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Books for 5th Grade

By Author Last Name
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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J Fiction Abbott

Kringle

Deep in the land of ghosts and frost, back in the days of long ago, when elves, goblins and pirates still roamed the earth, there was a boy named Kringle - a boy who had a destiny to fill with the power to change the world for the better — forever.

J Fiction Applegate Home of the Brave
Kek immigrates from his war-torn home in the Sudan in Africa to snow-covered Minnesota. But everything in America is different, and Kek must adapt to new friends, new food and a new life — while not forgetting Africa and the missing mother he left behind.
J Fiction Arnold Golden & Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost)

 Arthur is Tom's best friend, but Tom doesn't know it because Arthur is a ghost. A sudden accident allows Tom to see not only Arthur, but other more frightening and amusing spirits. Life just gets more complicated from there on.

 

J Fiction Baker* The Frog Princess

 With much hesitation, Princess Esmeralda kisses the wise-cracking (although cute!) frog who insists he's a prince. The kiss goes without a hitch - well, sort of - Esmeralda turns into a frog herself!

 
J Fiction Barry
Fearsome creatures, evil pirates, salty seadogs, monster waves, intrepid children and the mystery of a deep mystical power fill the pages of this imaginative "prequel" to Peter Pan.

J Fiction Beck
Tom's six older brothers are missing in the Land of Stories and now Tom must set out on a dangerous mission to discover their fates.

J Fiction Bernstein Magic by the Book

 When Anne and Emily bring home a magical library book that has the power to take them into the pages of their favorite stories, they find themselves helping Robin Hood foil the devious plans of Prince John.

 
J Fiction Birdsall The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

 The Penderwicks, four sisters,their father and a dog named Hound, arrive at their summer vacation home expecting to find a run-down cabin not the fine cottage on the Arundel Estate. The four sisters soon set out on adventures through the gardens and statues. Their best discovery is Jeffrey, the son of the stuffy Mrs. Tifton, who doesn't think Jeffrey should be talking with the girls.

 
J Fiction Blackwood *
Someone is stealing scripts of Shakespeare's latest play! Widge, being a former thief is a suspect. The only way for him to prove his innocence is to volunteer to spy for his theatre troop, The Lord Chamberlain's Men.


J Fiction Blos* Letters From the Corrugated Castle
The scene is Gold Rush-era California and Eldora stars in her letters describing her life in San Francisco and on her mother's rancho. Other letters from her friend, Luke, and her adoptive Aunt and Uncle tell more about the reality of the exciting but dangerous life in the mining camps.

J Fiction Bradley
Eleven-year-old Isabelle comes from a family of lacemakers. While running an errand at court, she meets Marie Antoinette's daughter Princess Therese and they become close friends. But France is growing angry with King Louis XVI and his family and soon, she may not have the luxury of visiting the princess. Based on a true story of the time before the French Revolution.

J Fiction Brown Little Cricket

 Struggling to get used to living in America in 1970, 12 year-old Kia finds friendship while her brother stays away from home and her grandfather yearns for the life and family left behind in war-torn Laos.

 


J Fiction Carlson Attack of the Turtle
In 1776, fourteen-year-old Nathan Wade wants to help the Patriots win the Revolutionary War but he's too young. Despite his fear of boats, he attempts to pilot a crude submarine that can explode bombs underwater to hurt the British fleet in New York harbor. Will Nathan's nerve and air holdout long enough to complete the mission?

 
J Fiction Clements * No Talking
It's the boys against the girls. It's a contest and it's tough. No talking, none, for 48 hours. No talking at school, at home, on the bus. And what will the teachers do with so much silence? What about the principal — how can she yell at students who don't talk?

 
J Fiction Clements *
Nora Rowley, a fifth-grade genius,is upset when her best friend doesn't do well on a test. As a result,she gets students at her school to rebel against tests and creates tension between the students, teachers, and parents.

