The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 4) by Lemony Snicket

The Baudelaire Orphans, Viola, Sunny and Baby Sunny, find themselves being sent to a new home where they are forced to work in a lumber mill. Count Olaf shows up and no one believes the orphans so they are forced to save themselves.

I have not read any of these books and had no problem becoming engrossed in the story. The hook of these books is the unfortunate, unpleasant tone Lemony Snicket takes in telling the story. I found the story more funny than scary. It would appeal to both boys and girls.

Snicket, L. (2000). The miserable mill. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN: 0439272637
Illustrated by Brett Helquist

Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary

The story of third-grader Ramona Quimby and her family weathering numerous changes beginning with the return of neighbor Howie Kemp's uncle, Hobart, death of a cat, job change for Mr Quimby, a wedding and ending with a new addition to the Quimby family.

This story was written from the limited omniscient view of Ramona and told in a linear chronological narrative order. Character versus character conflict and episodic plots were used throughout the book. These characteristics are simpler for children to understanding explaining in part the success of the Ramona's books. As the primary character, Ramona is well-rounded and the tone and language she uses is spot on.

It had been many years since I read a Ramona book and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The author writes convincingly as a third-grader!

Cleary, B. (1984). Ramona forever. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.
ISBN: 0380709600
Illustrated by Alan Tiegreen

Hooray for the Golly Sisters by Betsy Byars

May-May and Rose, the Golly sisters, continue their traveling show and encounter humorous adventures along the way, including crossing a river, a high-wire act, using pigs in a magic show, going through a swamp and creating cheers. Their adventures are told in five chapters along with colorful illustrations portraying pioneer clothing, life and landscapes.

An I Can Read Book that follows the recommended rules for easy readers - pictures complement the story, large print, lots of space between words and sentences, action ends and begins within the chapters, simple known vocabulary words, short sentence length, etc. I would say it is written for level two.

Byars, B. (1990). Hooray for the golly sisters. New York, NY: Harper Trophy.
ISBN: 0064441563
Illustrated by Sue Truesdell