Because of Winn-Dixie is an entertaining book about a ten-year-old girl named India Opal Bulani who lives in a small town in Florida. The story written by Kate DiCamillo is about a stray dog that seems to magically appear in the produce section of a grocery store and is befriended immediately by the yough girl. The dog, Winn-Dixie, who shares his name with the store, takes Indian Opal from one friend to the next in the small town. During their adventures, India Opal begins to form a definition of her new family, and feelss less sad about her mother going away.

Bud, Not Buddy describes a young black boy's search for his father during the time of the Great Depression. The book written by Christopher Paul Curtis won the Newbery Award for children's literature in 2000. The story is a first-person account of "life on the lam" told with both humor and determination by the brave young narrator. Ten-year-old Bud Caldwell runs away from a foster home and begins a journey to find the father he has never known. His only clues are old flyers left by his deceased mother that advertise a legendary jazz band. Along his journey, he learns about soup kitchens, jumping trains and organizing labor unions. The book touches on themes of family, race relations and personal power.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was first published in 1964 and continues to provide timeless entertainment to young readers. The story by Roald Dahl is about a poor, young boy named Charlie Bucket who is one of five lucky winners invited to tour the candy factory in his town owned by Willy Wonka. But one by one, the other four children on the tour fall prey to their own selfish, greedy and harmful habits until only Charlie is left to receive the final prize. The imaginative story includes many important messages about the qualities of both good and bad behavior - by children and adults - and playfully describes what can happen to children who are not given proper discipline and boundaries.

Charlotte's Web was named a Newbery Award honor book in 1953 and continues to be a favorite. E.B. White's book includes warm-hearted illustrations by Garth Williams also have a timeless appeal. After Wilbur is raised by Fern, the farmer's daughter, he is sold to a nearby farm where he lives among the barnyard animals and his special friend, Charlotte, a spider. When Wilbur learns that he is being fattened up for slaughter, Charlotte steps in to save him. The words that begin to appear in Charlotte's web astonish the entire community. Themes of friendship and love fill the story - from Fern's determination to save the piglet, to Wilbur's pledge to be a friend to Charlotte's offspring.

Esperanza Rising is a book by award-winning author Pam Munoz Ryan that tells the story of Experanza Ortega, a young Mexican girl who possesses all the treasures a girl could want. But when tragedy strikes and Esperanza's family is changed forever, she and her mother flee to California to settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. In California, Esperanza learns about the meaning of hard work, community, personal power and a positive view of the future.

Holes is a dark and compelling story by Louis Sachar. It has proven to be popular among older elementary school and middle school students. This 1999 NewBery Award winning book has a bizarre plot with many unexpected twists. Youth Stanley Yelnats, convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to 18 months at a boy's detention camp, blames his bad luck on "his no-good dirty-rotten pig-stealing great great grandfather." The conditions at Camp Green Lake are worse than he could have imagined. At the desolate, sun-baked site, the campers are required to dig a 5-foot hole each day in the hard-packed dirt. When Stanley befriends another outcast at the camp, he begins to change the course of the Yelnats familie's bad luck.

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George takes readers on a gripping adventure into the Alaskan wilderness and the ways of the Inuit people. Julie (or Miyax, her traditional name) struggles to decide which world she belongs to as she also struggles to survive. Thirteen-year-old Miyax runs away from an arranged marriage in hopes of finding her way to the home of her pen pal in San Francsisco. There, she is known as Julie. She soon becomes lost on the vast Alaskan tundra. Relying on the lessons learned from her father, an accomplished hunter, Miyax slowly gains the trust of a wolf pack. When she eventually finds her way back to civilization, she must choose between the old ways and the new. The 1973 Newbery award winner shares messages about cultural identity and personal power.

Maniac Magee is the 1991 Newbery Award winning book that takes the difficult subject of race relations and examines it through the eyes of a young runaway boy, Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee. Jeffrey arrives in the town of Two Mills where he is unaware of the established and unwritten rules of the community. Maniac earns his nickname by performing amazing - usually dangerous - feats, including standing up to notorious bullies and crossing from the white neighborhood on the Westside into the black neighborhood on the Eastside. Author Jerry Spinelli understands the whims and idiosyncrasies of a 12-year-old's mind and presents both the hilarious and the brutally honest perceptions of a young person who doesn't realize how unjust the world can be. The story deals with different ways to show kindness, overcome differences and stand up for what's right.

Miss Rumphius is an American Book Award winner by author / illustrator Barbara Clooney. This popular read-alone book tells the story of an independent woman who sets a course for her life and follows it - all while looking for a way to follow her grandfather's advice to make the world a better place. The narrator's great aunt, Alice Rumphius, tells her grandfather that she plans to travel to faraway places and then return to live by the sea. But Alice's grandfather tells her she must do one more important thing with her life: she must do something to make the world more beautiful. Later, in her old age, Alice tells her own great niece that she, too, must do something to make the world more beautiful. The book shares ideas about personal goals, family traditions and a sense of purpose.

Sarah, Plain and Tall, the 1986 Newbery Award winner for children's literature, tells a story from the author's family. Patricia MacLachlan wrote the book about a widowed homesteader who sends for a mail-order bride to be a mother for his two children. When Sarah answers Jacob's ad, she admits that she is reluctant to leave her seaside home in Maine. She agrees to come for a trial month. The children, Anna and Caleb, watch Sarah closely for signes that she intends to stay. When she takes the wagon to town alone and doesn't return by nightfall, they are sure she has left them. This heart-wrenching story for young readers touches on the themes of hope and trust, home and family.

Thank you Mr. Falker is a wonderful book written and illustrated by popular author Patricia Polacco. In this book we meet a young girl whose family has a love of learning. At age five, young Trisha is bursting with excitement because she is going to school to learn how to read. By third grade, Trisha still can't read.By fifth grade, she can't read and she is bullied by other students. Trisha is a wonderful artist though, and her family loves her very much and encourages her every day. She adores her fifth grade teacher, Mr. Falker, and one day Mr. Falker discovers Trisha can't read. Through kindness, patience and determination, Mr. Falker works with Trisha to unlock the key to learning that she so desparately seeks. This is a powerful story about a family's love, a young girl's pain and what happens when an adult believes in a child's potential.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is J.K. Rowling's first book that introduces her readers to Harry. As a baby, he survived the curse of a powerful evil wizard and was taken to live with his cruel, non-wizard relatives, the Dursleys. On his 11th birthday, Harry receives a letter inviting him to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a whole new world suddenly opens up to Harry - one in which he is already famous. Beyond the imaginative world of Hogwarts, Rowling's stories share important messages about courage, family, friendship and the difference between good and evil.