"The Pressure Point!"

Books

Fiction

Armstrong, Alan Whittington
A battered tomcat named Whittington arrives one late-fall day at a New England barn, where he gradually befriends the equally ragtag group of animals already adopted by the barn’s reserved but soft-hearted owner, Bernie. Throughout the winter, he entrances them - and Bernie’s grandchildren - with the story of his ancestor, Dick Whittington’s cat; demonstrating how hard work can help you reach your goals.

Codell, Esme Raji Sahara Special
Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.

Fitzhugh, Louise Harriet the Spy
Eleven-year-old Harriet, who is a spy, plans to be a writer, and keeps a secret notebook filled with thoughts and notes on her schoolmates and people she observes on her after school spy route. However, her classmates find out and read her notebook, retaliate, and Harriet learns that writing is not to be used against your friends.

Hannigan, Katherine Ida B. — and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World In Wisconsin
Fourth-grader Ida B spends happy hours being home-schooled and playing in her family’s apple orchard, until her mother begins treatment for breast cancer and her parents must sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.

Hesse, Karen Witness
A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.

Hicks, Betty I Smell Like Ham
Nick tries to maintain his sense of integrity as he works to succeed on the school basketball team, adjust to his new stepmother and little “dorky” stepbrother, and deal with peer pressure from his friends.

Key, Watt Alabama Moon
After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon leaves their forest shelter home and is sent to an Alabama institution, becoming entangled in the outside world he has never known and making good friends, a relentless enemy, and finally a new life.

Klages, Ellen The Green Glass Sea
It is 1943, and 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is traveling west on a train to live with her scientist father–but no one will tell her exactly where he is. When she reaches Los Alamos, New Mexico, she learns why: he’s working on a top secret government program.

Lubar, David Flip
Analytic control-freak Taylor and her twin, free-spirit underachiever Ryan, find an alien entertainment technology that turns them into legends like Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln, and helps them deal with the school bully and their demanding parents.

O’Dell, Kathleen Ophie Out of Oz
Fourth-grader Ophelia Peeler has always felt that she was just like Dorothy in Oz, skipping down the yellow brick road, until a move to Oregon, away from her best friend, sends her on a different path.

Papademetriou, Lisa Sixth-grade Glommers, Norks and Me
As Allie Kimball starts sixth grade, she discovers that middle school is a very different world, populated with glommers — those girls who cling to each other in groups; norks — a combination of a nerd and a dork; and worst of all, squashes — crushes that make you feel like your heart has been stepped on.

Tolan, Stephanie Surviving the Applewhites
Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family’s Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had.

Wiles, Deborah Love, Ruby Lavender
When her quirky grandmother goes to Hawaii for the summer, nine-year-old Ruby learns to survive on her own in Mississippi by writing letters, befriending chickens as well as the new girl in town, and finally coping with her grandfather’s death.

Woodson, Jacqueline Feathers
When a new, white student nicknamed “The Jesus Boy” joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie’s growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.

Van Draanen, Wendelin Swear to Howdy
Two thirteen-year-old boys share neighborhood adventures, complaints about their older sisters, family secrets, and even guilt that bind them together in a special friendship.

Yee, Lisa Millicent Min, Girl Genius
In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother’s departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.

Non-Fiction

Criswell, Patty Kelley - A Smart Girl’s Guide to Friendship Troubles: Dealing With Fights, Being Left out and the Whole Popularity Thing
How do you speak up when you’re afraid of hurting your friend’s feelings? What do you do after a really big fight? What if your friend leaves you for the popular crowd? This book has tips, quizzes, and real-life stories that can help solve a girl’s most common friendship troubles.

Paulsen, Gary How Angel Peterson Got his Name, and Other Outrageous Tales of Extreme Sports
Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.

Romain, Trevor Cliques, Phonies and Other Baloney
Discusses cliques, what they are and their negative aspects, and gives advice on forming healthier relationships and friendships.

Websites

Dealing with peer pressure
Making decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder. People who are your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they try to influence how you act, to get you to do something, it’s called peer pressure. It’s something everyone has to deal with - even adults. This website talks about how to handle it.

Grind your mind. BAM! Body and mind
Skateboard with Matt through an animated quiz on peer pressure! Get the questions right and check out Matt performing some cool tricks on his skateboard. After playing the quiz read this website on how to handle peer pressure.

It?s my life. Friends. You said it. PBS Kids Go!
It?s My Life deals with life and the stuff kids deal with every day, because ?whatever problem they’re dealing with, believe it or not, other kids and teens have gone through the same thing.? In this section of You Said It, kids answer 13-year-old Ashley?s question: How do you deal with it when your friends peer pressure you?

Peer pressure
A brief discussion on peer pressure from the Palo Alto (CA) Medical Foundation.

Preteens and peer pressure
Find out what advice your parents are getting about peer pressure and what they can do to help you.

Youth radio
A reporter from Youth Radio talks about the Laws of Peer Pressure