CHUH Library > Children's Services > Book Discussion Guides

Check out a set of books for your class or book discussion group. Sets consist of 20-30 books. They are stored at the Lee Road Library, but can be picked up at any of our branches. Sets cannot be placed on hold via the online catalog, so please call or stop in to arrange for pickup. The Heights Library System also provides book discussion guides for some of these titles. Click here to access the book discussion guides.

Author	Title	Year	Synopsis
ALEXANDER, LLOYD	Book of Three, The (The Chronicles of Prydain #1)	1964	Taran, assistant pig keeper to an oracular sow sets out on a hazardous mission to save Prydain from the forces of evil.
ATWATER, RICHARD AND FLORENCE	Mr. Popper's Penguins	1938	The unexpected delivery of a large crate changes the life of Mr. Popper.
AVI	The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle	1990	Charlotte, the lone "young lady" on a ship in 1832, learns that the captain is murderous and the crew rebellious. Newbery Honor Book
BABBITT, NATALIE	Tuck Everlasting	1975	A spring whose water prevents one from ever growing old is the secret of the Tuck family.
BAUER, JOAN	Rules of the Road	1998	Jenna Boller wishes there were as many warning signs on the highway of life as there are on the highways she drives from Chicago to Texas with her cranky shoestore-owning boss, Mrs. Gladstone.
BAUER, MARION DANE	On My Honor	1986	When his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.
BLUME, JUDY	Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing	1972	Peter finds his demanding two-year-old brother an ever increasing problem.
CAMERON, ANN	More Stories Julian Tells	1986	More episodes in the life of Julian including a bet with his best friend Gloria, a secret project, and what happens when his brother Huey decides to be Superboy.
CATLING, PATRICK SKENE	The Chocolate Touch	1952	A boy aquires a magical gift that turns everything his lips touch into chocolate.
CLEMENTS, ANDREW	Frindle	1996	When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allan invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control. The Report Card is another good book by this author, and you'll find many more in the library.
COOPER, SUSAN	Dark Is Rising, The	1973	Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the "Old Ones" and must seek a way to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark.
CREECH, SHARON	Walk Two Moons	1994	After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Sal knows this journey is the only chance to reunite her family. Newbery Medal Winner.
CURTIS, CHRISTOPHER PAUL	Bud, Not Buddy	1999	Ten-year-old Bud, a mother less boy living in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of a man he believes is his father.
CURTIS, PAUL CHRISTOPHER	The Watsons Go To Birmingham -1963: a novel	1995	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.
CUSHMAN, KAREN	Catherine Called Birdy	1994	The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English knight keeps a journal in which she expresses her longing for adventure and her efforts to avoid being married off. Newbery Honor Book.
DAHL, ROALD	Matilda	1988	Matilda applies her mental powers to rid her school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey.
DAHL, ROALD	The BFG	1982	Kidsnatched from her orphange by a BFG (Big Friendly Giant), who spends his life blowing happy dreams to children, Sophie concocts with him a plan to save the world from nine other man-gobbling cannybull giants.
DICAMILLO, KATE	Because of Winn Dixie	2000	Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida and all the good things that happen because of her ugly dog Winn Dixie. Newbery Honor Book.
DORRIS, MICHAEL	Sees Behind Trees	1996	A Native American boy with a special gift to "see" beyond his poor eyesight journeys with an old warrior to a land of mysterious beauty.
EAGER, EDWARD McMAKEN	Half Magic	1954	Jane discovers an ordinary-looking coin that seems to grant wishes, but only half-way. The summer quickly changes from boring to exciting for her and her brother and sisters, as they are thrust into one adventure after another.
FLEISCHMAN, PAUL	Seedfolks	1997	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. In doing so, the gardeners themselves are transformed.
FLEISCHMAN, SID	The Whipping Boy	1986	A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becomming involved with dangerous outlaws. Newbery Medal Winner.
FLEISCHMAN, SID	Jim Ugly	1992	Twelve year old Jake and his dog travel through the west trying to find out what really happened to Jake’s father.
FLETCHER, SUSAN	Shadow Spinner	1998	When Marjan, a thirteen-year-old crippled girl, joins the sultan's harem in ancient Persia, she gathers for Scheherazade the stories that will save the queen's life.
FORBES, ESTHER	Johnny Tremain	1971	A silversmith's apprentice becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution.
GARDINER, JOHN REYNOLDS	Stone Fox	1980	Little Willie hopes to pay the back taxes on his grandfather's farm with the purse from a dog sled race he enters.
GAUTHIER, GAIL	Year With Butch and Spike	1998	Upon entering the sixth grade, straight-A student Jasper falls under the spell of the dreaded, irrepressible Cootch cousins.
GEORGE, JEAN CRAIGHEAD	My Side of the Mountain	1972	Finding a tree for a home and a falcon for a companion, Sam runs away to live in the woods of the Catskill Mountains.
HADDIX, MARGARET	Running Out of Time	1995	When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, it is up to Jessie to escape and save the lives of the dying children.
HAMILTON, VIRGINIA	Cousins	1990	Cammy is jealous of her "perfect" cousin, Patty Ann, until tragedy strikes and fills her with guilt.
HAMILTON, VIRGINIA	The House of Dies Drear	1968	A black family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. This book is the winner of the 1969 Edgar Allen Poe Award. The Mystery of Drear House, a sequel to this book, is also available.
