Summer Reading List for Rising 6th Graders
Read the required book along with 1 free choice for a total of 2 books.
The following list of books is to be used for suggestions in choosing your free choice books. Use the “Five Finger Rule” to help you find books that are the best fit for you. Complete the online submission form (including the summary) for each book that you read. If both of your responses are received by the first week of school, you will receive a one subject off homework pass.
The following list of books is to be used for suggestions in choosing your free choice books. Use the “Five Finger Rule” to help you find books that are the best fit for you. Complete the online submission form (including the summary) for each book that you read. If both of your responses are received by the first week of school, you will receive a one subject off homework pass.
Click below for the Summer Reading Calendar
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Required Reading
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Eleven-year-old Melody is not like most people. She can't walk. She can't talk. She can't write. All because she has cerebral palsy. But she also has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She's the smartest kid in her whole school, but NO ONE knows it. Most people--her teachers, her doctors, her classmates--dismiss her as mentally challenged because she can't tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by her disability. And she's determined to let everyone know it...somehow.
Eleven-year-old Melody is not like most people. She can't walk. She can't talk. She can't write. All because she has cerebral palsy. But she also has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She's the smartest kid in her whole school, but NO ONE knows it. Most people--her teachers, her doctors, her classmates--dismiss her as mentally challenged because she can't tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by her disability. And she's determined to let everyone know it...somehow.
Books in a Series
100 Cupboards N.D. Wilson
Henry has discovered that the 100 cupboard doors hidden behind his bedroom wall are actually portals to other worlds. Now he must go through the cupboards to find the truth about where he's from & who his real parents are. What dangers are locked behind the cupboard doors? Henry hears a scratching on the other of his bedroom wall--he scrapes off the plaster & discovers mysterious doors--cupboards of all different shapes & sizes. Through one he sees a glowing room & a man strolling back & forth. Through another he sees only darkness. When his cousin Henrietta boldly travels into the worlds beyond the cupboards, it's up to Henry to follow her. Can he keep the evil inside from coming through?
Alex Rider Adventures Anthony Horowitz
Action-packed adventures! As a spy for Britain's intelligence agency M16, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider has been shot at by international terrorists, chased down a mountainside, stood face to face with evil...what's next?
Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer
Twelve-year-old evil genius Artemis Fowl tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, but the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.
Guardians of Ga’Hoole Kathryn Lasky
A band of owls go on a quest for the mythic Great Ga'Hoole Tree in an attempt to acquire the powers that will enable them to defeat the evil which threatens their kingdom.
Jeter Publishing Series Derek Jeter and Tim Green
Derek Jeter is a legend in professional sports and a role model for many young people around the country. When Jeter was a boy, he had the dream of becoming the shortstop for the New York Yankees. Inspired by his childhood, this middle-grade series is about a boy who set high goals for himself and makes his dreams come true through hard work, teamwork, and determination.
Missing Margaret Peterson Haddix
When thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time.
Mo & Dale Mysteries Sheila Turnage
Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Miss Moses LoBeau-rising sixth grader, natural born detective, borderline straight-A student, and goddess of free enterprise--now eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook, Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.
The Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Lee Stewart
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
Septimus Heap Angie Sage
Jenna learns that she is a princess found as a baby and now she and Septimus, who was taken at birth by the midwife, are being threatened by the evil wizard, DomDaniel, who intends to finish off the entire royal line.
Sixties Trilogy Deborah Wiles
The narrator of this first-rate series is eleven-year-old Air Force brat (and middle child) Franny Chapman. With JFK facing down Communists and a father on active duty, Franny has cause to feel on edge. Eye-grabbing graphic spreads of Cold War-era images, lyrics, speeches, and headlines are shrewdly interspersed throughout the books, providing most of the social commentary and historical explication.
Tales from Alcatraz Gennifer Choldenko
Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she's denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose's family has used for dealing with her disorder. Set in 1935, when guards actually lived on Alcatraz Island with their families, author Choldenko's series brings humor to the complexities of family dynamics and illuminates the real struggle of a kid trying to free himself from the "good boy" stance he's taken his whole life.
