EASTCHESTER MIDDLE SCHOOL

GRADE 6 SUMMER READING LIST 2016

REALISTIC FICTION

Applegate, Katharine. The One and Only Ivan

 Newbery Award. 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. “In the tradition of timeless stories like Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan's unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.” (from the publisher)

Avi. S.O.R. Losers

 A compulsory soccer team made up of seventh graders uninterested in sports, struggles to keep a winning attitude through a losing season. Also try: Midnight Magic; Perloo the Bold; The Secret School.

Clements, Andrew. The Report Card

Fifth-grader Nora Rowley has always hidden the fact that she is a genius. All she wants is to be normal. When she comes up with a plan to prove that grades are not important, things begin to get out of control. Also try Frindle, Lunch Money, The Landry News.

Creech, Sharon. Absolutely Normal Chaos

A prequel to the Newbery Medal-winning Walk Two Moons, Mary Lou's summer journal -- which she begins grudgingly as a dreaded assignment for school, becomes a hilarious chronicle of the circle of people and events that make her summer a time filled with lessons and observations on love, death, friendship, and family. Also try The Wanderer, Replay and Love That Dog!

Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods

 A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her. Others are: Lilly’s Crossing, Gift of the Pirate Queen, House of Tailors, Water Street.

Palacio, R.J. Wonder

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. “August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid--but his new classmates can't get past Auggie's extraordinary face. Wonder begins from Auggie's point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community's struggle with empathy, were born to stand out.” (from the publisher) NY Times Bestseller.

Stead, Rebecca. Liar and Spy

 “Brooklyn seventh-grader Georges's family has just moved, his best friend has ditched him, and he's endlessly bullied. So when his new neighbor offers to train him as a spy, Georges figures, why not? Spare and elegant prose, wry humor, deft plotting, and the presentation of complex ideas in an accessible way make this novel much more than just a mystery-with-a-twist.” (Horn Book) See also Stead’s Newbery Award winning When You Reach Me.

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl

“Did you see her?  You see her?”  This is all Leo hears as he walks the halls, and he soon meets the infamous new girl, Stargirl.  With her ukulele in the cafeteria, flowers on her desk, strange pets and even stranger ideas about happiness she certainly gets their attention, and yours too!  Also try Loser, Maniac Magee, Crash, Wringer, Eggs and the latest Love, Stargirl!!

Vail, Rachel & Avi. Never Mind

Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg's hopes for popularity and Edward's mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.

Vail, Rachel. Lucky

As Phoebe and her clique of privileged girlfriends get ready to graduate from eighth grade, a financial scandal threatens her family's security--as well as Phoebe's social status--but ultimately it teaches her the real meaning of friendship. Next in the series, Gorgeous and Brilliant.

HISTORICAL FICTION

Cowley, Marjorie. The Golden Bull

 Brother and sister Jomar and Zefa must learn to respect each others' strengths and build a new relationship when they are sent from their home by their father to the city of Ut in ancient Mesopotamia, where Jomar becomes an apprentice to a master goldsmith who is embellishing a magnificent lyre to be used in the temple.

           

LANGUAGE

Lunge-Larsen, Lise.  Gifts from the Gods

Ancient words and wisdom from Greek and Roman Mythology
Ancient names come to rich and fascinating life in this lavishly illustrated book for mythology fans and word lovers. From the ancient stories of the Greeks — stories that rang so true and wise that the names of the characters have survived for centuries as words we use every day. The brief stories here not only impart the subtle wisdom of these ancient tales, but make us understand the words, and our own world, more deeply. (from the publisher)

MYSTERY

Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead

 Set in 14^th century England, a boy known as “Asta’s son” is fingered for the village priest’s murder and is wanted dead or alive. A real page-turner.

Feinstein, John. The Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery

Two teenage sportswriters try to uncover a blackmail scheme at the NCAA Final Four. "Young basketball fans will most appreciate the caper, but mystery buffs will also turn these pages eagerly," (Publisher’s Weekly)

Riordan, Rick. 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones

Orphans Amy and Dan belong to a rich and powerful family related to nearly everyone important in history. When their grandmother dies, she leaves 39 clues, spread across the planet, to a treasure that will make the finder immensely powerful. So all the relatives, none of them decent or honest (except Amy and Dan, of course), compete to find and solve the clues while trying to eliminate their competition.

Korman, Gordon. Swindle

 Griffin Bing’s family needs money and he discovers the solution to all of their problems- a 1920 Babe Ruth baseball card found in an abandoned home. Unfortunately, the local pawn shop swindles him out of the card, and he and his friends set out to right the wrong.

SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl

When a twelve-year old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology and a particularly nasty troll. (Available on CD in the school library.) Read what follows: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl: Eternity Code, and Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.  Also try Wish List, and Supernaturalist.

DuPrau, Jeanne. City of Ember

In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions and to try to save her world.  Then catch the sequel People of Sparks or the prequel Prophet of Yonwood.

Funke, Cornelia. Thief Lord

Welcome to the magical underworld of Venice, Italy, where hidden canals and crumbling rooftops shelter runaways and children with incredible secrets. Don’t forget Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath and Dragon Rider!

MacHale, D.J. Merchant of Death – Book 1 in the Pendragon Series

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon, having learned he is a Traveler--someone who can ride "flumes" through time and space-- is soon off to the alternative dimension of Denduron where he teams up with Loor, a girl his age from the warrior-territory of Zadaa, in an attempt to save the gentle Milago people from slavery. Lots of adventure, and the series continues. Be sure to read them all!

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief  

What if the gods of Olympus were alive in the 21^st century? What if they fell in love with mortals and had children who might become great heroes – like Theseus, Jason and Hercules. What if you were one of those children? Such is the discovery that launches 12 year old Percy Jackson on the most dangerous quest of his life. More books follow in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Hale, Shannon and Hale, Dean. Rapunzel’s Revenge

 The well-known fairy tale gets revamped with Rapunzel rescuing herself and others with her long braids she uses as lassos and weapons.

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Even though Greg Heffley would rather play video games with his friend Rowley than write in the journal that his mother gives him, he uses it to record, in pictures and in text, the harrowing and clever ways in which he navigates the middle school social scene. Undersized and skinny, Greg has adventures that center on how he manages to separate himself from the geeks and how he evades bigger bullies by employing quick wit and harebrained ideas.

Runton, Andy. Owly, Volume 1: The Way Home and the Bittersweet Summer

Owly is a kind, yet lonely, little owl who's always on the lookout for new friends and adventure. In this comic Owly discovers the meaning of friendship and that saying goodbye doesn't always mean forever.

Siegel, Siena Cherson. To Dance: A Memoir

Dancers are young when they first dream of dance. Siena was six -- and her dreams kept skipping and leaping, circling and spinning, from airy runs along a beach near her home in Puerto Rico, to dance class in Boston, to her debut performance on stage with the New York City Ballet.

Smith, Jeff. Bone: Out from Boneville

 Meet Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, three cousins who are run out of their home, Boneville, and become separated in the wilds, but reunite at a farmstead in a deep forested valley, where Fone meets a young girl named Thorn.

SPORTS: FICTION

Lupica, Mike. Travel Team

Danny is crushed when he is cut from the travel basketball team because he is too short, but he suspects that it is really because of bad blood between his father and the coach. So, he and the others who were cut form their own squad, coached by Danny’s father, but really under Danny's leadership, head to the climactic game against their arch rivals. Summerball is the sequel. He’s also written Heat, Wild Pitch, Miracle on 49^th Street.

Ritter, John. The Boy Who Saved Baseball

The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato. Look for Over the Wall or Choosing Up Sides.

SPORTS: NON-FICTION

Gatto, Kimberly. Derek Jeter: A Baseball Star Who Cares (Sports Stars Who Care – series)
Learn about Derek Jeter and how he knew when he was a child that he wanted to be where he is today. In this sports biography, follow Derek as he goes from becoming a great high school baseball player to an All-Star starting shortstop for the New York Yankees

Students may read other books in the Sports Stars Who Care series including Lionel Messi, Tim Tebow, Dwight Howard, Shaun White, and Eli Manning.

Rappoport, Ken.  Derek Jeter: Champion Baseball Star  (Sports Star Champion - series)

Discusses the life of New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, including his childhood and minor-league career, individual highlights from his major-league career, and his championship seasons with the Yankees.

Students may read other books in the Sports Star Champions series including: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Payton Manning, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

NON-FICTION

Deem, James. Bodies from the Ice

 In 1991 mountain climbers in the Italian Alps came across a body uncovered by the melting of a glacier. First thought to be from the 1800s, a long missing hiker perhaps, scientific investigation revealed that the person was actually 5,300 years old. Beginning with this fascinating story, the author looks at how the melting of glaciers is revealing a previously unknown historical record.

Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamen: The Mystery of the Boy King

The author, an esteemed archeologist, who has directed several excavations in Egypt, draws on impressive first- hand experience, including his own research at Tutankhamen’s tomb, to write a compelling biography of the boy king. Extraordinary photographs and archival materials enrich the narrative.

Philbrick, Nathaniel. Revenge of the Whale; the True Story of the Whaleship Essex

Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship "Essex" by an enraged whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds. (Available on CD in the library)