Welcome Readers!

The purpose of this blog is to share questions and answers about the Reading Olympics books you have read. You should write two entries for each book, either questions and answers or comments. Since the purpose of this is to help you and your team remember the books, details are important.

From drop down choose: Name/URL. Type your first name only and class.
Example:
Holly 4D
(leave URL blank)

Question Example for Charlotte's Web:
1. Why did Charlotte write words in her web? Ans: Charlotte was trying to show the Zuckermans that Wilbur was a clever pig so he would not be sold for slaughter. Some words she wrote were “Terrific” and “Radiant”.
Comment Example:
I think this book is about the importance of friendship and how it makes life more meaningful. Charlotte showed Wilbur that she was his friend by writing words in her web to show everyone that he was a special pig. She was very loyal and kind.

1. Babysitting is a Dangerous Job (Roberts)

From the moment she set eyes on the three Foster kids, Darcy knew being their baby-sitter would be no picnic. But the pay was twice her usual rate, and the job was only for a few hours a day—surely an experienced baby-sitter like her could handle it. But that wasn't enough to prevent a baby-sitter's worst nightmare from coming true. Now it's up to Darcy to rescue the Foster kids-and herself-from three ruthless kidnappers.

2. Benjamin Franklinstein Lives (Tuxbury)

While working on a science fair project, a Philadelphia school boy discovers both a secret laboratory in his basement and Benjamin Franklin, who comes to life after receiving a jolt of electricity.

3. Bud, Not Buddy (Curtis)

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

4. Chameleon Wore Chartreuse (Hale)

When hired by a fellow fourth-grader to find her missing brother, Chet Gecko uncovers a plot involving a Gila monster's revenge upon the school football team.

5. Chasing Secrets (Choldenko)

Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and her secret friend Noah, who is hiding in her house, plan to rescue Noah's father from the quarantined Chinatown, and save everyone they love from contracting the plague that is spreading in 1900 San Francisco.

6. Confessions of an Imaginary Friend: A Memoir by Jacques Papier (Cuevas)

When Jacques Papier discovers he's imaginary, he sets off on a journey to find his true home.

8. Fight for Life (Anderson)

Maggie MacKenzie is grounded by her grandmother until her grades improve, but when sick and dying puppies begin pouring into the clinic, Maggie sets out to find the puppy mill responsible.

9. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (Mattick)

A fictionalized account of Captain Harry Coleburn's relationship with a bear cub in 1914, which he rescued while on his way to care for soldiers' horses during World War I and became the inspiration for A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh.

10. Fourteenth Goldfish (Holm)

Ellie's scientist grandfather has discovered a way to reverse aging, and consequently has turned into a teenager--which makes for complicated relationships when he moves in with Ellie and her mother, his daughter.

12. Fuzzy Mud (Sachar)

Two middle-grade kids take a shortcut home from school and discover what looks like fuzzy mud but is actually a substance with the potential to wreak havoc on the entire world.

13. Gold Cadillac (Taylor)

Two African-American girls living in the North are proud of their family's beautiful new Cadillac until they take it on a visit to the South and encounter racial prejudice for the first time.

14. Honus & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure (Gutman)

Joey, who loves baseball but is not very good at it, finds a valuable 1909 Honus Wagner card and travels back in time to meet Honus.

15. I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011 (Tarshis)

In 2011, eleven year old Dexter is thrilled to have the opportunity to go storm chasing with Dr. Norman Gage, but when the tornado they are following changes direction, Dexter's bravery is about to be tested.

16. Into the Wild (Hunter)

Rusty, a bored house kitten, is apprenticed by the ThunderClan and must struggle to fit in when the group of feral cats is threatened by ShadowClan, the enemy.

17. Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick)

When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

18. Iron Trial (Black)

Warned away from magic all of his life, Callum endeavors to fail the trials that would admit him to the Magisterium only to be drawn into its ranks against his will and forced to confront dark elements from his past.

19. Jack Plank Tells Tales (Babbitt)

Because he is too nice to be a pirate, Jack Plank looks for a new career, but each night he tells tales of why the one job he looked into that day is wrong.

20. Landry News (Clements)

A fifth-grader starts a newspaper with an editorial that prompts her burnt-out classroom teacher to really begin teaching again, but he is later threatened with disciplinary action as a result.

