Middle School Students -- please read over the summer! Studies show that students who read improve their school performance in all areas. Below is a list of ideas for books which may be read. This list includes a breadth of genres and reading levels. If you have ideas for books which are not on the list… great!! The important thing is to read.
FANTASY | SCIENCE FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION | MYSTERY | REALISTIC FICTION | ADVENTURE | CLASSICS | OTHER LISTS
Printable Copy of List by Grade Level
Some suggestions for summer reading:
Visit the public library. The public library has some great summer programs and the librarians will always be happy to help you find appropriate books.
Subscribe to magazines. There are some great magazines for students. Look at what topic might interest you, then subscribe to a magazine.
Set aside family reading time. Lives today are busy! Take some time to turn off the television and sit together and read… including Mom and Dad.
Take books on a trip. Taking a trip this summer? "Read up" on your vacation spot before the trip and become the "tour guide". Also, bring books for pleasure reading on your trip.
Don’t be limited by the reading list. The titles on the reading list are just some ideas. Please choose titles that you will enjoy.
Ideas for expanding the reading list:
Authors: You can expand by looking at other books by the same authors on this list. These authors have other great titles. Some additional authors include: Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, Tamora Pierce, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Richard Peck, Susan Cooper, etc.
Series: Also, series books are good reading for the summer as well, series like: "Michigan Chillers", "Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights", "Series of Unfortunate Events", "The Seventh Tower", "Nancy Drew", "Hardy Boys", "Heartland", "Circle of Magic", "Get Real", etc.
Remember the important thing is to READ!!!
Have a great summer! You can email me with questions or for specific recommendations.
Mrs. Lester
Media Specialist
Three Fires Middle School
lesterk@howellschools.com
Alexander, Lloyd
The Book of Three
Gr 5-8
The Book of Three is the first novel in the five-novel series, Prydain Chronicles. Follow the adventures of a young pig-keeper, Taran, who along with his friends- a princess, a harpist, and a wild twig-covered creature - attempts to rescue Hen Wen, the oracular pig of the wizard Dallben. On the mythic level the heroes encounter the dark lord of the underworld and meet the fairy folk who inhabit the hollow hills.
Fantasy
Almond, David
Skellig
Gr 5-9
Unhappy about moving to a dilapidated old house and a sick baby sister, Michael retreats to the garage. When he and his new neighbor, Mina, explore the garage they discover Skellig, a mysterious stranger, weak and dirty, who is something like a bird and an angel.
Fantasy
Barron, T.A.
The Lost Years of Merlin
Gr 6-9
This book is first in a series of five adventure quest novels about Merlin. A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures.
Fantasy
Barry, Dave
Peter and the Starcatchers
Gr 5-9
Discover richly developed characters in the sweet but sophisticated Molly, the scary but familiar Black Stache, and the fearless Peter. Treacherous battles with pirates, foreboding thunderstorms at sea, and evocative writing immerse the reader in a story that slowly and finally reveals the secrets and mysteries of the beloved Peter Pan.
Fantasy
Constable, Kate
The Singer of All Songs
Gr 6-up
Calwyn, a young priestess of ice magic, or "chantment," joins other chanters with different magical skills to fight a sorcerer who wants to claim all their powers for his own.
This is the first book in the Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy.
Fantasy
Funke, Cornelia
The Thief Lord
Gr 6-8
Orphaned brothers Prosper and Bo, having run away from their cruel aunt and uncle, decide to hide out in Venice where they fall in with the Thief Lord, a thirteen-year-old boy who leads a crime ring of street children.
Fantasy
Hale, Shannon
Princess Academy
Gr 5-9
While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland. A Newbery Honor book.
Fantasy
Ibbotsen, Eva
Dial-A-Ghost
Gr 5-7
A family of nice ghosts protects a British orphan from the diabolical plans of his evil guardians who hire some terrifying ghosts from the Dial-a-Ghost Agency to scare the boy to death. The laughs and frights are thick in this spooky story, which joins Eva Ibbotson's other books as a classic of the genre.
