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Chapter Books
Mystery Books
The newest recommendations are
at the top.
The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett
5th grader Paige says:
"This book is so intense that my brother persuaded me to read the
series. After reading it, it made me want to add another thumb to each
hand so I could give it a better rating! Calder is not a normal kid. He
thinks with pentominoes. But, he soon finds out that he isn't the only
wierdo in the neighborhood. Petra, the two door away neighbor of Calder,
is a girl also unusual, but more unpopular. She finds a friendship with
Calder in the 1st book. In that book, they find the lady picture which
was stolen. In this book, Tommy, Calder's friend from the past, moves
back near Calder and feels like he's not getting attention, since Calder
is always hanging by Petra.
The Wright 3 is an amazing mystery that I think everyone should read. As
I said in the first paragraph, Tommy is missing the old Calder. So he
starts to blame Petra for it. Petra and Tommy soon become rivals. While
this was going on, the Robie House, the beautiful mansion that is right
next door to Tommy's house, is going to be torn down and split up to
find new homes in museums. Calder, Petra, and Tommy's classroom went on
a trip to this amazing building, to try and keep the Robie House in one
piece. It went well and helped a lot. But, it didn't save it completely!
Now it's up to Petra, and Tommy to stop fighting, and work together
along with Calder. Petra and Tommy, soon make a friendship. Now since
they are all buddies, they work together as the Wright 3, to try and
save the Robie House. To find out what happens you have to read the
book.
This book had a lot more strength than weakness. In an example the only
weakness I found in the book is that you have to be good at inferencing
which is why I say that you should be 9-12 years old to read this book.
A positive is that it was a page turner, every day I read my mom would
have to stop me to go to bed on weekends. I could go on and on about how
great this book is but this report should only be a page or a few pages
not fifty!
I liked this book because it had a mysterious twist to adventure. It had
friendships that started with drama, but not to much! It was amazing to
find out that pentominoes are a real mathematical mind game that many
mathmaticians use around the globe. Pantominoes contain of the
letters:F,I,L,N,P,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. Calder uses his pentominoes to play
around with and solve problems in the book The Wright 3!!!"
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Nancy Drew, FRAMED by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Shannon says:
"Nancy Drew is an amateur, female detective that can solve any case that
she runs into.
In this book from the Nancy Drew series, a prince comes into River
Heights all the way from Italy to give a famous original picture to
Nancy's friend, Mrs. Mohoney. The picture was from Prince Carlo's great
grandmother to Mrs. Mohoney. Nobody knows why she wanted to give Mrs.
Mohoney, not even Prince Carlo himself, all he had to do was bring it to
River Heights. So it's up to Nancy and her friends, George and Bess to
solve this mystery before it gets ugly.
This book has some great strengths, but also some bad weaknesses. An
example of a strength is that it is definitely a page turner. If you
have only a short amount of time to read some of this book, you won't
want to stop at all, believe me! Another strength is that something
unexpected always turns up to make you surprised. Maybe Nancy has a
hunch for something obvious but then the next day, something totally
different comes up. a weakness of this book is that it is kind of long,
but it's not a huge problem because you might become addicted to this
book and never want to stop reading it.
I would totally recommend this book to students 9-12 because it has some
things that littler kids might not understand. But anyways, it's an
amazing book!"
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The Thanksgiving Surprise by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Heli says:
"My gold ring!" Hannah answered . "I left it here, and now it's
gone!" The Morgans came from England to celebrate Thanksgiving with the
Drews. Nancy's not having a happy holiday. She just can't get along with
their eight year old Pamela, and her brother, Derrick. But the real
trouble starts when Hannah's gold ring disappears. Nancy decides to
investigate. She finds out something really unexpected about the gold
ring.
This book has some strengths and weaknesses. One weakness is that
this book doesn't have the best word choice. For example, the words hot,
nice and cold. Instead they should be humid, generous, and freezing.
Also the mystery only starts in the middle of the book. A strength is
that it is predictable. For instance, when Nancy was snooping in
Pamela's guest room, it seemed like she was going to get caught. You can
make many connections to it. For example, your connection could be when
someone pulled a prank on you, jut like Derrick did to Nancy.
I recommend this book because it has a surprising ending. I
also recommend this book because it grabs your attention by having a
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The Clue in the Jewel Box By; Carolyn Keene
5th grader Anna says,
"No, a silver pen isn't exactly what I was looking for." This is what a
slim, attractive, teenage girl with lovely shoulder- length
strawberry-blonde hair is explaining to the jewelry sales man in a
department store. Her name is Nancy Drew and she is the best amateur
detective in all of River Heights, and many surrounding towns, also.
