Little Cat's Luck
by Marion Dane Bauer

Patches is an indoor cat who, while looking for a quiet place to rest, becomes distracted by a floating leaf outside the window. In her attempt to catch the leaf, she tumbles through the screen. Fixated on the leaf, the cat seems undaunted by the unfamiliar outdoors. In her journey she meets Gus, also known as the meanest dog in town. Unlike everyone else, Patches shows no fear towards the loud barking dog before continuing to search for the perfect place to rest.  Eventually, Patches finds the spot she has been looking for, but it is inside Gus' doghouse!  How will Gus react when he finds Patches inside his house?

As with Little Dog, Lost, Marion Bauer has created a sweet, emotional story! Patches is an innocent, yet feisty when necessary, character that readers will fall in love with. Gus, labeled by other characters as a loud, mean dog, soon emerges as a misunderstood dog who, when given the opportunity, shows a great deal of love. This is an excellent companion book to Little Dog, Lost and one that I know many readers who enjoy stories about pets will love!

Author's website: http://www.mariondanebauer.com/

Book trailer:

The Losers Club

The Losers Club
by Andrew Clements

What's an avid reader to do when he is told he can't read at school? Start an after school reading club! When Alec's deep love of books yet again gets in the way of his schoolwork, his principal puts a restriction on his reading time in school. Alec finds a way around the principal's strict order by starting The Losers Club during the Extended Day Program at school, which will give him three extra hours of reading everyday. Alec's plan of reading in solitude are hampered, however, when more kids than he planned join the club, including his biggest bully.  Will Alec's club grow to be more than he ever expected it to be?

I'm a big Andrew Clements fan and this story made me wish for a Losers Club when I was in sixth-grade!  One of my favorite parts about this story is that many excellent books (Hatchet, The Lightning Thief, Cat in the Hat, and many others) are mentioned and my hope is that my students, after reading The Losers Club, will then want to read some of the stories the different characters
read.

Author's website: http://www.andrewclements.com/

Save Me a Seat

Save Me a Seat
by Sarah Weeks


Ravi is a new student from India trying to get through his first week at his new school in the United States. He is confident at first, but soon realizes fitting in will be a lot harder than he thought.Joe is not new but, like Ravi, he doesn't fit in, especially now that his only friends have moved away.  Joe and Ravi may have little in common but they do share at least one thing: a bully who is determined to make their lives miserable.

Save Me a Seat is a wonderful, emotional story of two boys who are struggling to fit in and and overcome challenges at school.   I found the story and the characters realistic and relatable.  Another great book from the new MSBA reading list!

Author's website: http://sarahweeks.com/

Slacker

Slacker
by Gordon Korman

Gaming is Cameron Boxer's life.  Unfortunately, after his video game obsession nearly causes a kitchen fire, his parents issue an ultimatum: find an extra social activity or lose his game system forever.  Having no interest in anything other than video games, Cam comes up with the perfect plan: start a fake school club so that his parents will believe he's doing something besides gaming.  He even has his friend Pavel hack into the school website and create a fake webpage for the club, thinking that no one will notice it.  However, someone does notice and Cam's made-up club, the Positive Action Group (P.A.G.) soon becomes the most popular club in school!  Suddenly the club that Cam made up to avoid other activities has now consumed his life.

What a great book!  I love how Gordon Korman alternated narrators throughout the story, giving the reader an opportunity to get to know each character better.  I found this story humorous, yet realistic, and very entertaining!

Author's website: http://gordonkorman.com/