Weedflower, by Cynthia Kadohata

A powerful story of a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Before Pearl Harbor Sumiko works with her uncle's family on a flower farm in southern California and dreams of owning her own flower shop. When the war starts Sumiko's family is split apart and she is moved to a camp in Arizona - a camp located on a Mojave reservation. There she works with a neighbor, Mr. Moto, to grow an award-winning garden and she befriends Frank, a young Mojave. Through her friendship with Frank, she sees the injustices perpetrated on the Native Americans and tries to reason out the very difficult decisions her family has to make. Students will relate to and understand Sumiko's feelings at each step of her amazing story. The author's father was interred at the Poston camp and she writes a moving and well written testimony to the courage and perseverance of Japanese Americans during this dark period in American history. SLJ starred review.

Grades 5 - 8

Adventures of Marco Polo by Russell Freedman

This is a superior piece of bookmaking and a story well worth reading. Freedman's account of Marco Polo's daring adventures should hold the attention of even the most reluctant readers of non fiction. He writes simply but never condescendingly. The book's pages look like parchment paper and every double page spread contains at least one illustration. There are lush paintings by the illustrator and many colorful images from historical illuminated manuscripts. Perhaps the most valuable chapter is the last, titled "Did Maro Polo Go to China?" In it the author discusses current scholarly theories about the Polos and whether they ever actually made it all the way to China. This could engender a lively discussion about how we decide what to believe about the past. The topic fits well into both 6th and 7th grade social studies curricula. Starred reviews in Booklist and SLJ.

Alexander the Great Rocks the World by Vicky Alvear Shecter

This biography details the life and times (or escapades) of Alexander the Great.

Peppered with casual comments directed toward the reader, it offers both an intimate and a broad view of Alexander's upbringing, education, military campaigns and leadership as ruler of Macedonia, Greece, Persia, Egypt, etc, etc, etc. The author is able to imbue a sense of Alexander's power, charisma, and progressive thinking.
Humorous text and the common threads of adolescence (pre-and early adolescents being the target audience) are employed to draw in the reader. Of course, the subject matter is pretty interesting, too.

Shecter includes a timeline, a bibliography, chapter end notes, and a decent index. Illustrations, photographs of artifacts, maps and other visual aids, and quotes from famous dead guys help make the book a breezy read.

My favorite quote, from pages 51-52, "After uniting Greece, he had a new obsession-Perisa. He wasn't alone. The Greeks, in general, shivered in ther tunics whenever the subject of Persian aggression came up. They especially feared the powerful Persian ruler, King Darius III. Why? Because King Darius served the Dark Lord Sauron and sought the One Ring that would give him power over the hobbits and Middle Earth. Oh, wait. Wrong story."

4th grade - 8th grade