Overbooked Summer Reading List for Kids of All Ages: 2004

The edition listed is the trade book, library bindings are not listed unless that is the only available format. Titles received starred reviews from Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Horn Book.

The theme information is derived from cataloging information and is not comprehensive. Books are suggested for ages 12 and older. Age and grade designations are approximate, parental judgement should be used.

• Chasing Vermeer
  Author: Balliett, Blue
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439372941 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkus
  When a book of unexplainable occurances brings Petra Andalee & Calder Pillay together, strange things start to happen: seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, & an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal. As Petra & Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth they must draw on their powers of intuition, their skills at problem solving, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled?
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Mystery
  
• My Light
  Author: Bang, Molly
  Publisher: Blue Sky $ 16.95 ISBN: 043948961x Date: 2004
  BooklistSLJ
  The Caldecott Honor artist takes young readers on an incredible journey that follows the light of the sun as it is transformed into the energy that's used every day.
  Grades: Preschool - 3 Category: Fiction | Science
  
• Walk Softly, Rachel
  Author: Banks, Kate
  Publisher: Frances Foster $ 16 ISBN: 03748382301 Date: 2003
  KirkusPWSLJ
  SLJ Best Books | Books for the Teen Age | Accelerated Reader
  From the author of Dillon Dillon comes this searing new novel that explores the inner lives of 14-year-old Rachel and her late brother, Jake, with exquisite sensitivity and precision.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Beauty, Her Basket
  Author: Belton, Sandra
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 15.99 ISBN: 0688178219 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  Nana's sweetgrass basket holds secrets and stories of the sea, and she has promised to tell some of the tales. But Nana's telling is never straightforward, and the young girl and her cousin must snatch the magic from the soft Sea Island air.
  Grades: K+ Category: Fiction | African American
  
• When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Before Dinosaurs
  Author: Bonner, Hannah
  Publisher: National Geographic $ 16.95 ISBN: 079226326x Date: 2004
  KirkusSLJ
  Bonner takes readers back into prehistoric times before dinosaurs lived. This cartoon history features narrative text, engaging illustrations, hilarious cartoons, maps, charts, and time lines.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Nonfiction | Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
  
• Al Capone Does My Shirts
  Author: Choldenko, Gennifer
  Publisher: Putnam $ 15.99 ISBN: 0399238611 Date: 2004
  KirkusPWSLJ
  Accelerated Reader
  Grades: 5+ Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
  
• Mimmy and Sophie All Around Town
  Author: Cohen, Miriam
  Publisher: Frances Foster $ 16 ISBN: 0374349894 Date: 2004
  KirkusSLJ
  Mimmy and Sophie are sisters who live in Brooklyn, New York, during the Great Depression. Even though their parents don't have a lot of money, Mimmy and Sophie still have lots of fun together, whether they're finding treasure, going to Coney Island, or playing in mud puddles.
  Charming black-and-white drawings by Thomas F. Yezerski accompany these sweet stories, perfect for independent reading or for reading aloud, about two sisters who aren't always best friends but are always there for each other. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: Preschool - 3 Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
  
• The Wish List
  Author: Colfer, Eoin
  Publisher: Miramax $ 16.95 ISBN: 0786818638 Date: 2003
  BulletinPWSLJ
  From the author of the international bestselling Artemis Fowl series comes this new heartwarming tale of a young girl who is given a gift--the chance to right her wrongs and discover the true meaning of love.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• Gregor the Overlander
  Author: Colins, Suzanne
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439435366 Date: 2003
  BooklistKirkusPW
  VOYA: Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
  Accelerated Reader
  When Gregor falls through a grate in his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, and cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war and Gregor's arrival is no accident.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel
  Author: Connor, Leslie
  Publisher: Houghton Mifflin $ 16 ISBN: 0618305645 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  Connor and Azarian deliver a lyrical tribute to the millions of immigrants who left their homes to begin anew in America in this enchanting look at how one woman carves out a life with the help of a common shovel. Full color.
  Grades: Preschool - 3 Category: Fiction
  