Nancy is trying to find a birthday gift for her father, Carson Drew.
Soon after she leaves the store, Nancy finds out that her beloved father
had been robbed! However, this tragic incident is just the start of many
thefts. Read the book and join Nancy Drew on an adventure, surely one
that you will never forget.
This miraculous mystery has many twists and turns, and not to mention
cliff-hangers and jaw-droppers. An antique dealer's revelation about a
former queen's priceless heirloom starts Nancy on a trail of exciting
adventures. Madame Alexandra (the former queen), now living
"under-cover" in River Heights, asks Nancy to find her missing grandson,
the prince. With only one clue to build off on-- a faded photograph of
the prince at the age of four--the young detective begins her search,
which rapidly involves her in a series of dangerous and harrowing
adventures. When Nancy needs help, she calls on Bess, George, Burt,
Dave, and her special friend, Ned. How Nancy's discovery of the
heirloom's secret unmasks a slick imposter and reunites the
long-separated family climaxes this suspense-filled mystery story.
Although this novel is one of the best that I have ever read, it
still has some minor problems. For instance, it has some hard vocabulary
words, like incognito and alighted. Otherwise, all of the vocabulary
isn't that hard. Some times it is hard to understand one of the
characters, Katherine, because American is not her native language. For
instance, one time she said "We go home now and rest. I finish dress
tomorrow". But I reread it and I understood it. Other that that, the
rest of the book is easy to under stand.
I would definitely recommend this astonishing novel to everybody ages 9
and up. I would do this because it doesn't have too much hard vocabulary
or confusing dialect. in fact, I would give this book two thumbs up,
three actually (that is, if I had three thumbs). "The Clue in the Jewel
Box" was a great read because it was a very intriguing story, and
because Carolyn Keene did a great job of explaining everything clearly.
This novel is so good that you'll stay up all night reading it (that's
what I did, at least)!!!!!!!!! :)
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Nancy Drew: Close Encounters by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Shae says:Nancy Drew is like any
ordinary teenager, she goes to school, she has alot of friends and a
boyfriend, oh and she is a girl detective. That means she solves
mysteries and crimes, but in this book it is a hoax about alien
abductions in Vermont! I like the part when Nancy is alone in the dark
woods and gets encountered by a huge, curious Black Bear. It was cool
and scary.
The genre of this book is a mystery because Nancy and her friends
and a whole town in Vermont is trying to find out if the "aliens" are
real. When George, Bess and Nancy head to Brody's Junction, Vermont, to
visit George's cousin's Cafe and enjoy a vacation, they were looking
forward to relaxation time. Instead they got a crazy adventure and a
huge mystery. When People see alien UFO's they get crazy. Later when
people think that other people are starting to get abducted by the
aliens, Nancy knew that she should solve this mystery.
One of the strengths of this book is that it has good suspense .
Like when Nancy comes back from Nathan's house and finds that George is
not where she said she would be after Nancy comes back and the chapter
ends! One of the weaknesses is that the beginning is really slow... It
is really slow by not showing the aliens until the 50th page. That is
why this book is pretty good.
I recommend this book because it is a page turner and it has good
suspense. I think that girl 4th-7th graders should read this book
because it is very good and some of it's vocabulary is hard. This book ,
Nancy Drew: Close encounters, was a very good read. :)
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Zoo Clue by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Heli says:
In this book the main character is Nancy Drew. Nancy loves mysteries and
mysteries love her. This is because where ever she goes a mystery always
appears. In this book Nancy is a third grader and is the best detective
in River Heights School.
This is a mystery book about a mystery at the zoo. Nancy's class is
taking a trip to the River Heights Zoo and have to get into groups fast.
Nancy and her friends George and Bess get stuck with Brenda. Brenda
wants to go everywhere to get pictures, but that's not all the trouble
that comes in Nancy's way. The flower beds in the zoo entrance are dug
up! A zookeeper thinks that it was someone in Nancy's class, but Nancy
doesn't think so. All she can do is prove the zookeeper wrong and clear
her class's name.
This book is really a page turner and also is very interesting. One
reason it's a page turner is because in one part of the book there is a
boy who is about to fall into the seals place and fall into the water.
Nancy is running as fast as she can to catch him but can she make it in
time? Another reason is because the book is so tense that it makes you
feel like you are actually there.
I would recommend this book for all the fifth graders because this book
is a type of book that you can't put down since it's so interesting.