 
J Fiction Codell * Diary of a Fairy Godmother

 Hunky Dory is at the top of her class in Charm School. Her mom believes she will be "the wickedest witch wherever the four winds blow." However, when Hunky Dory saves baby Aurora from the curse of death, she begins to have an interest in the business of fairy godmothers.

 

J Fiction Codell *

Vive la Paris

Paris is sick and tired of Tanaeja bullying her older brother Michael, who won't do a thing to her because she's a girl. Paris doesn't want to stand by and do nothing but she's got too much to deal with — piano lessons with Mrs. Rosen, an ex-gang member (with tattoos to prove it!) and her new Extreme Readers Club to manage.

J Fiction Colfer *

Half-Moon Investigations

Find the perpetrator, or fry! While working on a case, Fletcher Moon gets framed for a major crime. His only ally, Red Sharkey, comes from the biggest crime family in town.

J Fiction Collard

Dog Sense

Guy just moved from California to Montana. Adjusting to a new school and new kids, Guy gets help from his dog, Streak, and a Frisbee Contest.

J Fiction Cooney
Swimming Pool's mother wants her off the baseball team and into something a little more "girlie girl". But losing their star pitcher is unthinkable, so Ernie and the Central Comets go into the charm school business. Can they make Swimming Pool refined enough for her mother?

J Fiction Coville *
After getting an amulet from a mysterious Magic Shop, shy Juliet Dove becomes irresistible to males. She doesn't really want the attention; especially when her whole family is under scrutiny. Juliet needs all the help she can get to overcome the fate that the ancient gods have thrown her way.


J Fiction Crilley *

Akiko: Pieces of Gax

Akiko is off on an adventure with her alien friends. This time they assure her it will be a vacation and there will be no slime, grime, mud, or misery, no being sent on missions that have virtually no hope whatsoever of success, and no near-death experiences. Yeah, right!



J Fiction Delaney* Birdbrain Amos, Mr. Fun
Amos the hippopotamus sets off on an adventurous vacation down a river in the Serengeti, a huge African plain, in an attempt to entertain his "bored" tick bird, Amoeba, who lives on his head! Amos wants to prove that he is "Mr. Fun." The trip turns out to be unforgettable!


J Fiction Dickinson
Gavin's favorite person is Grandad. He spends every afternoon with him, and that is when Grandad tells him all kinds of wonderful stories and makes the most magnificent model boats. Now Grandad is very sick. Can Gavin help? With hope, determination and a bit of story magic, he can.


J Fiction Donaldson *

The Giants and the Joneses

The three Jones children are collected by Jumbeelia, a young giant girl, and carried in a sack up a beanstalk to Groil. Can they ever get home again?

J Fiction Edwards
Eric Clark can't believe the park near his house is up for sale. It's all the mayor's idea to make money. But what can a kid do? Maybe he could get his mom elected mayor!



* Try other books by this author!

J Fiction Fan Swordbird
Can the mythical Swordbird arrive in time to save the woodland birds from the evil hawk warlord?


J Fiction Finney
HI! Hi there! I am Big Dog Jack! This is my story! Find out how I become friends with Petra, brave the FIERCE garage door, and save my Packleader from the Huge Scary Metal Monsters!


J Fiction Fleischman* The Giant Rat of Sumatra: or, Pirates Galore

 All the murderous cutthroats on the pirate ship call the captain's cabin boy Shipwreck. When the colorful and kind-hearted captain suddenly retires to a ranch in San Diego, Shipwreck has to hold his own against barefoot banditos, backstabbing barkeeps, and vengeful villains.

 

J Fiction Gutman* Getting Air
Jimmy: Hotshot teen skateboarder. Mrs. Herschel: 80-year old "extreme" knitter. So, what do they have in common? Neither one has great survival skills — and now the plane they are on has been hijacked and crashes in a thick forest.