Underland Chronicles Suzanne Collins
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.
Wildwood Chronicles Colin Meloy
Prue's life shifts from ordinary to extraordinary when her baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and she must embark into the Impassable Wilderness, a dense forest in the center of Portland, Oregon, with her friend Curtis in tow, where the pair will encounter warring creatures, peaceful mystics, and other dark-minded, powerful figures.
Henry has discovered that the 100 cupboard doors hidden behind his bedroom wall are actually portals to other worlds. Now he must go through the cupboards to find the truth about where he's from & who his real parents are. What dangers are locked behind the cupboard doors? Henry hears a scratching on the other of his bedroom wall--he scrapes off the plaster & discovers mysterious doors--cupboards of all different shapes & sizes. Through one he sees a glowing room & a man strolling back & forth. Through another he sees only darkness. When his cousin Henrietta boldly travels into the worlds beyond the cupboards, it's up to Henry to follow her. Can he keep the evil inside from coming through?
Alex Rider Adventures Anthony Horowitz
Action-packed adventures! As a spy for Britain's intelligence agency M16, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider has been shot at by international terrorists, chased down a mountainside, stood face to face with evil...what's next?
Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer
Twelve-year-old evil genius Artemis Fowl tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, but the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.
Guardians of Ga’Hoole Kathryn Lasky
A band of owls go on a quest for the mythic Great Ga'Hoole Tree in an attempt to acquire the powers that will enable them to defeat the evil which threatens their kingdom.
Jeter Publishing Series Derek Jeter and Tim Green
Derek Jeter is a legend in professional sports and a role model for many young people around the country. When Jeter was a boy, he had the dream of becoming the shortstop for the New York Yankees. Inspired by his childhood, this middle-grade series is about a boy who set high goals for himself and makes his dreams come true through hard work, teamwork, and determination.
Missing Margaret Peterson Haddix
When thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time.
Mo & Dale Mysteries Sheila Turnage
Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Miss Moses LoBeau-rising sixth grader, natural born detective, borderline straight-A student, and goddess of free enterprise--now eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook, Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.
The Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Lee Stewart
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
Septimus Heap Angie Sage
Jenna learns that she is a princess found as a baby and now she and Septimus, who was taken at birth by the midwife, are being threatened by the evil wizard, DomDaniel, who intends to finish off the entire royal line.
Sixties Trilogy Deborah Wiles
The narrator of this first-rate series is eleven-year-old Air Force brat (and middle child) Franny Chapman. With JFK facing down Communists and a father on active duty, Franny has cause to feel on edge. Eye-grabbing graphic spreads of Cold War-era images, lyrics, speeches, and headlines are shrewdly interspersed throughout the books, providing most of the social commentary and historical explication.
Tales from Alcatraz Gennifer Choldenko
Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she's denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose's family has used for dealing with her disorder. Set in 1935, when guards actually lived on Alcatraz Island with their families, author Choldenko's series brings humor to the complexities of family dynamics and illuminates the real struggle of a kid trying to free himself from the "good boy" stance he's taken his whole life.
Underland Chronicles Suzanne Collins
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.
Wildwood Chronicles Colin Meloy
Prue's life shifts from ordinary to extraordinary when her baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and she must embark into the Impassable Wilderness, a dense forest in the center of Portland, Oregon, with her friend Curtis in tow, where the pair will encounter warring creatures, peaceful mystics, and other dark-minded, powerful figures.
Individual Books
Airborn Kenneth Oppel
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
The Alchemyst Michael Scott
Fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, find themselves caught up in the deadly struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient book that holds the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.
All’s Faire in Middle School Victoria Jamieson
Homeschooled by Renaissance Fair enthusiasts, eleven-year-old Imogene has a hard time fitting in when her wish to enroll in public school is granted.