Another reason this book is so interesting is because there is lots of
suspense in it.
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The Strange Message in the Parchment by Carolyn
Keene
5th grader Maegan says:
Nancy Drew is an amateur detective with short blond hair. Her friend
Junie Flockhart asked Nancy to solve a mystery for her right before
Nancy's new jacket was stolen! Can she solve the mystery and get it
back?
This book is a mystery book because Nancy is trying to help her friend
Junie solve a mystery. The main characters are Nancy and Junie. Nancy is
trying to help Junie find out the meaning of pictures on a parchment
that Junie's dad had purchased. But one night the parchment is stolen
and Nancy is trying hard to find out who did it. She does find the
parchment again and she is starting to understand what the pictures
mean. If you want to find out what they mean you should read The Strange
Message in the Parchment.
This book was very interesting but at some parts it got a little boring
and there were a few words I didn't understand. At exciting parts though
I felt like I was actually there and sometimes I came up with what I
thought happened and sometimes I was right! Another thing I really liked
about it was that almost every chapter ended with a cliff hanger and I
would want to read the next chapter. For example here is a sentence at
the end of a chapter from the book- Horrified, Nancy and Junie jumped
back against the wall to avoid being hit!
I would recommend this book because it is very exciting and it has a lot
of things that could happen in real life. However, if you have a hard
time reading some words this might not be the book for you because the
vocabulary is a little difficult. I liked this book because it has a lot
of suspense and it makes you wonder if Nancy will be able to find out
what the message means. I also liked this book because Nancy and Junie
help a little boy who is being treated badly. If this book sounds
interesting to you, you should try reading it.
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Nancy Drew and the Orchid Thief by Carolyn
Keene
5th grader Shannon says:
Have you ever been to the bottom of the ocean, but not to swim but to
steal coral? Or have you ever went deep into the forest to steal
butterfly orchids? Well Nancy Drew isn't going to let that pass by her.
This book is a great book because it is filled with suspense and it is
totally funny and filled with gold, jewelry and diamonds!
This book is a mystery book because it is filled with suspense. One day
Nancy, Bess and George took a vacation to Florida and ended up solving a
mystery that involved their friend Delia's boyfriend. You will never
know what will happen next!
This book is totally a page turner! I highly recommend this book. It is
so mysterious that it will have you reading all day! They go to a lot of
cool places and go through a lot of trouble but have some fun t the same
time!
I would recommend this book because it is funny mysterious and it has a
lot of adventure!
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Mystery of the Glowing Eye by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Heli says:
This book is definitely a thumbs up book because the author uses very
good word choice and also a very interesting book.
Mystery of the Glowing Eye written by Carolyn Keene is a mystery book.
Image having your best friend being kidnapped, you would do anything to
get him/her back right? Well that's exactly what happens in this book
.Nancy Drew's best friend is kidnapped, it's Ned Nickerson. The guy he's
been kidnapped by calls himself "Cyclops". Nancy has found all 4 of
"Cyclops's" hideouts, but will she ever find Ned? You'll have to read
the book to find out.
This book has some strengths and weaknesses. One strength is it's a
page turner like when Nancy gets paralyzed by "Cyclops", can she escape?
Another strength is the author uses good vocabulary, words like refrain,
vigorously, indicate, and examination. A weakness is in the end it's
kind of slow because it seems like the book never ends. Another weakness
is there is only one problem , but there should be some miner problems
to.
I really recommend this book to people who like mysteries and horror
books. This is because you can't stop reading it and in some parts it's
scary. I also recommend this book because you can learn new words from
it.
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The Clue of the Velvet Mask by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Courtney says:
"It must be a hoax, Nancy!? I don't think so." She replied somberly. "No
Ned, this message is in code. We must decipher it!" This is what 18 year
old detective, Nancy Drew tells her handsome boyfriend Ned, after
discovering a clue to what could be, one of her biggest mysteries yet. I
would definitely give this book thumbs up, because you just can't put it
down!! It is very exciting, throughout the whole thing. This book has
from crazy thefts, to a scary kidnapping!! Nancy is a mischievous, hard
working, amateur detective who will do anything to solve a case. Now
there is only one question? is that enough?
This is a very suspenseful mystery book about one one of Nancy's many
life- threatening stories. This book is also realistic fiction.
Although it didn't, it could happen. First off, Nancy hears about big
thefts around the area!! Party thefts, to be exact... right after she is
invited to a huge masquerade party. She finds many interesting clues
that she just has to put together!! Can she catch the thieves before
it's to late?
