Allen-Stevenson Upper Division 5th and 6th Grade Required and Recommended Books 2021-2022

Below you will find a selection of our favorite books. Some are brand new, others are old favorites. You will find a number of these books at our virtual Book Fair. The rest can be found at bookstores and public libraries. If you see an asterisk * by the title of a book, it means that the book has won a major book award.

REQUIRED READING

Boys entering the Fifth Grade are expected to read Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai and three other books, including your assigned book discussion book.

Boys entering the Sixth Grade are expected to read four books, including a mystery and your assigned book discussion book.

BACK TO SCHOOL BOOK DISCUSSION Check which book you are reading by checking the Announcements section on the home page of ascommons.org

All images in this list are from Pixabay and are in the public domain.

FICTION: ADVENTURE

Stories featuring exciting plots with plenty of action and confrontations. Characters display bravery and are often pitted against nature.

Bancks, Tristan ON THE RUN When Ben and his sister are suddenly packed into the car by their parents, they learn that they are going on vacation. Their drive takes them to an isolated cabin in the woods where their parents argue a lot. Ben starts to think that his parents have done something bad and are running from the police. What should he do?

Courage, Tristan STORM BLOWN Fans of Lauren Tarshis's "I Survived" series will love this suspenseful tale of three young people caught up in megastorm Valerie. Filled with action, danger and life-lessons, this novel is also packed with information about the wildlife that calls Hurricane Alley home.

Gemeinhart, Dan SCAR ISLAND Jonathan Grisby is the newest arrival at the Slabhenge Reformatory School for Troubled Boys. It is dark, damp, and dismal. Since Jonathan has done something terrible he figures he deserves to be there. Just as Joseph is settling in, however, a freak accident leaves the troubled boys of Slabhenge without any adult supervision.

1 Gibbs, Stuart CHARLIE THORNE AND THE LAST EQUATION (series) Decades ago, Albert Einstein devised an equation that could benefit all life on earth - or destroy it. Fearing what would happen if the equation fell into the wrong hands, he hid it. Now, a terrible group of men known as The Furies are about to find it. In desperation, the CIA recruits rebellious genius, Charlie Thorne, into the hunt, even though this means placing her life in grave danger.

Gibbs, Stuart SPY SCHOOL (series) Can an average nerd become a superstar agent? Ben Ripley sure hopes so because he has been recruited by the CIA to join a spy school and his first mission starts right away!

Key, Watt ALABAMA MOON (Series) Ten-year-old Moon Blake has lived in the wilderness all his life. When his father dies, he has no idea how to fulfill his father’s dying wish that he make his way from Alabama to Alaska to live. What follows is an exciting series of chases, captures, and escapes!

Key, Watt BEAST An accident on a forested Florida road late at night leaves Adam in the hospital and his parents missing. Adam knows that his father swerved to avoid a massive, manlike beast, but nobody believes him. He takes off in search of an answer to what happened that night, and what he learns is more terrifying, and more fascinating, than he could have imagined. A scary page-turner!

Lacey, Josh ISLAND OF THIEVES In this action-packed novel, Tom travels to Peru in search of lost treasure with his slightly dodgy uncle Harvey. Unfortunately for Tom, Harvey double-crossed a Peruvian crime lord on his last trip to Lima. As soon as they step into the country, thugs kidnap the two. What follows is a series of escapes, car chases, and a search for the lost journal pages of Sir Francis Drake’s voyage around the world.

Nielsen, Jennifer THE FALSE PRINCE (series) This first book in the Ascendance Trilogy takes place in a faraway land where a prince was lost at sea many years earlier. The king and queen have just been murdered, and a nobleman hatches a plot to find an orphan boy to impersonate the long-lost prince so he can gain power. Four orphans compete to be the prince. Treachery follows.

Paulsen, Gary HATCHET* (series) This is the first book in a compelling series about how a boy crash lands alone in the North Canadian wilderness (he was flying the plane!) and has to survive, all the while knowing that nobody has any idea where he is. This book will grip you from the first couple of pages.

Sachar, Louis HOLES* (series) As further evidence of his family's bad fortune, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a nightmarish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

Walden, Mark H.I.V.E. (series) Tactical Education, Stealth and Evasion, and Villainy Studies are all subjects studied at H.I.V.E., a school that turns kids into super villains. Nobody is allowed to leave the school, which sets up an enormous challenge for Otto Malpense and his friends as they try to figure out how to escape.

2 Westerfeld, Scott HORIZON (series by various authors) When a plane crash lands in the arctic, eight kids step from the wreckage expecting to see nothing but snow. Instead they find themselves lost in a strange jungle. The kids must learn to work together to survive, but rivalries threaten to tear them apart. Not everyone will make it out of the jungle alive. Delve further into the experience by playing the Horizon game on the Scholastic website.

FICTION: FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION

Fantasy stories are deliberately freed from reality. High fantasies take place in another world (e.g., Harry Potter). Low fantasies feature magical events in this world (e.g., Powerless). Science fiction is based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and frequently portrays space or time travel and life on other planets.

