The Scripps Miramar Ranch Library (10301 Scripps Lake Drive--858/538-8158) offers many services and programs to help children with reading and library skills.  The let's read program, offered by Youth Services Librarian Miss Ann Persons is available to all children ages 7 to 10 years old every other Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m.  Topics include Reading Together (children's literature:  best books, stories, and poems) and Library Instruction (use of the computer catalog, Dewey Decimal Classification system, and doing homework on the Internet).  Contact Miss Ann Persons at the aforementioned number above for further details.  The library also provides an "Especially for Kids" program that consists of various arts and crafts, science, or storytelling activities once a month, usually the third Thursday of each month at 3 p.m.  Again, contact the aforementioned number above for further details and scheduled events.  The Scripps Miramar Ranch Library hours are noon to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and closed Sundays.

THE EFFECTS OF INDEPENDENT READING

Variation in Amount of Independent Reading

PERCENTILE        MINUTES PER DAY            WORDS PER YEAR 

   98                        65.0                          4,358,000

   90                        21.1                          1,823,000

   80                        14.2                          1,146,000

     70                         9.6                            622,000

    60                         6.5                            432,000

    50                         4.6                            282,000

    40                         3.2                            200,000

    30                         1.3                            106,000

    20                         0.7                             21,000

    10                         0.1                              8,000

"For example, the average child at the 90th percentile reads almost two million words per year outside of school, more than 200 times more words than the child at the 10th percentile, who reads just 8,000 words outside of school during a year.  To put it another way, the entire year's out-of-school reading for the child at the 10th percentile amounts to just two days' reading for the child at the 90th percentile."

Lexile assessment scores are used to give a "ballpark" idea of a child's reading grade level as well as to aid in the selection of appropriately-leveled reading material (just challenging enough without being frustrating).  Books in our school library follow a color code in order to determine lexile.  The code is as follows:

Approximate Grade Level Equivalencies for Lexile ranges are as follows:

Cover

Author

Number of pages

Illustrations

Title

Blurb

Excerpts

First page

Opinion (of a teacher, adult, etc.)

Reverse title page

My friend's opinion

Ending

GREAT BOOKS/AUTHORS

Elementary Age (books intended for 8-12-year-olds)--

1)  Kate DiCamillo (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane; Because of Winn-Dixie; The Tale of Despereaux; Tiger Rising)

2)  Julie Andrews Edwards (The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, among others)

3)  Barbara Robinson (The Best/Worst School Year Ever, among others)

4)  Roald Dahl (BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, among others)

5)  Andrew Clements (Frindle, The Landry News, The Janitor's Boy, The School Story)

6)  Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time, among others)

7)  Bruce Coville (Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Catcher)

8)  Judy Blume (numerous titles)

9)  Betsy Byars (numerous titles)

10)  Sharon Creech (Chasing Redbird, The Wanderer, Walk Two Moons, Absolutely Normal Chaos, Pleasing the Ghost, Love That Dog, a collection of poems)

11)  Patricia Reilly Giff (Lily's Crossing)

12)  Gery Greer and Bob Ruddick (This Island Isn't Big Enough for the Four of Us!)

13)  Gordon Korman (No More Dead Dogs)

14)  George Selden  (The Cricket in Times Square)

15)  Mary Amato  (The Word Eater)

16)  Richard Peck (A Year Down Yonder, A Long Way from Chicago)

17)  John R. Erickson (Hank the Cowdog series)

18)  Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House series)

19)  Lois Lowry (The Giver, Anastasia Krupnik)

20)  James Howe (Bunnicula)

21)  John Reynolds Gardiner (Stone Fox)

22)  Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew series) and/or Franklin Dixon (Hardy Boys series)

23)  Christopher Paul Curtis (Bud, Not Buddy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963)

24)  Beverly Cleary (numerous titles)

25)  Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire (The D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths)

26)  William Armstrong (Sounder)

27)  Gary Paulsen (Hatchet, among others)

28)  Robert Kimmel Smith (The War with Grandpa, Chocolate Fever, among others)

29)  Louis Sachar (numerous titles)

30)  Donald Sobol (Encyclopedia Brown series)

31)  E. B. White (Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, among others)

32)  Jerry Spinelli (Wringer, Maniac Magee, Stargirl, among others)

33)  Farley Mowat (Two Against the North, Owls in the Family)

34)  William Steig (Abel's Island)

35)  Brian Jacques (Redwall series)

36)  Will Hobbs (Jason's Gold, Far North, Wild Man Island)

37)  Sterling North (Rascal)

38)  Robert McCloskey (Homer Price, among others)

39)  C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia series)

40)  Matt Christopher (numerous titles, all dealing with sports)

41)  Norton Juster (Phantom Tollbooth)

42)  Elizabeth Winthrop (Castle in the Attic)

43)  Richard and Florence Atwater (Mr. Popper's Penguins)

44)  Oliver Butterworth (Enormous Egg)

