Student Recommended BOOKS FOR GIRLS

2014 / 2015

Favorite Books of Mrs. Hansen’s students

GIRLS’ TOP 10 (in order of popularity)

1. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
2. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth
3. Fablehaven (series), by Brandon Mull
4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Greene
5. The Heroes of Olympus series, by Rick Riordan
6. Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling
7. House of the Scorpion/Lord of Opium, by Nancy Farmer
8. Matched Trilogy, by Ally Condie
9. Wonder, by R. J. Palacio
10. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfield

All Others (in alphabetical order)

39 Clues (series), by various authors

The 5^thWave (series), by Rick Yancey

The Ascendance Trilogy (False Prince), by Jennifer A. Neilsen

Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo

Beyonders (series), by Brandon Mull

Big Nate (series), by Lincoln Pierce

The Candy Shop War, by Brandon Mull

Charlie Bone(series), by Jenny Nimmo

Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett

Close to Famous, by Joan Bauer

Crazy, by Han Nolan

The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander

Diary of a Wimpy Kid(series), by Jeff Kinney

The Dork Diaries(series), by Rachel Renee Russell

Double Fudge, by Judy Blume

Ever After High(series), by Shannon Hale

Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson

Fifteenth Summer, by Michelle Dalton

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Goddess Girls series, by Joan Holub

The Goose Girl(series), by Shannon Hale

± The Guardian, by  Nicholas Sparks

Hope Was Here, by Joan Bauer

If I Stay(series), by Gayle Forman

The Infernal Devices series, by Cassandra Clare

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick

Jabberwocky, by Daniel Coleman

Janitors (series), by Tyler Whitesides

The Wishing Spell(series), by Chris Colfer

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Edwards Andrews

Leven Thumps(series), by Obert Skye

Mare in the Meadow, by Ben M. Baglio

The Maze Runner(series), by James Dashner

Michael Vey(series), by Richard Paul Evans

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo

The Missing series (Found), by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Mortal Instruments(series), by Cassandra Clare

My Fair Godmother(series), by Janette Rallison

Reawakened (Once Upon a Time series), by Odette Beane

Out of My Mind, by Sharon M Draper

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse

Pay it Forward(young readers edition), by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Peter and the Starcatchers (series), by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Poison Study(series), by Maria V. Snyder

The Princess Academy(series), by Shannon Hale

Rangers Apprentice series, by John Flanagan

The Remaining(series), by D. J. Molles

Savvy, by Ingrid Law

Seeing Cinderella, by Jenny Lundquist

The Selection (series), by Kiera Cass

Shadow of the Dragon series, by Tielle St. Clare

Silence (series), by Natasha Preston

Stay (series), by Emily Goodwin

Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites (series), by Chris

Heimerdinger

To Kill a Mockingbird,by Harper Lee

True … Sort of, by Katherine Hannigan

‡ Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer

± Unbroken, by Laura Hilenbrand

Warriors series, by Erin Hunter

The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

The Wide Awake Princess (series), by E. D. Baker

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare

Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein

Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick

Student Recommended BOOKS FOR BOYS

2014 / 2015

Favorite Books of Mrs. Hansen’s students

BOYS’ TOP 10  (in order of popularity)

1. Michael Vey (series), by Richard Paul Evans
2. Fablehaven (series), by Brandon Mull
3. House of the Scorpion/Lord of Opium, by Nancy Farmer
4. Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling
5. The Heroes of Olympus series, by Rick Riordan
6. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series), by Jeff Kinney
8. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth
9. The Maze Runner (series), by James Dashner
10. Alex Rider series, by Anthony Horowitz

All Others (in alphabetical order)

39 Clues (series), by various authors

Adventurers Wanted series, by M. L. Forman

Artemis Fowl(series), by Eoin Colfer

The Ascendance Trilogy (False Prince), by Jennifer A. Neilsen

Beyonders(series), by Brandon Mull

Big Nate (series), by Lincoln Pierce

The Book of Mormon

Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Candy Shop War, by Brandon Mull

