life in the settlement of Aurora, the  Sheldons find that they are the first family to arrive there and realize  that they will be starting a new community by themselves.

Warm as Wool by Scott R. Sanders. Bradbury, 1992.

When Betsy Ward’s family moves to Ohio from Connecticut in 1803, she brings along a sockful of coins to buy sheep so that she can gather wool, spin cloth, and make clothes to keep her children warm.

The Silent Spillbills by Tor Seidler. HarperCollins, 1998.

Thirteen-year-old bird-lover Katerina, plagued by stuttering and lack of self-confidence, stands up to her cantankerous grandfather, head of Farnsworth Aeronautics, to save the unique Connecticut wetland birds which inspired the design of the latest Farnsworth airplane.

Tucker’s Countryside by George Selden. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1969.

The adventures of a city bred cat and mouse when they go to the country in Connecticut to visit their friend, Chester Cricket. Sequel to: The Cricket in Times Square.

Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha. Simon & Schuster, 1992.

Seven-year-old Mark helps his grandmother and other family members run their seaside hot dog stand and then has a surprise at the end of the day. [shoreline]

Blister by Susan Shreve. Scholastic, 2001.

When a family tragedy occurs, ten-year-old Alyssa “Blister” Reed changes schools, moves to an apartment with her depressed mother while her father gets his own place, and tries to believe her grandmother, who tells her she is “elastic” and can handle it all. [New Haven & Meadowville - a fictional town]

Secret of the Three Treasures by Janni Lee Simner. Holiday House, 2006.

While pretending to be the heroine of her father’s adventure novels, Tiernay discovers new friends, buried Revolutionary War treasure, and answers to a long-ago mystery.

The Stratford Devil by Claude Clayton Smith. Walker, 1984.

A fictionalized account of the  struggles of a Puritan settlement and events leading to the historical  hanging of Goody Bassett for witchcraft in Stratford, Connecticut, in  the spring of 1651.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Houghton Mifflin, 1958.

In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling  out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old  woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself  standing trial for witchcraft.

Tory Hole by Louise Hall Tharp. Little, Brown, 1940.

Matty’s War by Caroll Thomas. Smith & Kraus, 1999.

Two cousins share their experiences during the  Civil War, both in the Simsbury, Connecticut, home of one girl, and  through the letters the other writes when she goes, disguised as a boy,  to fight in Virginia.

The Tamarack Tree by Betty Underwood. Houghton Mifflin, 1971.

Community reaction toward a local school for black girls in 1833 makes a fourteen-year-old white orphan re-examine her feelings toward higher education, abolition, blacks, and the meaning of womanhood.

Hannah of Fairfield by Jean Van Leeuwen. Dial, 1999.

In 1779 in Fairfield, Connecticut, Hannah and her family try to maintain a sense of normalcy as the Revolutionary War rages around them, threatening to destroy their way of life. Sequels : Hannah’s Helping Hands (1999)and Hannah’s Winter of Hope (2000).

The Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Atheneum, 1981.

Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity. [Rt. 15 from Rhode Island to Yale, including Hammonasset Beach]

Same Scene, Different Place by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Lippincott, 1969.

A Spanish Harlem girl living on  probation in a wealthy Connecticut town cannot seem to escape the  influence of her old environment.

Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman. Walker Books, October 2010

Eighteen-year-old Emily, whose father is headmaster of a Connecticut boarding school, suffers from nightmares, and when she meets and falls in love with the handsome Del Sugar, pieces of her traumatic past start falling into place.

Jordan Freeman Was My Friend by Richard White. Four Walls, 1994.

Billy, son of  Captain Latham, an American patriot, describes his friendship with a  former slave in the days leading up to and including the British attack  on Fort Griswold.

Switched by Jessica Wollman. Delacorte, 2007.

Laura and Willa, born the same night seventeen years ago on opposite sides of Darien, Connecticut, are both unhappy with their lives and when they discover they look remarkably alike, they decide to try out one another’s lives for four months.

How I Found the Perfect Dress by Maryrose Wood. Berkley Jam, 2008.

Sixteen-year-old half-goddess Morgan is wrapped up in normal concerns, such as junior prom and parental problems, when she learns that Colin, her Irish love, is the victim of a fairy curse and she must make a deal with a leprechaun to save him.

Maizon at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson. Delacorte, 1992.

After winning a scholarship to an academically challenging boarding school, Maizon finds herself one of only five blacks there and wonders if she will ever fit in. [Canton]

Jared’s Blessing by Hildegard Woodward. Scribner, 1942.

When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright. Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Adopted by white parents and sent to an exclusive Connecticut girls’ school where she is the only black student, fourteen-year-old Lahni Schuler feels like an outcast, particularly when her parents separate, but after attending a local church where she hears gospel music for the first time, she finds her voice.

Girls for Breakfast by David Yoo. Delacorte 2005.

As he reflects back on his life in upscale Renfield, Connecticut, on his high school graduation day, Nick Park wonders how much being the only Asian American in school affected his thwarted quest for popularity and a girlfriend. [Renfield - a fictional town]

The Beetle and Me: A Love Story by Karen Romano Young. Greenwillow, 1999

When 15-year-old Daisy Pandolfi falls in love for the first time, the object of her affection is a 1957 purple Volkswagen Beetle slowly rusting away in the icehouse on the family farm. Daisy wants to restore the car, even though her father, uncle, and aunt–experienced mechanics all–tell her it can’t be done. Daisy persists and prevails after six months of obsessive work, but her first drive leads to disaster. Set in a small town along Route 44 in western Connecticut. (author annotation)

Outside In by Karen Romano Young. Greenwillow, 2002

Cherie is the newspaper girl in her Connecticut shoreline town in 1968 — a year in which the news from the outside world is full of turmoil.  How it gets to Cherie, and how she saves herself from losing hope, is the subject of this story.

Video by Karen Romano Young. Greenwillow, 1999

A bully of a girl who doesn’t understand the changes in her social circle, a boy flooded with disappointment, a video camera, and a handsome stranger — these elements are woven together in a believable suburban setting (Connecticut) that is immediately recognizable. (author annotation)

This is list is always a list in progress. Please email or call Linda Williams at the Willimantic Library Service Center, 800-253-7944 with corrections, additions, or comments.

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1975)(Guide)
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.
“a wonderful story about a young girl with a touch choice – stay young forever or grow old. It fosters interesting conversation between moms and girls.”

Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer (Scholastic, 2004)(Guide)
When strange and seemingly unrelated events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

Broach, Elise. Masterpiece (Henry Holt, 2008)(Guide)
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.

Connor, Leslie. Crunch (Katherine Tegen, 2010)(Guide)
The oldest Marriss brother, fourteen-year-old Dewey, attempts to be the “embodiment of responsibility” as he juggles the management of the family’s bicycle repair business while sharing the household and farm duties with his siblings after a sudden energy crisis strands their parents far from home.

Connor, Leslie. Waiting for Normal (Katherine Tegen, 2008)(Guide)
Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother’s erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.

Cottrell Boyce, Frank. Cosmic (Walden Pond Press, 2010)(Guide)
Twelve-year-old Liam, who looks like he is thirty and is tired of being treated like he is older than he actually is, decides he is going to pose as the adult chaperone on the first spaceship to take civilians into space, but when he ends up in outer space with a group of kids and no adult supervision, he must think fast to make things right.

Creech, Sharon. Chasing Redbird (HarperCollins, 1997)(Guide)
Thirteen-year-old Zinnia Taylor uncovers family secrets and self truths while clearing a mysterious settler trail that begins on her family’s farm in Kentucky.

Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins, 1994)(Guide)
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother’s route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.lots to discuss about family relations- any girl that age can relate to and Mom’s remember the problems of being that age.

Davies, Jacqueline. The Lemonade War (Houghton Mifflin, 2007)(Guide)
Evan and his younger sister, Jessie, react very differently to the news that they will be in the same class for fourth grade and as the end of summer approaches, they battle it out through lemonade stands, each trying to be the first to earn 100 dollars. Includes mathematical calculations and tips for running a successful lemonade stand.

DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember (Random House, 2003)(Guide)
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Eason, Alethea. Hungry (Eos, 2007)
Deborah develops a crush on her best friend Willy, but she is not happy when her alien parents tell her she must eat him for dinner.

Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner (Douglas & McIntyre, 2001)(Guide)
Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women’s freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father’s arrest.

Ferrari, Michael. Born to Fly (Delacorte, 2009)
In 1942, an eleven-year-old girl who longs to be a pilot and her family try to manage their lives in Rhode Island when the father goes to fight in World War II.

Hale, Shannon. The Goose Girl (Bloomsbury, 2003)(Guide)
On her way to marry a prince she’s never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers.

Hiaasen, Carl. Scat (Knopf, 2009)(Guide)
Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal (Amulet, 2007)(Guide)
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

Law, Ingrid. Savvy (Dial, 2008)(Guide)
Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her “savvy”–a magical power unique to each member of her family–just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

Law, Ingrid. Scumble (Dial, 2010)(Guide)
Mibs’s cousin Ledge is disappointed to discover that his “savvy”–the magical power unique to each member of their family–is to make things fall apart, which endangers his uncle Autry’s ranch and reveals the family secret to future reporter Sarah.

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1962)(Guide)
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg’s father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.

Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown, 2009)(“Event Kit“)
Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.

Mass, Wendy. 11 Birthdays (Scholastic, 2009)
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.

Mass, Wendy. The Candymakers (Little, Brown, 2010)
When four twelve-year-olds, including Logan, who has grown up never leaving his parents’ Life Is Sweet candy factory, compete in the Confectionary Association’s annual contest, they unexpectedly become friends and uncover secrets about themselves during the process.
“great for showing how a story can change when told from different character’s perspectives and it is a bit of a modern-day Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (plus if you do snacks there are lots of yummy ideas!)”

Nelson, O. T. The Girl Who Owned a City (Runestone Press, 1995, c1975)
When a plague sweeps over the earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to rebuild a new way of life.

O’Connor, Barbara. How to Steal a Dog (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007)(Guide)
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother’s calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
“I read [this] with my Mother/Daughter group and they loved it“

Ryan, Pam Munoz. Riding Freedom (Scholastic, 1998)(Guide)
A fictionalized account of Charley (Charlotte) Parkhurst who ran away from an orphanage, posed as a boy, moved to California, and fooled everyone by her appearance.

Schaefer, Laura. The Teashop Girls (Simon & Schuster, 2008)
Fourteen-year-old Annie, along with her two best friends, tries desperately to save her grandmother’s beloved, old-fashioned teashop in Madison, Wisconsin, while she also learns to accept the inevitability of change in life. Includes proverbs, quotations, and brief stories about tea, as well as recipes.

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures (Scholastic, 2007)(Guide)
When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me (Wendy Lamb, 2009)(Guide)
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1970s television game show, “The $20,000 Pyramid,” a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

Stewart, Jennifer J. Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind (Holiday House, 2004)
Twelve-year-old Annie is reluctant to travel to a village in Nepal for her father’s two-month medical mission, but once there she assists at the clinic, makes friends with a local girl, and has adventures that change her life.

Tarshis, Lauren. Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree (Dial, 2007)(Guide)
A quirky and utterly logical seventh-grade girl named Emma-Jean Lazarus discovers some interesting results when she gets involved in the messy everyday problems of her peers.

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Knopf, 1998)(Guide)
Thirteen-year-old Sammy’s penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the “seedy” hotel across the street from the seniors’ building where she is living with her grandmother.

Other Resources: Mother-Daughter Bookclub.com, 10 Great Books for Mother-Daughter Book Clubs, 12 Great Books for Mother-Daughter Book Clubs.

FICTION

Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian
The story of how Vahan Kenderian survived the Turkish massacre of the Armenians in 1915.
ALA, IRA

Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old finds himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a fourteen-year-old African American from Chicago.
ALA, IRA, NCSS

Torn Thread by Anne Isaacs
In an attempt to save his daughter’s life, Eva’s father sends her from Poland to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia where she and her sister survive the war.
ALA, NCSS

Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen
Jeanne, the only member of her family not murdered in the Rwandan genocide, struggles to start a new life without her family while coping with the violent memories that haunt her.
ALA, NCSS

Reaching Out by Francisco Jimenez
Leaving his home in a migrant community, Francisco sets off for college, carrying memories of years of poverty and prejudice.
ALA, NCSS

Muchacho by LouAnne Johnson
Living in a neighborhood of drug dealers and gangs in New Mexico, high school junior Eddie Corazon, a juvenile delinquent-in-training, falls in love with a girl who inspires him to rethink his life and his choices.
ALA, NCSS

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja
Justin spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom the school bullies torment and call Buddha Boy, and ends up making choices that impact Jinsen, himself, and the entire school.
ALA, NCSS

Sold by Patricia McCormick
A novel in vignettes, in which Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old girl from Nepal, is sold into prostitution in India.
ALA, IRA, NCSS

Madapple by Christina Meldrum
A girl who has been brought up in near isolation is thrown into a twisted web of family secrets and religious fundamentalism when her mother dies and she goes to live with relatives she never knew she had.
ALA, NCSS

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
When her village is attacked and burned, Gwyna seeks protection from the bard Myrddin, who uses Gwyna in his plan to transform young Arthur into the heroic King Arthur.
ALA, NCTE

Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
During the 2001 Afghan War, the lives of Najmal, a young refugee from Kunduz, Afghanistan, and Nusrat, an American-Muslim teacher who is awaiting her huband’s return from Mazar-i-Sharif, intersect at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
ALA, IRA, NCSS

A True and Faithful Narrative by Katherine Sturtevant
In London in the 1680s, Meg–now sixteen years old–tries to decide whether to marry either of the two men who court her, taking into account both love and her writing ambitions.
ALA, NCTE

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
Seventeen-year-old Josh, a loner-philosopher who wants to make a difference in the world, tries to maintain his secret identity as the author of a web site that is receiving national attention.
ALA, NCSS

True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it–an occasion to rise to.
ALA, NCSS

NONFICTION

Photo by Brady by Jennifer Armstrong
An account of the Civil War using photographs taken under the direction of Mathew B. Brady, a famous New York photographer of the day, and provides information on the life and times of Brady as well as the Civil War.
ALA, IRA

Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
A photo-illustrated look at the youth organizations Adolf Hitler founded and used to meet his sociopolitical and military ends; includes profiles of individual Hitler Youth members as well as young people who opposed the Nazis, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl.
ALA, NCTE

Muckrakers by Ann Bausum
Contains over fifty archival photographs profiling the men and women who played an instrumental role in exposing the political corruption and corporate greed that existed during the early part of the twentieth century.*
ALA, NCTE

With Courage and Cloth by Ann Bausum
Photographs and text cover the history of how women won the right to vote in the U.S.A.
ALA, NCTE, NCSS

Invisible Allies by Jeanette Farrell
Usually, microbes are equated with disease, but in fact most microbes are actually our allies. Learn how the microbes that are everywhere around us help us to survive every day.
ALA, NSTA

Bound for the North Star by Dennis Brindell Fradin
Twelve true accounts of slaves who escaped to freedom from slavery in the American South before the Civil War.
ALA, NCSS

Understanding the Holy Land by Mitch Frank
A series of questions and answers that seeks to explain the origins and conflict behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, failed attempts at peace, and its significance to the rest of the world.
ALA, NCSS

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
Adapted from former Vice President Al Gore’s adult documentary and book An Inconvenient Truth, this book is a call to action for youth, exposing the reality of global warming.
ALA, NCSS

September 11, 2001 by Wilborn, Hampton
Describes the September 11 attacks in the United States and presents several personal stories of tragedy told by New Yorkers who lived through the collapse of the World Trade Center.
ALA, NCSS

A History of Basketball for Girls and Women by Joanne Lannin
Traces the development of women’s basketball, from its beginnings at Smith College to today’s Women’s National Basketball Association.
ALA, NCSS

Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge
Recounts the three months of protest that took place before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s landmark march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery to promote equal rights and help African-Americans earn the right to vote.
ALA, IRA

Revenge of the Whale by Nathaniel Philbrick
Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship “Essex” by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds. Based on the author’s adult book In the Heart of the Sea.
ALA, NCSS

BIOGRAPHY

Rachel Carson by Ellen Levine
Presents the life and accomplishments of the American biologist, whose influential work, “The Silent Spring,” about the danger of pesticides had a significant impact on the environmental movement of the 1960s.
ALA, NCSS

This Land Was Made for You and Me by Elizabeth Partridge
A biography of Woody Guthrie, a singer who wrote over 3,000 folk songs and ballads as he traveled around the United States, including This Land is Your Land and So Long It’s Been Good to Know Yuh.
ALA (Outstanding Books for the College Bound), NCSS

Bad Boy : A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers
The author tells the story of growing up in Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s. During a time in which he rejected the values of a loving home and community and got into trouble frequently, his love of reading endured.
ALA, NCTE, NCSS