• Heartbeat
  Author: Creech, Sharon
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060540222 Date: 2004
  PWSLJ
  Newbery Medalist Sharon Creech (Walk Two Moons) masterfully weaves this story, told in free verse, about a young girl finding her identity and learning how it fits within the many rhythms of life.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction
  
• The Neighborhood Mother Goose
  Author: Crews, Nina
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060515732 Date: 2003
  BooklistHorn BookKirkusPWSLJ
  Every day, children the world over sing, shout, and celebrate Mother Goose rhymes. And now there's a new reason to cheer: Nina Crews has added her own remarkable, jazzy style of illustration to a collection of forty-one favorite verses.
  Grades: Todder + Category: Poetry | Nursery Rhymes
  
• Diary of a Worm
  Author: Cronin, Doreen
  Publisher: Joanna Cotler $ 15.99 ISBN: 006000150x Date: 2003
  BulletinKirkusPWSLJ
  SLJ Best Books | Booksense Book of the Year Nominee
  Accelerated Reader
  The New York Times bestselling author of Click, Clack, Moo and Giggle, Giggle, Quack teams up with illustrator Harry Bliss for this hysterical journal about the daily doings and the hidden world of a lovable underground dweller.
  Grades: Preschool - 3 Category: Fiction
  
• Iqbal
  Author: D'Adamo, Francesco
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689854455 Date: 2003
  KirkusPW
  ALA Notable Childrens Books | Christopher Awards Winner
  Accelerated Reader
  This moving, fictionalized account of the life of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who brings hope to child workers in a carpet factory, is told through the voice of Fatima, a young Pakistani girl whose life is chanced by Iqbal's courage.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction
  
• Inside Grandad
  Author: Dickinson, Peter
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385746415 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  This unusual and moving story about the magical bond between a boy and his grandfather is by the author of the Prinz Honor Book The Ropemaker.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction
  
• The Conch Bearer
  Author: Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 16.95 ISBN: 0761319352 Date: 2003
  BooklistPW
  Booklist Editors' Choice
  Grades: Category: Fiction
  
• The Snail and the Whale
  Author: Donaldson, Julia
  Publisher: Dial $ 16.99 ISBN: 0803729227 Date: 2004
  PWSLJ
  When a tiny snail meets a humpback whale, the two travel together to far-off lands. It's a dream come true for the snail, who has never left home before. But when the whale swims too-close to shore, will the snail be able to save her new friend?
  Grades: k-3 Category: Fiction
  
• The Oracle Betrayed
  Author: Fisher, Catherine
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060571578 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  Timid Mirany is chosen to be a priestess to serve the High Priestess, who interprets the wishes of the god as conveyed through the Oracle. However, Mirany is unprepared for the dangers of her exalted position.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
  Author: Freedman, Russell
  Publisher: Clarion $ 18 ISBN: 0618159762 Date: 2004
  Horn BookKirkusPW
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Nonfictin | Biography
  
• Spining Through the Univers: A Novel in Poems from Room 214
  Author: Frost, Helen
  Publisher: Frances Foster $ 16 ISBN: 0374371598 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  Using a rich array of traditional poetic forms, such as sonnets, sestinas, and acrostics, Frost interweaves the stories of the kids in Room 214 and their fifth grade teacher. A final section giving detailed analyses of the 22 forms will be of special interest.
  Grades: 5+ Category: Poetry
  
• The Princess Knight
  Author: Fuke, Cornelia
  Publisher: Chicken House $ 15.95 ISBN: 0439536308 Date: 2004
  BooklistPW
  Violetta is a small and spirited young princess who wants to be treated like her big brothers, who are training to be knights. But Violetta's father, the King, insists that she act ladylike and get married! He even arranges a knights' jousting contest to find Violetta a suitor. The feisty princess will not stand for this! So Violetta decides to disguise herself as a boy and take part in that very contest. Every night, she secretly practices to become the most nimble knight in the land. But when the big day arrives, will Violetta be able to prove -- once and for all -- what she's truly made of?
  Grades: k-3 Category: Fiction
  