Applegate, Catherine ENDLING: THE LAST (series) After her dairne pack is hunted down and killed, Byx fears she may be the Endling, the last of her species. So Byx sets out to find safe haven and to see if the legends of other hidden dairnes are true. Along the way, she meets new allies and together they uncover a secret that may threaten every creature in their world.

Chokshi, Roshani ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME (series) Although Aru Shah lives in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, her classmates don’t believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed. By lighting the lamp, Aru unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers and journey through the Kingdom of Death. How is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?

Cody, Matthew POWERLESS (series) When Daniel Corrigan moves to Noble's Green, he notices that some of the kids there seem rather odd. It turns out they have superpowers! Destined to lose their powers, as well as all memory of ever having them, when they turn 13, it is up to Daniel to find out who or what is sapping his friends' unusual abilities.

Cuevas, Adrianna THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ As a kid of a military dad, Nestor Lopez moves home all the time. He moves in with his abuela in New Haven, Texas, just as she falls under suspicion for the mysterious animal disappearances in the woods, leaving Nestor to face off against the real culprit, a mythical tule vieja (witch) who steals powers from animals.

Flanagan, John THE RUINS OF GORLAN (series) Will hopes to become a knight. Instead, he ends up as a ranger's apprentice, joining a secretive corps that uses stealth, woodcraft, and courage to protect the kingdom at a time when it is under attack by evil magic forces.

3 Emerson, Kevin LAST DAY ON MARS (series) The year is 2213, and Earth has been burned to a cinder by the sun. Mars, the temporary home of survivors from Earth, is about to follow suit. Liam Saunders-Chang will be on the last starliner to depart before Mars is destroyed. Or so he thinks. Because before this day is over, Liam will realize that the human race is just one of many in our universe locked in a dangerous struggle for survival.

Gibbs, Stuart THE LAST MUSKETEER (series) On a family trip to Paris, Greg Rich's parents disappear...from the century! It’s up to Greg to travel through time to rescue them. He soon finds out that his family history is tied to the legendary Three Musketeers. When he meets them, they're his age, and they'll only live long enough to become true heroes if he can save them. Greg must assume the identity of a young Musketeer in training, but a powerful enemy is doing everything possible to stop him.

Haddon, Mark BOOM Wanting to get the lowdown on their teachers, Jim and Charlie hide a walkie-talkie in the teachers’ lounge. What they hear is more than a bit confusing: “Zorner ment. Cruss mo plug” and lots of other nonsense words. Further investigation reveals two of the teachers to be aliens. After Charlie is abducted, it’s up to Jim and his teenage sister to save the day in this funny sci-fi novel.

Keller, Tae WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER* When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal, Lily is tempted to agree. But deals with tigers are never what they seem.

Lasky, Kathryn THE CAPTURE (series) Soren, a baby barn owl, is deliberately knocked from his family's nest by his nasty older brother. He is captured by evil chick-snatching owls and taken to the St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, where he is catapulted into a world of confusion and danger.

Lee, Yoon Ha DRAGON PEARL Thirteen-year-old Min comes from a long line of fox spirits. To keep the family safe, Min's mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic. When word arrives that Min’s brother Jun is suspected of leaving his Space Forces post to go in search of the powerful Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. She embarks on a dangerous quest to find Jun and clear his name.

Mbalia, Kwame TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY (series) When a talking doll named Gum Baby steals Tristan’s prized book of stories, Tristan pursues him, accidentally tearing a hole between the farm where he is staying and the lands of Alke. There, he encounters legendary folk heroes such as hammer-swinging John Henry and wily Brer Fox. To mend the rift and return home, Tristan and his allies must seek out the missing trickster god Anansi.

McKay, Hilary THE TIME OF GREEN MAGIC Abi moves into a story book of a house with her new step siblings, Max and Louis. Disturbingly, however, when Abi becomes deeply absorbed in a book, bits of the story she is reading appear inside the house - a shell, a leaf, pages damp with saltwater. When Louis accidentally conjures up a creature that may threaten his safety, Abi and Max must unite to get the magic back under control. Hilary McKay is an extraordinary writer and this book will not disappoint!

4 Oppel, Kenneth BLOOM (series) The invasion began with rain. Rain that carried seeds. Overnight, enormous plants appeared everywhere, taking over crop fields, spreading toxic pollen and swallowing people in Venus flytrap-like pods. Three kids on a remote island seem immune to the toxic plants. Anaya, Petra and Seth. They each have strange allergies and yet not to these plants. If anyone can stop this alien invasion, it’s them. Honestly, the odds don’t look good.

Smith, Ronald L. BLACK PANTHER When strange things begin happening around school, T'Challa sets out to uncover the source. In order to protect his friends and stop the ancient evil he discovers, T'Challa must take on the mantle of a hero, setting him on the path to becoming the Black Panther.

Soontornvat, Christina A WISH IN THE DARK* Pong has lived his whole life in Namwon Prison until he seizes an opportunity to escape. He quickly discovers that life outside prison is not so great: since the Great Fire, Chattana is under the strict control of the Governor, who creates the magical lights that run the city. Not everyone is happy with the Governor’s rule and a revolution may be brewing. Meanwhile Nok, the prison warden’s daughter, is hunting Pong down.

