5th Grade Novel Ideas for a Friend: also known as finding a needle in a haystack

So, a very good teacher friend of mine is heading back into the classroom after several years as an instructional coach and she asked me to compile a list of 5th grade novel ideas for her.... talk about sending me into a giant haystack.

Just to give you an idea... here is my current bookshelf, made up of 90% children's literature. Mind you, that doesn't include four other bookcases of 'to-be-read' and professional books. Yes, I admit to having a problem... Considering the Lexile band of 770L-1080L for 5th, while also thinking about topics and standards in social studies and science, I have a small list of quick ideas...

Richard Peck, a loss to children's literature

A teacher friend, switching back into the classroom from coaching for many years, asked me to compose some 5th grade title ideas for her. As The Teacher's Funeral would always be HIGH on that list, I googled around for ideas and found that Mr. Richard Peck had passed away yesterday (silly coincidences - send us for a loop, don't they?).

His loss made me nostalgic for that book, set so closely to my hometown. Further unhelpful to my psyche was the fact that we just did a short two-day jog through said hometown and I am missing it terribly (in that nostalgic sort of way that Indiana springtime makes you miss the Hoosier state and forget why your live in sunny Florida).