Recommended reading list

Here is the recommended reading list for Year 5 and 6 students 2016. The list includes options of books students can read, they are not expected to read them all. Many of the books are also in our school library. A list has also been emailed out to parents.

Recommended Reads for Year 5/6’s

J = Available in Wembley Primary Library

Fiction

Title	Author	Comments
Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool	Odo Hirsch	2010 Book of the Year winner – Young Readers
Save our Sharks	David Metzenthen	Follow the woes of the Sharks Junior Football team
Matt and Billy for Keeps	Elisabeth Fensham	Friendship and Adventure
J Kingdom of Silk Series	Glenda Millard	Incl. 2009 Book of the Year winner & other shortlisted and honour titles
J The Wish Pony	Catherine Bateson	2009 Honour Book
J Bungawitta	Emily Rodda	2012 Book of  the Year Finalist
Arkie Sparkle: Code Crimson	Petra James	Book 1 of a new series about a young treasure hunter
Driving the Fishy Frog	James Moloney	An Aussie Chomps Adv.
Pyro Watson and the hidden treasure	Nette Hilton
Just one Wish	Sally Rippin	Penny moves from China to Australia
In the Shadow of the Palace	Judith A. Simpson	Set in India
J The Friendship Matchmaker	Randa Abdel-Fattah	For Upper Primary
Too small to Fail	Morris Gleitzman	Oliver doesn’t care about money – how can he get what he really wants?
J Charlie Burr and the three stolen dollars	Sally Morgan, Ambelin. Blaze and Ezekiel Kway..	First book in the series
J Pookie Aleera is not my boyfriend	Steven Herrick	A verse novel – moving, meaningful and funny
J Just a dog	Michael Gerard Bauer	2011 Honour Book. Charming story of a family’s love for their dog. Sad and serious in parts.
J Violet Mackeral’s Brilliant plot	Anna Bradford	2011 Honour Book. One of a series of lovely stories about Violet and her family.
J The Tunnels of Tarcoola	Jennifer Walsh
Star	Catherine Bateson	Families, change & our place in the world
J On Orchard Road	Elsbeth Edgar	Friendship can bloom in the most unexpected places
J Liar and Spy	Rebecca Stead	Bullying, lying , fear, courage and friendship. A great read.
J Truly Tan	Jen Storer	Tan is a feisty, imaginative and resourceful character.
Camo Girl	Kekla Magoon	Ella and Z navigate School
J Other Brother	Simon French	2013 Shortlisted Book
J My Life as an Alphabet	Barry Jonsberg	A funny, clever, moving story about 12 y.o. Candice
J Finding Serendipity	Angelica Banks	The heroine, Tuesday, must learn the true nature of serendipity.
J The Amazing Spencer Gray	Deb Fitzgerald	Suspenseful yet uplifting, the story of how a boy overcomes his fears.
J The View from the 32nd Floor	Emma Cameron	Can William tempt his lonely neighbours back into the real world?
J Extra Time	Morris Gleitzman	Matt is offered the opportunity to travel overseas to try out for Europe’s biggest soccer club.
J Stay Well Soon	Penny Tangey	A tender, funny novel about Stevie who is dealing with her brother’s illness.
J Holiday of a Lifetime: Disaster Diary	Megan De Kantzow	A fun novel about Anna, the worrier, who travels to France where she helps the family deal with disaster.

 

Historical Fiction

J Running with the horses	Alison Lester	2010 Book of the year finalist
J A Certain Music	Celeste Walters	Set in Vienna area 1821
Atomic Testing	Allan Tucker	Set in Woomera
J Hiding Edith	Kathy Kacer	Set in Vienna in 1938
J Meet Grace (1st in series)	Sofie Laaguna	Grace is sentenced to life in the new penal colony Aust.
J The Ivory Rose	Belinda Murrell	After Jemma wakes up in 1895, she must race time and rescue her friend.
J A Friend for Grace	Sofie Laguna	Set in 1808. ‘Our Australian Girl’ series
J Taj and the Great Camel Trek	Rosanne Hawke	Set in the early days of European settlement of Aust
J Queen of the Falls	Chris Van Allsburg	Based on the true story of the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
J The Ghost at the Point	Charlotte Calder	A mystery adventure set in 1900’s
J Wonderstruck	Brian Selznick	By the author of Hugo Cabret. Set in 1927 & 1977
J Stolen Girl	Trina Saffioti	A fictionalised account of the Stolen Generation
J The Red Poppy	David Hill	Western Front France
Sydney Harbour Bridge – ‘My Australian Story’	Vashti Farrer	Illustrated story of the building of the bridge
J Meet Nellie	Penny Matthews	Our Australian Girl Series
J Forget me Not	Sue Lawson	A family’s voyage on the Titanic
J The Forgotten Pearl	Belinda Murrell	Darwin 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour & Northern Australia
J The River Charm	Belinda Murrell	Early Aust. A widow and 4 children overcoming difficulties
J Dingo: The dog who conquered a continent	Jackie French	A story of survival
J The Children of the King	Sonya Hartnett	Book of the Year 2013
J Escape from Cockatoo Island. ‘My Aust. Story’ series	Yvette Poshoglian	11 year old Olivia feels as though her school is a prison. Set in 1879
J Gallipoli  ‘My Aust Story’	Alan Tucker	The diary of 14 y.o.Victor who signs up for WW2

