H.B. Thompson Summer reading list
Middle School Fiction
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson. Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster. 9781481498548.
16-year old Elena discovers that she has the ability to save people, but in the process, raptures others in a golden light. Now, the voices Elena has been hearing since she was little are telling her it's the end of the world, and the people disappearing in a golden light are being saved. Elena must make the difficult choice whether to condemn humanity, or "save the world" like the voices are telling her to do. Grade 8+
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Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian. Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House. 9781524767099. At the age of six, Theodosia lost everything she ever cared about and was forced into a life of torture under the unmerciful Kaiser, surviving by pushing her true self down. One night, the Kaiser forces her to do something unthinkable, sparking a rebellion inside of her. She has one weapon: her mind and she is determined to use it. Grade 7+
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Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu. Random House Children’s Books/Penguin Random House. 9780399549809.
Bruce Wayne is about to inherit his parents' fortune and their company, but first must do community service and ends up volunteering at Arkham Asylum. There, he meets Madeline who is unlike any one he has ever seen. Bruce must uncover why Madeline is there in the first place to make sure the people he cares about don't end up dead. Grade 8+
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The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. Freeform Books/Disney Book Group. 9781484728499. Camille Beauregard is a talented belle, working to become the queen's favorite since she was born. When the queen asks her to do something that goes against all the rules she's been taught her whole life, Camille must decide on the kind of person she wants to be. Grade 8+
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Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson. Henry Holt & Co. 9781250159014. Kazi is one of the Queen’s premier guard, and Jase is the new head of an outlaw family. Together their paths are crossed as they play the game of deception. As they betray and are betrayed, Jase and Kazi battle through a roller coaster of deceit, accusations, and possibly even love. Grade 8+
______Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. Dial Books/Penguin Random House. 9780525552963. Darius doesn't feel like he fits in anywhere, not at home and definitely not at school. When his family decides to take a trip to Iran to visit his mom's family, Darius is certain things will be even worse there than at home. Lonely and depressed, Darius feels utterly lost, until Sohrab shows up and changes everything. Grade 8+
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Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee. 9781368013352 Min, a thirteen-year-old girl with fox-magic, stows away on a battle cruiser and impersonates a cadet in order to solve the mystery of what happened to her older brother in the Thousand World Space Forces. Grade 4-6
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Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake. HMH Books for Young Readers/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 9781328778239.
Torn between the family she loves and her own sense of right and wrong, Mara is feeling lost after her friend, Hannah, accuses Owen, Mara’s twin, of rape. As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie (Mara’s ex) navigate this terrain, Mara must face a trauma from her past and decide where and if Charlie fits into her future. Grade 8+
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Hey, kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. (Graphic novel) 9780545902472 In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy. But Jarrett's family is much more complicated than that. His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. His father is a mystery—Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is. Jarrett lives with his grandparents—two very loud, very loving, very opinionated people who had thought they were through with raising children until Jarrett came along. Grade 7+
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Illegal by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin ; art by Giovanni Rigano ; lettering by Chris Dickey. (Graphic novel) 9781492665823
A powerfully moving graphic novel by New York Times bestselling author Eoin Colfer and the team behind the Artemis Fowl graphic novels that explores the current plight of undocumented immigrants. Ebo is alone. His brother, Kwame, has disappeared, and Ebo knows it can only be to attempt the hazardous journey to Europe, and a better life—the same journey their sister set out on months ago. But Ebo refuses to be left behind in Ghana. He sets out after Kwame and joins him on the quest to reach Europe. Ebo's epic journey takes him across the Sahara Desert to the dangerous streets of Tripoli, and finally out to the merciless sea. But with every step he holds on to his hope for a new life, and a reunion with his family. Grades 6-8. ______
On the come up by Angie Thomas. 9780062498564 When sixteen-year-old Bri, an aspiring rapper, pours her anger and frustration into her first song, she finds herself at the center of a controversy. Grade 8+
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Pride by Ibi Zoboi. 9780062564047 After the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri is forced to find common ground with Darius, while struggling with her four wild sisters, a handsome boy vying for her attention, and college applications. Grade 8+
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The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. HarperTeen/HarperCollins. 9780062662804. Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook. When she discovers slam poetry, it becomes a way to help her understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Grade 7+
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The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. (Graphic novel) First Second/Macmillian. 9781250159854. Prince Sebastian has a secret that he keeps from everyone else. At night, he puts on a dress and disguises as Lady Crystallia. Only his dressmaker Frances knows about it. This means that both the prince and Frances would have to keep this a secret. But can Frances continue to defer her dreams to protect a friend? Grade 6+
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Restart by Gordan Korman. Scholastic Press. 9781338053777. Chase’s memory just went out the window. Chase doesn’t remember falling off the roof. He doesn’t remember hitting his dead. He doesn’t , in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again...starting with his own name. He knows he’s Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return. It becomes clear that it is not only a question of who Chase is, it is a question of who he was and who he is going to be.
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Song for a whale by Lynne Kelly. 9781524770235 Twelve-year-old Iris and her grandmother, both deaf, drive from Texas to Alaska armed with Iris's plan to help Blue-55, a whale unable to communicate with other whales. Grades 4-6 ______
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll. (Graphic novel) Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan. 9780374300289.
Melinda has a terrible secret; she was raped at a party during the summer by a high school senior. When she starts high school in the fall, she is shunned by her classmates because she called the police to the party at which she was attacked. This graphic novel describes her imminent struggle to overcome the shame of being a victim and an outcast. Grade 8+
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The unsung hero of Birdsong USA by Brenda Woods. 9781524737092 Gabriel, twelve, gains new perspective when he becomes friends with Meriwether, a Black World War II hero who has recently returned to the unwelcoming Jim Crow South. Grades 4-6
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The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown. HMH Books for Young Readers/Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt. 9781328810151.
The Unwanted illustrates the refugee crisis in its beginning and its ongoing course of misery, bombings, and death that leave the refugees in constant fear. It explores the stories of refugees just searching for hope and a future, not only for themselves but for their children. Grade 8+
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Wildcard by Marie Lu. G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House. 9780399547997.
After making it out of the Warcross Championships alive, Emika Chen is determined to stop Hideo's NeuroLink algorithm that can control minds. As Emika bands with the Phoenix Riders, she finds herself under a bounty, one that makes her chances of survival depend on Zero and the Blackcoats. Emika soon learns that Zero isn't what he seems - and that his protection comes at a price. Grade 8+
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Middle School Nonfiction
The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor written by Sonia Sotomayor. 9781524771140 A portrait of determination and strength, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor describes her rise from a trying childhood in the South Bronx. Offering full credit to those who helped along the way, this beloved Justice offers gentle advice for young readers. Grade 4-7.
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Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam written by Elizabeth Partridge. 9780142423752 A chronological account of the Vietnam War as experienced at home and in the field, from a wide variety of perspectives. Stories of eight young soldiers are highlighted by means of personal interviews and thoughtfully chosen photographs. Grades 7-8.
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Taking cover: one girl's story of growing up during the Iranian Revolution by Nioucha Homayoonfar ; foreword by Firoozeh Dumas. 9781426333668
This coming-of-age memoir, set during the Iranian Revolution, tells the true story of a young girl who moves to Tehran from the U.S. and has to adjust to living in a new country, learning a new language, and starting a new school during one of the most turbulent periods in Iran's history. Grade 6+
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The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler written and illustrated by John Hendrix. 9781419728389
A true and gripping spy story, this graphic biography describes pivotal moments in the career of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose religious faith led him to devote his life to the German Resistance to Hitler. Visual metaphors in the powerful illustrations convey the looming danger. Grade 7+
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The grand escape: the greatest prison breakout of the 20th century by Neal Bascomb. 9781338140347 The story of a group of Allied POWs in WWI who dared to escape from Germany's most notorious prison camp, Holzminden. Grade 8+