• Inkheart
  Author: Funke, Cornelia
  Publisher: Chicken House $ 19.95 ISBN: 0439531640 Date: 2003
  KirkusPW
  VOYA: Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror | ALA Notable Childrens Books | Books for the Teen Age | Book Sense Book of the Year Nominee
  Accelerated Reader
  Meggie lives a quiet life with her father, a bookbinder. But her father has a deep secret--he possesses an extraordinary magical power. When a mysterious stranger arrives, Meggie is plunged into intrigue as her father's life is put in danger.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
  Author: Gerstein, Mordicai
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 17.95 ISBN: 0761317910 Date: 2003
  BulletinHorn BookKirkusPWSLJ
  SLJ Best Books | ALA Notable Childrens Books | Caldecott Award Winner
  From a highly respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.
  Grades: k-3 Category: Nonfiction
  
• Kitten's First Full Moon
  Author: Henkes, Kevin
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060588284 Date: 2004
  Booklist KirkusPWSLJ
  From one of the most beloved picture book creators of today comes a memorable new character and a suspenseful adventure. Kitten sees her first full moon, but she thinks it's a bowl of milk and tries to get at it. Full color.
  Grades: Preschool + Category: Fiction
  
• Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York, 1880-1924
  Author: Hopkinson, Deborah
  Publisher: Orchard $ 17.95 ISBN: 0439375908 Date: 2003
  BulletinBooklistKirkusSLJ
  Booklist Editors' Choice
  In her nonfiction debut, the award-winning author recounts the lives of five young immigrants to New York's Lower East Side through oral histories and engaging narrative.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Social Sciences
  
• A Cool Midnight
  Author: Johnson, Angela
  Publisher: Dial $ 14.99 ISBN:0803728468 Date: 2003
  BooklistKirkus
  From the two-time Coretta Scott King Award-winner comes an exquisite new novel about a nine-year-old girl named Lila, born with an allergy to the sun who plays by the light of the moon and longs to feel the warmth of the sun.
  Grades:3-7 Category: Fiction
  
• Zoo-Ology
  Author: Jolivet, Joelle
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 17.95 ISBN: 0761318941 Date: 2003
  PWSLJ
  SLJ Best Books
  Zoo-ology displays animals in thematic groups.
  Grades: Preschool - 3 Category: Nonfiction
  
• Kira-Kira
  Author: Kadohata, Cynthia
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689856393 Date: 2004
  BulletinBooklistPW
  When Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- "kira-kira" -- in the future.
  Grades: 6+ Category: Fiction
  
• The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
  Author: Konigsburg, E.L.
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689866364 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkusPWSLJ
  The long-awaited new novel by the two-time Newbery Medalist stars Margaret Rose Kane, Connor Kane's older half-sister in Silent to the Bone, who tells the story of the summer she was 12 years old.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction
  
• The Boy of Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss
  Author: Krull, Kathleen
  Publisher: Random $ 16.95 ISBN: 0375822984 Date: 2004
  KirkusSLJ
  An award-winning author zeros in on the formative first 22 years of the life of Ted Geisel. Featuring decorative illustrations by Dr. Seuss, this picture book biography is written especially for his young fans.
  Grades: 1-7 Category: Biography
  
• Brundibar
  Author: Kushner, Tony & Maurice Sendak (ilt)
  Publisher: Hyperion $ 19.95 ISBN: 0786809043 Date: 2003
  KirkusPWSLJ
  Based on a Czech opera for children that was performed 55 times by the children of the Terezin Nazi concentration camp, this tale of two children bullied by a bellowing hurdy-gurdy grinder is now told in this storybook.
  Grades: Preschool - 3 Category: Fiction
  
