LTMS 6Th Grade Language Arts Summer Reading List Please Select Two Books from the List Below to Read During Summer Break

LTMS 6th Grade Language Arts Summer Reading List Please select two books from the list below to read during summer break. Be prepared for an assessment activity when school begins in the fall. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko Moose Flannigan, 12, is dismayed when his family moves to Alcatraz after his father gets a new job as a prison guard. Life on the island is confining, the warden’s daughter is a pain, and baseball is the best game around. An American Plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy (Non-Fiction) Provides an account of the yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia in 1793, discussing the chaos that erupted when people began evacuating in droves, leaving the city without government, goods, or services, and examining efforts by physicians, the Free African Society, and others to cure and care for the sick. Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley A modern fairy tale story of a girl who was left by her father, an arrogant and unpleasant knight, to be raised by her nurse, after her mother’s death. When she is older and has been summoned to her father’s household, she finds that her new stepmother is unwelcoming and there is no place to sleep except in the kitchen. Bella uses her powers to change the destiny of the kingdom and save the prince she loves. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. Chinese Cinderella: the True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah The author tells the story of her painful childhood in China where she lived until the age of fourteen with her father, stepmother, and siblings, all of whom considered her bad luck because her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. Elijah of Buxton by 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. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Schlitz (Non-Fiction) A collection of short one-person plays featuring characters, between ten and fifteen years old, who live in or near a thirteenth-century English manor. Hardy Boys Mysteries by Franklin Dixon If you enjoy mysteries you will love these classics. Students may select any title from the original series but their second choice must be another book from this list. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (Non-Fiction) Examines the history of the United States, focusing on events that influenced African-Americans and how they advanced liberty and justice in America. The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda Through an heirloom music box, Leo, a serious, responsible boy, and his badly-behaved cousin Mimi enter the magical world of Rondo to rescue Mimi's dog from a sorceress, who wishes to exchange him for the key that allows free travel between worlds. Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel by Xavier Garza Eleven-year-old Maximilian, a big fan of lucha libre, makes an unexpected connection with his idol, the Guardian Angel, when he takes a tumble over the railing at a match in San Antonio. Nancy Drew Mysteries by Carolyn Keene If you enjoy mysteries you will love these classics. Students may select any title from the original series but their second choice must be another book from this list. No More Dead Dogs by Gordan Korman Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp. Penny from Heaven by Jennifer Holm Penny Falucci is 11 in 1953 when she learns the secret that has kept her mother and her deceased father’s family apart since she was a baby. Restrictions on Italian Americans during World War II, the fear of polio, wringer washing machines, and Penny’s mother starting to date the milkman combine to make this an interesting story of an imperfect family. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett A ten-year-old orphan comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors where she discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden. The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like. Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata After Pearl Harbor is attacked, twelve year old Sumiko and her family are relocated from their flower farm in California to an internment camp in Arizona. The camp is on a Mohave Indian reservation. Sumiko struggles to adjust to her new surroundings, becomes friends with a Mohave boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop someday. Challenging Reads Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien With nowhere else to turn, a field mouse asks the clever escaped lab rats living under the rosebush to help save her son, who lies in the path of the farmer's tractor, too ill to be moved. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson (Non-Fiction) Draws on stories from survivors and archival photographs to describe the history of the "Titanic" from its launch to its sinking. Uglies by Scott Westerfield Tally is faced with a difficult choice when her new friend Shay decides to risk life on the outside rather than submit to the forced operation that turns sixteen year old girls into gorgeous beauties, and realizes that there is a whole new side to the pretty world that she doesn't like. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left. ***LTMS students who participate in Lexington Public Library’s summer reading program can earn double credit if the book they are reading is on a required reading list. For example, if you read a required reading book for 15 minutes, you get to check off two 15 minute boxes for a total of 30 minutes toward your 15 hour reading goal. If you complete 15 hours of reading, you will earn a paperback book of your choice, a prize bag with coupons to area businesses and attractions and an entry form for a drawing of $25 gift cards to area stores.*** .

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