One awesome thing, about this book's author, Carolyn Keene is she knows
how to make you feel as if you are the, witnessing it!! She does this by
being very descriptive and showing lots of emotion. Even though she is
one of my favorite authors. One thing that may make this book hard for
you is that most of these books are older, so they can have pretty hard
vocabulary.
I would recommend this book to girls ages 9 and up because it has
vocabulary that even I couldn't always understand. I want you to read
this book because you will never get bored, and it makes reading more
fun. I love this book, and I bet you will too.
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Howliday Inn by
James Howe
2nd grader Ciara says, "The Monroes go on
vacation and they leave their pets Harold (a dog) and Chester (a cat) at
a kennel which Chester calls Howliday Inn. Chester and Harold are on a
mission to solve the mystery of a dog that has disappeared from the
kennel. And, the animals believe that Chester has been poisoned. Will
they find out who is doing these things? Could it be Harrison (a mean
kennel worker) or Jill ( the nice kennel worker)? Read to learn more.
This book is a great mystery. It is fun to read Chester's suspicions." |
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Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen
Diamonds by David A. Adler
2nd grader Kate says, "Cam and Eric are at the mall.
They find out that there are stolen diamonds and try to figure out who
stole them. This is a good mystery."
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Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians) by Agatha Christie 5th grader Sarah says, "Ten strangers are gathered on a island by a
mysterious person. Each one has a terrible past that they are trying to escape. Each one
has killed or murdered someone before. At the top of everyone's bed, there is a poem. It's
called "Ten Little Indians." One night at dinner, a man, one of the people
gathered, choked to death. This matched the poem perfectly. The remaining nine people
found this odd, but didn't mind it too much. Another day, a woman died in her sleep.
This matched the poem too. Many more deaths happen, and the remaining people now
know that one of THEM is the killer. But who? Only the dead are above suspicion.
This is the best murder-mystery book ever! I love this book! It is
my favorite book! I've read it twice! It keeps you reading it and reading it and reading
it and reading it... |
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The
Clearing by Dorothy Reynolds Miller
5th grader
Savanna says, "This book is about a girl, Amanda. Amanda's parents, Chad and Jessie,
are thinking about moving from their home in Stump, Pennsylvania, to Minneapolis,
Minnesota. While they are checking out Minneapolis, Amanda spends time with her cousin,
Elinore, and her Aunt Sally and Uncle Cliff. She makes friends with one of the Kennedy
kids, Cynthia. There are lots of Kennedy kids, and Aunt Sally calls them
unfortunate.
Cynthia write poems. The first time was an accident, but she left a
poem under a rock. Then when she went back to get it, it wasn't there. There was a picture
describing the poem to replace it.
Then there's Mrs. Mead. Mrs. Mead lost her son 10 years prior.
People think Spook Wade {a legend-sort of person} took and killed Bucky, her son. She
knows this isn't true. She is Spook Wade's aunt. {His real name is Charles.} Cynthia hears
the oldest Kennedy, Lander, when he's drunk. He says things like, "I didn't mean to
leave him there." or "I didn't mean to lock the refrigerator." Cynthia
found out that Lander killed Bucky. He seriously didn't mean to. Buck did something mean
to Cynthia, so Lander stuck Bucky in a refrigerator in the dump. Remember, this was ten
years before. Cynthia slips an anonymous note to Mrs. Mead saying where Bucky is. They
went to the sump and found Bucky's remains. But just after that, Lander "ran
away". He said he was never coming back. That night Lander came back. He was driving
drunk, and he died. Charles {Spook Wade} was taken out of the forest, for since his mother
had died Mrs. Mead had full custody of him. No one ever thought he was so nice and normal.
Yet a few months later.......We begin to see a romance between Cynthia and Charles.
This book is very well written, and has the most interesting
plot." |
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Blizzard Disaster by Peg Kehret
5th grader Brianna
says, "This book is about a girl who goes with her friend and a big avalanche comes.
