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The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

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The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

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Overview

Gianna Z has less than one week to collect, identify, and creatively display 25 leaves for her science project-or else she won't be able to compete in the upcoming cross-country sectionals race. As the deadline for her leaf project draws near, life keeps getting in the way. Some things are within Gee's control, like her own procrastination, but others aren't, like Biana Rinaldi's attempts at sabotage and Nonna's declining health. If it weren't for her best friend Zig, Gee wouldn't have a chance at finishing. His knowledge of trees and leaves in their rural Vermont town comes in very handy- as does his loyalty to Gee. But when Nonna disappears one afternoon, things like leaves and cross-country meets suddenly seem less important.

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ISBN-13:	9780802722539
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/14/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Lexile:	710L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Her titles include award-winning picture books like Over and Under the Snow, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, and How to Read a Story; novels like Capture the Flag, All the Answers, The Seventh Wish, and Breakout; the Fergus and Zeke easy reader series, and the Ranger in Time historical chapter book series. Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her family and is trying to summit all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in between book deadlines.
www.katemessner.com
@KateMessner
Kate Messner is a former middle-school English teacher and the author of E. B. White Read Aloud Award winner The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. and its companion, The Exact Location of Home; Sugar and Ice; Eye of the Storm; Wake Up Missing; All the Answers; The Seventh Wish; Capture the Flag; Hide and Seek; the Marty McGuire chapter book series; the Ranger in Time chapter book series; and several picture books. She lives on Lake Champlain with her husband and two kids. When she's not reading or writing, she loves hiking, kayaking, biking, and watching thunderstorms over the lake. www.katemessner.com
@KateMessner

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

5 Readalikes For Judy Blume Fans

I got the chance to see Judy Blume for the first time in person at a recent book festival, and I was giddy. You’re looking at a diehard Judy Blume fan. I love her heart and her humor. Her characters are more than believable; they’re lovable. She’s such a pro at poking fun at adults… and her voice, oh her voice. It’s hard to think of other middle grade contemporary writers who might compare to Judy-the-Great. (Hello! She’s has […]

Gr 5–8—Seventh-grader Gianna Zales loves art and cross-country running. She is not so crazy about research projects or anything involving time-management skills, and has somehow gotten to within a week of the due date of a huge science assignment with no work to show. But how hard can it be to find and catalog 25 different varieties of leaves—especially in Vermont, where Robert Frost was inspired to write "Birches" and countless other poems about nature. However, family obligations keep interfering. Her father runs the town's funeral home, but even a close proximity to death can't prepare her for her own grandmother's decline. Suddenly, Nonna is forgetting everything. Also, Coach Napper has told Gianna that she must bring her science grade up to participate in sectionals, and beautiful, arrogant Bianca would love to take her place as the team's star runner. Gianna's mother means well, but is struggling with Nonna's failing health. Youngsters will find much to relate to in this likable protagonist's struggle to balance family and academic commitments. While it is no surprise when it all comes together in the end, plot twists keep readers engaged, and Messner's warm and humorous tone will capture even reluctant readers.—Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

School Library Journal

A beloved grandmother is failing. A school project looms-and not completing it has dire consequences (in this case, not being able to participate in an important track meet). Spoiled rich girls torment their classmates, including the narrator, while a nerdy friend who's a boy starts to look a little bit like he has boyfriend potential. None of the elements of this middle-school story is really new, but first-time author (and longtime middle-school teacher) Messner succeeds in creating an engaging saga all the same. If there's a flaw, it's that the narrative is so realistic that it's chock-full of incident and details-and occasionally predictable. But jazzing up the plot with a riddle-loving younger brother, making Gianna's family proprietors of a funeral home and sprinkling in a hearty helping of references to art and poetry keep things interesting. An ending that's hopeful without being saccharine is another big plus. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

"Laced with humor and heart . . . an insightful and affecting read." - Booklist
"An engaging saga." - Kirkus Reviews
"Plot twists keep readers engaged, and Messner's warm and humorous tone will capture even reluctant readers." - School Library Journal
"Kate [Messner] juggles a bundle of fairly heavy plotlines as if they weighed no more than a pile of leaves, managing her story with humor and grace." - Writing and Ruminating (Online)
"An empathetic, beautiful, magical, fiercely necessary book that stares unflinchingly at the very real challenges contemporary kids face and gently assures them they are not alone. Kate Messner gives her readers a story to cherish." - Anne Ursu, author of BREADCRUMBS on THE SEVENTH WISH
"Hopeful, empathetic, and unusually enlightening." - starred review, Kirkus Reviews on THE SEVENTH WISH
"It's no surprise that Kate Messner’s magic pen could write a charming, moving, funny, and ultimately very surprising story about a magic pencil!" - Wendy Mass, New York Times bestselling author of 11 BIRTHDAYS on ALL THE ANSWERS

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