Fantasy
Jacques, Brian
Redwall
Gr 6-up
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy. This is the first book in the exciting fantasy series set in many different periods in the animal world of Redwall.
Fantasy
Levine, Gail Carson
The Fairest
Gr 6-up
In a land where beauty and singing are valued above all else, Aza eventually comes to reconcile her unconventional appearance and her magical voice, and learns to accept herself for who she truly is. This spellbinding tale is filled with humor, adventure, romance, and song.
Fantasy
McKinley, Robin
The Hero and the Crown
Gr 6-up
Aerin, with the guidance of the wizard Luthe and the help of the blue sword, wins the birthright due her as the daughter of the Damarian king and a witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.
This mesmerizing history of Damar is the stuff that legends are made of. The Hero and the Crown is a dazzling "prequel" to The Blue Sword. A Newbery Medal winning book.
Fantasy
Paolini, Christopher
Eragon
Gr 5-up
In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters. The first book in the Inheritance Trilogy.
Fantasy
Pattou, Edith
East
Gr 6-up
Rose journeys to a land "east of the sun and west of the moon" to break the curse of the Troll Queen and to rescue the man she loves in this sweeping epic.
Fantasy
Riordan, Rick
The Lightning Thief
Gr 5-9
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. This first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series offers nonstop adventure and terrific exposure to Greek mythology.
Fantasy
Stroud, Jonathan
The Amulet of Samarkand
Gr 5-9
In an alternate London, brilliant young Nathaniel conjures up Bartimaeus, a dangerous, sharp-witted djinni, to steal a powerful amulet so that
he may exact revenge against other magicians. This witty and tantalizing tale is the first book in The Bartimaeus Trilogy.
Fantasy
Tolkien, J.R.R
The Hobbit
Gr 6-up
In this fantasy classic, Bilbo Baggins is whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves and finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.
Fantasy
For Other FANTASY Titles, Check Out The Book List: If you liked "Harry Potter..."
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Gr 7-up
The hilarious journey of Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect, who espape from Earth seconds before it is demolished and travel to a variety of galactic civilizations while gathering information for a hitchhiker’s guidebook.
Science Fiction
Card, Orson Scoot
Ender's Game
Gr 6-up
In this Science Fiction classic, the Earth is under attack and the survival of the human species depends on a military genius who can defeat the alien “buggers.” Recruited for military training, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin’s childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School.
Science Fiction
Clements, Andrew
Things Not Seen
Gr 5-8
When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it.
Science Fiction
DuPrau, Jeanne
The City of Ember
Gr 5-7
The city of Ember's inhabitants have lived comfortably for hundreds of years in inky darkness with only electric lights and storehouses of food, but now something is wrong. The great lamps are beginning to flicker, and the storehouses are almost empty.
When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she is sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever!
Science Fiction
Farmer, Nancy
The House of the Scorpion
Gr 6-10
In a world where human clones are a reality and drug lords rule, Matt discovers the horrible secret of his creation and El Patron's despicable plans for him. A Newbery Honor book.
Science Fiction
Haddix, Margaret
Among the Hidden
Gr 5-8
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong. First book in The Shadow Children series.
Science Fiction
Halam, Ann
Dr. Franklin's Island
Gr 5-up
Sole survivors of a plane crash on a remote island. Arnie, Semi, and Miranda discover they aren't alone, the island is the home of Dr. Franklin, a mad scientist.
Science Fiction
Lowry, Lois
Gossamer
Gr 5-8
While learning to bestow dreams, a young dream giver tries to save an eight-year-old boy from the effects of both his abusive past and the nightmares inflicted on him by the frightening Sinisteeds.
Science Fiction
Nix, Garth
Mister Monday
Gr 5-8
Arthur's life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock, but bizarre creatures from another realm are determined to take the key even if it means killing him.
