Ruffin Competitive Reading Club

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

A baby girl, Bella, is born to a mother who dies in childbirth. Bella's furious father sends her away to be raised among peasants, where she is befriended by Julian, a prince, a fourth son who has no place in his family. When they are both teenagers, Julian treats Bella cruelly; then he is sent away to a warring kingdom as a hostage for peace. Soon after, Bella is recalled by her father and finds herself unhappily living with him and his new family, including a stepsister who is a handmaiden at the palace. Booklist. http://www.dianestanely.com

The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup

When 12-year-old Lucy and her parents move to the farmhouse where her father's family has lived for generations, she hopes to solve the mystery of her great-uncle Oscar's disappearance in 1914, when he was 14. Soon she discover's Oscar's notbook, the mysterious "Book of Story Beginnings". Booklist.

The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau

The city of Ember has no natural light, and the blackouts of its antiquated electrical grid are coming more and more frequently: "disaster was right around the corner." So thinks Doon, a curious twelve-year-old who, along with his spirited schoolmate Lina, determines to save the city. Horn Book. http://www.jeanneduprau.com/

The Earth Dragon Awakes by Laurence Yep

On the evening of April 17, 1906, neither eight-year-old Henry nor his friend Ching is aware that the earth beneath their San Francisco homes is shifting. Devotees of "penny dreadfuls," both boys long for excitement, not their fathers' ordinary routine lives. When the earthquake shakes the city and firestorm breaks out, Henry and his parents scramble in the chaos and battle the fire, but must ultimately evacuate their home. Ching and his father survive the collapse of their Chinatown tenement, and flee to the ferry through the debris and turmoil. Booklist. http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/yep.html

The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood by Barb Bentler Ullman

Worn thin and ill by stress, 10-year-old Willa is eager to move out of her spiteful grandmother's house after her parents divorce. After she and her mother move into a trailer in the woods, they meet Hazel, a kind, eccentric old woman who lives nearby. During the summer, Hazel watches Willa while her mother works, and Willa assists Hazel with her chores, which helps the child grow stronger. Willa also begins to read between the lines of Hazel's many stories. Soon they share a secret: a band of woodland fairies called the Nutfolk lives in the woods, invisible to all but a few. Booklist. http://barb.bentler.us/

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

Noah and his sister, Abbey, are more understanding of their volatile dad's latest arrest than their mother, who begins talking of divorce. Dad sank the Coral Queen, a casino boat on a Florida Key because, he alleges, its owner, Dusty Muleman, has been illegally dumping raw sewage into the local waters. Soon enough the kids begin trying to gather proof that will vindicate their father and put the casino out of business. Library School Journal. http://www.carlhiaasen.com

Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Where do dreams come from? Littlest One is training as a dream-giver. With a touch as light as gossamer, she takes seriously her job of gathering memories from people's possessions and returning the pleasant memories as dreams. When she and Thin Elderly, her mentor, get a new assignment, they realize that their new job will be difficult. The woman is old and John is a troubled boy with an abusive father. He has recently been placed in foster care with the old woman. But nightmares visit the boy each night and threaten to undo the good work the Littlest One and Thin Elderly do to bring happiness to their charges. Library Media Connections. http://www.loislowry.com/

Hero Revealed by William Boniface

Ordinary Boy is the only resident of Superopolis, a city of heroes, who doesn't have superpowers. He is part of the Junior Leaguers team that includes Halogen Boy, whose glowing ability depends on his consumption of apple juice; Plasma Girl, who can transform into a jellylike substance; and Stench, notable for passing overpowering gas. Ordinary Boy realizes that even without superpowers, he can still do extraordinary things. Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy series will appeal to fans of Captain Underpants. http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/28931/William_Boniface/

Isalbella's Above Ground Pool by Alice Mead

"I won't share 'cuz it's not fair" is nine-year-old Isabella Speedwalker-Juarez's motto, and given her current family situation (she, her mom, and her toddler brother have just moved into her grandmother's trailer), one can hardly blame her. Her one wish is for an above-ground swimming pool, but family finances are tight, and Mom can't promise that she will have the funds to pay for the pool before the store's owner sells it to someone else. Isabella comes up with a couple of successful moneymaking ideas, but when a tornado hits their Texas town, destroying a classmate's roof, she feels uncomfortable keeping the money for herself. Booklist.

Macaroni Boy by Katherine Ayres

In Pittsburgh in 1933, sixth-grader Mike Costa notices a connection between several strange occurrences, but the only way he can find out the truth about what's happening is to be nice to the class bully. Includes historical acts. http://personal.chatham.edu/faculty/kayres/

The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis

Eleven-year-old orphan Sallie March narrates this involving tale of Wild West adventure. When she and her sister Maude set out to find their last remaining relative, a string of coincidences and errors makes outlaws of the girls. Horn Book.

The Report Card by Andrew Clements

Fifth-grader Nora Rowley is a genius masquerading as an average student to avoid the pressures that come with her gift. When her best friend, Stephen, a nice, hard-working child who really is average, scores low on the state mastery tests and starts to think of himself as "dumb," Nora decides it's time to do something. Feeling she has nothing to lose, she brings home a terrible report card, setting off a whole chain of events that affect not only Stephen but also her family, her other classmates, her teachers, and herself. Booklist. http://www.andrewclements.com/

Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly Jones

Annalise, 12, and her brother, Free, 5, have never been to the ocean before their single-parent, working mom is injured in a car accident and takes them back to her childhood home in Fiddle Island, Maine, to recover. Annalise hates the sea, the sound, the space, the fury--but when a hurricane hits, she braves the waves to rescue an old Abenaki man, Ben, who has become her friend. Booklist.

Sheep by Valerie Hobbs

On a California ranch, the stray pup begins to learn to herd sheep, and that dream of work stays with him after a fire destroys the ranch and he is sold to a pet store. He finds some kindness with a series of owners, and he even falls in love, but he also endures wretched cruelty, especially when he refuses to dance for a brutal circus master. Finally, he saves the life of a lost orphan boy, bonds with him, and helps find a family for them both. Booklist. http://www.valeriehobbs.com/about.html/

The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby

Twelve-year-old Gurl, a resident of Hope House for the Homeless who has a talent for becoming invisible (fading until she becomes "the wall"), adopts and tries to hide a mysterious cat. The matron discovers her pet and kidnaps it, blackmailing Gurl into a life of thievery. Eventually, Gurl escapes with another orphan, Bug, and the two become the object of a chase involving a peculiar professor, a giant rat, an infamous ganster, and a zipper-faced monster. Booklist. http://www.dianestanley.com/