J Fiction Hahn Deep and Dark and Dangerous
While looking through an old box her mother had brought home from her grandmother's five years ago, Ali finds an old torn photograph. Why did her mother keep this box and never open it? Why won't her mother tell her who is in the picture? Then Ali meets Sissy, a spiteful girl who keeps talking about Tessa — who drowned, mysteriously, many years ago and was never found.
J Fiction Harrar The Wonder Kid
No matter what Jesse does, he can't seem to please his father. Bedridden with polio he creates his own comic book superhero "The Wonder Kid" — a brave, strong, smart boy who is everything Jesse longs to be.

J Fiction Hobbs

Sheep

It's a hard life on the road for this border collie as he searches for a place to belong, a place to make a difference.

J Fiction Holm

Penny from Heaven

Penny Falucci will be twelve years old in the summer of 1953 in New Jersey. She lives with her widowed mother and maternal grandparents, though she often visits her more high-spirited deceased father's Italian family. It is frustrating to Penny that no one will talk about her father's death.

J Fiction Holm & Hamel* The Postman Always Brings Mice

 James Edward Bristlefur is a dashing and accomplished British feline spy. When his human companion is murdered, he unexpectedly becomes the house pet of an ordinary sububan family in New Jersey, who name him Mr. Stink. Can Stink use his espionage skills to rescue his new boy from the clutches of a cruel bully?

J Fiction Hopkinson *

Into the Firestorm - A Novel of San Francisco, 1906

Nick is a boy on his own and he's been picking cotton since he could walk. Living in San Francisco is his dream. Just when it becomes a reality, the 1906 earthquake shakes his world apart and the resulting fires eat it up. Will he have the courage to stay and help others, or will he escape to safety?

J Fiction Horvath* The Vacation

 Henry's Mom unexpectedly decides to become a missionary in Africa and his dad joins her on the journey. This leaves Henry with aunts he hardly knows--Pigg and Magnolia. A bizarre series of events happens: his Mom gets lost in the jungle chasing a chimpanzee, Magnolia contracts a weird disease, and then his aunts decide to pull him out of school to go on a cross-country vacation.

 

J Fiction Jordan The BossQueen, Little BigBark, and the Sentinel Pup

 Three dogs under one roof have three different versions of life events. Each one has a role within their pack. A dog's job is never done, especially now that they have moved and "That Cat" enters the picture.

 

J Fiction Keep* Truth and Salsa
Hayley must live with her quirky grandmother in Mexico for six months, since her father just up and left her and her mom, and now her mom needs a lot of special care! San Miguel is not the beach resort she imagined, but Hayley finds adventures with her neighbor, Lili, and helps some of the migrant workers who call San Miguel their home.

J Fiction Kehret * Trapped!
Pete the Cat wonders why he's taking such a chance. He could be in his sunny spot at home right now, or looking up c-a-t words in the dictionary. Hot on an illegal trapper's trail, the horrible man has catnapped Pete — and plans to shoot him in the head. Pete has to rely on his wits — or his frantic family finding him.

J Fiction Lantz The Day Joanie Frankenhauser Became a Boy

 Change an "A" to an "H," and Joan becomes John--the boy she always wanted to be. Now she doesn't have to dressup or stay clean, and more importantly, she can play basketball. Being a boy is great! Now how long can she fool everyone else?

 
J Fiction Lisle
Copper Beech's life with her Aunt Ruby is happy until her 10th birthday. She is then told she must run for her life onboard a train to the mysterious Marble Mountains to escape the enemies of her clan. But where does she belong? Each of her parents are from the opposing clans and they have been missing for years.

J Fiction Loizeaux

Wings

Even though Nick didn't know his father who died during the Korean War, he misses him. Will this orphaned mockingbird baby help him with his loss or will he face more sorrow as the baby bird grows?

J Fiction Martino Rosa, Sola

 Rosa learns about the strengths and secrets of members in her Italian-American family when they suffer a loss.

