Children's Booklist 2021: Realistic and FunnyFiction for Grades 4-5

Project Startup: Eat Bugsby Heather AlexanderHallie and Jaye are both sixth graders atBrookdale Middle School, but they couldn'tbe more different. So when the two girls arepaired up as partners for a pitchcompetition held by their BusinessEducation and Entrepreneurship class, it's

not exactly a perfect match.

Best Babysitters Everby Caroline CalaInspired by the example of The BabysittersClub, three 12-year-old friends start ababysitting club to earn money for an epicbirthday bash only to be confronted by theunexpected realities of the job.

New Kidby Jerry CraftEnrolled in a prestigious private schoolwhere he is one of only a few students ofcolor, talented seventh grade artist Jordanfinds himself torn between the worlds of hisWashington Heights apartment home andthe upscale circles of Riverdale Academy.

Pony on the Twelfth Floorby Polly FaberKizzy dreamed of every possible way shemight get a pony, but she never expected topick one up from the bakery aisle in thesupermarket. There's just one problem: Howdo you keep a pony in a twelfth-floor flatwithout your mum finding out?

The Losers at the Center of theGalaxyby Mary Winn HeiderTwo years after their father disappeared,Winston and Louise wrestle with their griefwhile investigating mysterious teachers,innovative science, and a captive bear.

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid:Rowley Jefferson's Journalby Jeff KinneyGreg Heffley's best friend and biographershares first-person insights into their middle-school experiences while making a decidedmess of Greg's life story. By the award-winning creator of the Diary of a Wimpy Kidseries.

Supergiftedby Gordon KormanA sequel to Ungifted follows theexperiences of a boy whose incredibly highIQ and struggles with high expectationsprompt his transfer into Donovan Curtis'school, where clashes with a competitivecheerleader and an alpha jock lead tounexpected popularity.

Becoming Briannaby Terri LibensonTold in alternating past and presentchapters, a latest series entry finds brainyBri wondering if she has taken on too muchwhen she agrees to learn a new language,give a speech and organize a party whilejuggling drama at school and home.

Realistic and FunnyFiction for Grades 4-5

Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw:Who is the Bucks Bandit?by Gina LovelessAfter bonus bucks keep disappearing fromher teacher's desk, Nadia suspects Wilu, thenew kid in the class, but Robin Loxleydecides to become friends with Wilu andfind out the truth about the theft.

The Miscalculations of LightningGirlby Stacy McAnultyA lightning strike made Lucy a math genius,but after years of homeschooling, hergrandma enrolls her in middle school andshe learns that life is more than numbers.

Shaking Up the Houseby Yamile Saied MéndezA friendly, and customary, practical joke warat the White House spirals out of controlwhen four friends try to out-prank eachother.

Planet Omar: Incredible RescueMissionby Zanib MianOmar learns that his amazing teacher is notcoming back to school! When he and hisfriends start investigating why, the hints theyoverhear and clues they find suggest theinvolvement of aliens! Omar has a hugeimagination, but saving his teacher from

aliens seems far-fetched even to him. He's going to need a hugespirit of adventure to solve this mystery!

Actby Kayla MillerA lively follow-up to Click and Camp findssixth grader Olive looking forward to anupcoming field trip before organizing astudent-council election after discoveringthat school policy is preventing some of thekids from participating.

Timmy Failure: Zero to Heroby Stephan PastisWorld-famous detective Timmy Failurerecounts how he began solving mysteriesand how he got his famous red scarf in thishilariously heartwarming prequel to theTimmy Failure series.

Middle School: Field Trip Fiascoby James PattersonAccepting an all-expenses-paid art field tripto California after a long spate of goodbehavior, troublemaker Rafe arrives in adesert “cultural campout” that iscomplicated by forged cave paintings and adiamond smuggling plot.

Big Nate: In Your Face!by Lincoln PeirceNate's friends issue the ultimate insult: theypoint out all the ways he resembles his arch-nemesis, Gina. Nate also gets an internshipat Klassic Komix, and his master plan tocarpet-bomb the school with Valentine's Daycards goes seriously sideways. And whenNate gets dragged into a party for the

dreaded Mrs. Godfrey, what could possibly go wrong?

Wayside School Beneath the Cloudof Doomby Louis SacharA fourth entry in the best-selling series findsthe students of Mrs. Jewls’s 30th-floor classbusily collecting toenail clippings whilepreparing for an Ultimate Test in the face ofthe Cloud of Doom.

My Life as a Billionaireby Janet TashjianEmbarking on a spending spree with hisfriend after winning a billion dollars in thelottery, reluctant reader Derek Fallontriggers unexpected consequences beforedeciding to find more helpful ways to use hismoney.