Middle School Books
Recommended Titles in your Library
Fiction
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
Lexile: 790
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Award, Middle School, 2013-2014
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies, by Mick Cochrane
Lexile: 750
Grade level: 6-9
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Award, Middle School, 2013-2014
Okay for Now
Lexile: 850
Grade levels: 6-9
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Award, Middle School, 2013-2014
Legend, by Marie Lu
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Awards, Middle School, 2013-2014
Starters, by Lissa Price
With fully realized characters and high-tension plotting, this is a blockbuster series beginning.
Lexile: 550
Grade Levels: 7-9
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Awards, Middle School, 2013-2014
The False Prince, by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Lexile: 710L
Grade Level: 5-8
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Awards, Middle School, 2013-2014, New York Times Notable Children's Book, Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
Lexile: 890L
Grade Levels: 7-12
Prisoner B-3087, by Alan Gratz (Based on a true story by Ruth and Jack Gruener)
There, Yanek struggles to avoid being noticed by the camp's sadistic commandant, who takes great pleasure in shooting prisoners at random. Over the course of the next six years, Yanek is sent to one nightmarish camp after another—ten camps in all, including Birkenau and Auschwitz. He survives a brutal death march, starvation, and torture as countless others are sent to their deaths around him.
All he knows is that he must survive…at any cost. But can he do that without losing his hope, his will—and most of all his sense of who he really is inside?
Lexile: 760L
Grade Levels: 6-8
Curriculum Connections: World History, Holocaust
Out of Reach
Lexile: 750
Grade Levels: 7-9
I Funny: A Middle School Story, by James Patterson
Lexile: 610
Grade level: 4-7
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
Lexile: 7-12
Grade level: 790L
Awards and Honors: *Sunshine State Young Reader Awards, Middle School, 2013-2014
The Saturday Boy: A Novel by David Fleming
Lexile: 710
Grade level: 5-8
Game Changers, by Mike Lupica
Lexile: 870
Grade levels: 5-7
The Wild Girls
Lexile: 630L
Grade Levels: 6-9
Awards and Honors: Winner of the 2007 Christopher Award, Ages 10-12 , Book Sense Children 's Picks - Winter 2007/2008; VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers; 2009 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
Sensitive Areas: Mild language, alcoholism
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
* sensitive areas/not appropriate for every reader. Ask librarian for details.
Lexile: 600
Grade Level: 7-12
Awards and Honors: *National Book Award
Liar, Liar: The Theory, Practice, and Destructive Properties of Deception
Lexile: 940
Grade level: 6-8
The Different Girl, by Gordon Dahlquist
Grade level: 7-12
Lexile: 790L
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
But there are things to discover and dangers to escape in the graveyard—the ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, and a strange and terrible menace called the Sleer. And the world beyond is no better. If Bod leaves the graveyard, will he be attacked by Jack, the man who killed his family?
Amid the darkness and adventure is powerful wisdom about the challenges of growing up and leaving home"
Grade Level: 6-8
Lexile: 820L
Awards and Honors: Newbery Medal Winner
Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer
Lexile: 900L
Grade Levels: 7-12
Awards and Honors: National Book Award Finalist
Big Nate: Game On! by Lincoln Peirce (graphic novel)
Lexile: 500
Grade level: 6
Drama, by Raina Telgemeier (graphic novel)
Grade Levels: 5-8
Lexile: 400L
One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia
Emotional and vibrant, this realistic fiction—with its waves of political drama—explores the power of healing broken ties."
Lexile: 750L
Grade Levels: 5-8
Awards and Honors: Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner, National Book Award Finalist, Newbery Honors, Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
The Hunger Games
Lexile: 810
Grade levels: 5-12
House of the Scorpion
Lexile: 660
Grade levels: 6-10
Hitler's Secret
Grade level: 5-8
Stung, by Bethany Wiggins
Grade level: 8 and up
The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
Lexile: 740
Grade levels: 5-8
Freak the Mighty
Lexile: 1000
Grade level: 7-10
Ender's Game
Lexile: 780
Ungifted, by Gordon Korman
Thanks to the mix-up, Donovan is being sent to his town's school for gifted and talented students—a place filled with nerdy geniuses. It's the perfect place to hide out…if only he can figure out a way to fit in. While it soon becomes obvious that Donovan isn't as smart as the other students, he wins them over in other ways—from helping them in a robotics competition to showing them how to overcome their social awkwardness. But will his past finally catch up to him?
Told from alternating perspectives, this book will have readers cheering for Donovan and his classmates as they change each other's lives for the better!"
Lexile:730L
Grade Levels: 5-8
Confetti Girl, by Diana Lopez
Grade Levels: 4-7
Lexile: 660L
Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli
Lexile: 510
Grades level: 6 and up
The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1)
Lexile: 650
Grade Levels: 5-9
The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1)
There, the teens discover the truth—they're demigods! But unlike the other campers, who have Greek gods and goddesses for parents, Jason, Piper, and Leo have Romangods and goddesses for parents!
