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    Global Reading Challenge Books

    2017 Global Reading Challenge Book List
    Posted on 06/09/2017

    Congratulations to the reading teams of Loyal Heights, Graham Hill and Leschi elementary schools who took home the 2017 Global Reading Challenge. The Seattle Public Library reading competition for fourth and fifth graders helps cultivate the joy of reading as the students delve into the annual book selection.

    Check out the 2017 Global Reading Challenge book list below for summer reading suggestions. Check the Seattle Public Libraries website for where you can find these titles! 

    Bamboo Sword

    "Bamboo Sword," by Margi Preus. In Japan in 1853, at the time of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's visit to Japan, Yoshi, a young Japanese boy who dreams of becoming a samurai one day, learns about America from Majiro and has adventures with Jack, a young cabin boy aboard one of the U.S. ships.

    Becoming Naomi Leon

    "Becoming Naomi Leon," by Pam Muñoz Ryan. When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.

    Cleo Edison Oliver Playground Millionaire

    "Cleo Edison Oliver Playground Millionaire," by Sundee Frasier. Fifth-grader Cleo Edison Oliver is full of money-making ideas, and her fifth-grade Passion Project is no different--but things get more complicated when she has to keep her business running, be a good listener when her best friend needs her, and deal with the bully teasing her about being adopted at the same time.

    Dash

    "Dash" by Kirby Larson. When her family is forced into an internment camp, Mitsi Kashino is separated from her home, her classmates, and her beloved dog Dash; and as her family begins to come apart around her, Mitsi clings to her one connection to the outer world--the letters from the kindly neighbor who is caring for Dash.

    Home of the Brave

    "Home of the Brave" by Katherine Applegate. Kek, an African refugee, is confronted by many strange things at the Minneapolis home of his aunt and cousin, as well as in his fifth grade classroom, and longs for his missing mother, but finds comfort in the company of a cow and her owner.

    Out of My Mind

    "Out of My Mind" by Sharon Draper. Considered by many to not be capable of learning, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

    The Porcupine Year

    "The Porcupine Year" by Louise Erdrich. In 1852, forced by the United States government to leave their beloved island home, 12-year-old Omakayas and her Ojibwe family travel in search of a place to live. Heading north in hopes of joining Omakayas' aunt in a new settlement, the family faces violent raids, freezing weather, and near-starvation -- but they never lose hope.

    Secret Coders

    "Secret Coders" by Gene Luen Yang. Attending an elite school where enterprising students are challenged to solve a variety of clues and puzzles using computer programming, Hopper and her friend, Eni, resolve to crack the school founder's most elusive mystery together.

    The Turtle of Oman

    "The Turtle of Oman" by Naomi Shihab Nye. When Aref, a third-grader who lives in Muscat, Oman, refuses to pack his suitcase and prepare to move to Michigan, his mother asks for help from his grandfather, his Siddi, who takes Aref around the country, storing up memories he can carry with him to a new home.

    The Watsons Go to Birmingham

    "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis. The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.