They get buried in the snow. Later they have to find their way out . The girl makes her
way out but not the boy. She gets her dog to find him and the dog does. He sniffs the boy
and she's on her own to find a way to dig him out. She carries him back to the house. What
makes this book special is it's so exciting. You never know what is coming next! It leaves
you on the edge when you have to stop reading!" |
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Danger at the Fair by Peg Kehret
5th grader Brianna
says, "The book is about a girl who went to the fair but there's a mysterious
stranger there. The girl's little brother gets hurt. Now it's up to her to help out but
only one problem, she's lost her voice! What makes this book so special is it's so
exciting and sometimes maybe even scary. You'll never want to put this book down. It's
very fun!." |
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Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones by David A. Adler
3rd grader Nathaniel
says, "This book is about missing dinosaur bones. Cam's friend bought a postcard of a
dinosaur. The one on the postcard had missing bones in the museum. What makes this special
is it is very fun to read and full of surprises. You'll love this book if you love
mysteries." |
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The
Whispering Statue by Carolyn Keene
5th grader Brianne says, "This book is about Nancy Drew
trying to solve the mystery of the whispering statue. During the story there are thieves,
robbers, and pipe explosions too! Also, Nancy and her friends get kidnapped once or twice.
Can she solve the mystery before Mr. Basswood finds out? It is a special book because of
all the amazing things that happen. You never know what can happen next!" |
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The Sinister Signpost by Franklin W. Dixon
2nd grader Chris says, "This book is about two
boy detectives trying to solve a mystery. Someone is trying to take a design from someone
else's car motor. I like mysteries and this is a mystery." |
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Nate the Great by Marjorie Sharmat
2nd grader Dominick says, "This book is about
Nate the Great trying to solve mysteries. He tries to find stuff. He goes to a lot of
places looking for the answer." |
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Holes by Louis Sachar
4rd grader Amy says, "This book is about a boy
named Stanley who is sent to a boys' jail and must dig holes 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
He starts to think that there is more to it than just HOLES. I liked this story
because it is a mystery and wonderful."
5th grader Melanie says, "This story is about a
boy who digs holes in a boys' jail. He finds his real true friend who helps him live
through a tough time. Stanley helps a friend and breaks a family curse which has been with
the Yelnats family for three generations." |
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Danger at the Fair by Peg Kehret
5th grader Jessi says, "This book is about a girl
who goes to an annual fair in her town. Her friend and her brother meet her there later
with his friend. Her brother gets kidnapped by a robber and gets thrown into a boat that
takes him around and around a slimy, scary, cave ride. His sister finds out he is missing
and she goes into the cave to look for him. She finds him there unconscious in the water
and hoists him up onto another boat with her. Then she gets out of the boat and pulls it
along because the ride has stopped. She avoids the thief by just a hair and sneaks both of
them out of the cave to her parents. It turns out that there was more than one thief and
they get caught and arrested. Both the brother and sister's names were in the newspaper
the next day and they were famous, again. I think this book is special because it is sort
of like a sequel to another book that Peg Kehret wrote called Horror at the Haunted
House!" |
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Stonewords: A Ghost Story by Pam Conrad
5th grader Kirsti says, "Zoe has a playhouse at
her grandparent's house. she finds a little girl maned Zoe Louise. Zoe finds out that Zoe
Louise is a ghost and must travel back in time and try to save her from being killed. But,
if she travels back in time, she won't have her best friend. Read the book to find out the
ending. If you like ghost stories then read Stonewords. It is sad, scary, and sometimes
funny. You will enjoy it." |
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Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe
5th Grader T.J. says, "Chester wanted to prove
that Bunnicula was a Dracula rabbit. I think this was a great book. It was exciting to
read." |
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Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Caroline Keene
5th grader Erin says, "This book is about a girl
who is in many different places. One example is the fraternity house. My opinion is that
this book was great. It kept making me want to read more. All in all it was a great
book!" |
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Holes by Louis Sachar
5th grader Adam says, "This book is about a boy
named Stanley who is accused of stealing Clyde Livingston's shoes and has to go to a
digging camp. I think this was a great story and it was fun to read." |
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I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
5th grader Eric says, " The main characters live
in Nebraska. Someone is out to kill them because of a car crash last summer. It's a good
book and gives clues about what's going to happen next." |
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Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson
5th grader Meghan says, "Hank gets cross-eyed and
has to beat up a mean Doberman pincher. His eyes have to get uncrossed so he is able to
fight. I like the book because it shows how brave someone can be even when there's
something wrong with them." |
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Something Upstairs by Avi
4th grader Scott says, "It is my favorite book
ever! Imagine in the dark of night, you see a glow, almost shiny and two hands rise from a
dark stain on the floor. It is my favorite book ever!" |
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Chapter books are found in the FICTION section of
our LMC.
They all have a capital FIC on their spine label above the first three letters of the
author's last name.
Like this:
Once students become pretty good readers,
chapter books are for them. This is where your imagination really kicks in and a well
written story brings fantasy to life.
Clow Kids rave about these REALLY
GOOD chapter books!
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