21. Lemonade War (Davies)

Evan and his younger sister, Jesse, react very differently to the news that they will be in the same class for fourth grade and as the end of summer approaches, they battle it out through lemonade stands, each trying to be the first to earn 100 dollars. 

22. Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog's Tale (Myers)

Seaman, Meriwether Lewis's Newfoundland dog, describes Lewis and Clark's expedition, which he accompanied from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.

23. Mouse with the Question Mark Tail (Peck)

A very small mouse of unknown origins runs away from school in the Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace shortly before the celebration of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, celebrating her sixty years on the British throne.

24. My Life as a Book (Tashjian)

Dubbed a "reluctant reader" by his teacher, twelve-year-old Derek spends summer vacation learning important lessons even though he does not complete his summer reading list.

25. Night on Fire (Kidd)

When Billie hears about a group calling themselves the Freedom Riders passing through Anniston to protest segregation on buses, she thinks change could be coming. But instead of embracing change, Billie's town responds with violence, and she finds herself at Forsyth & Sons Grocery watching a bus burn. Shocked by the actions of people she thought she knew, she realizes that freedom has a cost. But is she brave enough to stand up and fight for it?

26. Pax (Pennypacker)

After being forced to give up his pet fox Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to leave home and get his best friend back.

27. Pictures of Hollis Woods (Giff)

A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her.

28. Poppy and Rye (Avi)

When their home next to a brook is destroyed by beavers, a large family of golden mice is aided by Poppy the deer mouse and her grumpy porcupine friend, who in the process forges a relationship with the son he had abandoned.

29. Ramona's World (Cleary)

Ramona Quimby expects fourth grade to be the best year of her life; and although things do not go just as she had hoped, she still manages to have her share of adventures.

30. Return of Zita the Space Girl (Hatke)

Wrongfully imprisoned on a penitentiary planet, Zita has to plot the galaxy's greatest jailbreak before the evil prison warden can execute his plan of interstellar domination.

31. Richard Wright and the Library Card (Miller)

This is the true story of the renowned African American author Richard Wright and his determination to borrow books from the public library that turned him away because of his color.

32. Roller Girl (Jamieson)

A graphic novel adventure about a girl who discovers roller derby right as she and her best friend are growing apart.

33. Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Van Draanen)

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 the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother.

34. Scumble (Law)

Mibs's cousin Ledge is disappointed to discover that his "savvy"--the magical power unique to each member of their family--is to make things fall apart, which endangers his uncle Autry's ranch and reveals the family secret to future reporter Sarah.

35. Shipwreck Search: Discovery of the H.L. Hunley (Walker)

Describes the discovery of the Civil War submarine, "H. L. Hunley," explaining how scientists found it, raised it, and learned about what was inside.

36. Sign of the Beaver (Speare)

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.

37. Sonia Sotomayor (Krull)

A look at the life and career of Sonia Sotomayor, from her childhood in the New York City projects to her selection as the first Latino and the third woman ever to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

38. Stone Fox (Gardiner)

Little Willy hopes to pay the back taxes on his grandfather's farm with the purse from a dog sled race he enters.

39. Story of the Statue of Liberty (Maestro)

Describes the creation of the huge statue given by France to the United States and its erection in New York Harbor as a symbol of liberty.

40. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Blume)

Peter finds his demanding two-year-old brother an ever-increasing problem.

41. Through My Eyes (Bridges)

Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

42. Trouble With Tuck (Taylor)

A young girl trains her blind dog to follow and trust a seeing-eye companion dog.

43. Two Minute Drill (Lupica)

Brainy Scott, a great kicker who otherwise struggles with football, and star quarterback Chris, who has dyslexia, team up to help each other succeed in both football and school.

44. Viking It and Liking It (Scieszka)

Sam says the word "Thursday" one too many times next to the magic book and lands himself, Joe, and Fred in 1000 A.D. Vinland, narrowly escaping a Viking blitz and setting off on a voyage to Greenland with Leif Eriksson.

45. Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear (Namioka)

When nine-year-old Yingtao, the only person in his family without musical talent, moves from China to Seattle, he struggles with the decision to tell his father he would like to end his violin lessons in favor of a new interest.