HIT: Kids who are mean to other kids (LONG)

[Jody Newman <newmanj@meol.mass.edu>]

Hello!

Sorry this has taken so long. Many suggestion came in and I wanted to
check them out. The list includes Dale Copps address for this theme
which I had visited before posting the request for books for ages 9-12.

While the following books aim at ages 9-12, some are more YA. I have
pasted in descriptions of content (from Amazon.com which I hope is OK?)
to help you decide on appropriateness. I did find that some books
strayed from the concept we were addressing here at school but put them
all in as they seemed to be good books for a list like this.

Enjoy

KIDS WHO ARE MEAN TO OTHER KIDS.....

Dale Copps Page: http://www.wcsu.k12.vt.us/~wardsborolists.htm#/Themes

St. John, Liza
Abby's Wish
Abby the rabbit wishes she had a friend, as long as it's not
funny-looking Horrible Hare.

Blume, Judy
Blubber                 Ages 9-12
Jill goes along with the rest of the fifth-grade class in tormenting a
classmate and then finds out what it's like when she, too, becomes a
target.

Iggie's House                   Ages 9-12
When Grove Street gets its first black family, Winnie is a welcoming
party of one.

Capote, Truman
The Thanksgiving Visitor        all ages
A boy recalls his life with an elderly relative in rural Alabama in the
1930s and the lesson she taught him one Thanksgiving Day about dealing
with a bully from school.


Carrick, Carol
Some Friend                     Ages 9-12
Mike has always been a little in awe of his self-assertive friend Rob
but one day, when pushed too far, Mike realizes he will have to take a
stand of his own or lose self-respect.

Stay away from Simon            Ages 4-8
Lucy and her younger brother examine their feelings about a mentally
handicapped boy they both fear when he follows them home one snowy day.

Cleary, Beverly
Dear Mr. Henshaw                        Ages 9-12
In his letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his
problems in coping with his parents' divorce, being the new boy in
school, and generally finding his own place in the world.


Cosby, Bill
The Meanest Thing to Say (Little Bill series)   Ages 4-8
Little Bill wonders how he can still be a nice guy when he plays a game
where the only way to win is by being mean

Estes, Eleanor
The hundred dresses             Ages  4-8
Wanda, a Polish immigrant, wants nothing more than to be liked and
accepted in a strange country. That's why she tells her classmates tales
of her "hundred dresses, all lined up in a row in my closet." Her
classmates think this is hilarious, and are frequently asking her about
her hundred dresses. Only when she is gone do they realize how much
damage they actually did...

Fenner, Carol
Randall's Wall                  Ages 9-12
Artistically talented but socioeconomically underprivileged, a
fifth-grade boy has built a wall of defense to protect himself from the
pain of human relationships--a wall which begins to crumble
when a dynamic and compassionate classmate decides to interfere in his
life.

Fitzhugh, Louise
Harriet the Spy                 Ages 9-12
Harriet M. Welsch is determined to grow up and be a famous author. In
the meantime, she practices by following a regular spy route each day
and writing down everything she sees in her secret notebook. Then one
morning, Harriet's life is turned upside down. Her classmates find her
spy notebook and read it out loud! Harriet's in big trouble. The other
sixth-graders are stealing her tomato sandwiches, forming a spy-catcher
club, and writing notes of their own -- all about Harriet!

Fox, Paula
Monkey Island                    (YA - homeless)
Fox has written a quietly terrifying, wholly compelling novel about the
urban homeless, filtered through the experience of an 11-year-old boy.
Clear-eyed and unblinking as ever, she shows us the grit, misery and
despair of the homeless, along with occasional qualified, but
nonetheless powerful redemptive moments.

Giff, Patricia Reilly
Love, from the 5th-grade celebrity      Ages 9-12
Casey can't wait for the new school year since she's sure
she'll be elected class president and her friend Tracy will be moving to
her town. But when Tracy wins the election and steals her friends, Casy
begins to wish her friend had never come to town.

Greenwald, Sheila
Valentine Rosy                  Ages 9-12
Out of print

Hahn, Mary Downing
Daphne's Book                   Ages 9-12
Jessica is a wreak when she finds herself wound up with Daphne the
strangest girl in the class as her Write A Book Contest partner.

Stepping on Cracks                      Ages 9-12
Margaret and her best friend Elizabeth both have brothers fighting the
war in Europe. The girls
themselves are fighting on a different front--at home, against the class
bully, Gordy. When he grows bolder than ever, Margaret allows Elizabeth
to talk her into a daring plan to get even.

