Booklist for 6^th Grade and Up

*Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead—Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. 

*Carman, Patrick. The Dark Hills Divide (The Land of Elyon series)—When she finds the key to a secret passageway leading out of the walled city of Bridewell, twelve-year-old Alexa realizes her lifelong wish to explore the mysterious forests and mountains that lie beyond the wall.  

*Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You—As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from “normal teenage life” until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.     

*Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen—When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it.     

*Colfen, 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.     

*Collins, Suzanne. Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles)—When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.

*Flanagan, John. The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger’s Apprentice series)—When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger.

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

*Grogan, John. Marley: A Dog Like No Other—A true account of a dog named Marley adopted for young readers from Grogan's Marley & Me.

*Han, Jenny. Shug—A twelve-year-old girl learns about friendship, first loves, and self-worth in a small town in the South. 

*Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians series)—After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

*Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid—Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

*Konigsburg, E.L. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place—Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her grand uncles have been building in their back yard for over forty years.

*Lord, Cynthia. Rules—Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

*Lowry, Lois. The Giver—Given his lifetime assignment at the ceremony of twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in the community.

*Lubar, David. Hidden Talents—When thirteen-year-old Martin arrives at an alternative school for misfits and problem students, he falls in with a group of boys with psychic powers and discovers something surprising about himself.

*Mikaelsen, Ben. Touching Spirit Bear—After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and is sent to a remote Alaskan island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

*Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike, Inside the Shadow City—Life becomes more interesting for Ananka Fishbein when, at the age of twelve, she discovers an underground room in the park across from her New York City apartment and meets a mysterious girl called Kiki Strike who claims that she, too, wants to explore the subterranean world.

*Nimmo, Jenny. Midnight for Charlie Bone (The Children of the Red King series)—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.

*Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard—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. 

*Paulsen, Gary. Lawn Boy—Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.

*Philbrick, W.R. Freak the Mighty—At the beginning of eighth grade, learning-disabled Max and his new friend, Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces, they make a powerful team.

*Sachar, Louis. Holes—As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

*Sage, Angie. Magyk (Septimus Heap series)—After learning that she is the Princess, Jenna is whisked from her home and carried toward safety by the Extraordinary Wizard, those she always believed were her father and brother, and a young guard known only as Boy 412--pursued by agents of those who killed her mother ten years earlier.

*Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars—During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker’s classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in.

*Schmidt, Gary D. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy—In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers—and Turner's—want to change into a tourist spot.

*Shusterman, Neal. The Schwa Was Here—Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an “invisible-ish” boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.

*Sonnenblick, Jordan. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie—When his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-year-old Steven tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his school life, and his desire to support his family.

*Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee—After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee’s life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries. 

*Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl—In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

*Van Draanen, Wendelin. Flipped—In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years.  

*Included in Belmont Collection