Sutherland, Tui WINGS OF FIRE: The Dragonet Prophecy (series) Five young dragons are destined to end the war that's been raging between the tribes of Pyrrhia, but how they'll do this, none of them knows. This is a great book if you love dramatic battle scenes!

FICTION: GRAPHIC NOVELS

These books tell stories or convey information using panels containing both pictures and text. In the words of award-winning graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang, “Certain stories can be best expressed via the duality of text and images.”

Craft, Jerry NEW KID* (series) When seventh grader Jordan Banks enrolls in a private school known for its academics, he discovers that he is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one.

Crilley, Mark THE DRAWING LESSON After David asks Becky, an artist drawing in the park, for a quick lesson, the small request turns into an entire summer of instruction. What follows is a moving story in comic book format that also teaches readers the fundamentals of drawing such as framing and realism, negative space, and lighting. A truly unique graphic novel!

Estrada, Ryan STUDENT AMBASSADOR: THE MISSING DRAGON After winning an essay contest, Mexican American student ambassador Joseph Joseph is sent as an ambassador to the fictional nation of West Rhutar, where a bratty tween dictator, King Nang Nukatau III, is threatening war. Joseph wins an invitation to the king’s slumber party where an assault by kidnappers forces them to flee across east Asia together in this funny adventure.

5 Hale, Nathan APOCALYPSE TACO Sid, Axl, and Ivan volunteer to make a fast-food run for the high school theater crew, but when they return, they find copies of themselves onstage. Turns out, when they went to the taco place they actually crossed into an alien dimension. The aliens have made sinister copies of cars, buildings, and people—and now they are out to get Sid, Axl, and Ivan!

Hale, Nathan TREATIES, TRENCHES, MUD AND BLOOD (series) The books in the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series really make history come alive. At times funny, at times, horrific, this entry in the series explores why World War I began, each country's role in it, and the battle tactics and technology that were used.

Jamieson, Victoria ROLLER GIRL* Astrid just isn’t interested in the kinds of things everyone else is. Her BFF Nicole likes boys and ballet and the color pink, but Astrid’s new obsession is tough, fast-paced Roller Derby. She’s upset when Nicole chooses ballet camp instead of going with her to junior Roller Derby camp. When it turns out that Astrid isn’t quite the Roller Derby prodigy she had hoped to be (she can barely master falling!), it seems that her summer will be a disaster.

Jamieson, Victoria & Omar Mohamed WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED Life is hard at Dadaab, the refugee camp in Kenya where Omar and his developmentally delayed younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives. When Omar finally has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might change their future, but it would also mean leaving Hassan every day. This extraordinary true story is a tale of heartbreak, hope, and a very special bond between brothers.

Kibuishi, Kazu THE STONEKEEPER (Amulet series) Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her dead great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals. With the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit they face the most terrifying monster of all.

Leyh, Kat SNAPDRAGON Snap has heard the rumors about the so-called witch who lives in her town, and when Snap's dog disappears, she goes to the witch's house, assuming the worst. But she finds only a quiet old woman, Jacks, nursing her dog back to health after an accident. Jacks reassembles the skeletons of roadkill and talks Snap into helping her. As Snap gets to know Jacks, she slowly unravels a family secret...and realizes that maybe there is a witch in town after all.

O’Connor, George HADES (series) In his Olympians series, O’Connor draws from primary source documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths, using vibrant art to bring them to life. These are action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures… with monsters! In Hades: Lord of the Dead, we learn of Hades’ abduction of Persephone and her mother’s revenge.

6 Smith, Nikki THE DEEP AND DARK BLUE Twins Hawke and Grayson have been groomed to be noblemen since they were born, but when a coup threatens their lives, they go into hiding. They disguise themselves as girls and join the Communion of Blue, a temple and school for your priestesses. While Hawke yearns for revenge, Grayson embraces the change, realizing that she wants to stay in the one place that will allow her to finally live as a girl. This is a magical, action-packed tapestry of a story!

Tatulli, Mark THE BIG BREAK Andrew and Russ are best friends obsessed with finding the legendary Jersey Devil that supposedly lives near them in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. But when Russ starts spending more time with another friend, Andrew feels them drifting apart. A spate of Jersey Devil sightings are reported and the boys are thrown back together on a fevered hunt. Can their old obsession help to mend their broken friendship?

FICTION: HISTORICAL

Realistic fiction in which the setting is very important and which portrays significant historical time periods.

Athaide, Tina ORANGE FOR THE SUNSETS In 1972, the president of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of the country’s “foreign Indians,” giving them 90 days to leave the country. Asha's family heritage is Indian; Yesofu's is African. They're best friends, but after the expulsion order is announced, and Yesofu becomes exasperated with Asha’s obliviousness to their class differences, the two children struggle to maintain their once precious friendship.

Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE* (series) In this moving novel, a young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find a much more loving and supportive home than they ever had with their mother.

Draper, Sharon STELLA BY STARLIGHT Stella lives in the segregated South in 1932. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can’t. Some folks are pleasant. Others are a lot less so. Not much changes until late one starry night Stella witnesses the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross, which sets off a chain of events that will leave her entire community changed. This powerful book was inspired by the diary written by the author’s grandmother.

Gratz, Alan REFUGEE Told in alternating chapters, Refugee follows fictional child refugees from three different eras whose stories ultimately, and surprisingly, come together. Join Josef, a Jewish boy livng in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl trying to escape the riots plaguing her country in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015 whose homeland is torn apart by violence, on their extraordinary journeys.

Hiranandani, Veera THE NIGHT DIARY* It's 1947, and India, no longer ruled by the British, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Nisha, who is half-Muslim, half-Hindu, doesn't know where she

7 belongs anymore. When her father decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees, embarking on a journey that is long, difficult and dangerous.

Lee, Julie BROTHER’S KEEPER Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules in Communist North Korea. A perfect chance to escape presents itself when war breaks out between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. The family sets out to walk hundreds of miles from their mountain village to the South Korean city of Busan. When a bomb is dropped near them, Sora and her little brother Young are separated from the rest of their family, who may even be dead. Will the children be able survive the enormous trek through a warzone in the middle of winter?

LeZotte, Ann Clare SHOW ME A SIGN* This compelling novel by deaf author LeZotte is based on a real community in 1800s Martha’s Vineyard. The year is 1805 and Mary Lambert, who is deaf, has always felt safe among the community of Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard where practically everyone communicates in a shared sign language. Life has been incredibly difficult for her lately, but things get much worse with the arrival of an arrogant young scientist from Boston, Andrew Noble. He wants to study the Deaf population and has decided that Mary will make the perfect ‘live specimen’.

Nielsen, Jennifer RESISTANCE It’s 1942 and sixteen-year-old Chaya Lindner is a Jewish girl living in Nazi-occupied Poland, a courier who smuggles food and documents to the isolated Jewish ghettos, relying on her forged papers and "Aryan" features to keep her safe. When a mission goes wrong and her network falls apart she journeys to Warsaw, where an uprising is in the works.

Park, Linda Sue PRAIRIE LOTUS* In April, 1880, Hanna, a half-Chinese girl, and her white father, move to LaForge in Dakota Territory following the death of her mother. The family encounters overt racism when the town’s parents pull their children out of school after Hanna shows up for class. In fact, few people accept Hanna except for the Native American women of the nearby Ihanktonwan community. Not one to accept this treatment, Hanna summons all her smarts and strength in order to make LaForge her home.

Paulsen, Gary MR. TUCKET (series) Imagine being separated from your parents while traveling westward by wagon train. Now imagine being captured by Pawnee Indians. Both of these things happen to 14-year-old Francis Tucket, and that's just the start of his adventures! Mr. Tucket and all four sequels are available in a compendium called Tucket’s Travels.

Peck, Richard A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO* (series) Every year during the 1930’s, Joey and Mary Alice trek to the countryside to visit their Grandma Dowdel, a woman who is “old as the hills” and as “tough as an old boot” (and one of the greatest characters in children’s literature). Each year she amazes them with her cunning and outlandish schemes to even the score with the townsfolk.

Perry Anthony CHULA THE FOX Set in the early 18th century, Chula is a Chickasaw teen busy with perfecting his hunting skills until his father is killed by Choctaw raiders. Chula’s grief turns into a desire for revenge, and he is determined to be among the fighters who attack the Choctaws, but Chula discovers that taking a life is harder than he imagined.

8 Schmidt, Gary JUST LIKE THAT From former Newbery winner Schmidt, comes this heartbreaking, and at times, humorous novel set in 1968 against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Losses suffered by Meryl Lee Kowalsk and Matt Coffin, both of whom end up on the coast of Maine, end up tying the two together. Meryl Lee has lost her best friend in a car crash and is trying for a fresh start in a boarding school. Matt has stolen a pillowcase full of money from a gang in NYC and is on the run. They are both searching for a way to be more hopeful and less lonely, in this masterful novel that will richly reward the more mature reader.

Smith, Dan MY BROTHER’S SECRET Karl Friedman is only twelve, but like all boys his age in Germany, he's already playing war games, training to join the Hitler Youth. Stefan, Karl's nonconformist older brother, wants nothing to do with it. Then their father is killed, and what had been a game suddenly becomes deadly serious.

Smith, Roland ELEPHANT RUN When Nick’s mother sends Nick to Burma to escape the bombing of London during World War II, she makes a serious mistake. Within a few days of Nick’s arrival, the invading Japanese have seized his father’s plantation. Now his father is living in a prisoner of war camp and Nick is under house arrest. All he can think about is how he might escape, rescue his father, and flee to safety. Not to be missed!

Strasser, Todd FALLOUT Nuclear bombs go off in the summer of 1962, and Scott’s family has the only bomb shelter in town. Neighbors manage to force their way into the shelter where space and supplies are limited, resulting in flared tempers. Even more alarming is the question of what awaits them outside.

FICTION: HUMOR

Stories to amuse you, and sometimes make you laugh out loud.

Goldberg Sloan, Holly & Meg Wolitzer TO NIGHT OWL FROM DOGFISH When their dads fall in love, 12 year olds Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will become friends and possibly, one day, even sisters but the girls are determined to prevent that from happening. Through a series of emails between them we get to join in their hilarious and unpredictable adventure.