First book in the Keys to the Kingdom series.
Science Fiction
O’Brien, Robert C.
Z for Zachariah
Gr 6-10
Seemingly the only person left alive after the holocaust of a war, Anne Burden is relieved to see a man arrive into her valley – until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.
Science Fiction
Oppel, Kenneth
Airborn
Gr 6-10
In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Oppel creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies. Sequel is Skybreaker.
Science Fiction
Paulsen, Gary
The Transall Saga
Gr 5-8
While backpacking in the desert, thirteen-year-old Mark falls into a tube of bliue light and is transported to a more primitive world. He must use his knowledge and skills to survive.
Science Fiction
Reeve, Philip
Larklight
Gr 6-10
In an alternate Victorian England, young Arthur and his sister Myrtle, residents of Larklight, a floating house in one of Her Majesty's outer space territories, uncover a spidery plot to destroy the solar system.
Science Fiction
Shusterman, Neal
Full Tilt
Gr 7-up
When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra.
Science Fiction
Vande Velde, Vivian
Heir Apparent
Gr 6-10
When conservative protestors damage equipment at the arcade, Giannine becomes trapped in a virtual-reality game. Suddenly, she isn't just playing to win; she's playing for her life.
Science Fiction
For Other FUTURISTIC Titles, Check Out The Book List: If you liked "The Giver..."
HISTORICAL FICTION Anderson, Laurie Halse
Avi
Bruchac, Joseph
Choldenko, Gennifer
Crowe, Chris.
Holm, Jennifer
Lester, Julius
Lowry, Lois
McCaughrean, Geraldine
Park, Linda Sue
Pearsall, Shelley
Peck, Richard
Rees, Celia
Schmidt, Gary D.
Speare, Elizabeth George
Taylor, Mildred D.
Abrahams, Peter
Balliet, Blue
Broach, Elise
Cooney, Caroline
Duncan, Lois
Feinstein, John
Hoeye, Michael
Hoobler, Dorothy
Lawrence, Caroline
Nixon, Joan Lowery
Smith, Roland
Springer, Nancy
Van Draanen, Wendeling
REALISTIC FICTION Bauer, Marion Dane
Bloor, Edward
Cabot, Meg
Creech, Sharon
Giff, Patricia Reilly
Henkes, Kevin
Hiaasen, Carl
Konigsburg, E.L.
Lupica, Mike
Martin, Ann M.
McKay, Hilary
Paterson, Katherine
Spinelli, Jerry
Tolan, Stephanie S.
For Other GREAT FICTION Titles, Check Out The Book List:
If you liked "Holes..."
ADVENTURE/SURVIVAL Couloumbis, Audrey
Eckert, Allan W.
George, Jean Craighead
Hobbs, Will
Horowitz, Anthony
Kehret, Peg
Korman, Gordon
Lawrence, Ian
Mikaelsen, Ben
O'Dell, Scott
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Philbrick, Rodman
Smith, Roland
Springer, Nancy
Ullman, James Ramsey
For Other ADVENTURE/SURVIVAL Titles, Check Out The Book List:
If you liked "The Cay..."
Alcott, Louisa May
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Defoe, Daniel
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
Lofting, Hugh
London, Jack
Montgomery, L.M.
Sewell, Anna
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Twain, Mark
Verne, Jules
White, T.H.
NEWBERY MEDAL AND HONOR BOOKS
EDUCATION WORLD's SUMMER READING
Fever, 1793
Gr 6-10
In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
Historical Fiction
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Gr 6-10
This 2003 Newbery Medal winner is an action-filled page-turner set in 14th-century England. Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.
Historical Fiction
Code Talker : a Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
Gr 5-up
After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue.
Historical Fiction
Al Capone Does My Shirts
Gr 6-9
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. A Newbery Honor Book.
