Peter's little brother, Fudge, gets away with everything. Fudge refuses to eat, so their mom lets him eat on the floor while pretending to be a dog. Not long before, she made Peter stand on his head to try to coax Fudge into eating. There's no doubt about it, Fudge is the one who matters in this family. Can Peter ever get his parents to notice him, or will he remain a fourth grade nothing? If you like this one, look for other books starring Peter and Fudge.

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 4/23/2010

ISBN-10: 0525469311

ISBN-13: 9780525469315

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When Ryan moves to Kentucky with his family, he misses his old home. To make things worse, not only is he short for his age, he'll be starting sixth grade in a school with seventh and eighth graders. He'll be the youngest and the smallest, and he's heard the older kids like to play pranks on the younger ones. Furthermore, his new bedroom is pink. Things aren't looking good. Then he hears about Slam Dunk Sky Jumpers, the shoes all the older basketball players at his school are wearing. As he sees it, if he could just get the shoes, maybe he has a chance to be cool. How will he ever earn enough money to buy them? Maybe he can, with a little help from his pet tarantula, Fang.

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 3/30/2010

ISBN-10: 0823411796

ISBN-13: 9780823411795

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Jamilah just wants to blend in at her school in Australia, so she changes her name to Jamie and dyes her hair blond, hoping her Lebanese-Muslim background will not be discovered. Her new email friend John is the one person she can open up to, but will she be able to when she actually meets him? When her Arabic-music band is hired to play at her school dance, she needs to decide who she is ' Jamie or Jamilah?

Similar books: Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Reviewed by: donna

Date read: 6/29/2010

ISBN-10: 0545050553

ISBN-13: 9780545050555

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Trisha loved, loved, loved books! All she dreamed about was going to school and learning how to read. However, learning how to read was proving to be very difficult. The letters on the pages all seemed to run together making very little sense to her. The other students in her class were showing improvement while she seemed to be getting further and further behind. By the time Trisha got to 5th grade, she had become very good at fooling her teachers into believing that she could read. No one knew her secret except Eric, her classmate, who never missed an opportunity to make her feel dumb. Patricia's life changed dramatically when Mr. Falker came into her life. He was the new 5th grade teacher and could tell that Trisha had a secret that was making her miserable. He discovered that Trisha could not read. After working with Mr. Falker and the reading teacher, Trisha was soon able to sort through all the letters and read. 'Thank you, Mr. Falker' by Patricia Polacco is an inspirational story of the power of a teacher to change the life of a child.

Similar authors: Candace Fleming; Tim Myers

Similar books: Mule School by Julia Rawlinson; Smartypants: (Pete in school) by Maira Kalman; Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard; Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges

Reviewed by: mb

Date read: 7/20/2011

ISBN-10: 0399231668

ISBN-13: 9780399231667

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Matt's friend Eddie has a talent for outrageous ideas, which is why Matt is thrilled when Eddie agrees to be his partner for the science fair project. The prize is a fifty dollar gift certificate, and if they win, Matt can finally buy the skateboard he wants. With Eddie on his team, their project is sure to make a splash. Eddie's ideas will definitely get attention, but can Matt trust him?

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 12/10/2009

ISBN-10: 0823419312

ISBN-13: 9780823419319

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