 
J Fiction Meacham A Mid-Semester Night's Dream

 Morgan has a fairy-godmother-in-training that lives in her old dollhouse! Morgan also has a crush on Ben. But it will take a miracle or just a little "fairy" magic for him to notice a boring girl like her.

 
J Fiction Miller Miss Spitfire, Reaching Helen Keller

Annie is half-blind herself and just out of her teens. She has been hired as Helen's teacher, but six-year-old Helen has been allowed to run wild since losing her sight and hearing as a baby. To reach her, Annie will need to live up to her childhood nickname of Miss Spitfire.

 
J Fiction Mitchard
Prima is not a mouse who happens to be a dancer, but a dancer who happens to be a mouse. Her family fully expects her to become the lead dancer with the American Ballet Rodente (mouse ballet), but Prima wants humans to see her dance. And she wants to dance in Paris, as well!


J Fiction Morrison Wind Tamer

Armed with a mysterious key and an ancient sword, Archie prepares to battle the tornado force that would put a curse on him forever.

 

J Fiction Myracle

The Fashion Disaster that Changed My Life

Ali started school wanting to be noticed. Having her mother's underwear stuck to the leg of her jeans is not the kind of attention she wants. Her fashion disaster turns out to be blessing though, when the most popular girl in class comes to her rescue. Life is becoming way more complicated than dealing with embarrassing static cling.



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J Fiction Nimmo Griffin's Castle

Dinah is determined to do anything it takes to stop moving around and stay at the home she has named Griffin's Castle. The stone animals from the nearby castle leave their perch and come to her aid but as time passes Dinah begins to wonder who is actually in control.

 
J Fiction Nitz Saving the Griffin

While visiting in Italy, Kate and Michael stumble upon a real baby griffin. Naming him Grifonino, they vow to help him return to his home. This is not an easy task when their secret gets out and a scientist and greedy paparazzi threaten Grifonino's safety.

 

J Fiction O'Connor How To Steal a Dog

Georgina knows they need money to be able to quit living in their car, so she comes up with a plan to steal a dog and collect the reward money.

 

* Try other books by this author!

J Fiction Paratore Mack McGinn's Big Win

Mack McGinn and his family always win. Now they are playing in the big league — living, working and competing in Avalon, the most exclusive neighborhood in town. Mack tries his best to fit in, but when it comes time to decide what is really important and true, Mack makes his biggest triumph yet.

 
J Fiction Paratore The Wedding Planner's Daughter

 Willa Havisham is tired of moving every two years. Why can't her mother, a very successful wedding planner, find love again and settle down? Back now in Bramble, Cape Cod, where her grandmother runs a candy shop, Willa is determined to accomplish her goal. Their new next-door neighbor just may be the one.

 
J Fiction Park* Project Mulberry

 Julia and her friend Patrick have joined the Work-Grow-Give-Live! (WGGL) club, which is known as the Wiggle Club. They must do a project and the best ones will get exhibited at the state fair. They decide to "farm" silkworms and harvest the silk. Julia isn't as excited about the project as Patrick, but how can she tell him that she thinks the project is too Korean?

 

J Fiction Parkinson

Something Invisible

After eleven years of being the only child in the family, all of a sudden Jake gets a baby sister. Nothing is quite the same. His new friend Stella has a bunch of younger sisters. He learns a lot from being her friend, especially after something horribly tragic happens in the family.


J Fiction Petty Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer

 Clemency Pogue was just walking through the forest with a basket of sassafrass when she was attacked by the Fairy of Frequent and Painful Pointless Antagonism. She remembers to cry out "I don't believe in fairies!" But by saying it seven times Clemency kills not just one fairy, but seven. With the help of a hobgoblin, Clemency hopes to right the wrongs she's caused.

 

J Fiction Philbrick
Ever since his mother died, Skiff's father gets drunk and stays on the couch all the time. It's up to Skiff now. To catch a big fish-a five hundred pounder, will change his life and save his father, too.


