Reading Raps: A Book Club Guide for Librarians, Kids and Families by Rita Soltan

Plot Summaries, Character Summaries and Discussion Questions for the following titles:

Family Book Group Titles (Reading Level)
Baseball in April and Other Stories by Gary Soto (Grades 5-7)
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli (grades 6-8)
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Grades 4-6)
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (Grades 5-7)
Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth (Grades 3-4)
Feathers and Fools by Mem Fox (Grades 3-6)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by EL Koningsburg (Grades 4-6)
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by DB Johnson (Grades 2-3)
Jip, His Story by Katherine Paterson (Grades 5-7)
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (Grades 3-6)
Maniac MAgee by Jerry Spinelli (Grades 4-6)
Martin's Mice by Dick King-Smith (Grades 3-4)
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (Grades 3-4)
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Grades 3-4)
Real Thief by William Steig (Grades 3-5)
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren (Grades 4-6)
Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Grades 4-6)
Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi (Grades 5-7)
Sector 7 by David Wiesner (Grades 3-6)
Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Grades 6-8)
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting (Grades 3-5)
Watertower by Gary Crew (Grades 5-7)
Wingwalker by Rosemary Wells (Grades 3-4)
Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree by Bill Brittain (Grades 3-5)
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka (Grades 3-4)

Mother-Daughter Series (Reading Level):
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Brink (Grades 4-6)
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman (Grades 6-8)
The Clock by James Collier (Grades 6-8)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (Grades 4-6)
A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer (Grades 6-8)
Go and Come Back by Joan Abelove (Grades 6-8)
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry (Grades 3-4)
Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (Grades 6-8)
Ida B...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan (Grades 4-6)
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Lord (Grades 4-6)
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Grades 6-8)
Lydia, Queen of Palestine by Uri Orlev (Grades 4-6)
Matilda by Roald Dahl (Grades 4-6)
My Louisiana Sky by Kimberley Holt (Grades 5-7)
Ornament Tree by Jean Thesman (Grades 6-8)
Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer Holm (Grades 5-7)
Protecting Marie by Kevin Henkes (Grades 5-7)
Ruby Electric by Theresa Nelson (Grades 5-7)
Rumplestiltskin's Daughter by Diane Stanley (Grades 3-4)
Seven Brave Women by Betsy Hearne (Grades 3-4)
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher (Grades 5-7)
Squashed by Joan Bauer (Grades 6-8)
Sweetgrass by Jan Hudson (Grades 6-8)
Yolonda's Genius by Carol Fenner (Grades 4-6)
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli (Grades 6-8)

Father-Son Titles (Reading Level):
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Grades 4-6)
The Chicken Doesn't Skate by Gordon Korman (Grades 3-5)
Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Grades 6-8)
Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine (Grades 4-6)
Frindle by Andrew Clements (Grades 3-5)
Grape Thief by Kristine Franklin (Grades 5-7)
Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered by Gary Paulsen (Grades 5-7)
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (Grades 5-7)
An Island Far From Home (Grades 4-6)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (Grades 4-6)
Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman (Grades 4-5)
Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean (Grades 6-8)
Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson (Grades 5-7)
Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman (Grades 3-4)
Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev (Grades 6-8)
Singularity by William Sleator (Grades 5-7)
Soup by Robert Newton Peck (Grades 4-5)
Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables by Jon Scieszka (Grades 3-5)
Sticks by Joan Bauer (Grades 5-7)
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman (Grades 6-8)
Taking Sides by Gary Soto (Grades 5-7)
Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice (Grades 6-8)
Winter People by David Bruchac (Grades 4-6)
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli (Grades 4-6)
Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick (Grades 4-6)

Children-Only Groups (Reading Level):
Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse (Grades 3-4)
Ereth's Birthday by Avi (Grades 4-6)
Fish by LS Matthews (Grades 6-8)
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen (Grades 6-8)
Gideon's People by Carolyn Meyer (Grades 4-6)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (Grades 6-8)
The Gold Cadillac by Mildred Taylor (Grades 3-4)
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech (Grades 3-5)
Habibi by Naomi Nye (Grades 6-8)
Hachiko Waits by Leslea Newman (Grades 3-5)
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (Grades 3-4)
Journey to Jo'burg: a South African Story by Beverley Naidoo (Grades 4-6)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt (Grades 6-8)
Much Ado About Aldo by Johanna Hurwitz (Grades 3-4)
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (Grades 5-7)
Prince of the Pond by Donna Jo Napoli (Grades 3-5)
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia Maclachlan (Grades 3-4)
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman (Grades 6-8)
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner (Grades 3-4)
Toliver's Secret by Ester Wood Brady (Grades 3-5)
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (Grades 4-6)
A View From Saturday by EL Koningsburg (Grades 4-6)
Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne (Grades 3-4)
Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (Grades 3-4)
Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare (Grades 6-8)