Summer Reading List -- Middle

This list of recommended vacation reading for the middle grades is provided by Penguin Young Readers Group and Dorling Kindersley.
Grades:
6 |
7 |
8
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The Islander
by Cynthia Rylant
ISBN: 0789424908
Book Description: Living with his grandfather on an island off British Columbia, orphaned ten-year-old Daniel feels deep loneliness until the night he meets a mermaid whose identity he tries to learn.

Island of the Aunts
by Eva Ibbotson
ISBN: 0525464840
Book Description: As they get older, several sisters decide that they must kidnap children and bring them to their secluded island home to help with the work of caring for an assortment of unusual sea creatures.

Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
ISBN: 0805019642
Book Description: In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium temporarily when the others emigrate to America.

A Long Way from Chicago
by Richard Peck
ISBN: 0803722907
Book Description: A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.

Lord of the Flies
by Tim Wynne-Jones
ISBN: 0789426234
Book Description: This wonderfully wise and witty new collection is full of surprises as ordinary kids in offbeat situations uncover the unexpected – about themselves and others.

Love Among the Walnuts
by Jean Ferris
ISBN: 0152015906
Book Description: Born and raised in isolation in a wealthy, eccentric family, Sandy is shocked when he, his parents, and their servants become victims of a vicious plot by his greedy uncles to incapacitate them and take their money.

Love from Your Friend, Hannah
by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky
ISBN: 0789424924
Book Description: Here is a year of letters, at times hilarious, at others touching or suspenseful. The principal correspondent is Hannah Diamond of quiet Grand View, NY, who writes one day to Edward Winchley, a farm boy of Wichita, KS.

Milly Stories
by Joyce Lankester Brisley
ISBN: 789424916
Book Description: Unlike her aunt, 11-year-old Millie, who lives in the funeral home run by her uncle, finds it very difficult to determine who's peculiar and who's not, even as she learns to understand and accept herself.

Miracle's Boys
by Jacqueline Woodson
ISBN: 0399231137
Book Description: Twelve-year-old Lafayette's close relationship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames Lafayette for the death of their mother.

On the Fringe
by Donald R. Gallo
ISBN: 0803726562
Book Description: Offering insights into popularity and peer pressure, nonconformity and persecution, acceptance and hate, these riveting, provocative tales will leave readers thinking and start them talking. Stories by: Joan Bauer, Alden R. Carter, Chris Crutcher, Jack Gantos, Angela Johnson, M. E. Kerr, Ron Koertge, Francess Lantz, Graham Salisbury, Will Weaver, Nancy Werlin.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor
ISBN: 0803774737
Book Description: This is an extraordinarily moving novel not easily forgotten. Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, it is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence.

The Secret Platform 13
by Eva Ibbotson
ISBN: 0525459294
Book Description: Odge Gribble, a young hag, accompanies an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on their mission through a magical tunnel from their Island to London to rescue their King and Queen's son who had been stolen as an infant.

Stranger in Dadland
by Amy Goldman Koss
ISBN: 0803725639
Book Description: Twelve-year-old John develops a new understanding of his divorced father during an eventful summer visit to California.

The Thief
by Megan Whalen Turner
ISBN: 0140388346
Book Description: Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes in the adventure that takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone.

The Truth Out There
by Celia Rees
ISBN: 0789426684
Book Description: Thirteen-year-old Josh begins digging into the mystery of his Uncle Patrick, an autistic boy who died at Josh's age while investigating the crash of a flying saucer, and a terrible family secret is uncovered.

Voices in the Park
by Anthony Browne
ISBN: 078942522X
Book Description: Four people enter a park, and through their eyes we see four different visions. There's the bossy woman, the sad man, the lonely boy, and the young girl whose warmth touches those she meets. As the story moves from one voice to another, their perspectives are reflected in the shifting landscape and seasons.

We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera
by Doris Orgel
ISBN: 0789425866
Book Description: In "life" they hardly got along, but their book is a triumph of witty, robust, spell-casting collaboration. The Greek myths have never before been told by their leading ladies, or ever before in such a charming, conversational, yet dramatic and modern way.

The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin
ISBN: 0140386645
Book Description: The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

The Wings of Merlin
by T. A. Baron
ISBN: 039923456X
Book Description: Merlin's fragile home on the isle of Fincayra is threatened by the attack of a mysterious warrior with swords for arms, and by the escape of Stangmar from his imprisonment, as Merlin continues to move toward his ultimate destiny.

A Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
ISBN: 0803725183
Book Description: During the recession of 1937, 15-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman.

Summer Reading Activities
Ask students to complete these activities for their summer reading.

Writing a Book Report
Problem and Solution

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