Grade: 8

In 1833 German prince Maximilian and Swiss artist Karl Bodmer traveled through the Missouri River Valley to study Native Americans. Their detailed journals and artwork are the basis for this account of their travels. Freedman describes the customs, social structure, and artifacts the two men encountered as well as their friendship with the Mandan and Hidatsa peoples. Bodmer’s detailed paintings and sketches appear on almost every page.

Future designers, engineers, and architects will find hours of discovery in Macauley’s newest book about what can be accomplished with common sense, imagination, and technology. It focuses on the design challenges and solutions that go into the building of everyday structures — bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers, domes, and dams. It also contains detailed drawings and a glossary.

Also about a family, this story introduces a spunky girl determined to learn why her father is so angry and demanding. Chartreuse “Charlie” Pippin seeks her uncle’s help to learn about the Vietnam War. Boyd touches on sensitive issues that many young readers who would like to have a closer relationship to a parent will recognize.

Will Windrider take to the skies? Moon shadow is eight years old when he sails from China to join his father, Windrider, in America. Windrider lives in San Francisco and makes his living doing laundry. Father and son have never met. But Moon Shadow grows to love and respect his father and to believe in his wonderful dream. And Windrider, with Moon Shadow’s help is willing to endure the mockery of the other Chinese, the poverty, the separation from his wife and country’even the great earthquake’to make his dream come true.

At her birth, a fairy blesses baby Eleanor with the gift of obedience. But for Ella this is a curse. She must spend her life doing literally everything that is asked of her, from sweeping the floor to handing over valued jewelry. When her mother dies, her father sends her away to boarding school with two cruel sisters. Ella’s spunk keeps her afloat until she meets her charming prince, breaks the wicked spell, and begins her “happily ever after” life.

Lord Asheye of Salamandastron has a prophecy: A new Badger Lord must take his place and reign over the legendary badger fortress. But who is this young warrior who shuns both armor and sword? And how is he to be found? Mad Maudie, a feisty haremaid of the Long Patrol, is just the one to track him down. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting future Badger Lord has been captured by a scurrilous group of Sea Raiders led by the infamous fox, Vizka Longtooth, who intends on conquering Redwall Abbey. It is up to our young hero to defend Redwall so that he may fulfill his destiny as leader of Salamandastron.

What happens to a class when the substitute teacher fails to show up? Mr. Fabian’s sixth-grade class goes solo for the day. They run the class themselves according to the routine established by their well-liked teacher. They do relatively well until a fight breaks out between two students over the death of a classmate, Tommy, who died six months earlier. Because of this fight, students start to deal with their guilt and sorrow over their classmate’s death. Fletcher balances a wide variety of emotions so the story is at times sad, funny, and profound.

Using the letters of the Spanish alphabet, Ada has written 27 poems that appear in both Spanish and English. These poems honor the lives, experiences, and culture of the Spanish-speaking people who work the farmland of the American West. Silva’s vivid paintings reflect his Mexican heritage and his life as a child working on farms.