HILLSIDE SCHOOL SUMMER READING LIST 2015 Grades 5 and 6

1) Each student in Grades 5 and 6 is required to read Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen.

2) Each student is also required to read two additional books of their choice. There are suggested books listed here, but students do not need to read specifically those books. The additional books are simply suggestions for that grade's reading level. Faculty members have also offered favorite titles as suggestions and students may chose from this list. If students chose a Faculty Favorite, they will participate in an informal discussion with the faculty member who recommended their book in the fall and receive extra credit in their English classes. Faculty Favorites can be found on a separate list.

STUDENTS ENTERING FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE

REQUIRED: You must read the following:

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen (required of ESL students as well) A twelve year old boy receives a lawn mower for his birthday and starts a business mowing neighborhood lawns. As his business grows, he takes financial advice on investing his profits, leading to a very interesting summer.

Suggestions for Additional Book Choices:

Al Capone Does My Shirts Gennifer Choldenko (Newbery Honor book) * A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards’ families were housed there, and has to contend with his new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

Bone Jeff Smith * The adventure starts when cousins Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone are run out of Boneville and later get separated and lost in the wilderness, meeting monsters and making friends as they attempt to return home.

Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis (2000 ) * Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead Avi (2003 Newbery Medal) * Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in 14thcentury England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.

Escape! : The Story of the Great Houdini Sid Fleischman * A biography of the magician, ghost chaser, aviator, and king of escape artists whose amazing feats are remembered long after his death in 1926.

Football Genius Tim Green * Troy, a sixth-grader with an unusual gift for predicting football plays before they occur, attempts to use his ability to help his favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, but he must first prove himself to the coach and players.

Fortunately, The Milk. Neil Gaiman ―I bought the milk,‖ said my father. ―I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m, I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.‖ “Hullo,” I said to myself. “That’s not something you see every day. And then something odd happened.” Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious New York Times bestselling story of time travel and breakfast ceral, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young.

Future Knight Tony Davis * In 1409, skinny, clumsy Roland, the ten-year-old son of a blacksmith, pursues his dream of becoming a knight.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key Jack Gantos * To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting weird.

The Kane Chronicles Rick Riordan* After their father's research experiment at the British Museum unleashes the Egyptian god Set, Carter and Sadie Kane embark on a dangerous journey across the globe—a quest which brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

The Kid Who Only Hit Homers Matt Christopher * A boy becomes a phenomenal baseball player one summer when a mysterious stranger resembling Babe Ruth befriends him.

The Luck Uglies Paul Durham Strange things are happening in Village Drowning, and a terrifying encounter has elven-year- old Rye O’Chanter convinced that the monstrous, supposedly extinct Bog Noblins have returned. Now Rye’s only hope is an exiled secret society so notorious its name can’t be spoken aloud: the Luck Uglies. As Rye dives into Village Drowning’s maze of secrets, rules, and lies, she’ll discover the truth behind the village’s legends of outlaws and beasts . . . and that it may take a villain to save them from the monsters.

Midnight for Charlie Bone Jenny Nimmo * Charlie Bone’s life with his widowed mother and two grandmothers undergoes a dramatic change when he discovers that he can hear people in photographs talking.

The Missing Chums (The Hardy Boy Teen Detective Series) Franklin W. Dixon (ESL recommendation) Two of the Hardy Boys take a motor trip down the coast. They disappear and are almost rescued by their friends when all area captured. This is a thrilling story of adventure.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg Rodman Philbrick (Newbery Honor Book)* Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

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.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science John Fleischman The story of Phineas Gage, a railroad construction foreman, who was blasting rock near Cavendish, VT in 1848 when a 13-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Learn how this man lived for 11 years, 6 months, and 19 days after the accident.

The Pig War Mark Holtzen When his parents send him to remote Mobray Island for a summer with his curmudgeonly grandfather, bookish Kell thinks his time is going to be a boring bust. But he and his boisterous sister Grace are quickly drawn into events from the island’s past – The Pig War of 1859. What was The Pig War? Did pigs actually fight? What if Kell and Grace are caught with the buried revolver they’ve uncovered? And why does their grandfather go fishing without his fishing gear? By summer’s end Kell learns that Mobray Island holds more adventure than he bargained for: shady ancestors, shadier neighbors, and even some discoveries about himself.

Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice Series) Joseph Delaney Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties."

Schooled Gordon Korman * Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.

A Single Shard Linda Sue Park (2002 Newbery Medal) Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters’ village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

Sounder William Armstrong (1970 Newbery medal) Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read with the help of the devoted .

There’s A Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom Louis Sachar * An unmanageable but lovable eleven-year-old misfit learns to believe in himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit, too.

The Titanic: An Interactive History Adventure Bob Temple It is 1912. Titanic, the world's largest and grandest ocean liner, is about to set sail. And YOU get to experience its historic first voyage.

Through My Eyes Ruby Bridges Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

Trouble Don’t Last Shelley Pearsall (Scott O’Dell Award winner) Samuel, and eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

A Week in the Woods Andrew Clements The fifth grade's annual camping trip in the woods tests Mark's survival skills and his ability to relate to a teacher who seems out to get him.

The Whipping Boy Sid Fleischman (1987 Newbery medal) * A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws.

*You may enjoy other books by this author or other books in this series note: Michael L. Printz Award (American Library Association award given for ―Excellence in Young Adult Literature‖) Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction