LibraryAware Fifth Grade Recommended Books

Fifth Grade: Recommended Books

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A royal guide to monster slaying
by Kelley Armstrong

A 12-year-old reluctant heir to the throne finds her fate upended by a tragedy that prompts her training as a Royal Monster Hunter, before a search for a dangerous gryphon leads to an unlikely alliance. By the best-selling author of the Age of Legends series. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations.

Rez dogs
by Joseph Bruchac

When the COVID-19 pandemic starts, Malian, a young Wabanaki girl, is quarantined with her grandparents on the reservation, where she befriends a local dog and learns about her ancestors and how they always survive together. Simultaneous eBook.

Step
by Deborah Ellis

Book Annotation

Frankie & Bug
by Gayle Forman

During the summer of 1987, 10-year-old Bug is stuck with her neighbor Philips nephew, Frankie, a kid shes never met, but they soon find some common ground, learning important lessons about each other and the world. 150,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook.

The next great Paulie Fink
by Ali Benjamin

Led by new student Caitlyn, seventh-graders at a tiny rural school in Vermont create a reality-show inspired competition to determine who will replace the school's legendary class clown, Paulie Fink

Starfish
by Lisa Fipps

A debut novel-in-verse follows the experiences of a girl who tries to change her behavior when she is bullied for her weight, before a swimming hobby, a kind therapist and an accepting new neighbor help her embrace her true self. Simultaneous eBook.

Closer to nowhere
by Ellen Hopkins

Told in two voices, sixth-grade cousins Hannah and Cal learn a lot about family when circumstances throw them together under one roof and Hannah's love of order clashes with Cal's chaotic behavior

Jennifer Chan is not alone
by Tae Keller

When Jennifer Chan, a new girl who believes she can find aliens, goes missing, Mallory Moss sets out to find her and must figure out why Jennifer might have runand face the truth inside herself. Simultaneous eBook.

Lalani of the distant sea
by Erin Entrada Kelly

"Twelve-year-old Lalani Sarita takes on the impossible task of traveling to the legendary Mount Isa, towering on an island to the north. Generations of men and boys have died on the same quest--how can a timid young girl in a tiny boat survive the epic tests of the archipelago?"

Answers in the pages
by David Levithan

When his mother rallies other parents to pull the book hes reading from the district curriculum because it depicts a relationship between two boys, Donovan must speak up and stand out to stop this book from being banned. Simultaneous eBook.

Dragon Pearl
by Yoon Ha Lee

Min, a thirteen-year-old girl with fox-magic, stows away on a battle cruiser and impersonates a cadet in order to solve the mystery of what happened to her older brother in the Thousand World Space Forces

Northwind
by Gary Paulsen

When sickness decimates his fishing village, an orphan named Leif flees north in a cedar canoe, journeying along a brutal but beautiful coastline

Look both ways : a tale told in ten blocks
by Jason Reynolds

A whimsical exploration of the role detours play in life follows a group of students who become so engaged in everyday activities while taking 10 different routes home from school that they fail to notice a school bus that has dropped from the sky. By the award-winning author of Ghost. 200,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations.

Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids
by Cynthia Leitich Smith

A volume of interconnected stories and poems set at a Native American Dance for Mother Earth Powwow celebration in Ann Arbor, Michigan, includes contributions by such new and veteran writers as Joseph Bruchac, Dawn Quigley, and Traci Sorell

The bridge home
by Padma Venkatraman

Four determined homeless children make a life for themselves in Chennai, India

Jukebox
by Nidhi Chanani

"A mysterious jukebox, old vinyl records, and cryptic notes on music history, are Shaheen's only clues to her father's abrupt disappearance. She looks to her cousin, Tannaz, who seems just as perplexed, before they both turn to the jukebox which starts...glowing? Suddenly, the girls are pulled from their era and transported to another time! Keyed to the music on the record, the jukebox sends them through decade after decade of music history, from political marches to landmark concerts. But can they find Shaheen's dad before the music stops?"

Estranged
by Ethan M Aldridge

Enduring lives where their differences render them outcasts, a changeling and a human child must unite when a cruel sorceress ascends the throne, placing the fates of both worlds in their hands. 20,000 first printing. Simultaneous and eBook.

The girl & the Galdurian / : The Girl & the Galdurian
by Tim Probert

"Deep in the heart of the planet Irpa stands the Salty Pig's House of Tonics & Tinctures, home of the wise Pig Wizard and his adopted granddaughter, Bea. As keepers of the Endless Flame, they live a quiet and peaceful life, crafting medicines and potionsfor the people of their once-prosperous world. All that changes one day when, while walking through the woods, Bea meets Cad, a member of the Galdurians, an ancient race thought to be long-extinct. Cad believes that if anyone can help him find his missing people, it's the Pig Wizard. But when the two arrive home, the Pig Wizard is nowhere to be found--all that's left is the Jar of Endless Flame and a mysterious note. Fearing for the Pig Wizard's safety, Bea and Cad set out across Irpa to find him, while danger fights its way out of the shadows and into the light. Will these two unexpected friends find the beloved Pig Wizard and prevent eternal darkness from blanketing their world? Or has Irpa truly seen its last sunrise?"--Provided by publisher

Stargazing
by Jen Wang

Chinese-American student Christine is devastated when her artistic best friend, Moon, falls dangerously ill amid revelations that she has been having visions about celestial beings telling her she does not really belong on Earth. Simultaneous. Illustrations.

Stamped (for kids) : racism, antiracism, and you
by Sonja Cherry-Paul

A chapter-book adaptation of the best-selling introduction to the history of racism and antiracism in America explains where racist ideas came from, how racism impacts today’s world and the approaches of leading change activists. 150,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations.

Escape at 10,000 feet : D.B. Cooper and the missing money
by Tom Sullivan

A minute-by-minute account of the only unsolved airplane hijacking in the United States uses reproductions of FBI files and investigation photographs to chronicle the events surrounding an unidentified extortionist's 1971 hijacking and disappearance

Kakapo rescue : saving the world's strangest parrot
by Sy Montgomery

Traces the efforts of New Zealand's National Kakapo Recovery Team to restore the near-extinct ground-dwelling parrot population, revealing the Kakapo's endearing nature and the factors that have nearly eliminated their numbers. By the award-winning creators of The Tarantula Scientist.

Fallout : spies, superbombs, and the ultimate Cold War showdown
by Steve Sheinkin

In this follow-up to the award-winning Bomb, a celebrated nonfiction author takes on the Cold War, a decades-long showdown that culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the worlds close call with the thirdand finalworld war. 75,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations.