GSB Summer Reading Suggestions for Children Entering Fourth Grade

GSB Summer Reading Suggestions for Children Entering Fourth Grade
 We hope that you will spend many pleasant hours this summer lost in a book. Use this list to get ideas for books
 you might enjoy reading, but feel free to read books that are not on the list as well. Many of these authors have
 written other titles which you may also enjoy.

                                             2021 Award Winners

 Newbery
        *When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
        All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team written by
                Christina Soontornvat
        BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom written by Carole Boston Weatherford and
               illustrated by Michele Wood
        Fighting Words written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
        We Dream of Space, written by Erin Entrada Kelly, illustrated by Erin Entrada Kelly and Celia
               Krampien
        A Wish in the Dark written by Christina Soontornvat
 Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award
        *Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson (recommended for Gr. 5-6)
        King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callendar
 Schneider Family Book Award
        *Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte
        Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen written by Lynne Kelly
        When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
 Pura Belpre Children’s Author Award
        *Efren Divided written by Ernesto Cisneros
        Lupe Wong Won’t Dance by Donna Barba Higuera
        The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas

        *1st place medal winner.

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

Fiction

 Banks, Lynne Reid. The Fairy Rebel. A rebellious fairy named Tiki, already in trouble for breaking the rule against
        wearing jeans, risks the further wrath of the Fairy Queen by trying to fulfill a human's special request for
        help.

 Barrow, Andi. Saving Zasha . In 1945 Russia, those who own German shepherds are considered traitors, but
        thirteen-year-old Mikhail and his family are determined to keep the dog a dying man brought them, while
        his classmate Katia strives to learn his secret.

 Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks series. First in series: while vacationing with their widowed father in the
         Berkshire Mountains, four sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the
         dismay of his snobbish mother.

 Bradley, Kimberely Brubaker. The War That Saved My Life. Set in England during WWII, Ada and her brother
        Jamie are evacuated out of London and into the English countryside. Away from their controlling mother,
        Ada and Jamie learn to live a different kind of life.

 Brown, Peter. Lucy and Andy Neanderthal series. A graphic novel about siblings during the Stone Age. Funny, full
        of sibling rivalry, includes researched historical context but laid out in a fun way.

 Byng, Georgia. Molly Moon series. Living in a bleak orphanage in England, young Molly discovers she has a talent
        for hypnotism. Her newfound skill leads to fame and fortune in New York City. This fantasy series contains
        humor, larger-than-life characters, and scenes of suspense.

 Cartaya, Pablo. The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora . It's summer and Arturo is ready to relax, drink some mango
        smoothies, and maybe work a few shifts in his Abuela's restaurant as a dishwasher. But a girl moves into his
        apartment complex and she loves poetry. And a developer shows up and seems pretty shifty. How can
        Arturo save his community? He and Carmen must find a way.

 Clements, Andrew. The Janitor’s Boy. Fifth grader Jack finds himself the target of ridicule at school when it
       becomes known that his father is one of the janitors, and he turns his anger onto his father. In The Landry
       News, a fifth grader starts a newspaper with an editorial that prompts her burnt-out classroom teacher to
       really begin teaching again, but he is later threatened with disciplinary actions as a result.

 Colfer, Chris. Land of Stories series. Twins Alex and Conner leave their home to embark on adventures in a fairy
         tale land of adventure and magic.

 Conkling, Winifred. Sylvia & Aki . At the start of WWII, Japanese-American Aki is sent with her family to an
        internment camp while Mexican-American Sylvia and her family lease their farm and begin a fight to stop
        school segregation.

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

Couloumbis, Audrey. Lexie. When 10-year-old Lexie goes with her father to the beach for a week she is surprised to
       find he has invited his girlfriend and her two sons to join them.

 Creech, Sharon. Saving Winslow. When Louis’s father brings home a sick newborn donkey, Louis is determined to
        save him.

 Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Elijah lives in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just north
         of the American border. He is the first child born free in their settlement. When someone steals money from
         his friend, who is saving to purchase his family's freedom, Elijah embarks on a journey to find the money.

 Dhami, Narinder. Bindi Babes series. Three Indian-British sisters team up to marry off their traditional, nosy aunt
       and get her out of the house.

 DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town
      of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her dog Winn-Dixie.

 Eager, Edward. Magic or Not. 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. A seven-day book of magic proves to be fractious for five children, who must
         learn the book's rules and tame its magic.

 Gibbs, Stuart. Spy School series. Ben is wants more than anything to grow up and be a CIA agent. But he cannot
        seem to get to school without a hilarious mishap. But when he’s recruited for a magnet school, and discovers
        the school is a front for a Jr. CIA academy, he discovers that he may just be able to reinvent himself. Also try
        Gibbs’ FunJungle series and Moon Base Alpha series.

 Gratz, Alan. Ban This Book. Amy Anne is normally a shy fourth grade student, but when a parent tries to get the
         librarian to take From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler off the shelves, Amy’s favorite book,
         she comes out of her shell in a big way. A great introduction to censorship and letting children know that
         they have a voice.

 Gutman, Dan. Honus and Me. First in series Joe, who loves baseball but is not very good at it, finds a valuable
      Honus Wagner card and travels back in time to meet Honus. All books in this series are recommended.

 Keenan, Sheila. Dogs of War . Three fictional stories, told in graphic novel format, about soldiers in World War I,
       World War II, and the Vietnam War who were aided by combat dogs. Based on true stories.

 Korman, Gordon. Swindle. When sixth grader Griffin Bing is swindled out of a million-dollar Babe Ruth baseball
       card by a baseball card dealer, he assembles a crack team of classmates to steal it back.

 Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the
         childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her. In The Wish. Wilma, granted her wish to be

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

the most popular girl in school, forgets that she will graduate from eighth grade in three weeks and her
         popularity will vanish.

 Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon series. 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.

 Marino, Nan. Neil Armstrong is My Uncle. Ten-year-old Tamara Ann Simpson thinks she has finally found a
       chance to prove Muscle Man McGinty is a liar when he brags he can beat anyone in the neighborhood at
       kickball, but as she awaits McGinty's downfall, she begins to understand his motives for lying.

 Mass, Wendy. 11 Birthdays. First in series. After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda
        and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth, 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.

 McKissack, Patricia. The Home-Run King. In 1937, eleven-year-old Tank and his older brother Jimbo, who both
       love baseball, can't believe their good fortune when Josh Gibson, home-run king of the Homestead Grays,
       stays at their house during a series in Nashville.

 Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Shiloh season. Marty finds a lost beagle and tries to hide it from his family as well as the
        owner, who is known to be mean spirited and mistreat animals.

 O'Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed
        mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived.

 Potter, David. The Left Behinds series. In the first of the series, The iPhone That Saved George Washington, three
         students, Mel, Bev, and Brandon, left behind at their prestigious school during Christmas break, find
         themselves in 1776 New Jersey with General George Washington dead at their feet, and twelve-year-old Mel
         must find a way, using his iPhone, to set things right.

 Prineas, Sarah. The Magic Thief series. After Connwaer, an orphan boy and expert pickpocket, nicks the locus
         magicalicus or wizard's stone from the pocket of Nevery, an old wizard, he is taken on as the wizard's
         servant.

 Robinson, Sharon. The Hero Two Doors Down: Based on the True Story of Friendship Between a Boy and a
        Baseball Legend. Steve is an eight-year-old Jewish boy in Brooklyn, New York. His favorite team is the
        Dodgers. When a rumor circulates that an African American family is moving into the neighborhood, some
        people are not happy. But when it turns out to be Jackie Robinson, Steve could not be more excited!

 Rundell, Katherine. The Wolf Wilder . In the days before the Russian Revolution, twelve-year-old Feodora sets out
        to rescue her mother when the Tsar's Imperial Army imprisons her for teaching tamed wolves to fend for
        themselves.

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

Stone, Phoebe. The Romeo and Juliet Code. During World War II, eleven-year-old Felicity is sent from London to
         Bottlebay, Maine, to live with her grandmother, aunt, uncle, and a reclusive boy who helps her decode
         mysterious letters that contain the truth about her missing parents.

 Tarshis, Lauren. I Survived series. Journey through history in this wonderful series and follow a fictional character
         through the disaster towards survival.

 Telgemeier, Raina. Smile. Raina Telgemeier, in graphic form, tells about her experiences after she injured her two
       front teeth and had to have surgeries and wear embarrassing braces and headgear, all while also dealing with
       the trials and tribulations of middle school. For more about Raina, try Sisters and Drama .

 ♥Thanhha, Lai.Inside Out & Back Again. Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year
      of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.

 Tobin, Paul. How to Capture an Invisible Cat. Socially awkward fifth-grade genius Nate Bannister recruits his
        classmate Delphine to help him reverse one of his many experiments (a dinosaur-sized, invisible cat) while
        foiling the schemes of the world's most dastardly organization, the Red Death Tea Society.

 ♥Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer (Gaither Sisters series). In 1968, three sisters travel to California to
        meet their mother, hoping to go to Disneyland, but are instead enrolled at a camp run by the Black Panthers
        where they learn about their family, their country, and they have a truly crazy summer.

 Wang, Jen. Stargazing. Christine and Moon could not be more different, but they are best friends. In this graphic
       novel, Wang explores the joys and heartbreaking realities of friendship with hope and sensitivity.

 Woods, Brenda. Zoe in Wonderland. Zoe loves hanging out at her family’s plant nursery and living within her
       imagination. When an astronomer comes looking for a Baobab tree, Zoe begins a real-life adventure that
       may surpass her imagination.

 Yang, Kelly. Front Desk. Based on the story of her own life, Front Desk tells the story of a girl who lives in a hotel
        with her family 1990’s.

                                        Non-fiction, Biography, Poetry

 Alexander, Kwame. Becoming Muhammad Ali . A biography of fighter Muhammad Ali written in prose and verse.
        Ali was a fighter and social justice leader in the 1950s who used his positive mindset to change the world.

 Arnold, Caroline. A Warmer World. Discusses how climate change affects wildlife and how animals have adapted to
        the changes.

 Bishop, Nic. Butterflies or Snakes or Lizards or Frogs or Spiders. You can’t go wrong with a Nic Bishop nature
        book. Amazing close-up photography and loaded with information.

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

Bryan, Ashley. Freedom Over Me. Utilizing documents from an estate sale in the 1800s, Ashley Bryan follows the
        sale of 11 slaves and explores what it means to be bought and sold as property and not valued as human.

 Collard, Sneed. Teeth. Offers detailed information about how people and various species of animals use their teeth.

 Eszterhaus, Suzi. Sea Otter Rescue. Journey to the Alaska Sea Life Center to see how otters are cared for when they
        are hurt or orphaned. The Wildlife Rescue series also includes Koala Hospital, and Orangutan Orphanage.

 Franco, Betsy. A Dazzling Display of Dogs. Concrete poems about all sorts of dogs.

 Gherman, Beverly. Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush. Describes the life and work of the popular
       American artist who depicted both traditional and contemporary subjects, including children, family scenes,
       astronauts and presidents.

 Hale, Nathan. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series. Graphic novel retellings of true
        historical events.

 Heard, Georgia, ed. The Arrow Finds its Mark. A book of found poems

 Janeczko, Paul. A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout. These 37 splendid poems, with splashy
        collage illustrations, include tongue twisters, list poems, bilingual poems, and limericks.

 Jankeliowitch, Anne. Kids Who Are Changing the World. Forty-five young people from around the world are doing
         something every day to make the world a better place. With skills from singing, drawing and painting to
         fund-raising, public demonstrations and events, they have fought climate change and pollution, and worked
         to protect animals and their natural habitats.

 Jenkins, Steve. Eye to Eye: How Animals See the World. Steve Jenkins is a genius and he wows us again with an
         exploration into the eyes of various animals in the animal kingdom. Read everything by Jenkins, he always
         amazes.

 Krull, Kathleen. Houdini: World's Greatest Mystery Man and Escape King. In a picture book biography, an
         exploration of the life and motivation of the renowned escape artist is periodically interspersed with
         depictions of his most famous stunts.

 Kudlinski, Kathleen. Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! Information is presented which examines how
        different the facts often are from what scientists have believed to be true.

 Memory, Jalani. A Kids Book about Racism. This is a book about racism written for children that explains what
      racism is, how it makes people feel, and what to do about it when you see it.

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

Macdonald, Fiona. How To Be a Samurai Warrior . Simple text and illustrations help describe what it was like to
       be samurai warrior, with information on armor, weapons, skills, and duties. (series, also Medieval knight,
       Roman soldier, Aztec warrior)

 Nolan, Janet. Seven and a Half Tons of Steel. After September 11, the Navy received a steel beam from the World’s
        Trade Center. They sent it to Louisiana where it was made into a the bow of a Navy Ship: the USS New
        York.

 Schanzer, Rosalyn. George vs George: the American Revolution as Seen From Both Sides. Explores how the
        characters and lives of King George III of England and George Washington affected the progress and
        outcome of the American Revolution.

 ♥Sidman, Joyce.Song of the Water Boatman and other pond poems. From a spring peeper's first call to a painted
      turtle's hibernation, these eleven poems celebrate the northern pond. Sidebars add intriguing facts.

 Stone, Tanya Lee. Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented. Find out the real
        story behind the exciting board game.

 Tanaka, Shelley. Secrets of the Mummies. Describes the ancient Egyptian practice of preserving the dead through
       the process of mummification and explains what scientists have learned from unwrapping and examining
       mummies.

 Tarshis, Lauren. I Survived Five Epic Disasters. From a group of students surviving the 9.0 earthquake that set off a
         historic tsunami in Japan, to a boy nearly frozen on the prairie in 1888, these unforgettable kids lived to tell
         tales of unimaginable destruction -- and, against all odds, survival.

 Yezerski, Thomas F. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story. New Jersey’s Meadowlands, which have been
        recovering from decades of human destruction, are now mending thanks to community activism.

 Yolen, Jane. Animal Stories. Amazing animal stories that span the centuries come to life in this beautifully written
         and illustrated book. Some are sweet, some funny, some surprising, but all are emotionally powerful.

 You Wouldn’t Want to Be... series. Check out this series to see the real, gory, horrific side of
         historical stories!

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)

The following books were read in third grade. New students may enjoy selecting several for summer reading.

        Atwater, Richard and Florence. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
        DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn Dixie
        Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House
        Estes, Eleanor. The Hundred Dresses
        Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House: Viking Ships at Sunrise
        Speare, Elizabeth George. The Sign of the Beaver
        White, E.B. Charlotte's Web

 Please avoid reading any of the following titles as they may be used for instructional purposes in fourth grade:

        Bishop, Claire. Twenty and Ten
        Curtis, Christopher. Bud, Not Buddy
        Dahl, Roald. Matilda
        Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
        DiCamillo, Kate. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
        Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars
        Selden, George. Cricket in Times Square
        Winthrop, Elizabeth. Castle in the Attic

♥ Designates an award winner (Newbery, Coretta Scott King, National Book Award, etc.)