 

 

Fantasy Adventure

J Tensy Farlow and the home for mislaid children	Jennifer Storer	2010 Book of the year finalist
J The Whisperer	Fiona McIntosh	2010 Book of the year finalist
J The Wizard of Rondo	Emily Rodda	2009 Book of the year finalist
J Captain Congo and the Crocodile King	Greg Holfeld	2009 Picture Book finalist – Graphic Novel
Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan	R. A. Spratt
Cicada Summer	Kate Constable	A Magical time slip novel
J A Ghost in my Suitcase	Gabrielle Wang	Set in China and steeped in mythology – a fast paced adventure and coming of age story
Angel Creek	Sally Rippin
J Boy Without a Soul & The Boy Who Wasn’t There	Michael Panckridge	The Book of Gabrielle Series No 2 & 3
The Last Summer	Sherryl Jordan	Dragons, Adventure
J The Travelling Restaurant	Barbara Else	An edge of your seat tale of treachery, courage & magic
The Road to Belgrandia	Michael Stephens	A Magical and compelling story
J The Emerald Atlas	John Stephen	A Spell-binding action-packed page turner of an epic.  Book 1 in the Book of the Beginning series
J The Red Wind	Isobelle Carmody	Book of the Year for Younger Readers 2011
J The Accidental Princess	Jen Storer	A modern day fairy tale
J Northwood	Brian Falkner	Cecilia Undergarment rescues a sad and neglected dog
Wildwood	Colin Meloy	Prue’s troubles start when her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows!
J The Golden Door (Part 1 of the Three Doors Trilogy) And J The Silver Door (Part 2)	Emily Rodda	High quality fantasy adventure Book of the Year 2012
J Ghost Club – The New Kid	Deborah Abela	The Oldest paranormal investigation organisation in the world meets their youngest members.
J Mort: The 10,000 Year Old Boy	Martin Chatterton

 

J Hatched (Book 1 of the Grimstones Series	Asphyxia	A tender gothic fairy tale told in a collage of words, photos and drawings
J Vinnie Versus Bluebottle	Gerry Bobsien	Imagination, battles and underwater creatures
J The Truth about Verity Sparks And Verity Sparks – Lost and Found	Susan Green	Verity is a 13 y.o. orphan who works as a milliner (hat maker) in Victoria London.  Book of the Year Finalist 2012
J A Very Unusual Pursuit (City of Orphans Book 1)	Julie Hunt	A wonderful combination of magic, realism, folklore and fantasy adventure

 

Humour

J The Toilet Kid	Pat Flynn	Follows ‘The Tuckshop Kid”
The Really Nearly Dead Canoe Ride	David Metzenthen	Fast paced writing, great humour and strong plot
Nit Boy: Lift Off	Tristan Banks	A Louse is the centre character
The Ice-cream War	Edwina Howard	A smart, clever story
J The Slice	Rosie Quilter	The Consequence of a bet involving a slice of pizza
Uncle Trev and his Whistling Bull	Jack Lasenby	Set  1930’s Uncle Trev tries to cheer up the narrator who is recovering from illness
Horrible Harriet’s Inheritance	Leigh Hobbs	Horrible Harriet moves to chapter book format
J Henry Hoey Hobson	Christine Bongers	2011 finalist – Book of the Year. Henry’s problems grow as he moves to a new school and neighbourhood
J Con-Nerd	Oliver Phommavanh	A story about discovering your own gifts and talents
J Losers: (Mates Series)	Pauline Deeves	The Wiggly Worms are not a very successful soccer team – follow their funny story.
J Phyliss Wong and the forgotten secrets of Mr Okyto	Geoffrey McSkimming	Magic, mystery, puns, humour and an appealing main character
J Louis Beside Himself	Anna Fienberg	Funny,  and clever – the wonder words is revealed
Wreck the Halls (Lightning Strikes series)	Meg McKinlay	Mischief, misunderstandings and mayhem
J Eric Vale, Epic Fail	Michael Gerard Bauer	Easy to read & funny
Super Finn	Leonie Agnew	Finn tries to become a superhero so he can support their World Vision sponsored child that Mum can no longer afford
J The Girl Who Brought Mischief	Katrina Nannestad	Could it be that a bit of mischief is exactly what Grandma and the people of Bornholm need?
J The Kensington Reptilarium	N. J. Gemmell	A funny story full of action and adventure featuring 4 orphans sent to live in outback Australia

