The Devil's Arithmetic

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen is 170 pages long.  Hannah, a Jewish girl, goes to her aunt's house to celebrate the Passover.  Hannah is chosen to open the door to let the Elijah inside.  When she opens the door, she time travels back in time and ends up in a house.  She meets a woman named Gitl.  The next day they go to celebrate a wedding.  While there, Nazis come and ask them to go with them because they need to be relocated.  Hannah finds out what year it is and she tries to warn the other Jews.  They don't listen to her and go with the Nazis.  Once they are taken out of the boxcars, they see that they are in a camp. 

Dogsong

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen is 177 pages.  I didn't really enjoy this book.  Dogsong is about a Eskimo boy named Russel.  Russel wants to be a man and find his own song.  He goes to a old man named Oogruk for advice.  Soon after this Oogruk dies, so Russel takes his dogsled team out across the ice. A while later, he finds a pregnant Eskimo girl close to death.  He learns that her name is Nancy and she had run away but her snow machine had run out of fuel.  After Nancy gets better, they continue on his journey together because Nancy doesn't want to go back to where she lives.  Once they continue on their journey they run out of food and there is no caribou in sight so Russel leaves Nancy to go look for food.  Then, he comes across a bear.

The Mystery of the Ivory Charm

The Mystery of the Ivory Charm, a Nancy Drew book by Carolyn Keene, is 179 pages long.  Nancy, Bess, and George go to a wild animal show.  They meet a boy named Rishi and his cruel father, Rai.  When they get home they find Rishi in the trunk of the car.  He tells Nancy how horrible Rai is to him and that he learned from his mother that Rai is not his real father.  His real father lives in River Heights, which is the city Nancy lives in.  Rishi gives Nancy a ivory necklace that looks like a elephant and he says that it brings good luck.  Nancy calls the animal show to see if Rai is there but the man says that Rai quit so Nancy decides to take care of Rishi for the time being.  Nancy meets a woman named Mrs. Allison who owns a house with a lot of land.  Nancy, Bess, and George go to see if they can find her but instead they find that the house has a tunnel that leads to a opening in a rock.  Nancy then starts to think that Rai and Mrs. Allison are up to no good.

 

The Clue of the Broken Loket ( fourth quarter books)

The Clue of the Broken Loket, a Nancy Drew mystery by Carolyn Keene, is 178 pages long.  Nancy, Bess, and George begin at a restrant.  While wating for their food to cook, they go outside to look at the garden bt the restrant.  They come across a young couple that begin to argue.  When the group of three leave the restrant and reach their destionation they go and ask directions to a cabin their soposed to go to.  Earlier befor, Nancy's father asked her to give a lady named Cecily her keys to the cabin.  The person warns them about a phantom launch that apears on the lake.  The next morning, the girls meet Cecily who turns out to be the woman they saw the day befor at the restrant.  All four of them go exploring and see an old brick building.  That night, Nancy wakes up and relizes Cecily isn't there so she goes to look for her.  She finds her by the brick house unconsius and then someone rolls a log down the hill twords them but Nancy and Cecily escape unharmed.  The next mourning Cecily tells Nancy that she is searching for a iorn bird that hides a hidden fortune and thought it might be by the brick house.  Later, Nancy starts to think something strange is going on at the old brick house.

 

Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is 249 pages long (498, double pages).  I liked this book a lot.  It was very good, but it also was sad.  Billy's dream was to have two coon hounds.  When he asked his parents, they said that they didn't have enough money.  Billy decides to save up his money to get his dogs.  When he gets enough money together, he asks his grandpa if he could order his dogs.  He gets his two dogs and names them Dan and Ann or Old Dan and Little Ann.  He begins to train them to hunt coons.  Once they are ready, he starts to go hunting with them.  He also enters a contest with the dogs.  Once while hunting, Billy and the dogs come across a mountain lion.  This book was very good.

Password to Larkspur Lane

Password to Larkspur Lane, a Nancy Drew mystery by Carolyn Keene, is 175 pages.  Nancy starts off at home.  She and Hannah, her housekeeper, find a homing pigeon carrying a message.  The message is strange because it does not make any sense.  Nancy sees her friend and he tells her a strange story.  When Nancy goes to her car, a man comes up behind her and tells her to give her dad a message.  The message for her dad is 'To mind his own business or he will be in for a bad shock.'  Nancy then goes to see the Cornings because they said something weird was going on at their house.  When Nancy gets there, they tell her there has been a blue ring of fire outside every night for the past couple of days.  Other weird things occur and Nancy thinks that something is going on at another house near the Cornings' house. 

The Sign of the Twisted Candles

The Sign of the Twisted Candles is 176 pages.  This book is a Nancy Drew mystery by Carolyn Keene.  Nancy with her two friends Bess and George are driving, but stop at a restaurant because of a storm.  They see a girl named Carol bringing a meal up to a tower because it is someone's birthday.  Everyone volunteers to go along.  Then, Nancy meets a man named Asa Sidney.  Later, Nancy finds out their is a family feud.  Nancy tells him that her father is an attorney.  When Nancy gets home, Carol calls saying that Asa wants to see her.  She finds out that Asa needs to see her father for a special reason.  When she gets back to the restaurant, she notices the  Jemitts, the owners of the restaurant and guardians of Carol, acting very strange.

Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Nancy's Mysterious Letter, a Nancy Drew book, by Carolyn Keene is 174 pages.  Nancy has a friend named Ira who is a mailman.  She invites him into her house and he give her a letter from London and leaves his mailbag by the front door.  The mailbag gets stolen.  Ira reveals to Nancy that he believes his brother, Edgar, has stolen some money of his.  Edgar has also been threatening Ira for money.  Nancy reads the letter she received and it says that she has a possible inheritance.  The only weird thing is Nancy does not know anybody from London.  Nancy tries to locate another Nancy Drew, but can't locate her.  Then she hears that the other girl is in a play near where Nancy lives.  When she goes to see her, she can't find her.  Later, while Nancy is trying to locate the other Nancy Drew, she stumbles upon some letters.  Nancy then begins to suspect that Edgar is up to no good.

The Clue in the Diary ( third quarter books)

The Clue in the Diary, a Nancy Drew book, by Carolyn Keene is 174 pages.  Nancy, Bess, and George know a girl named Honey.  Honey lives with her mother, Mrs. Swenson.  Nancy heard that Mr. Swenson had left and promised to send money after he found work.  However, Honey and her mother had not received anything.  Nancy, Bess, and George went on a drive when a house near them burst into flames.  Nancy went to see if she could help anyone that was inside.  Instead, she witnessed someone running from the house.  Then, she finds a diary written in Swedish and meets a boy named Ned.  Later, he gives her a ring he found by the house that had a engraving on it which was also written in Swedish.  Nancy's father tells her that the owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Raybolt, could not be reached to inform them about their house.  Nancy examines the diary and finds an address.  She discovers it is the Swenson's address so she goes to visit them.  There she finds out that the diary and the ring belong to Honey's dad.  Nancy starts to get very suspicious of the Raybolts.