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Raising a Reader

Try these fiction read-alouds with upper elementary students:

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

Jeremy's father died many years before the story begins, but he left him a box for his 13th birthday.  Inside the box is the meaning of life - but the keys have been lost.  Jeremy and his good friend go on a journey to find the keys and (of course) the meaning of life.

Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry takes on dreams in this fantasy.  The characters in the book are responsible for our dreams while we sleep.  It's a fascinating story with much to think about in terms of dreams, memory, good/evil, and more.

Part of Me by Kimberly Willis Holt

This is a wonderful book with a literary focus.  The author takes us through four generations of a family.  We meet each generation through a different adolescent child in that generation.  There is a thread throughout the book of reading and books which makes it one that may spark lots of conversations about the role of reading in life.

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

This is a powerful book about the Holocaust.  Jennifer Roy tells the story of her aunt who was one of the few surviving children of the ghettos.  She tells the story in first person and verse.  This is not a book for young children.

Penny From Heaven by Jennifer Holm

Jennifer Holm writes a nostalgic story of family.  It's a story about Penny, an Italian-American who is eleven years old when the story begins.  It takes place in 1953 and focuses on Penny and the struggles in her family.  It's an engaging story with good characters.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

This is the story of a Japanese-American girl, Sumiko, before and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Sumiko and her family are forced to move to an internment camp.

Homework Machine by Dan Gutman

Although this one might be tricky to read aloud, it would be worth it.  Students who have created and used a homework machine tell the story in several voices.  The machine actually does their homework for them.  It is a story about unlikely friendships and making choices.

Fairies of Nutfolk Wood by Barb Bentler Ullman

As is usually the case, not everyone can see the fairies in this book.  Willa, the main character of this story, can see them.  She has moved to a new home after her parents' divorce and is befriended by an elderly neighbor.  The story alone is a fun one but there are wonderful themes of friendship and loss.

Victory by Susan Cooper

This is a historical novel told in two different time periods.  Molly is the main character in the present-day story.  Sam is the character in the story that takes place in England in 1803.  The ways in which the stories come together is interesting and engaging.  This genre and format might be new to readers in grades 3-6.

 

(Thanks to Franki Sibberson of Choice Literacy for this list.)