• Boy Meets Boy
  Author: Levithan, David
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375824006 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinSLJ
  ALA Best Boks for Young Adults | Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Awards | Booklist Editors' Choice| ALA Quick Picks | Books for the Teen Age
  Boy Meets Boy is a romantic comedy starring two boys.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Messenger
  Author: Lowry, Lois
  Publisher: Walter Lorraine $ 16 ISBN: 0618404414 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  Critically acclaimed and bestselling author Lowry returns with the eagerly anticipated companion to Gathering Blue and The Giver, winner of the Newbery Medal.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• Mosque
  Author: MacAulay, David
  Publisher: Houghton Mifflin $ 18 ISBN: 0618240349 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinKirkusPWSLJ
  ALA Notable Childrens Books | SLJ Best Books | Books for the Teen Age
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Nonfiction | Architecture | Islam
  
• Birdland
  Author: Mack, Tracy
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 16.95 ISBN:0439535905 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinKirkus
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | Booklist Editors' Choice | Books for the Teen Age
  Accelerated Reader
  Jed is filming a documentary of their New York City neighborhood and searches for Zeke, a poet who loved jazzman Charlie "Bird" Parker and who leaves behind a lot of unanswered questions.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Secrets in the Fire
  Author: Mankell, Henning
  Publisher: Annick $ 17.95/7.95 ISBN: 1550378015/1550378007 Date: 2003
  BooklistSLJ
  Books for the Teen Age
  Accelerated Reader
  Based on a real-life land mine victim, this middle reader novel tells a story of recovery, hope and coming of age of an African girl who loses her legs to a land mine.
  Grades: 6-10 Category: Fiction
  
• Silk Umbrellas
  Author: Marsden, Carolyn
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 15.99 ISBN: 0763622575 Date: 2004
  BooklistPW
  With spare, sure strokes evoking the customs and languages of Thailand, the acclaimed author of The Gold-Threaded Dress tells the graceful tale of a young artist's coming of age.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction
  
• The Meanest Doll in the World
  Author: Martin, Ann M. & Laura Godwin
  Publisher: Hyperion $ 15.99 ISBN:0786808780 Date: 2003
  KirkusPWSLJ
  SLJ Best Books
  In this sequel to The Doll People, Annabelle Doll and Tiffany Funcraft hitch a ride with Kate to her school where they encounter Mean Mimi, the wickedest doll of all.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• The Tarantula Scientist
  Author: Montgomery, Sy
  Publisher: Hougton Mifflin $ 18 ISBN: 0618147993 Date: 2003
  KirkusSLJ
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Nonfiction | Science
  
• Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
  Author: Morales, Yuri
  Publisher: Chronicle $ 15.95 ISBN: 0811837580 Date: 2003
  BooklistKirkus
  ALA Notable Childrens Books | Pura Belpre Award
  This bilingual English-Spanish counting book reveals Mexican traditions sure to be adored by kids everywhere.
  Grades: Preschool -3 Category: Nonfiction | Concepts | Counting | Language
  
• Heart's Delight
  Author: Nilsson, Per
  Publisher: Front Street $ 16.95 ISBN: 1886910928 Date: 2003
  BooklistHorn BookPW
  Booklist Editors' Choice
  Accelerated Reader
  Heart's Delight tells of a teenage boy's first love
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Freaky Green Eyes
  Author: Oates, Joyce Carol
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 16.99 ISBN: 0066237599 Date: 2003
  BulletinKirkusPW
  Books for the Teen Age
  Following up her Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, Oates once again probes the secrets of an all-American family, as 15-year-old Franky witnesses the destruction of her world as she knows it.
  Grades: 9+ Category: Fiction
  
• Unseen Companion
  Author: Orenstein, Denise Gosliner
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.95 ISBN: 0060520566 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinSLJ
  Booklist Editors' Choice
  In 1970, in Bethel, a small frontier town in Alaska, four teens grapple with the mysterious disappearance of Dove Alexie, who has been beaten and put in the town's jail.
  Grades: 9+ Category: Fiction
  
