Good Reads
Book Discussion Kits for Kids
Juvenile book discussion kits feature a range of genres and literary styles, exposing readers to a variety of issues designed to promote thought and discussion. Each kit contains a set of thirty identical books accompanied by a book discussion guide. Click on a title to find out if it is available.( We also have Book Discussion Kits for teens).
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. |
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Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo |
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Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis Suggested for Grades 4 & up |
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Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett Suggested for Grades 5 & up |
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl |
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Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Wilbur, the pig, is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him. |
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Clementine by Sara Pennypacker While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gains several unique hairstyles while also helping her father in his efforts to banish pigeons from the front of their apartment building. |
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Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa, School Days by Erica Silverman Cocoa the horse does not want Cowgirl Kate to go to school without him. |
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The City of Ember by Jeanne DePrau In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unkown Regions. |
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Coraline by Neil Gaiman Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others. |
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David Macauay Collection by David Macaulay |
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Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression. |
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Frindle by Andrew Clements When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control. |
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Frog and Toad Collection by Arnold Lobel |
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Hoot by Carl Hiaasen |
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The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes In winning a medal she is no longer there to receive, a tight-lipped little Polish girl teaches her classmates a lesson. |
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Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. Suggested for Grades 3 & up |
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Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos |
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Knights of the Kitchen Table by Jon Scieszka When Joe, Fred, and Sam are sent back in time by a magic book, they find themselves face-to-face with giants, dragons, wizards, and the Knights of the Round Table. |
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Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson |
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Love That Dog by Sharon Creech Suggested for Grades 3 & up |
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The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole A special field trip on the magic school bus allows Ms. Frizzle's class to get a first-hand look at major parts of the body and how they work. |
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The Magic School Bus: In the Time of Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole Go back millions of years with Ms. Frizzle's class to search for the nests of the Maiasaura dinosaurs, in this prehistoric field trip adventure. |
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The Magic School Bus: On the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole On another special field trip on the magic school bus, Ms. Frizzle's class learns about the ocean and the different creatures that live there. |
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My Brother Sam is Dead by James Collier Tragedy strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town. The story, based partially on fact, portrays a Connecticut family divided in loyalties during the Revolutionary War. |
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Niagara Falls, or Does It? by Henry Winkler Fourth-graders Hank, Ashley, and Frankie are excitedly preparing for a magic show at the Rock 'N Bowl when Hank's creative alternative to an English essay lands him in detention and grounded the week of the show. |
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No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production. |
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Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time. Suggested for Grades 5 & up |
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Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her. |
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Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary The further adventures of the Quimby family as Ramona enters the third grade. |
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Savvy by Ingrid Law Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy"--a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident. |
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Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed. |
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The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo A tiny mouse, Despereaux, defies all odds by surviving childhood despite being born with his eyes open, ears half as big as his head, and the smallest stature of a known mouse. When the tiny mouse hears music for the first time, Despereaux defies all the laws of his kingdom and goes into the light whereupon he sees the love of his life—a human princess. Suggested for Grades 4 & up |
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The Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963. |
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Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak After he is sent to bed without supper for behaving like a wild thing, Max dreams of a voyage to the island where the wild things are. |
Take a look at our Book Discussion Kits for teens.