This is a touching story about the bond between an army 'canine unit' dog named Cracker and his handler Rick. Together, they spend their days searching for booby traps. The story is told via their alternating viewpoints, and shows that Cracker looked after Rick just as much as Rick looked after Cracker.
The Seventh Most Important Thing, by Shelley Pearsall
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini, by Sid Fleischman
Harry Houdini remains the gold standard of illusionists. Why is this Midwestern boy so well-remembered today? Discover his secrets here.
The Loud Silence of Francine Green, by Karen Cushman
A coming of age tale in the shadow of McCarthyism/ Cold War. Quiet Francine avoids controversy, but her friend Sophie has been questioning the teachers' negative comments about the Godless communists, enough to eventually get expelled. Soon Francine begins to examine her beliefs too when her father loses his script writing job.
Catch a Tiger by the Toe, by Ellen Levine
It's the early 1950s--the height of McCarthyism -- and Jamie's parents have both lost their jobs for being a Communist. Now her father must speak before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Will he reveal the names of other Communists?
Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam, by Cynthia Kadohata
It’s November, 1963, in Washington, D.C., and while the rest of the nation mourns the tragic loss of President Kennedy, Arthur T. Owens, 13, awaits sentencing for picking up a crumbling brick and hurling it at the head of an old trash picker. Under the questioning of a stern judge, Arthur admits the crime was not motivated by rancor, robbery, or racism but because of a hat—the motorcycle cap beloved by his recently deceased father, tossed into the garbage by his mother without Arthur’s knowledge, and perched crookedly on the head of the Junk Man on the day in question.
Though the judge is ready to throw the book at Arthur, the victim is more interested in redemption than retribution, and an “unconventional sentence” is agreed upon.