Historical Fiction
Mississippi Trial, 1955
Gr 6-10
Crowe uses fiction to retell the story of the Emmett Till murder of 1955. The story is told through the eyes of a young white boy who is visiting his grandfather and who eventually finds himself at odds with his grandfather's beliefs. A very thought provoking story.
Historical Fiction
Penny From Heaven
Gr 5-8
As she turns twelve during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death. This Newbery Honor story is told with warmth and humor.
Historical Fiction
Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue
Gr 6-10
Told through flashbacks, foreshadowing, and shifting first-person points of view, this novel about slavery in America follows young Emma, who along with readers will discover that every decision has its consequences, and final judgment is passed down not by man, but by his maker. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award.
Historical Fiction
Number the Stars
Gr 5-7
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
Historical Fiction
Kite Rider
Gr 5-up
In thirteenth-century China, after trying to save his widowed mother from a horrendous second marriage, twelve-year-old Haoyou has life-changing adventures when he takes to the sky as a circus kite rider and ends up meeting the great Mongol ruler Kublai Khan.
Historical Fiction
Gr 5-8
A Single Shard
In this 2002 Newbery Medal Winner, Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
Historical Fiction
Gr 5-8
Crooked River
When twelve-year old Rebecca Carter's father brings a Native American accused of murder into their 1812 Ohio settlement town, Rebecca, witnessing the town's reaction to the Indian, struggles with the idea that an innocent man may be convicted and sentenced to death.
Historical Fiction
Gr 5-8
A Long Way From Chicago
In 1937, during the Depression, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice, initially apprehensive about leaving Chicago to spend a year with her fearsome, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois, gradually begins to better understand and admire her grandmother's unusual qualities. Winner of the Newbery Medal.
Historical Fiction
Pirates!
Gr 7-up
In a swashbuckling adventure set in the 1720s, dire circumstances propel two girls- a wealthy merchant's daughter from England and her father's Jamaican slave-into a life of piracy.
Historical Fiction
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Gr 6-10
Set in Maine in 1912 and propelled by a tragic historical event, Schmidt's powerfully haunting novel probes a forbidden friendship between a preacher's son and a dark-skinned girl from a nearby island. Steeped in imagery and laced with surprising humor, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy explores powerlessness, possibility and the profound impact individuals can make. A 2005 Newbery Honor Book and a 2005 Printz Honor Book.
Historical Fiction
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Gr 5-8
A young girl's rebellion against bigotry culminates in a terrifying witch hunt and trial.
Historical Fiction
The Land
Gr 7-up
Paul-Edward, the son of a part-Indian, part-African slave mother and a White plantation owner father, finds himself caught between the two worlds of his parents as he pursues his dream of owning land in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Historical Fiction
MYSTERY/SUSPENSE
Down the Rabbit Hole
Gr 6-10
Ingrid is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or at least her shoes are. Getting them back means getting involved in a murder investigation rivaling those solved by her idol, Sherlock Holmes, and Ingrid has enough on her plate with club soccer, school, and the plum role of Alice in the Echo Falls production of Alice in Wonderland. Read this great mystery to see how Ingrid helps solve this intriguing case.
Mystery / Suspense
Chasing Vermeer
Gr 5-8
When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. An Edgar Award winner.
Mystery / Suspense
Shakespeare's Secret
Gr 5-8
Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond possibly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school. In this fast-paced novel, Elise Broach weaves an intriguing literary mystery full of historical insights and discoveries.
Mystery / Suspense
The Face on the Milk Carton
Gr 7-up
A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.
Mystery / Suspense
Killing Mr. Griffin
Gr 7-up
A group of high-school studnets kidnaps a strict English teacher to get even with him – and what starts as a prank becomes a horror.
Mystery / Suspense
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery
Gr 6-10
After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game.
Mystery / Suspense
Time Stops for No Mouse
Gr 5-8
When Linka Perflinger, a jaunty mouse, brings a watch into his shop to be repaired and then disappears, Hermux Tantamoq is caught up in a dangerous search for eternal youth as he tries to find out what happened to her.
