3rd Grade Reading

"Every day, Ando Momofuku would retire to his lab--a little shed in his backyard. For years, he'd dreamed about making a new kind of ramen noodle soup that was quick, convenient, and tasty to feed the hungry people he'd seen in line for a bowl on the black market following World War II. "Peace follows from a full stomach," he believed. Day after day, Ando experimented. Night after night, he failed. But Ando kept experimenting. With persistence, creativity,...

Ryan, a cheerful fourth-grader from Portland, Oregon, tries to look on the bright side of every difficulty life throws at her, including having a name that's typically a boy's name. When her father loses his job, they have to move to a smaller house and sell their second car. Ryan is sometimes sad, especially when she botches a well-practiced speech, but with her family and friends supporting her, she finds ways to make sunshine in her life.

"Malala retells her story of speaking out for girls' education rights for chapter book readers"--

Twelve-year-old María Luisa O'Neill-Morales (who really prefers to be called Malú) reluctantly moves with her Mexican-American mother to Chicago and starts seventh grade with a bang--violating the dress code with her punk rock aesthetic and spurning the middle school's most popular girl in favor of starting a band with a group of like-minded weirdos.

"Jo Jo Makoons Azure is a spirited seven-year-old who moves through the world a little differently than anyone else on her Ojibwe reservation. It always seems like her mom, her kokum (grandma), and her teacher have a lot to learn--about how good Jo Jo is at cleaning up, what makes a good rhyme, and what it means to be friendly. Even though Jo Jo loves her #1 best friend Mimi (who is a cat), she's worried that she needs to figure out how to make more...

"When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she's always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her. But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there. With vivid illustrations and text bursting with heart, My Papi Has a Motorcycle is a young girl's love letter to her hardworking...

After moving to Sacramento to take over his grandparent's Filipino market, sixth-grader Alex seeks popularity by selling homemade slime at school, while his father insists he join a soccer team.

Guided by her Navajo ancestors, seventh-grader Nizhoni Begay discovers she is descended from a holy woman and destined to become a monsterslayer, starting with the evil businessman who kidnapped her father. Includes glossary of Navajo terms.

Twelve-year-old Max, who loves the legend Buelo tells him about a mythical gatekeeper who can guide brave travelers on a journey into tomorrow, sets out on a dangerous quest to discover if he is true of heart and what the future holds, armed with a treasured compass, a mysterious stone rubbing, and Buelo's legend as his only guides.

What is it like to have to leave everything behind and travel many miles to somewhere unfamiliar and strange? A mother and her two children set out on such a journey; one filled with fear of the unknown, but also great hope. Based on the author's interactions with people forced to seek a new home, and told from the perspective of a young child.