J Fiction Primavera* The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls

The only thing the girls on Gumm Street have in common is that they all hate each other — until they discover a pair of ruby slippers, and must join forces to keep them away from the sinister Cha-Cha, who resembles a certain wicked witch!

 

J Fiction Ray
White-blonde hair and pale eyes earned April the nickname "ghost girl". Lately she feels like a ghost, mama is lost in the sorrow of her brother's death and daddy is off working. When President Hoover builds a school in Blue Mountain Ridge, April imagines herself learning but her mother has other ideas.


J Fiction Roberts

My 13th Season

Fran Cullers LOVES baseball, but this season isn't going so well. In fact, it's downright horrible. In her old hometown, she was a star player. The Highwater Hardwares Junior League team doesn't want her because she's a girl, so she sets out to destroy them. Vengeance can be a dangerous thing.

J Fiction Rubel *

It's HOT and COLD in Miami

Fifth-grader Rachel feels that her identical twin sister stole half of her brain while they were growing inside of their mom before they were born. And, how did she land up with such huge beaver teeth when her mother is so gorgeous that even orangutans fall in love with her?

J Fiction Ryan
Until the day her long-lost mother shows up at the trailer park where Naomi lives with her brother Owen and their great-grandmother, Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw had thought her name was her biggest problem. Boy was she wrong.



J Fiction Salisbury* Night of the Howling Dogs

Dylan is heading to Hawaii for a weekend of camping with his boy scout troop. Unfortunately, Louie, the oldest and scariest member, is coming. Dylan has already had an encounter with Louie, long before now. Disaster strikes and Dylan must rely on very unlikely sources to survive.

 
J Fiction Schwartz 4 Kids in 5E & 1 Crazy Year

Too many kids and not enough classrooms are how Giovanni, Destiny, Willie and Maximo all end up in room 5E. Their teacher, Miss Hill, has some sneaky ways of getting them to write about themselves. All of them will see some big changes in their lives this year.

 
J Fiction Selznick The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures

Orphaned Hugo believes that if he fixes the robot, the robot will write down the message his father left for him. But what about the grumpy old toymaker that hires Hugo to work in the toyshop? How come he knows about the robot?

 

J Fiction Siebold

My Nights at the Improv

Lizzie feels as if she's on a thirty-second delay—her responses are always too slow. What she learns when she eavesdrops on an improvisational theater class helps her make it up at she goes along.

J Fiction Snicket *
In this latest story about the unfortunate events in the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, Violet and Klaus must save Sunny from a deadly mushroom as they try to find the sugar bowl that is so important to the VFD. They escape from the evil Count Olaf in a submarine, only to end up back on Briny Beach, with a mysterious woman with the initials K.S.

J Fiction Spinelli Eggs

David can see the Easter egg from far away, and even though he didn't want to take part in the hunt, he wants at least one egg. As he gets closer, he sees that the egg is on top of a pile of leaves, and under those leaves lays a girl, and on that girl's mouth rests the egg. As he takes the egg he asks her, "Are you dead, yet?"

 

J Fiction Sports

Sports Shorts

The geek, the all-star, the benchwarmer, the trophy winner —each has a story to tell in this collection of 8 short stories written by children's authors. Some were winners, some hated gym, some loved gym, some came in first and some came in last, but they all were athletes.

J Fiction Stewart Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind

 "Think of it as an adventure," Dad says when he announces the whole family is going on a medical mission in Nepal. Annie doesn't want to go, but she has no other choice!

 
J Fiction Stewart The Mysterious Benedict Society

Because four children, Stinky, Reynie, Kate and Constance, pass several tests, they are given the opportunity to meet Mr. Benedict. Their mission is to save the world. Calling themselves the Mysterious Benedict Society, the children enter the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened to foil an attempt to brainwash the world.