Now the three are learning about their unique demigod abilities—and facing a deadly prophecy. It turns out that the goddess Hera has been kidnapped and it's up to these new demigods to save her!"
Lexile: 660L
Grade Levels: 4-8
Football Hero, by Tim Green
Lexile: 840
The Darkest Path
"A civil war rages between the Glorious Path—a militant religion based on the teachings of a former U.S. soldier—and what's left of the U.S. government. Fifteen-year-old Callum Roe and his younger brother, James, were captured and forced to convert six years ago. Cal has been working in the Path's dog kennels, and is very close to becoming one of the Path's deadliest secret agents. Then Cal befriends a stray dog named Bear and kills a commander who wants to train him to be a vicious attack dog. This sends Cal and Bear on the run, and sets in motion a series of incredible events that will test Cal's loyalties and end in a fierce battle that will determine the fate of the entire country." *Some mature content
Lexile: 810L
Reading Level: 8-10
Red Kayak
So when he sees his wealthy new neighbors kayaking one stormy morning, he wants to warn them. He wants to shout out and tell them to go home. But he doesn't. His friends convince him that the privileged neighbors—the kind of people who have bought up property and changed the face of their community—should be able to fend for themselves.
But the day turns out much worse than Brady could have imagined. And he and his friends have played an integral part. What will Brady do with the truth he discovers?
This authentically told coming-of-age story about right and wrong keeps readers turning the pages with its thought-provoking and tense narrative."
Lexile: 800L
Grade Level: 7-9
Uglies
Lexile: 770
Jump into the Sky, by Shelley Pearsall
Grade Levels:5-8
Lexile: 940L
Tangerine, by Edward Bloor
Grade Level: 6-9
Lexile: 680L
The Maze Runner
Grade Level: 6-12
Lexile: 770L
To escape this fate, Mama, Esperanza, and their three faithful servants flee to California. After a long trip on a dirty train, they arrive at a migrant workers camp. The squalid, overcrowded cabin Esperanza and Mama must live in is more like a horse stall than a home, and Esperanza is miserable.
Then an intense dust storm strikes and Mama becomes very sick. Even though she's too young, Esperanza will have to work in the fields to earn money to pay for Mama's medical bills. The labor is backbreaking, and Esperanza lives in constant fear of being caught and sent back to Mexico. Fortunately, her will is strong, and so is the community she is growing to love.
But the risks keep mounting. A dangerous workers' strike looms, and Esperanza faces prejudice everywhere she turns. Can she endure her grueling new life? Will her mother recover?
The human spirit is dealt some harsh blows—but refuses to die—in this powerfully written book about struggle, survival, and family."
Grade Levels: 5-7
Lexile: 750L
Princess of the Silver Woods
Grade Levels: 6-12
Lexile: 860L
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Grade Level: 6-12
Lexile: 1000L
Poetry
Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems
19 varieties of gazelle: poems of the Middle East
Lexile: 910
Inside Out and Back Again: A Novel in Verse, by Thanhha Lai
The Taking of Room 114: a Hostage Drama in Poems
Nonfiction
Navy Seal Dogs: My Tale of Training Canines for Combat, by Michael Ritland
Grade Levels: 7-12
Lexile: 1140L
Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town, by Warren St. John
Grade Levels: 6-8
Lexile: 980
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies
Sensitive Areas: War; Violence
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science, by John Fleischman
Grade Levels: 6-9
Lexile: 1030L
Curriculum Connections: Science
The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe
Lexile: NC1120L
Grade Levels: 4-8
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman
Grade Levels: 8-12
Lexile: 1020L
Curriculum Connections: Science, Social Studies
Awards and Honors: National Book Award Finalist, Printz Award Honors
We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
Grade Levels: 4-7
Lexile: 1020L
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
Nelson Mandela: "No Easy Walk to Freedom," by Barry Denenberg
Barry Denenberg explores the history of South Africa and its often violent struggle for civil rights, while tracing Mandela's role in that history. As a lawyer, a leader of the African National Congress, a political prisoner who spent 26 years in jail, a president—no one else has had such enormous influence on his fellow South Africans. Even beyond South Africa, Nelson Mandela influenced freedom fighters everywhere.
Grade Levels: 5-8
Lexile: 950L
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies (Prejudice and Racism, Equality, Culture and Diversity, Fairness and Justice)
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, by Jim Murphy
Publisher Description: Gruesome, suspenseful, and informative, this gripping nonfiction account of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 is illustrated with historical prints, pictures, and documents.
