Hynes Summer Reading 2012 - Grade 4

Roald Dahl's children's classic will be rediscovered with wonder and delight in this handsome gift edition with all-new black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Honor Book artist Lane Smith (who also designed the characters for the Disney animated film). How James escapes from his miserable life with two nasty aunts and becomes a hero to his new insect family, including Miss Spider, the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the Centipede (with his 21 pairs of gorgeous boots), is "Dahl-icious fantasy at its best. …More

Sarah, Plain and Tall
By MacLachlan, Patricia
1985-04 - HarperCollins
9780060241018 Check the Library

1st book in Sarah, plain and tall series

The winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal and the 1986 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for Children tells the story of a Midwestern family whose lives are changed by a mail-order wife/mother from the Northeast. …More

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
By Blume, Judy
2002-09 - Puffin Books
9780525469315 Check the Library

Living with his little brother, Fudge, makes Peter feel like a fourth grade nothing. Fudge is never far from trouble. He's a two-year-old terror who gets away with everything--and Peter's had enough. When Fudge walks off with Dribble, Peter's pet turtle, it's the last straw. …More

Stone Fox
By Gardiner, John
Author Sewall, Marcia
Illustrator Sewall, Marcia
1980-04 - HarperCollins
9780690039849 Check the Library

There's just no stopping little Willy. Determined to keep their farm going -- and to give his ailing grandfather a reason to live -- the ten-year-old boy hitches his dog, Searchlight, to the plow and harvests the whole potato crop.

Now little Willy needs five hundred dollars to pay off ten years' back taxes, or the farm will be taken away from them. Dauntless as ever, he stakes everything on one wild hope: that he and Searchlight can outrun the best dogsled racers in the country -- including the legendary Indian, Stone Fox. But the huge mountain man is every bit as intent on winning the big prize money as little Willy is. And he and his five beautiful Samoyeds haven't lost a race yet....
Based on a Rocky Mountain legend, John Reynolds Gardiner's story -- like its hero, little Willy -- has all the ingredients of a winner, right down to the unforeseen drama at the finish line. …More

The comic, sometimes tragic side of life in the city is brought into vivid relief as Chester Cricket and his friends struggle to bring success to their human friends' nearly bankrupt newsstand. …More

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
By DiCamillo, Kate
Illustrator Ibatoulline, Bagram
2006-02 - Candlewick Press (MA)
9780763625894 Check the Library

The Newbery Medal-winning author of "The Tale of Despereaux" returns with this story about a toy rabbit named Edward Tulane. When he becomes lost, Edward takes an extraordinary journey and shows readers a true miracle. Illustrations. …More

Picklemania!
By Spinelli, Jerry
1993-12 - Scholastic Paperbacks
9780590454476 Check the Library

Plumstead Middle School is full of secret plans. Eddie is on a mission to bulk up--he's sick of being the skinniest, scrawniest, runtiest kid in school. Sunny is plotting something that will keep the school bullies from ever bothering her again. Salem is trying to figure out who sent her that mysterious valentine message in the school newspaper. And Pickles has been building his greatest invention yet--and it's almost time to unveil it.…More

Shiloh
By Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
1991-09 - Atheneum Books for Young Readers
9780689316142 Check the Library

1st book in Shiloh series

The 1992 Newbery Medal was awarded to Shiloh, as well as 25 state children's choice awards. "A moving and powerful look at the best and the worst of human nature as well as the shades of gray that color most of life's dilemmas".--Booklist starred review. …More

Lunch Money
By Clements, Andrew
Illustrator Selznick, Brian
2007-06 - Aladdin Paperbacks
9780689866852 Check the Library

Twelve-year-old Greg, who has always been good at moneymaking projects, is surprised to find himself teaming up with his lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of comic books to sell at school. …More

The #1 "New York Times" bestseller. Baseball is young Michael Arroyo's only salvation, but his dream of playing in the Little League World Series is soon threatened.  …More

In his first novel for young readers, the author of "Wild Pitch" and "Bump and Run" tells the story of a 12-year-old Danny Walker, the smallest kid on the basketball court who's cut from the very travel team his father led to national prominence as a boy. …More

In the sequel to the #1 "New York Times" bestseller "Travel Team," old rivals and new battles leave Danny wondering if he really has what it takes to stand tall. For the smallest kid playing a big man's game, the challenges never stop. …More

Among the Free
By Haddix, Margaret Peterson
2006-04 - Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
9780689857980 Check the Library

To conclude her bestselling Shadow Children series, Haddix revisits Luke Garner, an illegal third-born in a futuristic society that allows only two children per family. …More

The Shadow Children series by Magaret Peterson Haddix:

1. Among the Hidden
2. Among the Imposters
3. Among the Betrayed
4. Among the Barons
5. Among the Brave
6. Among the Enemy
7. Among the Free

39 Clues Series is by various authors. (This includes audiobook versions.)

The Hatchet series "Brian's Saga" contain the following books:

Hatchet
By Paulsen, Gary
1999-07 - Simon Pulse
0689826990 Check the Library

1st book in Brian's saga

After a plane crash, 13-year-old Brian spends 54 days in the Canadian wilderness, surviving with only the aid of a hatchet, and learning also to deal with his parents' divorce. A Newbery Honor Book; ALA Notable Children's Book; ALA Best of the Best for Young Adults; "Booklist" editors' Choice; ALA Quick Pick. …More

Brian's Winter
By Paulsen, Gary
1996-01 - Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
9780385321983 Check the Library

In Hatchet, 13-year-old Brian learned to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness, armed with only a hatchet. He was rescued at the end of the summer. Brian's Winter begins where Hatchet might have ended--Brian is not rescued, but must rely on his survival skills to face his deadliest enemy--a northern winter. …More

The River
By Paulsen, Gary
1993-01 - Yearling Books
9780440407539 Check the Library

3rd book in Brian's saga

"We want you to do it again."

These words, spoken to Brian Robeson, will change his life. Two years earlier, Brian was stranded alone in the wilderness for fifty-four days with nothing but a small hatchet. Yet he survived. Now the government wants him to do it again--to go back into the wilderness so that astronauts and the military can learn the survival techniques that kept Brian alive.

This time he won't be alone: Derek Holtzer, a government psychologist, will accompany him to observe and take notes. But during a freak storm, Derek is hit by lightning and falls into a coma. Their radio transmitter is dead. Brian is afraid that derek will die of dehydration unless he can get him to a doctor. His only hope is to build a raft and try to transport Derek a hundred miles down the river to a trading post--if the map he has is accurate. …More

Brian's Return
By Paulsen, Gary
1999-01 - Delacorte Press
9780385325004 Check the Library

4th book in Brian's saga

As millions of readers of Hatchet, The River, and Brian's Winter know, Brian Robeson survived alone in the wilderness by finding solutions to extraordinary challenges. But now that's he's back in civilization, he can't find a way to make sense of high school life. He feels disconnected, more isolated than he did alone in the North. The only answer is to return-to "go back in"-for only in the wilderness can Brian discover his true path in life, and where he belongs. …More

Millions of readers of Hatchet, The River, Brian's Winter, and Brian's Return know that Brian Robeson is at home in the Canadian wilderness. He has stood up to the challenge of surviving alone in the woods. He prefers being on his own in the natural world to civilization.

When Brian finds a dog one night, a dog that is wounded and whimpering, he senses danger. The dog is badly hurt, and as Brian cares for it, he worries about his Cree friends who live north of his camp. His instincts tell him to head north, quickly. With his new companion at his side, and with a terrible, growing sense of unease, he sets out to learn what happened. He sets out on the hunt. …More