 
J Fiction Tarshis Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

Even though logic is what seems to rule in quirky Emma-Jean's life, she does have a kind heart that wants to fix the problems of others. She means well, but treats friendship and social interactions with a scientific analysis that makes seventh grade seem like a simple math equation...but perhaps it should be viewed from another angle.

 
J Fiction Tripping Tripping Over the Lunch Lady and Other School Stories

 One thing you can say for school: it is NEVER the same. Some days you have lots of friends,and some days you score the winning run! Some days you've got your homework done and are actually looking forward to class, and some days you don't!

 


J Fiction Urban Crooked Kind of Perfect

Zoe Elias has big plans to become a child prodigy like Vladimir Horowitz. One problem: she doesn’t have a piano. When her dad buys a brand new organ, the Perfectone D-60, her dreams change.

 

J Fiction Velmans Isabel of the Whales

 Isabel always knew there was something special about her. She just wasn't sure what it was. But on a very unusual whale watching field trip Isabel finds out that she is indeed a very extraordinary eleven year old--she is a mermaid! Isabel knows she must help them preserve their species in the sometimes cruel and punishing underwater world.

 

J Fiction Voake

Dreamwalker's Child

After being hit by a truck, the essense of Sam is pulled to another world where he pilots giant insects to save Earth from a deadly virus.

J Fiction Wallace
"All is happiness now, isn't it?" Emily stammers to her aunt. Why is Aunt Twice asking her to be a brave girl yet again? After her parents perish in a terrible boating accident, Emily has been forced to live with "two of the most wicked, cruel, evil ladies ever to be met in this world" - only to be rescued by her beloved Aunt and Uncle Twice. Now they were leaving her in a boarding school with a pinch-nosed woman, and her large, vicious dog!

J Fiction Weatherill

Barkbelly

Hatched from an egg and made of wood, Barkbelly is not like any of the other kids in the village. When he causes a terrible accident, Barkbelly must run for his life, finding danger and adventure at every turn.

J Fiction Weston
Eleven-year-old Melanie carries her diary with her at all times. Now she is documenting her trip to Spain with her family during spring break. Along with interesting tidbits of the Spanish language, art, music, and cultural festivals, Melanie reveals her crush on Miguel, the son of her mother's ex-boyfriend. Will Melanie continue to tell her diary everything as her trip progresses?

J Fiction White* The Search for Belle Prater

 The phone rang at the stroke of midnight on Woodrow's birthday. "It was her, wasn't it?" Woodrow whispered. But Porter had only heard breathing when he picked up the phone. Woodrow knew it was his mother who had mysteriously disappeared nearly a year ago and the call had come from the nearby town of Bluefield. Sequel to Belle Prater's Boy.

 

J Fiction Whitehouse

Strictest School in the World

Join Emmaline in her quest to escape her horrible boarding school, known as St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies. Emmaline would rather be an inventor like her great-great-uncle. Will she realize her dream, or be dragged back to St. Grimelda's by the school's guard pterodactyls?

J Fiction Wiles Aurora County All-Stars

In Aurora County, only ONE baseball game matters: the annual contest between the All-Stars and the Raleigh Redbugs, which just happens to be scheduled at the exact same time as the once-in-a-lifetime pageant celebrating Aurora County's 200th Independence Anniversary.

J Fiction Winthrop

Counting on Grace

Twelve- year-old Grace is one of the top readers in her class but she must leave school to work in the textile mill beside her mother. Her life unexpectedly changes when a photographer, famous reformer, Lewis Hines arrives at the mill to take pictures of underage children who are forced to work.



J Fiction Yee
Millicent Min can't help being smarter than the rest of the world. But why do her parents have to ruin her summer by signing her up for volleyball when she has plans to study college literature? Left on her own Millicent is sure she can find the one thing she really, really wants...a friend.


* Try other books by this author!

Compiled by Santa Clara County Library
Children's Services Librarians
2004-2008



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