HESSE, KAREN	Letters from Rifka	1992	In letters to her cousins, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from 1919 Russia and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others migrate to America.
HIAASEN, CARL	Hoot	2002	New to Florida, Roy spots the running boy--running away from the school bus, carrying no books and wearing no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail, which leads him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, and a renegade eco-avenger.
HOLM, JENNIFER	Our Only May Amelia	1999	As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington state in 1899.
JOHNSON, ANGELA	Heaven	1998	Fourteen-year-old Marley's seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents.
KONIGSBURG, E.L.	The View From Saturday	1996	Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who selects them to represent their sixth grade in the Academic Bowl competition.
KONIGSBURG, E.L.	From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler	1967	Having run away from her younger brother to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Claudia strives to keep things in order and solve the mystery of Angel.
L'ENGLE, MADELINE	A Wrinkle in Time	1962	Meg Murry travels into the fifth dimension with her younger brother, Charles Wallace, and her friend Calvin to find her father, a scientist who disappeared during a top secret government experiment.
LESTER, JULIUS	To Be a Slave	1968	This powerful narrative describes what it was like "to be a slave". Moving personal testimonies provide an unforgettable chronicle of the horrors of slavery.
LEVINE, GAIL CARSON	Ella Enchanted	1997	In this novel based on Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.
LEWIS, C. S.	The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The (The Chronicles of Narnia #2)	1950	Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia. This was the first book of Narnia that C. S. Lewis wrote--before he knew it would be a series.
LOWRY, LOIS	The Giver	1993	Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Newbery Medal Award.
MACLACHLAN, PATRICIA	Sarah, Plain and Tall	1985	When their father invites a mail-order bride to come and live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay. Newbery Medal Award.
MYERS, WALTER DEAN	At Her Majesty's Request: An African Princess in Victorian England	1999	This is a true story of an orphaned African princess who was taken to England where Queen Victoria took care of her.
NAYLOR, PHYLLIS REYNOLDS	Shiloh	1991	When he finds a beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a man known to mistreat dogs. Newbery Medal Award.
O'BRIEN, ROBERT	Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH	1971	Having no one to help her, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long-lived.
O'DELL, SCOTT	Island of the Blue Dolphins	1960	Accidentally left alone on an isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years surviving and finding a measure of happiness in a solitary life.
PATERSON, KATHERINE	Bridge to Terabithia	1977	Ten-year-old Jesse Aarons, who has lived all his life on a farm in Virginia, becomes friends with Leslie Burke, a "city girl" who has moved into a farmhouse down the road and opens doors to culture and imaginative play. But then tragedy strikes. This book was awarded the 1978 Newbery Medal.
PATERSON, KATHERINE	Jip: His Story	1998	Jip never knew his identity until a stranger came into town. Then he understood how he came to live on a poor farm.
PAULSEN, GARY	Hatchet	1987	After a plane crash, Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, surviving only with the aid of a hatchet given to him by his mother. A 1988 Newbery Honor book.
PECK, RICHARD	Long Way from Chicago	1998	A boy recounts his annual summer trips with his sister to rural Illinois, during the Great Depression, to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.
RASKIN, ELLEN	The Westing Game	1978	The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.
ROWLING, J.K.	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (A Harry Potter Adventure #1)	1998	Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Wizards and Witches.
RYLANT, CYNTHIA	Missing May	1992	After the death of the beloved aunt who has raised her, twelve-year-old Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.
SACHAR, LOUIS	Holes	1998	At Camp Green Lake, a boys' detention center, the boys build character by spending all day, every day, digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. What could the warden be looking for under the dried-up lake? Newbery Medal Award.
SPEARE, ELIZABETH GEORGE	The Sign of the Beaver	1983	Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
SPEARE, ELIZABETH GEORGE	The Witch of Blackbird Pond	1958	In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.
SPINELLI, JERRY	Maniac Magee	1990	After the death of his parents, Magee's life assumes legendary proportions, as he accomplishes astounding athletic feats which awe his contemporaries. Newbery Medal Award.
TAYLOR, MILDRED	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry	1976	A black family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand. This book is the winner of the 1977 Newbery Medal.
TAYLOR, MILDRED D.	Mississippi Bridge	1990	In this pre-Civil Rights era story, a bus careens off a bridge, killing all of the white passengers, after an African-Americam family is ordered off the bus to make room for them.
TAYLOR, MILDRED D.	The Friendship	1987	Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly black man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s.
TAYLOR, THEODORE	The Cay	1969	After the freighter on which he is traveling is torpedoed, Phillip finds himself stranded on an island with an old West Indian man.
VAN DRAANEN, WENDELIN	Flipped	2001	In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years.
VAN DRAANEN, WENDELIN	Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief	1998	Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at a "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors building where she is staying with her grandmother.
WHITE, E.B.	Charlotte's Web	1952	The story of Wilbur, the pig, smallest of the litter, who is raised by the farmer's daughter, and who finds a friend in Charlotte, the spider. This book is a 1953 Newbery Honor book.
WHITE, RUTH	Belle Prater's Boy	1996	When Woodrow's mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents' home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin and together they find the strength to face the terrible fears and losses in their lives.
WOODSON, JACQUELINE	Miracle's Boys	2001	Lafayette's relationship with his brother Charlie changes when he comes home from a correctional facility.
YOLEN, JANE	The Devil's Arithmetic	1988	Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage, until she opens the door at Seder dinner to find herself transported to a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.