Summer Reading List
Summer Before Sixth Grade
*Images are from Destiny; book descriptions are from Destiny and Amazon.
Lincoln's Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/videos/teaching-content/lincolns-grave-robbers-booktalk/
El Deafo by Cece Bell
In this funny graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell tells the story of her hearing loss at a young age and her experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful and very awkward hearing aid. The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear (including some things she wasn't supposed to hear,) but it also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend.
*Also available on Sora
Major Impossible by Nathan Hale
*Also available on Sora
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome But True Story about Brain Science by John Fleischman
In 1848, Phineas Gage was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived and became a textbook case in brain science. But he was forever changed by the accident, and what happened inside his brain will tell you a lot about how your brain works and what makes us who we are.
The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life: he plays drums in the All-Star Jazz band, has a crush on the hottest girl in the school, and is constantly annoyed by his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey. But when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia, Steven's world is turned upside down. He is forced to deal with his brother's illness and his parents' attempts to keep the family in one piece. Salted with humor and peppered with devastating realities, DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE is a heartwarming journey through a year in the life of a family in crisis.
Booked by Kwame Alexander
*Also available on Sora
The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier
Ever since the monster apocalypse hit town, average thirteen year old Jack Sullivan has been living in his tree house, which he's armed to the teeth with catapults and a moat, not to mention video games and an endless supply of Oreos and Mountain Dew scavenged from abandoned stores. But Jack alone is no match for the hordes of Zombies and Winged Wretches and Vine Thingies, and especially not for the eerily intelligent monster known only as Blarg. So Jack builds a team: his dorky best friend, Quint; the reformed middle school bully, Dirk; Jack's loyal pet monster, Rover; and Jack's crush, June. With their help, Jack is going to slay Blarg, achieve the ultimate Feat of Apocalyptic Success, and be average no longer!
*Also available on Sora
Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron
*Also available on Sora
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip.One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.
*Also available on Sora
Sunny Side Up by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm
Sunny Lewin has been packed off to Florida to live with her grandfather for the summer. At first she thought Florida might be fun -- it is the home of Disney World, after all. But the place where Gramps lives is no amusement park. It’s full of . . . old people. Really old people. Luckily, Sunny isn’t the only kid around. She meets Buzz, a boy who is completely obsessed with comic books, and soon they’re having adventures of their own: facing off against golfball-eating alligators, runaway cats, and mysteriously disappearing neighbors. But the question remains -- why is Sunny down in Florida in the first place? The answer lies in a family secret that won’t be secret to Sunny much longer.
*Also available on Sora
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
*Also available on Sora
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
Two abandoned Irish siblings, Molly and Kip, travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives.
The Truth as Told By Mason Buttle
Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. But that's only half of Mason's problems. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard.An investigation drags on, and Mason can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe his story of that day. Both Mason and his new friend, Calvin, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin and, eventually, Benny. But will anyone believe him?