From Emporia

“"I've been a life-long Kansan and grew up hearing of Wm. Allen White, but it wasn't until I read this book that I realized the influence of Mr. White on the government and politics, not just in Kansas but across the US, all while residing in Emporia, Kansas. Great biography.”
Sharon K wrote this revie

Billy Creekmore by Tracey Porter

Billy Creekmore is a 10 year old boy living in West Virginia in 1905. His mother died in childbirth, his father abandoned him and he is living at the Guardian Angels Home for Boys run by Mr. and Mrs. Beadle. Life is very hard and when Billy finds out he is being sent to work for Mr. Colder at the glass factory, he decides to run away. Before he can, his Uncle Jim arrives and takes him home to live with his Aunt Agnes. He has a good life there and begins working in the coal mines as a mule driver. After a section of the mine collapses, the workers start forming a union (UMW). When Billy's uncle and friend are killed by the Baldwin-Felts agents, his aunt tells him to run away. He joins the Sparks circus and finds his father who is working for another circus. He goes with his father, but finds that he is a drunk and unscrupulous man who will do anything for money. Billy runs away again to go back to the Sparks Circus where he has friends who love him and consider him part of their family. The book is based on the author's mothers life. She was in a foster home, abandoned by her father after her mother died in childbirth and was later adopted by her aunt and uncle. The boys who work in the mines are real boys who died before the age of 17 in the coal mines. The Sparks Circus was a real circus owned by Charles Sparks who cared for his troop like family.

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

Dylan and his scout troop live on the island of Hawaii. They are going on a weekend campout at Halape, a remote beach campground on the southern flank of Kilauea volcano. While they are there, there is an earthquake and tidal wave. Their entire campground is gone, and all of the boys and scout leaders are lost and injured. Dylan and his enemy Louie must team up to find the rest of the troop and rescue them. They finally locate everyone. Some of them are so badly injured that they can't hike back up the trail. Louie and Dylan decide to hike out to get help. When they are about to give up, they are rescued by the Coast Guard. Everyone survives and they are all very glad to get home. This book is based on a true story of a scout troop that experienced just such an event in 1975. In the real tsunami, one of the scouts and one of the leaders was killed.

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

This is a great book. It was hard to get started, but once I got into the book, it was hard to put down. Nick is a teenage boy living with his mother in England during World War II. When the bombings got too bad in England, his mother decided to send him to live with his father on his plantation in Burma. Nick was safe there for a while, but then the Japanese invaded and captured his father and the plantation. His father was captured and sent to a prison camp. Nick was also captured and kept locked in his room and treated as a slave in his own home. He manages to escape and after hiding, tries to find and rescue his father. His friend Mya has a brother who has also been captured. She goes with him to try to free her brother along with the help of Hilltop, a buddhist monk who helps them. The first two or three chapters were slow and I almost didn't read the rest of the book, so don't give up on it. Keep reading! You'll love it.

Schooled by Gordon Korman

Capricorn (Cap) Anderson - 13 year old boy raised on a commune and home schooled who knows nothing about today's life
Rain - Cap's hippie grandmother who has lived on a commune for 40 years and breaks her hip
Garland - the hippie commune where Cap and Rain live
Claverage Middle School - nicknamed C Average - the public school where Cap is sent when his grandmother goes to the hospital
Zach Powers - the most popular boy at Claverage (C Average) Middle School, who always nominates the biggest nerd for class president
Hugh Winkleman - the nerdiest kid at Claverage Middle School and target of all of Zach's jokes until Cap shows up
Lena Young - cheerleader and Zach's girl friend
Mrs. Donnelly - the social worker who takes Zach in while Rain is in the hospital. She used to live at the commune herself
Sophie - Mrs. Donnelly's beautiful daughter who hates Cap until she finds out what he is really like
Mr. Kasigi - principal of Claverage Middle School who gives Cap the check book for the student activity fund without explaining to him how money works
Naomi Erlanger - a girl who likes Zach and is helping him with his pranks until she discovers that she likes Cap
Darryl Pennyfield - best tackler on the football team who creams Cap during one of Zach's pranks and sends Cap to the hospital
Halloween - the night of the dance Cap has planned that becomes his memorial service, even though he's not dead

A funny story about a young man who jumps from the 1960s life style into the 21st century. Because of his caring about others, the students learn to respect him.