Grabenstein, Chris THE SMARTEST KID IN THE UNIVERSE When seventh-grader Jake McQuade mistakes the world's first knowledge pills for jelly beans, he suddenly knows all about physics and geometry and can speak Swahili! His sort-of girlfriend Grace, comes up with a plan to use Jake’s new found brilliance to save their middle school from the evil new principal, who is trying to get it shut down. Funny and clever, you’ll be back for the sequel when it comes out!

9 Higuera, Donna Barba LUPE WONG WON’T DANCE* Lupe Wong knows she’s going to play in the majors someday, but for now, she just has to get straight A’s so she can meet her hero, the baseball player Fu Li Hernandez. The only thing that stands in her way is the new P.E. unit, square dancing, the mere thought of which is horrifying! As Lupe tries getting it removed from the curriculum, she ends up in one hilarious but terrible mess after another.

Korman, Gordon WHATSHISFACE Cooper Vega’s new phone appears to be haunted by the ghost of an Elizabethan printer's apprentice who claims to be the original author of Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps Cooper shouldn’t be taking the ghost's advice on how to impress the girl he likes! Korman, Gordon THE UNTEACHABLES When Mr. Zachary Kermit is assigned to teach Greenwich Middle School's most challenging students, he's unfazed. After all, he is burned out from a cheating scandal and is just one year away from retirement. However, once Mr. Kermit and his class of so-called "Unteachables" discover how frustrated they all are with the education system, they start striving to do better on each other's behalf.

Shang, Wendy & Madelyn Rosenberg THIS IS JUST A TEST It's 1983, and David's got worries: his upcoming bar mitzvah, his constantly competing Chinese and Jewish grandmothers, the cute girl who makes him nervous, and his popular new friend, who dislikes David's longtime best friend—plus, it's the height of the Cold War, and everyone’s worried that a nuclear bomb could hit at any second.

Stauffacher, Sue DONUTHEAD (series) Terrified of germs and potential dangers, Franklin Delano Donuthead is frequently alone, until his mother befriends the new girl at school, and Franklin is forced to spend time with a bedraggled girl - his worst nightmare!

FICTION: MYSTERIES AND HORROR

Thrilling stories in which readers are often invited to gather clues to reach a conclusion. Includes detective stories, suspense novels, tales of terror and the supernatural and Gothic novels.

Abrahams, Peter DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE (series) When a taxi drops 13-year-old Ingrid at the wrong house, she is too embarrassed to tell the driver he is mistaken so she goes inside and ends up leaving her soccer cleats behind when she leaves. Later that night the woman who lives in that house is murdered.

Carter, Ally WINTERBORNE HOME FOR VENGEANCE AND VALOR (series) After years in foster care, April goes to live in a gloomy mansion where she and four other children are caught up in a mystery related to a missing heir to the Winterborne fortune and a shadowy figure known as the Phantom.

Delaney, Joseph REVENGE OF THE WITCH (Last Apprentice series) 12-year-old Thomas is a seventh son of a seventh son. Since this gives him special abilities he becomes apprenticed to the local Spook, whose job is to fight evil spirits and witches. Thomas expects a life of danger but he doesn’t expect to face a powerful enemy alone!

10 Dowd, Siobhan THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY Salim boards a giant ferris wheel in London one day, only to vanish mysteriously into thin air. Even the police are baffled - and it is up to his cousins, Ted and Kat, to trace a trail of clues across London in search of their endangered cousin.

Gibbs, Stuart BELLY UP (Fun Jungle series) The administration at the brand-new FunJungle claim that their hippo died of natural causes, but Teddy believes that Henry the Hippo has been murdered. Could the culprit be FunJungle’s animal-hating head of operations? Or is it FunJungle’s owner, a man who is much more concerned about money than animal welfare? The deeper Teddy and Summer dig into this case of hippo homicide, the more danger they’re in.

Gibbs, Stuart SPACE CASE (Moon Base Alpha series) Dashiell Gibson is famous the world over for being one of the first humans to live on the moon, and he’s bored out of his mind. However, when the community’s top scientist is found dead, Dash is the only one who believes that Dr. Holtz might have been murdered. The scientist was on the verge of an important new discovery, Dash finds out, and it’s a secret that could change everything, a secret someone just might kill to keep...

Haddix, Margaret Peterson REMARKABLES Marin is exploring her new neighborhood when she witnesses something miraculous: a group of teenagers arrive at the house next door only to vanish in an instant. Her neighbor, Charley, calls them the Remarkables and he’s obsessed with them, but this obsession reveals Charlie’s secret shame.

Hemingway, Blaise and Jesse Raffsin GHOST: THIRTEEN HAUNTING TALES TO TELL Two young boys sneak out of their camp cabin late at night to seek out Old Man Blackwood, the keeper of the 13 true ghost stories. Are you sure you want to read the 13 bone-chilling stories they hear when they find him?

Hiassen, Carl FLUSH Noah takes over from his jailed eco-terrorist dad, to expose the polluter who is dumping raw sewage off the Florida Keys. One of a number of environmental mysteries from Hiassen.