45)  Marguerite Henry (Misty of Chincoteague, among others)

46)  Harold Keith (Rifles for Watie)

47)  David Macaulay (numerous titles, all fascinating nonfiction pieces)

48)  Wilson Rawls (Where the Red Fern Grows, among others)

49)  Katherine Patterson (Bridge to Terabithia)

50)  Scott O'Dell (Island of the Blue Dolphins, Zia, Sing Down the Moon, among others, many dealing with California historical fiction)

51)  E. L. Konigsburg (various titles)

52)  Lensey Namioka (Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear)

53)  Edward Bloor (Crusader)

54)  Roderick Townley (The Great Good Thing)

55)  Elizabeth Enright (Gone-Away Lake)

56)  Jane Langton (The Time Bike)

57)  Dar Williams (Amalee, Lights Camera Amalee)

58)  Patricia Polacco (numerous picture books with great philosophical messages)

59)  Joan Aiken (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase)

60)  Susan Shreve (Blister)

61)  Garth Nix (The Keys to the Kingdom series)

62)  Kimberly Brubaker-Bradley (Halfway to the Sky, Ruthie's Gift, Weaver's Daughter)

63)  Ron Woods (The Hero)

64)  Ann M. Martin (A Corner of the Universe; Snail Mail No More; P.S. Longer Letter Later; Belle Teal)

65)  Jane B. Mason and Sarah Hines Stephens (The Princess School series)

66)  Ellen Potter (Olivia Kidney)

67)  Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl series)

68)  Jean Craighead George (Julie of the Wolves, Cry of the Crow, My Side of the Mountain)

69)  Carl Hiaasen  (Hoot)

70)  D.J. MacHale (Pendragon series)

71)  Heather Vogel Frederick (The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed)

72)  John H. Ritter (The Boy Who Saved Baseball)

73)  Patrick Jennings (The Wolving Time)

74)  Margaret Peterson Haddix (Among the Betrayed, Among the Hidden, Among the Impostors)

75)  Emily Rodda (Deltora Quest series)

76)  Marion Dane Bauer (The Double-Digit Club)

77)  Natalie Babbitt (Tuck Everlasting)

78)  Patricia MacLachlan (Sarah, Plain and Tall)

79)  Barbara Park (Don't Make Me Smile, among others)

80)  Ellen Raskin (Westing Game)

81)  Theodore Taylor (The Cay)

82)  Barthe Declements (Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade)

83)  Ken Mochizuki (Baseball Saved Us)

84)  Paul Fleischman (Weslandia, a picture book fantasy, among others, most of which are short chapter books)

85)  Amy L. Cohn and Suzy Schmidt (Abraham Lincoln)

86)  Elizabeth Levy (America's Funny but True History:  Revolting Revolutionaries and If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution)

87)  Joy Masoff (Chronicle of America: American Revolution, 1700-1800 and Chronicle of America:  Colonial Times, 1600-1700)

88)  Sam Fink (The Declaration of Independence)

89)  Beatrice Gormley (First Ladies:  Women Who Called the White House Home)

90)  Ruth Belov Gross  (If You Grew Up with George Washington)

91)  George Sullivan (In Their Own Words:  Abraham Lincoln)

92)  Peter and Connie Roop (In Their Own Words:  Benjamin Franklin)

93)  Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson (The United States of America:  A State by State Guide)

94)  Gibbs Davis (Wackiest White House Pets)

95)  Catherine O'Neill Grace (The White House:  An Illustrated History)

96)  David Rubel (Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times)

97)  Kathleen Krull (Harvesting Hope, the story of Cesar Chavez)

98)  John Bellairs (The House with a Clock in its Walls)

99)  Bill Brittain (The Wish Giver)

100)  Lynne Reid Banks  (The Indian in the Cupboard)

101)  Robert Burch (Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain, among others)

102)  Virginia Hamilton (The People Who Could Fly, a picture book fantasy set in slave times)

103)   Meindert DeJong (The House of Sixty Fathers)

104)  Jean DuPrau (The City of Ember)

105)  Louise Erdrich (The Birchbark House)

106)  Eleanor Estes (The Hundred Dresses)

107)  Nancy Farmer (Sea of Trolls)

108)  Helen Fox (Eager)

109)  Janusz Korczak (King Matt the First)

110)  Janet Taylor Lisle  (Afternoon of the Elves)

111)  Bette Bao Lord (In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson)

112)  Vicki Van Meter (Taking Flight)

113)  Huynh Quang Nhuong (The Land I Lost)

114)  Gregory Maguire (The Dream Stealer)

115)  William Pene du Bois (The Twenty-one Balloons)

116)  Mordecai Richler (Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang)

117)  Ursula Moray Williams (The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse)

118)  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Shiloh)

119)  Robert Newton Pack (Soup and Me)

120)  Ann Cameron (The Stories Julian Tells)

121)  Eleanor Farjeon (A Little Bookroom)

