SUMMER READING LIST 2018 FOR STUDENTS ENTERING 6 th GRADE FICTION

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1 SUMMER READING LIST 2018 FOR STUDENTS ENTERING 6 th GRADE Students entering the sixth grade may want to read several of these suggested titles. Many of the titles are part of a series of books or if in quotation marks the name of the series itself; if your sixth grader likes the author they can read through the entire series. FICTION Avi. Don t You Know There s a War On? In wartime Brooklyn in 1943, eleven-year-old Howie Crispers mounts a campaign to save his favorite teacher from being fired. RL 3.6 Baillet, Blue. Chasing Vermeer When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their mathematical talents to resolve an international art scandal. RL 5.4 Bauer, Joan. Soar Jeremiah is the world s biggest baseball fan. He really loves baseball and he knows just about everything there is to know about his favorite sport. So when he s told he can t play baseball following an operation on his heart, Jeremiah decides he ll do the next best thing and become a coach. RL 3.6 Broach, Elise. Shakespeare s Secret Hero moves into a new town and finds she is living in an old house with an unusual past. With the help of the police chief s son and her neighbor, Hero tries to unravel the mystery. RL 4.0 Byars, Betsy. The Summer of the Swans This summer brings great change for Sarah and she sees herself taking on more responsibility. One long day Sarah has to find her mentally retarded brother who has wondered off. She also has to adjust to a difference in her family. (Newberry Medal winner) RL 5.0 Carbone, Elisa. Stealing Freedom This story is based on the true experiences of a young slave girl who escapes to Canada on the Underground Railroad. RL 5.6

2 Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Loses Control. Joey finally feels a sense of self-control over his hyperactivity now that he receives daily medication patches. Visiting his divorced father for the summer goes smoothly until his father flushes all the boy s patches down the toilet. What does Joey do when that happens? (Series: Joey Pigza ) RL 5.9 George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. In diary form, this story relates the days of a young boy, Sam, who runs away from home to the Catskill Mountains and learns to survive using his own resources. (Book #1, Series: My Side of the Mountain ) RL 5.2 Clifton, Lutricia. Freaky Fast Frankie Joe Frankie Joe and his mom live a laid back life in Texas, but a string of bad choices lands his mom in jail, and Frankie Joe finds himself living in Illinois with the dad and stepfamily he never knew he had. Trying to make the best of a difficult situation, he uses his bicycle to deliver pizza in the hopes of earning enough money to bike back home to Texas. Through an unusual group of characters, Frankie Joe learns the meaning of responsibility, family, and the joy of finding a place where you belong. RL 3.4 Hobbs, Will. Take Me to the River Two boys, ready for adventure, set out on a raft trip down the Rio Grande. Along with the adventure they must face a tropical storm and a member of the Mexican drug cartel on the run. RL 5.1 Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars A brave Danish girl helps smuggle her Jewish friends to safety. Lowry s sense of timing and choice of details put readers in the middle of the story. (Newbery Award winner) RL 5.0 Paulsen, Gary. Dogsong A fourteen-year-old Eskimo boy takes a 1,400-mile dog sled trip across ice, tundra, and mountains seeking his own song of himself. RL 5.2 Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet This story is about Brian, 13, and how he manages to survive 54 days in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. He was flying to visit his father when the pilot dies of a heart attack in midflight. (Book #1, Series: Brian Robeson ) RL 6.1 Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising During the Great Depression, Esperanza and her mother are forced from their wealthy home in Mexico to Southern California where they work in harsh conditions. RL 5.3

3 Soto, Gary. Baseball in April and Other Stories These short stories are set in the Latino community of Fresno, California. These are tales that intrigue, entertain and instruct. RL 5.1 Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee A homeless orphan becomes a legend in a town divided by racism in this sometimes funny, sometime moving, and always exciting story. His exploits may have made him famous but reconciling a town filled with hate and finding a decent life may be more that even he can manage. (Newbery Medal winner) RL 5.0 Stone, Jeff. Tiger Five young warrior-monk brothers survive an insurrection and must use the ancient arts to avenge their Grandmaster. (Book #1, Series: Five Ancestors ) RL 5.0 Winkler, Henry. Hank Zipper Series Hank Zipper, a dyslexic learner, struggles through the ups and downs of friendships and the circle of life. Each novel tells more about his adventures. RL FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION Barron, T.A. Merlin Effect When Kate and her father investigate a strange whirlpool and sunken treasure ship, she is drawn into an old conflict between Merlin and Nimue. (Series: Heartlight ) RL 5.3 Card, Orson. Ender s Game Andrew Wiggin thinks he s playing a computer game while in reality he is being trained to be a military genius the planet needs to fight aliens. (Book #1, Series: Ender Wiggin ) RL 5.5 Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl series Artemis Fowl must join forces with his enemy to save his father. He creates a powerful computer with stolen fairy technology, but his invention is stolen. RL 5.0 Funke, Cornelia. Dragon Rider After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy. RL 5.2

4 Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart A girl and her father, a bookbinder who can read fictional characters into real life, are abducted by one of the characters, who tries to force them into his service. (Series: Inkheart ) RL 5.4 Holyoke, Polly. The Neptune Project. In a future ravaged by global warming, Nere, daughter of oceanographer parents, sets out to save the world with a team of newfound friends. Physical and mental obstacles challenge their courage and survival skills. Together, they must brave the beautiful ocean while government agents and dangerous aquatic predators lurk beneath the waves. RL 5.9 Kennedy, Kim. Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates Life in the town of Ashcrumb is anything but ordinary, especially if your parents own a store called the Dearly Departed Antiques Store and drive a former ice-cream truck with D.E.A.D. on it. Misty stumbles upon a mystery about the town s secret past that is full of ghosts, pirates, and an adventure into the unknown. RL 5.4 Lloyd, Natalie. The Key to Extraordinary Everyone in Emma s family is special. Her ancestors include Revolutionary War spies, scientists and famous musicians every single one of which learned of their extraordinary destiny through a dream. When Emma s dream finally arrives, it points her toward an impossible task finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town s cemetery. If Emma fails, she lets down generations of extraordinary ancestors. RL 4.7 Nimmo, Jenny. Midnight for Charlie Bone series Charlie Bone s world changes when he realizes he can hear people in photographs talking. RL 4.8 NONFICTION/BIOGRAPHY Dahl, Roald. Tales of Childhood In this collection of humorous anecdotes from his childhood the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory describes events from his childhood. He includes stories of his summer vacations in Norway and his life at an English boarding school. RL 6.0 Anglar, Mary. Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov This book describes the life of the Grand Duchness Anastasia. It tells of her childhood in Russian, her relationship with her family, her education and her death in RL 3.9

5 Hurwitz, Johanna. Anne Frank, Life in Hiding This is a biography of the young Jewish girl made famous by her diary written while in hiding from the Nazis. RL 7.0 Paterra, Elizabeth. Gary Paulsen A biography of an author whose varied experiences provided background for many of his adventure stories, historical novels, sports books and nature stories. RL 4.7 White, Dana. George Lucas. This book traces the life of the man who became well-known for his Star Wars movies, from his childhood in California to his career in films. RL 6.0