Horowitz, Anthony THE FALCON’S MALTESER (series) Thirteen-year-old Nick is the younger (and brighter) half of the Diamond Brothers, the world's worst detective agency. When a client is killed and Nick’s brother is framed, Nick is left to solve the mystery before he himself is murdered. The language is straight out of a 1940’s private investigator film!

Korman, Gordon MASTERMINDS (series) The kids of Serenity, New Mexico know they are lucky to live there. There’s no crime and everyone in town has their own swimming pool. All is not what it seems, though, as Eli and four of his classmates discover, when they uncover a horrifying conspiracy that is being carried out by all the adults in town, including their own parents.

Mass, Wendy THE CANDYMAKERS (series) Four 12-year-olds gather at a candy factory to participate in a contest to create a new and delicious piece of candy. Mystery ensues as they encounter misunderstandings, spies, and sabotage.

11 Mills, Allison THE GHOST COLLECTOR Shelly and her grandmother, who are Cree, catch ghosts. In their hair. Just like all the women in their family, they can see souls who haven't transitioned yet; it's their job to help the ghosts along their journey. But when Shelly’s mom dies, Shelly starts hoarding ghosts instead. Will her mother’s ghost ever appear?

Patenaude, David SOMEONE WAS WATCHING Three months after his little sister drowned, Chris watches a video that he filmed during the last hours of her life and sees clues that lead him to believe that she may still be alive.

Ponti, James DEAD CITY (series) Molly's life takes a weird turn when she is recruited to join the Omegas, a secret organization that protects and polices New York's zombie population. As it turns out, NYC is full of the undead.

Ponti, James FRAMED! (series) So you're only halfway through your homework and your handler at the FBI keeps texting you for help...What do you do? Save your grade or save the country? If you're Florian Bates, you figure out a way to do both!

Sands, Kevin THE BLACKTHORN KEY (series) When a mysterious cult begins to prey on London’s apothecaries, the trail of murders leads to Blackthorn’s shop, where Christopher Rowe is an apprentice. Christopher must use every skill he’s learned so far to discover the key to a terrible secret with the power to tear the world apart! This book, while fascinating, contains scenes of violence that may not be comfortable for some boys.

Stead, Rebecca WHEN YOU REACH ME* As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid", Miranda receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life and she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Read Miranda’s favorite novel, A Wrinkle in Time, first, for a terrific pairing.

FICTION: REALISTIC

Imaginary characters and situations that could happen but haven't.

Buyea, Rob BECAUSE OF MR. TERUPT (series) Mr. Terupt is the kind of life-changing teacher kids hope for. Wonderful things happen in his classroom…until one day a not so wonderful thing happens and his students wonder why he trusted them so much.

Frank, Steven CLASS ACTION NO. MORE. HOMEWORK. That’s what sixth grader Sam Warren tells his teacher while standing on top of his desk. Suspended for his protest, Sam decides to fight back. He recruits his elderly neighbor/retired attorney Mr. Kalman to help him file a class action lawsuit on behalf of all students in Los Angeles. Their argument? Homework is unconstitutional.

12 Gale, Eric Kahn THE BULLY BOOK Eric Haskins is an average kid who has coasted through elementary school with a couple of friends, but this year he is the “Grunt,” the kid that everyone in sixth grade hates. Unsure of what he has done wrong, Eric becomes obsessed with getting his hands on the mythic Bully Book, which will supposedly tell him why he has been designated the Grunt.

Gemeinhart, Dan THE HONEST TRUTH In all the ways that matter, Mark is a regular kid. He has a dog and likes to take photos. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day. But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick some people never get better from. So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier - even if it's the last thing he ever does.

Gemeinhart, Dan THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF COYOTE SUNRISE Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash. Rodeo is too devastated to even think about going home, but when Coyote learns that the park in her old neighborhood where she and her mother and sisters buried a memory box is about to be demolished, she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days without him realizing it.

Goldblatt, Mark TWERP (series) Sixth-grader Julian Twerski discovers a love for writing as he documents his year for a teacher who wants him to come to terms with his role in a terrible act of bullying.

Korman, Gordon RESTART Chase does not remember falling off the roof, in fact he does not remember anything about himself or his life before the fall. When he gets back to middle school, he becomes increasingly disturbed as he begins to learn who he was through the reactions of the other kids. Does he meet everyone’s expectations and rebuild his life as the person he apparently was, or does he try to become someone better?

Korman, Gordon SLACKER Cameron Boxer spends his life avoiding homework. He games, instead, for hours in his basement. He gets away with it until the day that he is so caught up in a game he almost lets his house burn down. To please his parents, Cameron and his friends invent a fake school club that will make it seem like they're doing good deeds instead of slacking off. The problem? Some kids think the club is real, and Cameron is stuck being president.

Korman, Gordon WAR STORIES There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games and his great-grandfather Jacob, who helped liberate a small French village during World War II and came home to a hero’s welcome. Trevor is thrilled when the two decide to return to the French village together, but it turns out there’s more to the story than what he's heard his whole life, making him question what being a hero really means.