122)  Tom Glass (Even a Little is Something)

123)  William Kotzwinkle (Trouble in Bugland)

124)  Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell (Talking to the Sun, an anthology of poems)

125)  Norma Farber (How Does It Feel to Be Old? A collection on poems)

126)  Kimberly Willis Holt (My Louisiana Sky)

127)  Lemony Snicket (The Series of Unfortunate Events)

128)  Rebecca Rupp (The Dragons of Lonely Island)

129)  Georgia Byng (Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism)

130)  Brandon Mull (Fablehaven)

131)  Dan Gutman (The Homework Machine and The Return of the Homework Machine)

Grown-up Age (books intended for adults)--

1)  Steve Martin, The Pleasure of My Company

2)  Carolyn Parkhurst, The Dogs of Babel

3)  Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion

4)  David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars

5)  Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

6)  Andre Dubus III, House of Sand and Fog

7)  William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

8)  Carolyn Parkhurst, Lost and Found

9)  Louis De Bernieres, Corelli's Mandolin

10)  Jeanette Winterson, The Powerbook

11)  Kent Haruf, Plainsong

12)  Steve Martin, An Object of Beauty

13)  Ian McEwan, Atonement

14)  Don Delillo, Falling Man

15)  Frederick Reuss, Horace Afoot

16)  Kent Haruf, Eventide

17)  David Guterson, East of the Mountains

18)  Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost

19)  William Maxwell, The Folded Leaf

20)  Julian Barnes, Before She Met Me

21)  David Guterson, Our Lady of the Forest 

22)  Paul Theroux, Hotel Honolulu

23)  Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

24)  Julian Barnes, Talking It Over

25)  Ian McEwan, The Child in Time

26)  Graham Swift, The Light of Day

27)  Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

28)  F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

29)  Julian Barnes, Love, Etc.

30)  Irini Spanidou, God's Snake

31)  Graham Swift, Waterland

32)  Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

33)  Ruldolfo Anaya, Alburquerque

34)  John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

35)  F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Last Tycoon

36)  Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays

37)  Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies

38)  James A. Michener, Space

39)  Irini Spanidou, Fear

40)  Ian McEwan, Saturday

41)  Kent Haruf, The Tie That Binds

42)  Wally Lamb, She's Come Undone

43)  William Faulkner, Pylon

44)  Joan Didion, Run River

45)  Milan Kundera, Laughable Loves

46)  Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero

47)  Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

48)  T.C. Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain

49)  Vikram Seth, The Golden Gate

50)  Kent Haruf, Where You Once Belonged

51)  Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

52)  Vikram Seth, An Equal Music

53)  Martin Amis, Time's Arrow

54)  Jonathan Franzen, Freedom

55)  John Berger, To the Wedding

56)  Albert Camus, The Fall

57)  Ian McEwan, The Comfort of Strangers

58)  Martin Amis, The Rachel Papers

59)  Alan Paton, Cry the Beloved Country

60)  Albert Camus, The Stranger

61)  Dan Franck, Separation

62)  Ian McEwan, Enduring Love

63)  J.D. Salinger, Nine Stories

64)  Aldous Huxley, Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited

65)  Ayn Rand, Anthem

66)  Anita Shreve, The Last Time They Met

67)  J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

68)  Peter Carey, Bliss

69)  Don Delillo, The Body Artist

70)  Cormac McCarthy, Cities of the Plain

71)  Paul Bowles, Up Above the World

72)  Anita Shreve, All He Ever Wanted

73)  Martin Amis, Night Train

74)  William Maxwell, They Came Like Swallows

75)  Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing

76)  Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden

77)  Steve Martin, Shopgirl

78)  Mitch Albom, For One More Day

79)  James Salter, Light Years

80)  Martin Amis, Other People

81)  Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

82)  Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club

83)  J.D. Salinger, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction

84)  William Maxwell, So Long, See You Tomorrow

85)  Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's

86)  Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body

87)  Charles Webb, The Graduate

88)  T. Jefferson Parker, Cold Pursuit

89)  Betty Smith, Joy in the Morning

90)  J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

91)  Martin Amis, Success

92)  Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

93)  Kate Chopin, The Awakening

94)  Andre Guide, The Immoralist

95)  Aldous Huxley, Island

96)  Martin Amis, Dead Babies

97)  Ivan Klima, Love and Garbage

98)  David Mamet, The Village

99)  Kobo Abe, Secret Rendezvous

100)  Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia

101)  Sir Thomas More, Utopia

102)  Martin Amis, Einstein's Monsters

103)  Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

104)  Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

105)  Kobo Abe, The Box Man

106)  Truman Capote, Answered Prayers

107)  Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward

108)  John Updike, A Month of Sundays

109)  Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint

110)  J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring

111)  J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King

112)  J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers

113)  Philip Roth, Operation Shylock

114)  Bohumil Hrabal, I Served the King of England

115)  Kinky Friedman, Greenwich Killing Time