Grade Levels: 6-8
Lexile: 1130L
Curriculum Connections: American History (American Revolution)
Awards and Honors: National Book Award Finalist, Newbery Honors
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery
Grade Levels: 6-9
Lexile: 990L
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II, by Martin W. Sandler
Grade Levels: 5-12
Lexile: 1240L
Sensitive Areas: *Some mature content
Awards and Honors: YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
Lincoln's Grave Robbers, by Steve Sheinkin
Grade Levels: 6-9
Lexile: 930L
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
Awards and Honors: National Book Award Finalist
The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, by James L. Swanson
Interest Grade Level: 6-9
Lexile: 1080L
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
- Photos of the ship and its passengers
- Glossary, timeline, and survivor bios and letters
- Tips on how to be a Titanic researcher"
Grade Levels: 4-7
Lexile: 1040L
Awards and Honors: 2013 Sibert Informational Book Award Honor, YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults finalist
Ten True Tales: Kid Pirates: Their Battles, Shipwrecks, & Narrow Escapes
Each book in this thrilling nonfiction series from best-selling author Allan Zullo rips true stories right from the pages of history or the daily news—presenting unforgettable characters in bite-sized stories that take only a few minutes each to read.
Lexile: 940L
Grade Levels: 4-7
Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement, by Rick Bowers
Interest Grade Levels: 6-10
Lexile: 1290L
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917
Two ships (one carrying explosives and weapons to World War I soldiers in Europe, the other picking up medical supplies) collided, causing the largest man-made explosion in recorded history before the atom bomb. Every structure for two square kilometers along the shores of Halifax and nearby Dartmouth was completely obliterated by a blast that created a tsunami in the harbor and a pressure wave that snapped trees, bent metal, and hurled fragments of the ships for miles through the air. Then, on top of this devastating tragedy, a giant blizzard struck, leaving rescue workers in a desperate race against time to find survivors before those buried beneath the snow were lost forever.
Interest Grade Level: 5-8
Lexile: 1100L
Curriculum Connections: World History, Social Studies
Stolen into Slavery: The True Story of Soloman Northrop, Free Black Man
Interest grade level: 5-8
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
The Great Fire, by Jim Murphy
Grade Levels: 5-9
Lexile: 1130L
Curriculum Connections: American History, Social Studies
Awards and Honors: Newbery Honors
Blizzard: The Storm That Changed America, by Jim Murphy
Filled with period illustrations and photos, this fascinating nonfiction book is also an extraordinary trip back in time to life in a 19th-century city.
Lexile: 1080L
Grade Levels: 5-9
Leaving Glorytown: One Boy's Struggle Under Castro
Lexile: 730
Interest grade level: 7-10
Curriculum Connections: World History, World Cultures, American History
Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert
Lexile: 1070
Interest grade level: 5-8
Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees
Lexile: 860
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies
Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War
Lexile: 800
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies
Solving Crimes with Trace Evidence (Nonfiction- Graphic Novel Format)
Curriculum Connections: Science
Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and our Energy Future
Lexile: 1000
Curriculum Connections: Science, Social Studies
Black Gold: The Story of Oil in our Lives
Curriculum Connections: Science, Social Studies
The skull in the rock: how a scientist, a boy, and Google Earth opened a new window on human origins
Level: 1140L
Curriculum Connections: Science, Geography, Social Studies
Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates
Lexile: 1010
Curriculum Connections: Science, Social Studies
Propaganda: World War II Sourcebook
Lexile: 1060
Curriculum Connections: World History, Social Studies
The plant hunters: true stories of their daring adventures to the far corners of the Earth
Lexile: 1170
Curriculum Connections: Science
I.M. Pei: Architect of Time, Place, and Purpose
Lexile: 1070
Grade Levels: 5-8
Awards & Honors: Booklist 2011 Editors' Choice, Books for Youth, Nonfiction, Older Readers; Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books of 2011; Booklist Top 10 Biography Books for Youth: 2012; Booklist Top 10 Books for Youth 2012, Arts
Curriculum Connections: Art (Architecture)
The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman
Grade Levels: 5-8
Lexile: 1220L
Awards and Honors: Horn Book Fanfare, Best Books of 2010, Nonfiction; Kirkus Reviews 2010 Best Books for Teens; Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books 2010, Nonfiction;School Library Journal Best Books 2010: Nonfiction; YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Nomination, 2010; Children's Book Committee Bank Street College of Education Children's Choices - Best Books of 2011, Special Interests, History; BCCB Blue Ribbon 2010, Nonfiction
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin
Grade Levels: 7-12
Lexile: 920L
Awards and Honors: 2013 Sibert Informational Book Award, 2013 Newbery Honor, 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
The Iranian Revolution, by Brendan January
Grades levels: 5-8
Lexile: 1020L
Lafayette and the American Revolution, Russell Freedman.
Grade Levels: 5-8