13 Lai, Remy PIE IN THE SKY In this combination prose and graphic novel, Jingwen, his little brother, Yanghao, and their mother immigrate to Australia. The boys start at the Northbridge Primary School not knowing any English, which has Jingwen feeling they have just arrived on Mars. Quickly he realizes it is he and Yanghao who must appear to be the Martians to everyone else (cue the funny panels). While Yanghao quickly fits in, Jingwen resists, pouring his frustrations and dreams into the cakes he secretly bakes.

Lane, Kathleen PITY PARTY “Dear weird toes / crooked nose, / stressed out, left out / freaked out / … / This party’s for you.” Welcome to Bridger Middle School, home of the Pity Party, an extraordinary (really!) collection of funny and twisted stories about the anxieties of tweens and teens. I guarantee you haven’t read anything like it!

Lord, Cynthia A HANDFUL OF STARS When her blind dog slips his collar, twelve-year old Lily meets Salma Santiago, a young Hispanic girl whose migrant family are in Maine for the blueberry-picking season, and the two become friends. As the Blueberry Queen pageant approaches, Lily and Selma are confronted with the question of whether an ‘outsider’ like Salma should participate and the two must face some of the hard truths about prejudice and migrant life.

Magoon, Kekla THE SEASON OF STYX MALONE* After meeting a fascinating new friend, two brothers, Caleb and Bobby Gene, have the summer of a lifetime. The new friend, Styx Malone, is sixteen and oozes cool. Styx promises the brothers that together, the three of them can pull off the Great Escalator Trade, exchanging one small thing for something better until they achieve their wildest dream.

McAnulty, Stacy MISCALCULATIONS OF LIGHTNING GIRL For Lucy Callahan, surviving a lightning strike that gave her extraordinary math ability may be easier than surviving middle school. Homeschooled and living with her grandmother, Lucy is an introvert and has OCD. She feels totally ready for college classes but first, her nana says, she must spend one year at a public school and make one friend. This is much harder for Lucy than it sounds!

Palacio, R.J. WONDER August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, until now, has been his reason for not going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but will his new classmates ever get past Auggie’s extraordinary face? Not to be missed.

Pearsall, Shelley THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING After Arthur Owens is sentenced to community service for hitting a neighbor known as the Junk Man with a brick, he has to work for the Junk Man every Saturday. While collecting items such as light bulbs from the streets as part of his job, Arthur realizes with horror that he has actually become the Junk Man himself.

14 Pennypacker, Sara PAX Peter and Pax, a fox, have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued Pax as a kit. One day, the unimaginable happens: Peter's dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild. From his grandfather's house, three hundred miles away, Peter strikes out on his own despite an encroaching war, to be reunited with his fox.

Pennypacker, Sara HERE IN THE REAL WORLD When 11 year old Ware is forced to spend his entire summer at the local rec center pursuing “Meaningful Social Interaction,” he sneaks away to hang out in the wreckage of the abandoned church next door, which reminds him of a medieval castle. There he meets Jolene, a cynical girl planting a garden, and together they transform the space.

Ramée, Lisa Moore A GOOD KIND OF TROUBLE All Shayla wants to do is to follow the rules, but in sixth grade it's like all the rules have changed. Now some people at school are saying she's not black enough. Shay's sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking.

Rhodes, Jewell Parker BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER As one of the few black boys at Middlefield Prep, most of the students don't look like Donte. Dubbing him "Black Brother," Donte's teachers and classmates make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter-skinned brother, Trey. When he's bullied and framed by the captain of the fencing team, Donte begins training as a competitive fencer at the local youth center, determined to take down the fencing team captain, at all costs.

Saeed, Aisha AMAL UNBOUND Life is quiet in Amal's Pakistani village where she loves going to school and dreams of becoming a teacher. Then the unimaginable happens. Amal has an accidental run-in with the son of her village's corrupt landlord. It turns out that Amal’s father had borrowed money from the man and he decides to make Amal work as his family's indentured servant to pay off her family's debt. It seems that Amal will work for this cruel man forever unless she can figure a way out.

Schmidt, Gary PAY ATTENTION, CARTER JONES Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick, a proper English butler, arrives unannounced in a purple Bentley on the morning of Carter’s first day of sixth grade. Left to the family in their grandfather’s will, the amusingly snobby butler’s goal is to try to mend a household that isn’t copying well, since the family has little money, a father who is serving overseas, and a devastating hole left by the death of six-year-old Currier three years earlier. Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick is no Mary Poppins, but he does weave a down-to-earth kind of magic, even managing to whip Carter’s whole school into a frenzy over the game of cricket!

Senzai, N.H. SHOOTING KABUL (series) Escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, eleven-year-old Fadi and his family immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area. Fadi schemes to return to the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left behind.

Senzai, N.H. ESCAPE FROM ALEPPO It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into

15 turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety.

Tashjian, Janet MY LIFE AS A BOOK (series) Meet twelve-year-old Derek, a kid who is brash, careless, and usually willing to do something stupid. He likes to make grenades out of avocados, and above all, doesn't like to read required books. He is also a bright, talented artist and smart enough to know when he has gone too far.

