Grade: 5

Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat. But his firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day life. Newly orphaned after his father led the family’s escape from Cuba, Michael’s only family is his seventeen-yearold brother Carlos. If Social Services hears of their situation, they will be separated in the foster-care system—or worse, sent back to Cuba. Together, the boys carry on alone, dodging bills and anyone who asks too many questions. But then someone wonders how a twelve-year-old boy could possibly throw with as much power as Michael Arroyo throws. With no way to prove his age, no birth certificate, and no parent to fight for his cause, Michael’s secret world is blown wide open, and he discovers that family can come from the most unexpected sources.

After reading about black writers, spend some time talking about one of the greatest black orators of all time–Martin Luther King, Jr. With each turn of the page, one of 14 artists, each who have won the Coretta Scott King Award (or Honor) for African American illustrators, adds his or her own beautiful interpretation to part of one of the greatest speeches in our nation’s history.

Funny and often touching, Dakos’s poems about life at school will get your class through virtually any situation with good humor.

Igraine, who turns twelve tomorrow, dreams of becoming a famous knight. But today, like most days, life at the family castle remains . . . rather boring. Until the nefarious nephew of the baroness-next-door shows up. Greedy Osmund’s got a dastardly plan to capture Pimpernel Castle and steal the singing magic books that belong to Igraine’s mom and dad. Complicating matters, on the eve of the siege her parents misspeak a spell and turn themselves into pigs! (How inconvenient.) Igraine’s birthday wish has come true, and the challenge is bigger than she ever bargained for: Will she face her fears and find the courage to save the day–and the books?

While I Have a Dream features many artists illustrating one person’s words, this book celebrates the poetry of several black authors accompanied by the extraordinary illustrations of one talented artist, Javako Steptoe.

Don’t be fooled by this book’s comic-book style. Within the bubbles, asides, and jokes, readers will find fascinating information about how the Wright brothers braved winds, rain, and crashes while building and testing the first successful flying machine.

Island of the Blue Dolphins is the remarkable story of a strange and beautiful Indian girl who lives a serene and courageous life as the solitary survivor on a rocky island off the California coast. The island looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters frolic in the surf, and sea elephants and birds abound. Once, many Indians lived on the island, too. But when the Russian arrived to prey on the wildlife surrounding the island, a war broke out, and many perished. The few that were left fled the island and sailed to the island of Santa Catalina in the east, but Karana, The Girl wih the Long Black Hair, and Ramo, her brother, were left behind.

In a chapter book format, Karr entertainingly tells the stories of real-life residents of the White House in the following categories: “Home Improvements,” “All the Presidents’ Dogs,” “The First Kids,” “Curious, Strange, and Weird,” and “White as a Ghost.”