Mystery / Suspense
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
Gr 6-10
While attempting to solve the mystery of a stolen jewel, Seikei, a merchant's son who longs to be a samurai, joins a group of kabuki actors in eighteenth-century Japan.
Mystery / Suspense
The Thieves of Ostia: A Roman Mystery
Gr 5-7
In Rome in the year 79 A.D., a group of children from very different backgrounds work together to discover who beheaded a pet dog -- and why.
Mystery / Suspense
The Other Side of Dark
Gr 7-up
Stacy wakes up in a room that's not hers, in a body she doesn't recognize, to discover she's been in a coma for four years. Her mother is dead - murdered - and Stacy, recovering from a gunshot wound, is the only eyewitness. She can recall only a shadowy face, but the killer is not about to take any chances...
Mystery / Suspense
Cryptid Hunters
Gr 5-8
In this adventurous mystery - twins, Grace and Marty, along with a mysterious uncle, are dropped into the middle of the Congolese jungle in search of their missing photojournalist parents.
Mystery / Suspense
The Case of the Missing Marquess
Gr 7-up
Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, must travel to London in disguise to unravel the disappearance of her missing mother.
Mystery / Suspense
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief
Gr 5-8
Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother. This is the first book in a series of Sammy Keyes mysteries.
Mystery / Suspense
On My Honor
Gr 5-7
When his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.
Realistic Fiction
Tangerine
Gr 6-10
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.
Realistic Fiction
The Princess Diaries
Gr 7-up
Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.
Realistic Fiction
Walk Two Moons
Gr 6-10
After 13-year-old Sal's mother disappears, she travels to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents telling them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom who's mother also disappeared. A Newbery Medal winner.
Realistic Fiction
Pictures of Hollis Woods
Gr 5-8
Artistic foster child Hollis Woods, who seeks a real home, recalls the tragegy of the previous summer while hiding out and caring for an elderly woman who has Alzheimer's disease. A 2003 Newbery Honor book.
Realistic Fiction
Olive's Ocean
Gr 5-8
On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer. A Newbery Honor book.
Realistic Fiction
Flush
With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.
Gr 5-up
Realistic Fiction
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
In this unique and witty novel, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane, upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her great-uncles have been building in their backyard for more than forty years.
Gr 6-10
Realistic Fiction
Travel Team
Gr 5-8
After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.
Realistic Fiction
A Corner of the Universe
Gr 6-10
The summer that Hattie turns twelve, she meets the childlike uncle she never knew and becomes friends with a girl who works at the carnival that comes to Hattie's small town. A 2003 Newbery Honor Book.
Realistic Fiction
Saffy's Angel
Gr 5-8
In this often whimsical and humorous tale, thirteen-year-old Saffron's relationship with her eccentric, artistic family changes after learning that she was adopted, until they help her go back to Italy where she was born to find a special memento of her past. Other novels about the Casson family include Indigo's Star, Permanent Rose, Caddy Ever After.
Realistic Fiction
The Same Stuff as Stars
When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisioned father, and the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.
Gr 5-8
Realistic Fiction
Maniac Magee: A Novel
Gr 5-8
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
Realistic Fiction
Surviving the Applewhites
Gr 5-8
In this laugh out loud story, 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.
Realistic Fiction
The Midadventures of Maude March
Gr 5-8
After the death of the stern aunt who raised them since they were orphaned, eleven-year-old Sallie and her fifteen-year-old sister escape their self-serving guardians and begin a rollicking Western adventure resembling those in the dime novels Sallie loves to read.
Adventure
Incident at Hawk’s Hill
Gr 6-9
A shy, lonely six-year-old wanders into the Canadian prairie and spends a summer under the protection of a badger.
Adventure
Julie of the Wolves
Gr 6-9
Escaping from an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl gets lost on the Alaskan tundra and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Adventure
Ghost Canoe
Gr 6-9
Fourteen-year-old Nathan, fishing with the Makah in the Pacific Northwest, finds himself holding a vital clue when a mysterious stranger comes to town looking for Spanish treasure.
Adventure
Stormbreaker
Gr 5-up
After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.
Adventure
Abduction!
Gr 5-8
Thirteen-year-old Bonnie has a feeling of foreboding on the very day that her six-year-old brother Matt and their dog Pookie are abducted, and she becomes involved in a major search effort as well as a frightening adventure.
Adventure
Chasing the Falconers
Gr 5-7
Aiden and Meg Falconer must escape from a juvenile detention center in order to prove their parents innocent of charges which would put them in jail for life.
Adventure
The Wreckers
Gr 6-10
Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, fourteen-year-old John Spencer attempts to save his father and himself while also dealing with an evil secret about the English coastal town where they are stranded.
Adventure
Touching Spirit Bear
Gr 5-8
After his anger erupts into violence, fifteen year-old Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.
Adventure
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Gr 5-up
Island of the Blue Dolphins is the remarkable story of a strange and beautiful Indian girl who lives a serene and courageous life as the solitary survivor on a rocky island off the California coast.
Adventure
Revenge of the Whale: the True Story of the Whaleship Essex
Gr 6-10
Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship "Essex" by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds.
Adventure
The Young Man and the Sea
Gr 5-8
After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father, so he undertakes a dangerous trip alone out on the ocean off the coast of Maine to try to catch a hugh bluefin tuna.
Adventure
Thunder Cave
Gr 6-9
A family reunion turns into the adventure of a lifetime when Jacob Lansa travels to Kenya in search of his father.
Adventure
Rowan Hood
Gr 5-8
In her quest to connect with Robin Hood, the father she has never met, thirteen-year-old Rosemary disguises herself as a boy, befriends a half-wolf, half-dog, a runaway princess, and an overgrown boy whose singing is hypnotic, and makes peace with her elfin heritage.
Adventure
Banner in the Sky
Gr 7-up
His father dies while trying to climb Switzerland's greatest mountain--the Citadel--and young Rudi knows he must make the assault himself.
Adventure
CLASSICS
Little Women
Gr 6-10
Chronicles the joys and troubles of the four March sisters--Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth--as they grow into young ladies and marry in nineteenth-century New England.
Classics
The Secret Garden
Gr 5-8
Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.
Classics
Robinson Crusoe
Gr 6-up
As the sole survivor of a shipwreck, an Englishman lives for nearly thirty years on a deserted island.
Classics
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Gr 6-up
In this collection of Holmes's stories, the beloved detective uses his uncanny skills to rescue a king from blackmail, to capture an ingenious bank robber, and to save an innocent son accused of patricide.
Classics
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
Gr 5-8
The adventures of a kind-hearted doctor, who is fond of animals and understands their language, as he travels to Africa with some of his favorite pets to cure the monkeys of a terrible sickness.
Classics
The Call of the Wild
Gr 6-up
The adventures of an unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, that is forcibly taken to the Klondike goldfields where he eventually becomes the leader of a wolf pack.
Classics
Anne of Green Gables
Gr 5-7
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
Classics
Black Beauty
Gr 5-8
A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters.
Classics
Treasure Island
Gr 6-up
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads to a pirate fortune as well as great danger.
Classics
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Gr 5-8
The adventures and pranks of a mischievous boy growing up in a Mississippi River town in the early nineteenth century.
Classics
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Gr 6-up
A nineteenth-century science fiction tale in which a French professor and his companions, trapped aboard a fantastic submarine with a mad sea captain, come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights hidden from the world above.
Classics
The Once and Future King
Gr 7-up
Tells the story of the youth and reign of King Arthur, the establishment of the Round Table, and the search for the Holy Grail.
Classics
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.htm
http://www.educationworld.com/summer_reading/
Web page designed and maintained by Kathy Lester, Media Specialist, Three Fires Middle School
Last Updated on 5/15/2006
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