Charlie Bone(series), by Jenny Nimmo

Cirque Du Freak series, by Darren Shan

Conspiracy 365 series, by Gabrielle Lord

The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander

Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos

Ender’s Game(series), by Orson Scott Card

Eragon (series), by Christopher Paolini

Gregor the Overlander(series), by Suzanne Collins

Hatchett (series), by Gary Paulsen

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien

Holes, by Louis Sachar

I Funny (series), by James Patterson

I Survived series, by Lauren Tarshis

I Am Number Four(series), by James Dashner

Janitors (series), by Tyler Whitesides

± Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

The Kane Chronicles series, by Rick Riordan

Legend (series), by Marie Lu

Leven Thumps(series), by Obert Skye

The Lord of the Rings(series), by J. R. R. Tolkien

Loser, by Jerry Spinelli

The Lost Hero(series), by Rick Riordan

Maximum Ride(series), by James Patterson

Middle School – Get Me Out of Here! by James Patterson

Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, by Ranson Riggs

Mistborn series, by Brandon Sanderson

The Ephraim Chronicles , by Lee Nelson

Pendragon series, by D. J. MacHale

Rangers Apprentice series, by John Flanagan

Rascal, by Sterling North

Redwall (series), by Brian Jacques

The Secret Zoo(series), by Bryan Chick

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, by Michael Scott

Septimus Heap series, by Angie Sage

Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snickett

The Spiderwick Chronicles series, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

The Spook’s Apprentice(series), by Joseph Delaney

Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson

The Storm Testament(series), by Lee Nelson

Summer Ball (and others), by Mike Lucia

Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites (series), by Chris

Heimerdinger

Theodor Boone series, by John Grisham

The Three Investigators series, by Willlam Arden

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stephenson

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne

± Unbroken, by Laura Hilenbrand

Ungifted, by Gordon Korman

Unwanteds(series), by Lisa McMann

Vietnam series by Chris Lynch

The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio

Wool (series), by Hugh Howey

The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt

± Represents a book written for adults

I am a Polar Bear

 

I am a Polar Bear. This epiphany came to me shortly after a Relief Society workshop I attended in Layton, Utah almost 20 years ago. A woman who was a registered dietitian and worked with professional sports players was talking to our stake about nutrition and body image.

 

She began her presentation in a novel way. On the projector she displayed beautiful photos of animals – they were National Geographic quality pictures. She encouraged us to think about them as creations of our Heavenly Father and to note the variety and individuality of each different species. As a lover of the outdoors and a watcher of PBS nature specials, she had me hooked.

 

Perhaps you’ve already guessed where she was going with her presentation. I, however, was simply caught up in the beauty of all those amazing animals. She concluded her slide show with a giraffe and asked the women in attendance to switch gears. She said something along the lines of, “This is a giraffe. We’ve been enjoying looking at various animals created by our Heavenly Father. We would never expect any one of those creatures to try to look like a giraffe, but that’s exactly what we do as people. Instead of enjoying the variety and individuality of the human race, we’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that somehow we should all look alike. That somehow, as women, we can all fit the physique of the giraffe.”

 

In that moment I saw the absurdness of the ruse I’d fallen under. There was no way I was ever going to be a giraffe! After only a moment of thought, I knew exactly what animal was a fit for me metaphorically – the polar bear.

 

First of all, I’m pale. Really pale. Back when I was engaged to be married I was adjusting my pant leg and my soon-to-be sister-in-law noticed how white my leg was. “Is that your leg?” she asked. “Or are you wearing white nylons?” A little embarrassed, I assured her that it was definitely my leg. The polar bears and I have paleness in common.

 

Next on my list of similarities to the polar bear is my size. Of course I’m not really the size of an adult polar bear (300 to 500 lbs. for a female), but polar bears are the largest species of bear. And I am a rather large person.

 

I also learned that polar bears have very large paws. Which fits my M.O. as well. They use theirs for swimming. I use mine for anything but swimming. (Alas, designers have not come up with a swimming suit that is flattering for this polar bear.)

 

Finally, I definitely have an over-developed mother bear instinct. You do not want to see me react if I feel that one of my bears (children, students, friends, family members) is being threatened. It is ferocious!

 

So there you have it. I am a polar bear, metaphorically speaking. And to tell you the truth, I’m just fine with being a polar bear.