Books and Stuff

Youth "Real Life" Books

Pick up a few "day-in-the-life" books to read...


Click here to check the availability of a title in our online catalog.

Younger Readers:

J PIC Bunting, E.
A Day’s Work | by Eve Bunting (32 p., Lexile 350)
When Francisco, a young Mexican boy, tries to help his grandfather find work, he discovers that even though the old man cannot speak English, he has something even more valuable to teach Francisco.

J PIC Gay, M.
Stella, Queen of the Snow | by Marie-Louise Gay (unpaged, Lexile 370)
Stella’s little brother Sam has never seen snow and he has a lot of questions. Older and bolder, Stella has all the answers. Some are fact and others are fanciful.

J PIC Cur
Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born | by Jamie Lee Curtis (unpaged)
A young girl asks her parents to tell her again the cherished family story of her birth and adoption.

J EASY Danziger, Paula
It's Justin Time, Amber Brown | by Paula Danziger(48 p., Lexile 280)
Unlike her best friend Justin, Amber Brown loves to measure time and hopes to receive a watch on her seventh birthday.

J EASY Guest, E.
Iris and Walter | by Elissa Haden Guest (43 p., Lexile 350)
When Iris moves to the country, she misses the city where she formerly lived; but with the help of a new friend named Walter, she learns to adjust to her new home.

J EASY Pomerantz, C. 
The Outside Dog | by Charlotte Pomerantz (62 p., Lexile 410)
Marisol, who lives in Puerto Rico, wants a dog very much but her grandfather will not let her have one, until a skinny mutt wins him over.

J EASY Rylant, C.
Henry and Mudge: The First Book of Their Adventures | by Cynthia Rylant (39 p., Lexile 420)
Henry, feeling lonely on a street without any other children, finds companionship and love in a big dog named Mudge.

Middle Readers:

J FIC Look, L.
Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything | by Lenore Look (164 p., Lexile 560)
After Ruby Lu’s deaf cousin, Flying Duck, and her parents come from China to live with her, Ruby finds life challenging as she adjusts to her new family, tries to mend her rocky relationship with her friend Emma, and faces various adventures in summer school.

J FIC Cleary, Beverly
Ramona's World | by Beverly Cleary (192 p., Lexile 750)
Follows the adventures of nine-year-old Ramona at home with big sister Beezus and baby sister Roberta and at school in Mrs. Meacham's class.

J FIC DiCamillo, K.
Because of Winn-Dixie | by Kate DiCamillo (182 p., Lexile 610)
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

J FIC Lubar, D.
Dog Days | by David Lubar (78 p., Lexile 630)
Larry enjoys taking care of the stray dogs he’s brought home. Then his brother Paul finds another stray in an alley under mysterious circumstances, but the dog won’t come home with them. Larry has to find a way to feed his dogs and try to help the dog from the alley.

J FIC Pennypacker, S.
Clementine | by Sara Pennypacker (133 p., Lexile 790)
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.

J FIC Hesse, K.
Sable | by Karen Hesse (81 p., Lexile 690)
Tate Marshall is delighted when a stray dog turns up in the yard one day, but Sable, named for her dark, silky fur, causes trouble with the neighbors and has to go.

J FIC Lin, G.
The Year of the Dog: a novel | by Grace Lin (134 p., Lexile 690)
Frustrated at her seeming lack of talent for anything, a young Taiwanese American girl sets out to apply the lessons of the Chinese year of the Dog, those of making best friends and finding oneself.

J FIC McDonald, M.
Judy Moody | by Megan McDonald (160 p., Lexile 530)
Third grader Judy Moody is in a first day of school bad mood until she gets an assignment to create a collage all about herself and begins creating her masterpiece, the Me collage.

J FIC MacLachlan, P.
The Journey | by Patricia MacLachlan (83 p., Lexile 630)
Left by their mother with their grandparents, two children feel as if their past has been erased until Grandfather finds a way to restore it to them.

J FIC Patterson, K.
Flip-Flop Girl | by Katherine Patterson (162 p., Lexile 720)
Uprooted following the death of their father, nine-year-old Vinnie and her five-year-old brother, Mason, cope in different ways -- one in silence -- but both cope with the help of Lupe, the flip-flop girl.

J PIC Marsden, C.
The Quail Club | by Carolyn Marsden (138 p., Lexile 720)
Now in fifth grade, Oy wants to do a Thai dance at the school talent show until Liliandra threatens to kick her out of their club if they do not perform an American-style skit together.

J FIC Spinelli, Jerry 
Crash | by Jerry Spinelli (162 p., Lexile 560)
Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.

Older Readers:

J FIC Birdsall, J.
The Penderwicks | by Jeanne Birdsall (282 p., Lexile 800)
While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.

J FIC Clements, A.
Frindle | by Andrew Clements (105 p., Lexile 830)
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.

J FIC Clements, A.
Frindle | by Andrew Clements (105 p., Lexile 830)
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.

J FIC Clements, A.
Lunch Money | by Andrew Clements (222 p., Lexile 840)
Twelve-year-old Greg, who has always been good at moneymaking projects, is surprised to find himself teaming up with his lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of comic books to sell at school..

J FIC Creech, S.
Walk Two Moons | by Sharon Creech (280 p., Lexile 770)
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

J FIC Curtis, C.
The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 | by Christopher Curtis (210 p., Lexile 1000)
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, and African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

J FIC Danziger, P.
United Tates of America: A Novel With Scrapbook Art | by Paula Danziger (123 p., Lexile 640)
Eleven-year-old aspiring artist Skate experiences many changes when she enters middle school, finds her best friend drifting away from her, and loses her beloved great-uncle.

J FIC Dowell, F.
Phineas L. MacGuire Erupts! | by Frances O’Roark Dowell (167 p., Lexile 810)
Fourth-grade science whiz Phineas MacGuire is forced to team up with the new boy in class on a science fair project, but the boy’s quirky personality causes Phineas to wonder if they have any chance of winning.

J FIC Hunt, I.
Up A Road Slowly | by Irene Hunt (192 p., Lexile 1130)
After her mother's death, Julie goes to live with Aunt Cordelia, a spinster schoolteacher, where she experiences many emotions and changes as she grows from seven to eighteen.

J FIC Konigsburg, E.
The View From Saturday | by E.L. Konigsburg (163 p., Lexile 870)
Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

J FIC Montgomery, L.
Anne of Green Gables | by Lucy Maud Montgomery (240 p., Lexile 990)
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.

J FIC Naylor, P.
Shiloh | by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (144 p., Lexile 890)
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.

J FIC Lupica, Mike
Heat | by Mike Lupica (220 p., Lexile 940)
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.

J FIC Patterson, N.
The Winner’s Walk| by Nancy Ruth Patterson (114 p., Lexile 830)
Surrounded by a multitalented family, nine-year-old Case Callahan feels driven to succeed, but his failed attempts at various competitions discourage him until he finds a stray dog with a surprising past.

J FIC Spinelli, J.
Maniac Magee: A Novel | by Jerry Spinelli (184 p., Lexile 820)
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.

J FIC Tolan, S.
Listen! | by Stephanie S. Tolan (197 p., Lexile unavailable)
During her solitary convalescence from a crippling accident, twelve-year-old Charley finds a wild dog, and the arduous process of training him leads her to explore her feelings about her mother’s death two years earlier.

J FIC Voight, C.
Dicey's Song | by Cynthia Voight (196 p., Lexile 710)
Now that the four abandoned Tillerman children are settled in with their grandmother, Dicey finds that their new beginnings require love, trust, humor, and courage.

Click here to check the availability of a title in our online catalog.