Warga, Jasmine OTHER WORDS FOR HOME* After fleeing unrest near her town in Syria, Jude must adjust to life in Cincinnati alongside her less-than-welcoming cousin, Sarah. Her biggest wish is to be an actress but will her accent, and the hijab she wears, prevent her from landing a spot in the school play? This extraordinary book is a quick read since it is told in free verse (poetry that doesn’t rhyme).

FICTION: SPORTS

Alexander, Kwame THE CROSSOVER Josh and Jordan (JB), identical twin sons of former basketball phenom Chuck "Da Man" Bell, aren’t even thirteen yet, but they are ball legends themselves! They are a tight-knit team both on and off the court until things start to change. Packed with exciting play-by-play game details and insightful observations on middle school life, Josh tells his story in a mash up of concrete poetry and hip hop beats.

Alexander, Kwame REBOUND After his father’s death, Charlie Bell steals from a neighbor, so his mother sends a reluctant Charlie off to stay with his grandparents for the summer. Charlie’s grandfather works part-time at a Boys and Girls Club where his cousin Roxie is a star basketball player. Charlie has always wanted to play basketball but lacks the confidence. Despite his protests, Roxie draws him into the game.

Bauer, Joan SOAR Hillcrest, where Jeremiah and his father Walt have just moved, is a town known for its championship baseball team. But Jeremiah finds the town caught up in a scandal and ready to give up on baseball. It's up to Jeremiah to get the team, and the town, back in the game.

Feinstein, John LAST SHOT (Sports Beat series) Too short for a career in basketball, 13-year-old Stevie turns to sports writing and wins a chance to cover the NCAA Final Four games where he uncovers a dangerous conspiracy to fix the games. Famous basketball personalities make guest appearances.

Green, Tim and Derek Jeter BASEBALL GENIUS Desperate for money so that he can stay on his travel team, Jalen DeLuca sneaks into the home of the New York Yankee's star second baseman, James Yager, to steal a couple of balls to sell. Although Yager catches him, Jalen manages to strike a deal. With his ability to analyze and predict almost exactly what a pitcher is going to do with his next pitch, Jalen will help Yager out of his batting slump, and in return Yager won't press charges.

16 Green, Tim KID OWNER Ryan has never had a relationship with his dad, so when his father dies, Ryan is shocked to learn that he has inherited the Dallas Cowboys football team! With his new role as owner of an NFL team, Ryan has high hopes that he can be more than just a middle school misfit. Maybe he can even get off the bench and into the starting lineup of his own football team.

Greenwald, Tommy RIVALS The start of a new basketball season ignites old rivalries for Carter and Austin, the star captains of their town's two middle school teams: wealthy Walthorne North, and the less well financed Walthorne South. It isn't long before the rivalry between them gets out of hand. Told in first-person narration, texts, social media posts, and radio interviews this is a fast-paced tale that explores adults' tendency to prioritize winning at all costs over allowing kids to just enjoy the game.

Kapit, Sarah GET A GRIP, VIVY COHEN! Eleven-year-old Vivy has been pitching knuckleballs ever since meeting her baseball hero, VJ Capello, at an Autism Foundation event. When a Little League coach sees her practicing, he recruits Vivy onto the team, but not everyone is as happy about that as she is. This novel, packed with baseball action, is told in letters between Vivy and VJ.

Lupica, Mike FAST BREAK Twelve-year-old Jayson, a tough kid from the poor part of Moreland, North Carolina, is sent across town to live with foster parents. Now he’ll be on the basketball team at a private school who are rivals to his former school. Jayson is an extremely talented point guard, but now his anger bubbles out on the court as well as in his new home.

Lupica, Mike LONE STARS Clay is never more at home than when playing football. His coach, a former star player for the Dallas Cowboys, is just like a second father. But as the football season kicks off, Clay begins to notice some odd behavior from his coach such as forgetfulness and strange mood swings. It becomes painfully clear that Coach Cooper is showing side effects of the many concussions he sustained during his playing days.

Lupica, Mike TRAVEL TEAM Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court, but no one plays with more heart or court sense. None of that matters when Danny and a bunch of other kids are unfairly cut from the local travel team. With the help of his father, Danny builds a team of his own. Will they be ready in time to beat their arch rivals?

Reynolds, Jason GHOST* (series) Ghost has a natural talent for running, but no formal training. He could be the best sprinter in the city, but he has a lot of family problems and constantly gets into trouble. Help arrives in the form of Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who blew his own shot at success and who is determined to keep kids, including Ghost, from blowing their shots in life.

Shang, Wendy THE WAY HOME LOOKS NOW Twelve-year-old Chinese American Peter Lee and his family always shared a passion for baseball. When a devastating tragedy strikes and his family falls apart, Peter decides to try out for Little League in the hopes of lifting his mother’s spirits. Peter’s father is a very strict and serious man who opposes the idea, so Peter is horrified when his father ends up coaching the team.

17 Wallace, Matt BUMP MJ became a huge professional wrestling fan, specifically Mexican-style wrestling, or lucha libre, after being introduced to the sport by her late Papi. When a chance meeting acquaints her with Mr. Arellano, the owner of a local luchador wrestling school, MJ does everything she can to convince both him and her skeptical mom that she belongs in the program. Finally she has a place that feels like home, but will the school survive the attempts of a bitter bureaucrat to have it shut down?

18