 

 

Non-Fiction

J Explorers: Filling in the map of Australia	Chris Miles
J Deep Sea Whale Rescue	Jan Ramage	A whale and her calf need rescuing
Booms, Busts, and Bushfires (Fair Dinkum History)	Jackie French	Covers aspects of Australian History in a humorous way.
Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop (Aussie Hero Series)	Hazel Edwards	Weary Dunlop’s biography written as an easy to read
H.O.U.S.E. (Habitable Objects Unique Spatial Extraordinary)	Aleksandra Machowiak	A quirky look at contemporary architecture.
Extreme Weather	Margaret Hynes	An up to date look at weather and climate
Animal Encyclopaedia	Kingfisher Publishers	Features over 2000 animals
The Olympics – History		Full illustrated history of the Olympics from ancient to modern times.
Sharks Closeup / Snakes Closeup	Dr Mark Norman	The Latest information with excellent photographs
The Science Behind Stuff	Angela Royston	Let your brightest ideas germinate
Survivors: into the Wilderness	Jim Pipe	Covers the gripping survival stories of 12 people who survived life-threatening situations.
Wild Whiskers and Tender Tales	Ute Wegmann	A book about Australian wildlife rescue
No Return – Captain Scott’s Race to the Pole	Peter Gouldthorpe	Fully illustrated story of daring and doom
J The Return of the Word Spy	Ursula Dubosarsky	Eve Pownall Award for information books – 2011
J The Dream of the Thylacine	Margaret Wild	Shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year 2012
J The Little Refugee	Ahn Do	Book of the Year finalist 2012. The autobiography of Vietnamese born Ahn Do condensed for younger readers
J One Small Island – The Story of Macquarie Island	Alison Lester	Book of the Year finalist 2012.  Picture Book format
Archie’s Letter	Martin Flanagan	A story of a Burma Railway in WW2
J Yoko’s diary	Paul Ham	The diary of 13 y.o. Yoko who lived near Hiroshima during WW2
J Ice, Rock and Wind (Douglas Mawson in the Antarctic)	Peter Gouldthorpe	High quality picture book detailing Mawson’s Antarctic exploration
Robin Hood	Nicky Raven	A Beautifully illustrated high quality story of Robin Hood.

 

Picture Books and Graphic Novels

J Mirror	Jeannie Baker	Picture Book of the Year 2011
J One Small Island	Alison Lester	Life and times of Macquarie Island
J Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck	Michelle Gillespie	True story of a dramatic rescue following a shipwreck in W.A.
J Queen of the Falls	Chris Allsburg	Based on the True story of the woman who went over the Niagara Falls in a barrel.
J The Little Refugee	Ahn Do	Book of the Year finalist ‘12
J Running with the Horses	Alison Lester	The story of a daring escape during WW2 involving the Royal Academy of Dancing Horses
J Sophie Scott goes South	Alison Lester	Join Sophie as she follows the voyage of Mawson to Antarctica
J Lightning Jack	Patricia Mullins	Shortlisted book 2013
J Lyrebird – A true story	Jackie Kerin	Shortlisted Book 2013
J Vietnam Diary	Mark Wilson	Two brothers love is tested when the Vietnam War begins.
J Meet Ned Kelly	Janeen Brian	Written in ballad style
Meet Mary MacKillop	Sally Murphy
Angela and the Cherry Tree	Raphaele Frier	A touching insight into the mind of someone suffering from dementia
J Meet Captain Cook	Rae Murdie
J The Rules of Summer	Shaun Tan	A simple story of how 2 boys spend summer
J The Treasure Box	Margaret Wild	A book about war, words, stories and the resilience of the human spirit.
J Jandamarra	Mark Greenwood	The Story of an Indigenous Warrior who led a long campaign to defend Aboriginal Rights
J An Anzac Tale	Ruth Starke	Graphic Novel – accurately telling the story of Gallipoli, Characters are depicted as Australian animals.
J Light Horse Boy	Dianne Wolfer	Illustrations, text, letters and historical documents are incl in this book about WW1