Gifts for 7-10 Year Olds

On Saturday, I went to Borders to buy gifts for my nieces. I couldn't stop myself -- I ended up helping several people in the children's department. Herewith, suggestions for the middle elementary set, titles I've read and enjoyed in the last year. (Not all are brand new.) Remember to look at last year's list (click here) and the list of 100 greatest children's novels (click here). Students have been stocking up for Thanksgiving all week, describing how they are going to sit by a fire and read for four days. Don't disappoint them in December!


Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder. In the middle of an Iowa cornfield, four children find a magic wall that enables them to travel through time and space. With nods to Edward Eager (Half Magic) and E. Nesbit (Five Children and It): be careful what you wish for!




Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains by Laurel Snyder. Lucy, a milkmaid, and her best friend Wynston, a reluctant prince, go in search of information about Lucy’s missing mother--even though Wynston is supposed to be searching for a proper princess to marry.

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney. A celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement.



Something Wickedly Weird: The Wooden Mile by Chris Mould. Eleven-year-old Stanley Buggle, happily anticipating a long summer vacation in the house he inherits from his great-uncle, discovers, soon after arriving in the seemingly peaceful village of Crampton Rock, that along with the house he has also inherited some sinister neighbors, a talking stuffed fish, and a host of mysteries surrounding his great-uncle’s death.

Gully's Travels by Tor Seidler. A well-bred Lhasa Apso named Gulliver is forced to leave his master and finds a new one named Carlos, the doorman of a Manhattan apartment building, who takes the dog to his place in Queens, where Gully meets low-life mutts and boisterous humans.



Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. An unlucky twelve-year-old Norwegian boy named Odd leads the Norse gods Loki, Thor, and Odin in an attempt to outwit evil Frost Giants who have taken over Asgard.





The Magician's Elephant by Kate di Camillo. When ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the marketplace one day who tells him that his sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures in an attempt to find her.



Freedom Train by Evelyn Coleman. Twelve-year-old Clyde Thomason’s older brother is a guard on the Freedom Train, which is carrying the Bill of Rights and other documents throughout the country in 1948, but Clyde is also learning about rights and freedom as he is saved from a beating by an African American boy, and later returns the favor when men in their Atlanta suburb decide to show the "Nigras" their place.


Thumb and the Bad Guys by Ken Roberts. Leon and his friend Susan discover something suspicious going on in their tiny little village of New Auckland, and soon find themselves involved in an archeological mystery.



Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, U.S. Marshall by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. An illustrated biography of Bass Reeves, a former slave who was recruited as a deputy United States marshal, based on his ability to communicate with the Native Americans in the area that was to become Oklahoma.



Gecko and Sticky: The Villain's Lair by Wendelin Van Draanen. Thirteen-year-old Dave and his sidekick, a talking gecko named Sticky, try to retrieve an ancient Aztec powerband and its magic ingots from the evil villain, Damien Black.




The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz. When Flory the night fairy’s wings are accidentally broken and she cannot fly, she has to learn to do everything differently.





Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell. Middle-schooler Isabelle Bean follows a mouse’s squeak into a closet and falls into a parallel universe where the children believe she is the witch they have feared for years, finally come to devour them.




Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.



Fairy Godmother Academy: Birdie's Book by Jan Borzarth. After Birdie learns that she comes from a family of fairy godmothers, she begins her training with the fairies in Aventurine; but when Birdie’s family talisman, a singing stone, is broken, Birdie and Kerka, a warrior-like girl, go on a quest to find the missing half of the stone.




Herbert's Wormhole by Peter Nelson and R. Rao. While Alex is getting to know his inventive neighbor Herbert they unexpectedly travel to the twenty-second century through a space-time wormhole where they encounter aliens, jet packs, and their future selves.



Peter and the Sword of Mercy by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. James, one of Peter Pan’s original Lost Boys, asks George Darling and his wife Molly to help him find a secret cache of startstuff, which is hidden in a vault that can only be opened with a secret key kept with the crown jewels, but when Molly disappears, it is up to her daughter Wendy and Peter to rescue Molly, protect the treasure, and defeat Captain Hook.



Little Sister is Not My Name by Sharon Draper. Nine-year-old Sassy Simone Sanford, known to her family members as "Little Sister," relies on her fashion sense and friends to help her solve any problems that come her way.




Mixed Beasts, or, a Miscellany of Rare and Fabulous Creatures by Kenyon Cox. Presents a colorful rhyming book for early readers that introduces a collection of bizarre animals such as the bumblebeaver and rhinocerostrich.





And a few chapter books for emerging independent readers:

Just Grace by Cherise Mericle Harper. Misnamed by her teacher, seven-year-old Just Grace prides herself on being empathetic, but when she tries to help a neighbor feel better, her good intentions backfire.




Brand New School, Brave New Ruby by Derrick Barnes. Eight-year-old Ruby Booker is headed to a new school where her older brothers rule; however, Ruby has big plans to change that.



Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up by Melissa Thomas. Second grader Kenna Ford tries to do the right thing, but always seems to make things worse, especially when it comes to a mixed up birthday.



Roxie and the Hooligans by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Roxie Warbler, the niece of a famous explorer, follows Uncle Dangerfoot’s advice on how to survive any crisis when she becomes stranded on an island with a gang of school bullies and a pair of murderous bank robbers.



Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls by Lenore Look. Yay! A Boy! A young boy in Concord, Massachusetts, who loves superheroes and comes from a long line of brave Chinese farmer-warriors, wants to make friends, but first he must overcome his fear of everything.


Stuart Goes to School by Sara Pennypacker. Worried about his first day at a new school, eight-year-old Stuart wears his magic cape and hopes that it will help him.