• Run Boy, Run
  Author: Orlev, Uri
  Publisher: Hougthon Mifflin $ 15 ISBN: 0618164650 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinKirkus
  ALA Notable Childrens Book | SLJ Best Books | Mildred L. Batchelder Award Winner
  Run, Boy, Run is the extraordinary account of one boy"s survival of the Holocaust. Srulik is only eight years old when he finds himself all alone in the Warsaw ghetto. He escapes into the countryside where he spends the ensuing years hiding in the forest, dependent on the sympathies and generosity of the poor farmers in the surrounding area.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
  
• East
  Author: Pattou, Edith
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 18 ISBN: 0152045635 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinSLJ
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | ALA Notable Childrens Books | SLJ Best Books
  Accelerated Reader
  This fresh and original fantasy is a novel retelling of the classic tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a sweeping romantic epic in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction | Magic | Fairy Tales
  
• The River Between Us
  Author: Peck, Richard
  Publisher: Dial $ 16.99 ISBN: 0803727356 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinHorn BookKirkusPW
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | ALA Notable Childrens Books | Booklist Editors' Choice | National Book Award Finalist
  Accelerated Reader
  Within a page-turning tale of mystery, adventure, and the civilian Civil War experience, a master of stories about people in transition paints a portrait of the lifelong impact that one person can have on another.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Tell Me One Thing Dad
  Author: Pow, Tom
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 15.99 ISBN: 0763624748 Date: 2004
  BooklistPW
  Young children will be eager to join in the lyrical, lighthearted bedtime game between a young girl and her dad in this fun book that celebrates the love all parents have for their babies--from dinosaurs to Grimalkens to real-life dads. Ideal for Father's Day.
  Grades: Toddler-K Category: Fiction
  
• Ghost Girl: A Blue Ridge Mountain Story
  Author: Ray, Delia
  Publisher: Clarion $ 15 ISBN: 0618333770 Date: 2003
  BulletinHorn BookKirkusSLJ
  For 11-year-old April Sloane, living with her family in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Depression, a one-room schoolhouse in the hollow introduces her to a world of possibilities.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction
  
• Pirates!: The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates
  Author: Rees, Celia
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 16.95 ISBN: 1582348162 Date: 2003
  PWSLJ
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | Books for the Teen Age
  This powerful and thrilling novel presents the story of the inspiring journey of two 18th-century women who break the bonds of gender, race, and position to find their own way to glory.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Mortal Engines
  Author: Reeve, Philiip
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060082070 Date: 2003
  PWSLJ
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | ALA Notable Childrens Books | SLJ Best Books
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculatve Fiction
  
• Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and Art
  Author: Rembert, Winfred
  Publisher: Cricket $ 19.95 ISBN: 0812627032 Date: 2003
  BooklistSLJ
  Books for the Teen Age
  Text and paintings chronicle the life of this folk artist, who grew up in rural Georgia in the 1950s.
  Grades: 5+ Category: Nonfiction | Art
  
• Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed the World
  Author: Robinson, Sharon
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439425921 Date: 2004
  PWSLJ
  Sharon Robinson shares memories of her famous father in this warm loving biography of the man who broke the color barrier in baseball. Jackie Robinson was an outstanding athlete, a devoted family man and a dedicated civil rights activist.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Nonfiction | Sports | Biography
  
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-Up Adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Original Tale
  Author: Sabuda, Robert
  Publisher: Little Simon $ 25.95 ISBN: 0689847432 Date: 2003
  BooklistHorn BookKirkusPW
  Booklist Editors' Choice
  Paper-engineering genius Robert Sabuda delivers this faithful adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic story, with pop-up illustrations done in the style of John Tenniel.
  Grades: Preschool-3 Category: Fiction
  
• Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
  Author: Schmidt, Gary D.
  Publisher: Clarion $ 15 ISBN: 0618439296 Date: 2004
  KirkusSLJ
  Set in 1912 Maine, this historical novel is based on the true story of a community's destruction. No one in town will let Turner Buckminster forget that he's a minister's son. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves, he enters a whole new world.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
  
• The Hidden Alphabet
  Author: Seeger, Laura Vaccaro
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 17.95 ISBN: 0761319417 Date: 2003
  BulletinKirkusPWSLJ
  ALA Notable Childrens Books
  This unusual alphabet book greets the reader with an image of an arrowhead, surrounded by a simple black frame. Lift the frame and the arrowhead transforms into the letter A.
  Grades: Toddler+ Category: Nonfiction | Concept
  
• Ten Mice for Tet
  Author: Shea Pegi Deitz
  Publisher: Chronicle $ 15.95 ISBN: 0811834964 Date: 2003
  KirkusPWSLJ
  This counting book introduces Vietnamese New Year traditions.
  Grades: Toddler -3 Category: Nonfiction | Concepts
  
• The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin: Naturalizt, Geologist & Thinker
  Author: Sis, Peter
  Publisher: Frances Foster $ 18 ISBN: 0374456283 Date: 2003
  BulletinHorn BookPWSLJ
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | Booklist Editors' Choice | Books for the Teen Age
  Accelerated Reader
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Nonfiction | Science | Biography
  
• Milkweed
  Author: Spinelli, Jerry
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375813748 Date: 2003
  BooklistBulletinKirkus
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | Booklist Editors' Choice | Books for the Teen Age
  Accelerated Reader
  Set in Nazi-occupied Poland just before the Warsaw ghetto uprising, Spinelli's first historical novel tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival though the eyes of a young orphan.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Historical Fiction
  
• Donuthead
  Author: Stauffacher, Sue
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375824685 Date: 2003
  BulletinKirkusSLJ
  This hilarious middle-grade novel introduces Franklin Delano Donuthead, the world's most neurotic fifth grader, and Sarah Kervick, a tougher-than-nails girl who help each other in more ways than they can imagine.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction
  
• The Amulet of Samarkand
  Author: Stroud, Jonathan
  Publisher: Miramax $ 17.95 ISBN: 076861859x Date: 2003
  BooklistPW
  ALA Best Books for Young Adults | ALA Notable Childrens Books | Booklist Editors' Choice
  Accelerated Reader
  Set in modern-day London, this first book in a gripping new trilogy introduces young magician's apprentice Nathaniel. Humiliated by a hotshot wizard, Nathaniel summons the not-so-tame djinni, Bartimaeus, and sends him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• Clare and Francis
  Author: Visconti, Guido
  Publisher: Eermdans $ 20 ISBN:0802852696 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkus
  Opening with a short chronological biography accompanied by miniatures and closing with Francis's "Canticle of Brother Sun," this inspiring book will bring the tale of Assisi's two great saints to life for readers.
  Grades: k-2 Category: Nonfiction | Christianity | Biography
  
• Double Helix
  Author: Werlin, Nancy
  Publisher: Dial $ 15.99 ISBN: 0803726066 Date: 2004
  BooklistBulletinPWSLJ
  Rich and suspenseful, with a hair-raising conclusion, this is Nancy Werlin's most dynamic novel yet--one that explores the ethics and amazements of genetic engineering.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Suspense
  
• No Laughter Here
  Author: Williams-Garcia, Rita
  Publisher: Amistad $ 15.99 ISBN: 0688162479 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkus
  In this groundbreaking novel, Coretta Scott King Honor winner Williams-Garcia explores a widespread practice--female circumcision.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Albert, the Dog Who Liked to Ride in Taxis
  Author: Zarin, Cynthia
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN:0689847629 Date: 2004
  BooklistPW
  Albert, a dachshund, is a city dog who likes to jump in taxis unobserved and tour the city. Simple text and lively illustrations capture the spirit of a short dog with sky-high ambitions.
  Grades: Toddler-1 Category: Fiction