James, Mary
Shoebag                 Ages 9-12
The story of a happy young cockroach named Shoebag, who awakens one
morning to find that he has been transformed into a little boy. Adopted
by the Biddle family, Shoebag changes the lives of all he meets.

Lisle, Janet
Afternoon of the Elves          Ages 9-12
As Hillary works in the miniature village, allegedly built by elves, in
Sara-Kate's backyard, she becomes more and more curious about
Sara-Kate's real life inside her big, gloomy house with her mysterious,
silent mother.

Lord, Bette Bao
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson     Ages 7-12.
The story of Shirley Temple Wong who, with her family, leaves her
native, ancestral home in China and sails off to a new life in Brooklyn.
It is an enormous adjustment for Shirley who must learn not only a new
language but an entirely new way of life. Making friends in this strange
new world is very difficult for Shirley, until she discovers baseball,
the Brooklyn Dodgers and a wonderful hero and role-model in Jackie
Robinson.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynold
King of the Playground          Ages 9-12
With his dad's help, Kevin overcomes his fear of the "King of the
Playground" who has threatened to tie him to the slide, put him in a
deep hole, or put him in a cage with bears.

Paterson, Katherine
Bridge to Terabithia            Ages 9-12
The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes
friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying
to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.

Flip Flop Girl                  Ages 9-12
Nine-year-old Vinnie feels out of place when she, her mother, and her
brother move in with Grandma after Daddy dies, until she meets a
flip-flop-wearing girl named Lupe--an outsider like herself.

Philbrick, Rodman
Freak the Mighty                YA
At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new
friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his
brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful
team.

Robinson, Barbara
The Best Christmas Pageant      Ages 9-12
The Best School Year Ever
The horrible Herdmans from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever are
modern-day outlaws and the most famous kids at Woodrow Wilson School.
Their wild behavior and outrageous lies always lead to disaster, but
somehow all of them continually escape blame. Are they really
horrible--or could there be some good in them? Find out the real truth
about this crazy clan.

Sachar, Louis
The Boy Who Lost his Face       YA -profanity
"Though Danny Ballinger reluctantly goes along with a group of boys who
cruelly harrass an elderly woman, he's the one she singles out to put a
curse on. Danny doesn't believe in hexes, but there's no denying that
after the incident, his life takes a nose dive."--Booklist.

Sachs, Marilyn
The Bears' House                Ages 9-12
Every child has had problems that they think they cannot handle. In this
book, we live the struggle of a young girl just trying to make it in her
world. She doesn't want to see her family split up, but in order to keep
it together, she has to dodge reality and teachers alike. To escape from
her problems, she creates a family for herself in the dolls that her
teacher has brought in with her doll house. By creating this "family"
her life becomes bearable for the time she is "with" them. A good
book about the pain of living in a family that is not exactly like
everybody else's family, and coping
with reality.

Smith, Doris Buchanan   Last was Lloyd
Out of print

Snyder, Zilpha K
Libby on Wednesday              Ages 9-12
Libby hates school. Before this year she was tutored at home by her
eccentric relatives. But now her mother feels she should become more
"socialized." Now Liby is stuck with four kids she doesn't like in a
writer's club that meets every week. Can the five of them accept each
other, and even become friends?


Spinelli, Jerry
Fourth Grade Rats               Ages 9-12
Suds learns that his best friend is wrong. You don't have to be a tough
guy, a "rat," to be a grown up fourth grader.

Maniac Magee                    Ages 9-12
Maniac Magee is a folk story about a boy, a very excitable boy. One that
can outrun dogs, hit a home run off the best pitcher in the
neighborhood, tie a knot no one can undo. "Kid's gotta be a maniac," is
what the folks in Two Mills say. It's also the story of how this boy,
Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, confronts racism in a small town, tries
to find a home where there is none and attempts to soothe tensions
between rival factions on the tough side of town. Presented as a folk
tale, it's the stuff of storytelling.

Voigt, Cynthia
Bad Girls               Ages 9-12
Sharing a common goal to be the meanest kids in their class, Margalo and
Mikey conspire to turn their fifth-grade class into a minefield and
fearlessly confront anyone who would stand in their way.
****************************

Jody Newman
Library Aide
Center School
Stow MA
newmanj@meol.mass.edu

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