Iron Thunder by Avi

January, 1862, Tom Carroll goes to work in the ship yard to help earn money for his family. Mr. John Ericsson is building an iron clad ship called the Monitor. It is the first of it's kind - "a tin can on a raft". It is being built to fight the Merrimac, the first iron clad ship ever and to protect the Naval Blockade of the North. March 9, 1862, the Monitor met the Merrimac at Fortress Monroe and saved the flagship Minnesota. Both sides claimed to have won the battle, but the blockade held and the Merrimac was never used again. The Monitor only was used for one year. It sank in a storm, but it was a turning point in the Civil War that has gone down through history. This is told through the eyes of the young boy Tom as he works at the ship yard and later sails on the Monitor and takes part in the historic battle.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Elijah is an eleven year old boy living in a free settlement of former slaves in Canada. Many of the people living there are saving money to buy the rest of their family from slavery. One of the resident, Mr. Leroy does get the money to buy his family. One of the other residents, the Right Reverend Deacon Doctor Zephariah Connerly the Third, who is not always trustworthy, volunteers to take the money to American and buy Mr. Leroy's family through an abolitionist friend. Another resident of the community volunteers to go with him to be sure everything goes smoothly. Zephariah shoots his companion and takes the money to gamble. Mr. Leroy kidnaps Elijah and takes him to America to find Zephariah and get his money back. Mr. Leroy dies, but Elijah does find Zephariah and also a slave stable where he finds a family that has been captured and chained. What can he do to help?

Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Abby has just been kicked out of Middle School because she attacked Brett McAvery, the principal's son, with a Swiss Army knife.  She had good reason, but no one believes her.  Her parents send her to Catholic school where she has to attend religion classes.  She has to choose an elective and her father won't let her take art, so she enrolls in drama. In her drama class, she gets to know Chris.  Abby's family do not believe in God.  Her parents are both workaholics and never pay attention to her.  To get their attention, she tells them she wants to become a Catholic.  As she and Chris become friends, she meets Chris's mother who becomes her sponsor in the church.  Through her religion and drama classes, she makes some decisions about her life and is able to tell her parents how she feels about herself and their inattention.  She tells Chris about Brett McAvery and the problems she had in public school.  The drama, religion, and friendship help Abby to heal.
"A girl is being
bullied, so she brings a knife to school and cuts her bully in the
cafeteria in front of everyone. She is expelled and goes to a private
Catholic school where she struggles to develop a religious faith. It is
a very well written story, but my opinion is that it's too mature for
grades 3-4." Amy Brownlee

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

Kek is a new immigrant from Africa whose family was killed in a raid on their village.  He comes to stay with relatives in Minnesota where he learns about snow, school, grocery stores, and buses.  He goes to an ESL class where he meets a girl named Hannah.  They become friends and Hannah helps him learn about America.  Kek has been a herder of cows in his country.  As he comes to Minnesota he sees a cow in the country and later goes to the farm and gets a job taking care of the cow.  When the lady who owns the farm decides she must sell, Kek and his friends take the cow to the petting zoo.  The book is written in free verse and has wonderful examples of similies, metaphors and other figures of speech.  Metaphors and similes pp. 34-35, p. 127.  Washing dishes story on p. 95 is very funny.

Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

Dewey Kerrigan's father is a scientist working on a secret project in Los Alamos, New Mexico during World War II.  When she goes out to live with him, she meets a new friend Suze, whose mother and father are also working on the project.  They start out as enemies, but when Dewey's father has to go to Washington, D.C. for a conference, Dewey is left to live with Suze and they become friends.  When Dewey's father is killed in a traffic accident, she becomes part of their family.  "The Project" is finally completed and tested.  When it is detonated it creates a green glass sea as the heat from the explosion melts the sand in the desert.  Their "Project" is the creation of the first atomic bomb which is dropped on Hiroshima to end World War II.