Elijah of Buxton Christopher Paul Curtis
Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
Esperanza Rising Pam Munoz Ryan
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression
Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia Barbara O'Connor
Unpopular sixth-grader Burdette "Bird" Weaver persuades the new boy at school, whom everyone thinks is mean and dumb, to be her partner for a spelling bee that might win her everything she's ever wanted.
Ghost Canoe Will Hobbs
Plenty of action in this one--historical fiction, mystery, and adventure all wrapped up in one great book. 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.
Hannah, Divided Adele Griffin
In 1934, a thirteen-year-old with a gift for numbers is offered the chance to leave her family's dairy farm to spend one term at an exclusive Philadelphia girls' school preparing for a scholarship exam.
Heat Mike Lupica
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
Hoop Girlz Lucy Jane Bledsoe
When ten-year-old River, who is crazy about basketball, is not chosen to play in the tournament set up in the town of Azalea, Oregon, she decides to organize a team of her own and accepts the help of her older brother.
Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
The Mighty Miss Malone Christopher Paul Curtis
Deza Malone, the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, accompanies her mother and older brother on a trip to find her father, an African American man who left to find work after the Great Depression hit. They end up in a Hooverville outside of Flint, Michigan, and her brother attempts to be a performer while Deza and her mother search for a home.
Millicent Min, Girl Genius Lisa Yee
In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother's departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.
Moon over Manifest Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.
Orphan Island Laurel Snyder
A group of orphans wait each year for a boat to arrive on the island, replacing the eldest with the youngest, never to be seen again, as each remaining child child learns what it means to say goodbye to childhood forever.
Penny from Heaven Jennifer Holm
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.
Rules Cynthia Lord
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.
The Thief Lord Cornelia Funke
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.
Under the Blood Red Sun Graham Salisbury
Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
The Alchemyst Michael Scott
Fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, find themselves caught up in the deadly struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient book that holds the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.
All’s Faire in Middle School Victoria Jamieson
Homeschooled by Renaissance Fair enthusiasts, eleven-year-old Imogene has a hard time fitting in when her wish to enroll in public school is granted.
Elijah of Buxton Christopher Paul Curtis
Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
Esperanza Rising Pam Munoz Ryan
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression
Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia Barbara O'Connor
Unpopular sixth-grader Burdette "Bird" Weaver persuades the new boy at school, whom everyone thinks is mean and dumb, to be her partner for a spelling bee that might win her everything she's ever wanted.
Ghost Canoe Will Hobbs
Plenty of action in this one--historical fiction, mystery, and adventure all wrapped up in one great book. 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.
Hannah, Divided Adele Griffin
In 1934, a thirteen-year-old with a gift for numbers is offered the chance to leave her family's dairy farm to spend one term at an exclusive Philadelphia girls' school preparing for a scholarship exam.
Heat Mike Lupica
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
Hoop Girlz Lucy Jane Bledsoe
When ten-year-old River, who is crazy about basketball, is not chosen to play in the tournament set up in the town of Azalea, Oregon, she decides to organize a team of her own and accepts the help of her older brother.
Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
The Mighty Miss Malone Christopher Paul Curtis
Deza Malone, the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, accompanies her mother and older brother on a trip to find her father, an African American man who left to find work after the Great Depression hit. They end up in a Hooverville outside of Flint, Michigan, and her brother attempts to be a performer while Deza and her mother search for a home.
Millicent Min, Girl Genius Lisa Yee
In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother's departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.
Moon over Manifest Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.
Orphan Island Laurel Snyder
A group of orphans wait each year for a boat to arrive on the island, replacing the eldest with the youngest, never to be seen again, as each remaining child child learns what it means to say goodbye to childhood forever.
Penny from Heaven Jennifer Holm
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.
Rules Cynthia Lord
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.
The Thief Lord Cornelia Funke
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.
Under the Blood Red Sun Graham Salisbury
Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
The book summaries on this summer reading list are reproduced with the permission of Follett Library Resources, Inc. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.