Campbell Hall

The Ahmanson Library

Summer Reading Suggestions

2004

Fifth and Sixth Grade

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women.

Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.

Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.

As the lone “young lady” on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, Charlotte learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious.

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.

This is the story of the Tuck family. It has a beginning and a middle, but it can never end. Winnie Foster will never be the same after knowing the Tucks.

Bagnold, Enid. National Velvet.

Fourteen-year-old Velvet is determined to turn her

untamed horse into a champion and personally ride

him to victory in the world's greatest steeplechase,

the Grand National.

Burnett, Francis Hodgson. The Secret Garden.

Bratty and spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned when

her parents fall victim to a cholera outbreak in India.

As a result, Mary becomes the ward of an uncle she has

never met in England. As she hesitantly tries to

carve a new life for herself at imposing and secluded

Misselthwaite Manor, Mary befriends a high-spirited

boy named Dickon and investigates a secret garden

Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way.

Dahl, Roald. Matilda.

Matilda is an extraordinarily gifted four-year-old whose crass, dishonest parents consider her “nothing more than a scab.” Life with her beastly parents is bearable only because Matilda teaches herself to read, finds the public library, and discovers literature.

DiCamilo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie.

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet the Spy.

Harriet is determined to become a famous author. In the meantime, she practices by following a regular spy route each day and writing down everything she sees in her secret notebook. Her life is turned upside down when her classmates find her notebook and read it aloud!

Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows.

Since its beginnings as a series of stories told to Kenneth Grahame’s young son, The Wind in the Willows has gone on to become one of the best-loved children’s books of all times. This classic adventure story, set in early twentieth-century Britain, features the lovable characters Rat, Toad, Mole, and Badger.

Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth.

This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth’s gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked “Which,” Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the “impossible” mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom.

King-Smith, Dick. Babe.

A piglet destined for eventual butchering arrives at the farmyard, is adopted by an old sheep dog, and discovers a special secret to success.

Konigsburg, E. L. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away…so she decided not to run FROM somewhere, but TO somewhere. And, so after some careful planning, she and her younger brother, Jamie, escaped – right into a mystery that made headlines!

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time.

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a “Tesseract,” which, if you didn’t know, is a wrinkle in time. Meg’s father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared.

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.

In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

London, Jack. White Fang.

The story of a wolf-dog who endures great cruelty before he comes to know human kindness.

Lowery, Lois. The Giver.

Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Anne of Green Gables.

Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.

Norton, Mary. The Borrowers.

Secretive and resourceful, the Borrowers live concealed in the houses of human beings, subsisting on bits of food and cleverly using odds and ends that they “borrow” and fashion into clothing, tools, and furnishings.

O’Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with small children, is faced

with a terrible problem. She must move her family immediately, or face

almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with

pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats

of NIMH, an extra ordinary breed of highly intelligent creatures.

Rodgers, Mary. Freaky Friday.

Annabel thinks her mom has the best life. If she were a grown-up, she could do whatever she wanted! Then one morning she wakes up to find she’s turned into her mother …and she soon discovers it’s not as easy as it looks!

Rowlings, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Sachar, Louis. Holes.

As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty.

A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters.

White, E.B. Stuart Little.

Stuart Little is no ordinary mouse. Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. Though he’s shy and thoughtful, he’s also a true lover of adventure.

White, E.B. The Trumpet of the Swan.

Although he lacks a voice in the traditional “Ko-hoh!” sense, trumpeter swan Louis learns to speak to the world with a trumpet stolen from a music store by his father. With the support of an unusual boy named Sam, who helps Louis learn how to read and write, the swan has some rather unswanlike adventures and ultimately wins the love—and the freedom—of a beautiful swan named Serena.

Graphics from

[Movie%20camera.] "Movie Camera." Index of Graphics. [http://www.gillett-hq.freeserve.co.uk/] (Accessed May 21, 2004).

[poster.] "Freaky Friday." Freaky Friday Movie. [freaky-Friday,moviexxl.com] (Accessed May 21, 2004).

[poster.] "JK Rowlings and Harry Potter at Hogwarts." Family Friendly Fun. [http://www.family-friendly-fun.com/books/harry/potter.htm] (Accessed May, 21, 2004).

[poster.] "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The Movie Low Down. [http://www.movielowdown.com/reviews/video/WillyWonka/] (Accessed May 21, 2004).