Mr. Black's Recommended Booklist
Having trouble finding the "just right" book for you? Use the "5 Finger Rule".
1. Go to a page in the middle of the book.
2. Begin reading the page. Hold up 1 finger each time you come to a word you don't know.
3. Use the following scale:
1 finger = book is good for you
2 fingers = book should still be okay
3 fingers = book may be a little challenging
4 fingers = book is probably too difficult
5 fingers = choose another book to read!
| Animal Stories |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
BABE THE GALLANT PIG by Dick King-Smith |
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Average |
Ereth's Birthday by Avi |
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Poppy by Avi |
    |
Average |
Poppy and Rye by Avi |
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Ragweed by Avi |
   |
Average |
The Good Dog by Avi |
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| Biography |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
An Indian Winter by Russell Freedman |
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Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman |
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Indian Chiefs by Russell Freedman |
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Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman |
    |
Average |
The Adventures of Marco Polo by Russell Freedman |
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The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman |
    |
Challenging |
The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman |
    |
Average |
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| Classics |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle |
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Challenging |
ABEL'S ISLAND by William Steig |
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ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll |
    |
Challenging |
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L.M. Montgomery |
    |
Challenging |
BIG RED by Jim Kjelgaard |
    |
Average |
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY by Roald Dahl |
    |
Average |
CHARLOTTE'S WEB by E.B. White |
    |
Average |
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey |
    |
Challenging |
DADDY-LONG-LEGS by Jean Webster |
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DOMINIC by William Steig |
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ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O'Dell |
    |
Challenging |
JULIE OF THE WOLVES by Jean Craighead George |
    |
Challenging |
KING OF THE WIND by Marguerite Henry |
    |
Average |
LASSIE, COME HOME by Eric Knight |
    |
Average |
LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS by Laura Ingalls Wilder |
    |
Average |
LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott |
    |
Challenging |
MARY POPPINS by P.L. Travers |
    |
Challenging |
SADAKO AND THE THOUSAND PAPER CRANES by Eleanor Coerr |
    |
Challenging |
SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL by Patricia MacLachlan |
    |
Average |
SOUNDER by William H. Armstrong |
    |
Average |
STUART LITTLE by E.B. White |
    |
Average |
THE BLACK STALLION by Walter Farley |
    |
Challenging |
THE CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE by George Selden |
    |
Average |
THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien |
    |
Challenging |
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY by Sheila Burnford |
    |
Average |
THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupery |
    |
Challenging |
THE PHANTOM TOLL BOOTH by Norton Juster |
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THE RELUCTANT DRAGON by Kenneth Grahame |
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THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett |
    |
Challenging |
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame |
    |
Challenging |
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS by Wilson Rawls |
    |
Average |
WINNIE-THE-POOH by A. A. Milne |
    |
Easy Reading |
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| Fantasy |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Caroline Funke |
   |
Average |
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl |
    |
Average |
MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien |
    |
Average |
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale |
    |
|
THE BORROWERS by Mary Norton |
    |
Average |
THE EGYPT GAME by Zilpha Keatley Snyder |
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The Great Good Thing by Rod Townley |
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THE HERO AND THE CROWN by Robin McKinley |
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THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD by Lynne Reid Banks |
    |
Average |
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by C. S. Lewis |
    |
Average |
The Owlstone Crown by X.J. Kennedy |
    |
Average |
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo |
   |
Average |
TUCK EVERLASTING by Natalie Babbitt |
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Whittington by Alan Armstrong |
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| Historical Fiction |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
CADDIE WOODLAWN by Carol Ryrie Brink |
    |
Average |
Captain Grey by Avi |
    |
Challenging |
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi |
    |
Average |
Encounter at Easton by Avi |
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Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson |
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Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson |
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Night Journeys by Avi |
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Nory Ryan’s Song by Patricia Reilly Giff |
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ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY by Mildred Taylor |
    |
Average |
Stowaway by Karen Hesse |
|
|
The Barn by Avi |
|
|
THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER by Elizabeth George Speare |
    |
Average |
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi |
    |
Average |
THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare |
    |
Challenging |
Who Was That Masked Man Anyway? by Avi |
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| |
| Mystery and Suspense |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
BUNNICULA by James Howe |
   |
Average |
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett |
|
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FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg |
   |
Average |
The Man Who Was Poe by Avi |
|
|
The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine by Diane Stanley |
|
|
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken |
    |
Challenging |
| |
| Mythology, Folktales, etc. |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
D'AULAIRE'S BOOK OF GREEK MYTHS by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire |
    |
Challenging |
ROOTABAGA STORIES: Part One by Carl Sandburg |
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| Nonfiction |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman |
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Give Me Liberty: The Story of the Declaration of Independence by Russell Freedman |
    |
Challenging |
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti |
    |
Challenging |
Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls and Songs of Whales, Elephants, and Birds by April Pulley Sayre |
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|
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: the Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong |
    |
Challenging |
The Real Vikings: Craftsmen, Traders, and Fearsome Raiders by Melvin Berger |
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| Poetry |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson |
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A LUCKY THING by Alice Schertle |
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Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson |
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CASEY AT THE BAT: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888 by Ernest L. Thayer |
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|
DAYS LIKE THIS by Simon James |
|
|
FALLING UP by Shel Silverstein |
   |
Average |
Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill |
    |
Average |
INSECTLOPEDIA by Douglas Florian |
|
|
IS IT FAR TO ZANZIBAR? by Nikki Grimes |
|
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IT'S RAINING PIGS AND NOODLES by Jack Prelutsky |
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JUST AROUND THE CORNER: Poems by James Stevenson |
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LIZARDS, FROGS, AND POLLIWOGS by Douglas Florian |
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No More Homework! No More Tests! by Bruce Lansky |
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ODDHOPPER OPERA: A Bug's Garden of Verses by Kurt Cyrus |
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PIECES: A Year in Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines |
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SAD UNDERWEAR AND OTHER COMPLICATIONS: More Poems for Children and Their Parents by Judith Viorst |
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THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT OF WEIRDOS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD by Colin McNaughton |
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THIS SAME SKY: A Collection of Poems from Around the World by Naomi Shihab Nye |
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When the Teacher Isn't Looking and Other Funny School Poems by Kenn Nesbitt |
|
|
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS by Shel Silverstein |
    |
Average |
WORDS WITH WINGS: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art by Belinda Rochelle |
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| Realistic Fiction |
| Click on the book title for more info |
Rating |
Difficulty |
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park |
   |
Average |
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck |
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Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko |
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Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo |
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Bernie Magruder & the Bats in the Belfry by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor |
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|
Code Orange by Caroline Cooney |
    |
Challenging |
Dillon Dillon by Kate Banks |
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Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath |
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Hoot by Carl Hiaasen |
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Ida B:…and her plans to mazimize fun, avoid disaster, and (possibly) save the world by Katherine Hannigan |
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Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos |
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Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson |
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My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George |
   |
Average |
ONE-EYED CAT by Paula Fox |
    |
Average |
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm |
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Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings |
    |
Average |
Rules by Cynthia Lord |
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|
Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell |
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So B. It by Sarah Weeks |
    |
Challenging |
Spider Sparrow by Dick King-Smith |
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|
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan |
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TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING by Judy Blume |
    |
Average |
The Big Bazoohley by Peter Carey |
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The Chicken Doesn’t Skate by Gordon Korman |
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The Gorillas of Gill Park by Amy Gordon |
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The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron |
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The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements |
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The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E. L. Konigsburg |
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The Report Card by Andrew Clements |
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The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson |
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The Teacher’s Funeral: a comedy in three parts by Richard Peck |
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The Tiger’s Apprentice by Laurence Yep |
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The Young Man and the Sea by W. R. Philbrick |
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