DCF Book Blog for VUES

11 Planets by David Aguilar

2009-08-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Brilliant photorealistic illustrations and fascinating facts straight from the latest astronomy news bring a comprehensive look at our solar system as we’ve never seen it before.

Calder Game by Blue Balliett

2009-08-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

When seventh graderCalder Pillay disappears from a remote English village--along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn--his friends Petra and Tommy fly from Chicago to help his father find him.

Here's a link to a Scholastic Book Talk on The Calder Game:

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/video.jsp?pID=1640149541&bcpid=1640149541&bclid=1557820328&bctid=1751847103

For activites and games related to this book and other books by Blue Balliett, click on the link below.
http://www.scholastic.com/blueballiett/games/index.htm

Christo and Jeanne-Claude by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

2009-08-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

This biography of contemporary artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude is a
story of the power of collaboration and vision, and of the creation of the spectacular
Gates in New York’s Central Park and other incredible installation artworks.

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

2009-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

In a remote area of Alaska, twelve-year-old Willow helps her father with their sled dogs when she is not at school, all the while unaware that the animals surrounding her carry the spirits of ancestors and friends who care for her.

Emperors of the Ice by Richard Farr

2009-08-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

Apsley "Cherry" Cherry-Garrard shares his adventures as the youngest member of Robert Scott’s expedition to Antarctica in 1910, during which he and Edward Wilson try to learn the evolutionary history of emperor penguins, nearly dying in the attempt.

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

2009-08-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

When thirteen-year olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time.

Below is a link to a Trailers for Found.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/video.jsp?pID=1640149541&bcpid=1640149541&bclid=1557820329&bctid=1731910627

Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

2009-08-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Twelve-year-old Gil Goodson competes against thousands of other children at
extraordinary puzzles, stunts, and more in hopes of a fresh start for his family, which has been ostracized since his father was falsely accused of embezzling from Golly Toy and Game Company.

For more information, games, and contests related to this book, check out the following web site:
http://www.gollywhoppergames.com/

Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2009-08-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the
graveyard.

Below is a link to a Trailer for The Graveyard Book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m1660HKJT8UK7W

Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor

2009-08-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

In North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains, a troubled boy and his mother, a happy family
seeking adventure, a man and his lonely daughter, and the widow who must sell the rundown
motel that has been her home for decades, meet and are transformed by their shared
experiences.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-08-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem conduct an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another,sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she volunteers to take her younger sister’s place.

Into the Dark by Peter Abrahams

2009-08-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Thirteen-year-old Sherlock
Holmes aficionado Ingrid Levin-Hill tries to clear her grandfather’s name when he is
accused of murdering an environmental activist found dead on his farm.

Jellaby by Kean Soo

2009-08-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Not long after Portia Bennett and her mother move to a new town to start their lives over, Portia discovers a huge purple monster she names Jellaby and enlists the help of fellow student Jason, as the two search for a way to find their new friend’s true home--a search which may connect Portia to her missing father.

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

2009-08-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

How did Jon Scieszka get so funny? He grew up as one of six brothers with Catholic school, lots of comic books, lazysummers at the lake with time to kill, babysitting misadventures, TV shows, and jokes told at family dinner.

Leanin' Dog by K.A. Nuzum

2009-08-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

In wintry Colorado during the 1930s, eleven-year-old Dessa Dean mourns the death of her beloved
mother, but the arrival of an injured dog and the friendship they form is just what they
need to change their lives forever.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

2009-08-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

After Marvin, a beetle,makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover an Albrecht Dürer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mogo, the Third Warthog by Donna Jo Napoli

2009-08-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

When Mogo is cast out of his burrow to make room for a new litter, he learns how to survive
and find the joy of friendship and love.

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

2009-08-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

In this graphic novel Old West retelling, Rapunzel uses her hair as a lasso and to take on outlaws--including Gothel, the witch.

Rat Trap by Michael Daley

2009-08-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Bioengineered Rat and
her twelve-year-old human companion, Jeff, stand together when Dr. Vivexian, who
considers Rat his masterpiece, arrives at the space station to capture her.

Savvy by Ingrid Law

2009-08-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mibs Beaumont’s 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.

Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell

2009-08-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world in which she has grown up.

Steel Trapp: The Challenge by Ridley Pearson

2009-08-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

On a two day train trip to enter his invention in the National Science Competition in Washington,D.C., fourteen-year-old Steven "Steel" Trapp, possessor of a remarkable photographicmemory, becomes embroiled in an international plot of kidnapping and bribery that mayhave links to terrorists.

Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde

2009-08-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

A girl finds herself running through the forest at the edge of a village with no memory of anything,even her own name, and later learns that she might be twelve-year-old Isabelle, believed to be stolen by a witch six years before.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

2009-08-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

A girl travels east of the sun and west of the moon to free her beloved prince from a
magic spell.