2008 Teacher's Choices-Intermediate Readers (Grade 3-5)

YOU are aboard the Titanic, the world's largest ocean liner. The ship is sinking, and the ocean water is freezing. Will you survive?

This inspiring story of little-known civil rights champion Oscar Chapman and his role in Marian Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial reminds readers that one person can truly make a difference.
On Easter Sunday 1939, Marian Anderson performed at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial in front of a crowd of over 75,000 people. The person largely responsible for putting her there was a white man, Oscar Chapman, assistant secretary of the interior under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
When Chapman learned that Marian Anderson was not allowed to sing at Constitution Hall because of the color of her skin, he took it upon himself to do the impossible: find Marian Anderson an appropriate venue for a concert and make an important statement about equality and the rights of all Americans. With support from the highest levels of U.S. government, Chapman helped produce a landmark concert that - for at least one evening - bridged the color divide to bring a city and much of the nation together.
Author Deborah Hopkinson tells the inspirational story of Oscar Chapman, including his childhood exposure to racism that led to his lifelong commitment to ending bigotry. An author's note provides additional historical context. Illustrator Leonard Jenkins's remarkable illustrations recreate a bygone era and pay tribute to remarkable real-life people and a magical moment in modern history.

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. For Lilly Belle, the capital of Black America is about as far from her hometown of Smyrna, Tennessee, as a twelve-year-old can get maybe not in miles but certainly in mindset. Then a summer program for gifted young writers opens a whole new world for Lilly Belle. Jazz music in the street lulls her to sleep, her classroom is in a mansion, and the author Zora Neale Hurston is her teacher, helping her understand the power of words, especially her own.

When author/illustrator Lita Judge found hundreds of tracings of feet in her grandmother's attic, she was intrigued and moved to share the story behind them.

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

The year is 1954, the place is Missouri, and twelve-year-old Rosemary Patterson is about to make history. She is one of the first African American students to enter the white school in her town. Headstrong, smart Rosemary welcomes the challenge, but starting this new school gets more daunting when her best friend is hospitalized for polio. Suddenly, Rosemary must face all the stares and whispers alone. But when the girl who has shown her the most cruelty becomes an unlikely confidante, Rosemary learns important truths about the power of friendship to overcome prejudice.