Reading Representation Grades 3-4

The books on this list have been curated for grades 3-4 by Guilford Free Library and Guilford Public Schools librarians. These titles showcase characters from a wide range of backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities, and family structures, affirming everyone’s presence and value in society while also being good stories that children enjoy! Reading stories from different perspectives inspires empathy, fostering self-love as well as a greater connection with others. This project is also presented by the Guilford Anti-Bias Anti-Racist (ABAR) Alliance, a collaborative partnership of educators, parents, and caregivers who work to further inclusion, equity, and tolerance within Guilford Public Schools. Learn more at www.GuilfordCtABAR.com .
 

Showing 1 - 20 of 32  There are a total of 78 valid entries on the list.

1. Ban this book

Book cover for "Ban this book"
Star rating for Ban this book
Author:
Gratz, Alan, 1972-
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
"In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don't mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start...

2. Book Uncle and me

Book cover for "Book Uncle and me"
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Author:
Krishnaswami, Uma
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library next to her apartment building. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something. But what can she do? The local elections are coming up but she's just a kid. She can't even vote! Still, Yasmin has friends her best friend, Reeni, and Anil, who even has a black...

3. A boy called Bat

Book cover for "A boy called Bat"
Star rating for A boy called Bat
Author:
Arnold, Elana K.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, Media Player, OverDrive eBook
Description:
When his veterinarian mom brings home a stray baby skunk that needs rehabilitation before it can be placed in a wild animal shelter, Bat, who has autism, resolves to prove that he is up to the challenge of caring for the skunk permanently.

4. Elvis and the underdogs

Book cover for "Elvis and the underdogs"
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Author:
Lee, Jenny, 1971-
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
All his life Benji, now ten, has been sickly and he has long been targeted by the school bully, but after a seizure Benji gets a therapy dog that is not only big enough to protect him, it can also talk.

5. Elvis and the Underdogs: Secrets, Secret Service, and Room Service

Book cover for "Elvis and the Underdogs: Secrets, Secret Service, and Room Service"
Star rating for Elvis and the Underdogs: Secrets, Secret Service, and Room Service
Author:
Lee, Jenny
Formats:
Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
It's been months since Benji's former therapy dog, Elvis, was whisked away by the Secret Service, but Benji still misses him terribly. Luckily, because Elvis is now the president's dog, Benji can keep tabs on him via all the pictures and videos that are online. While watching footage of the president's speech on the White House lawn, Benji and his friends Alexander and Taisy notice Elvis doing something very strange with his tail. Could he be trying...

6. Flora & Ulysses

Book cover for "Flora & Ulysses"
Star rating for Flora & Ulysses
Author:
DiCamillo, Kate
Formats:
CD Audiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled...

7. Flora & Ulysses: the illuminated adventures

Book cover for "Flora & Ulysses"
Star rating for Flora & Ulysses
Author:
DiCamillo, Kate
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, OverDrive eAudiobook, Readalong
Description:
Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived.

8. Framed!

Book cover for "Framed!"
Star rating for Framed!
Author:
Ponti, James
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
In Washington, D.C., twelve-year-old Florian Bates, a consulting detective for the FBI, and his best friend Margaret help thwart the biggest art heist in United States history.

9. Fuzzy

Book cover for "Fuzzy"
Star rating for Fuzzy
Author:
Angleberger, Tom
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
When Max (Maxine Zealster) befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, she helps him navigate Vanguard Middle School and together they reveal the truth behind the Robot Integration Program.

10. Fuzzy mud

Book cover for "Fuzzy mud"
Star rating for Fuzzy mud
Author:
Sachar, Louis, 1954-
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Media Player, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
"Two middle-grade kids take a shortcut home from school and discover what looks like fuzzy mud but is actually a substance with the potential to wreak havoc on the entire world"--

11. Garvey's choice

Book cover for "Garvey's choice"
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Author:
Grimes, Nikki
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
"Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading--anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus,...

12. A handful of stars

Book cover for "A handful of stars"
Star rating for A handful of stars
Author:
Lord, Cynthia
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
When her blind dog slips his collar, twelve-year old Lily meets Salma Santiago, a young Hispanic girl whose migrant family are in Maine for the blueberry-picking season, and, based partly on their mutual love of dogs, the two forge a friendship while painting bee boxes for Lily's grandfather--but as the Blueberry Queen pageant approaches Lily and Selma are confronted with some of the hard truths of prejudice and migrant life.

13. The jumbie god's revenge

Book cover for "The jumbie god's revenge"
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Author:
Baptiste, Tracey
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
After two out-of-season hurricanes nearly destroy her island home, Corinne discovers that the god Huracan is angry and she, aided by friends and enemies alike, races to calm him.

14. The jumbies

Book cover for "The jumbies"
Star rating for The jumbies
Author:
Baptiste, Tracey
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Eleven-year-old Corinne must call on her courage and an ancient magic to stop an evil spirit and save her island home.

15. Macy McMillan and the rainbow goddess

Book cover for "Macy McMillan and the rainbow goddess"
Star rating for Macy McMillan and the rainbow goddess
Author:
Green, Shari, 1963-
Average Rating:
4 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Media Player, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Olivia has been Macy McMillan's best friend ever since Macy transferred to Hamiliton Elementary from Braeside School for the Deaf. But then their sixth grade teacher assigned that embarrassing family tree project, and Olivia made a joke about Macy's father, and now neither girl is speaking--signing--to the other. It couldn't have happened at a worse time. With her mother getting married and an ugly For Sale sign jammed into their yard, Macy could...

16. Masterminds

Book cover for "Masterminds"
Star rating for Masterminds
Author:
Korman, Gordon
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
"A group of kids discovers they were cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history for a sociological experiment"--

17. Ms. Bixby's last day

Book cover for "Ms. Bixby's last day"
Star rating for Ms. Bixby's last day
Author:
Anderson, John David, 1975-
Average Rating:
4 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
Loving their gifted teacher, three boys are dismayed when the teacher falls ill and leaves for the rest of the school year, a situation that compels them to share their stories while cutting class and journeying across town together on a fateful day.

18. The mysterious Benedict Society

Book cover for "The mysterious Benedict Society"
Star rating for The mysterious Benedict Society
Author:
Stewart, Trenton Lee
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

19. The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey

Book cover for "The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey"
Star rating for The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey
Author:
Stewart, Trenton Lee
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance, all graduates of the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened and members of the Benedict Society, embark on a scavenger hunt that turns into a desperate search for the missing Mr. Benedict.

20. The mysterious Benedict Society and the prisoner's dilemma

Book cover for "The mysterious Benedict Society and the prisoner's dilemma"
Star rating for The mysterious Benedict Society and the prisoner's dilemma
Author:
Stewart, Trenton Lee
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, Benedict Society members Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance follow clues on an adventure that threatens to separate them from their families, friends, and even one another.