Summer Reading List for Incoming

Sixth Graders

Fiction

Abbott, Tony.  FIREGIRL.  Jessica has been in a fire and was badly burned.  Despite her startling appearance, Tom Bender, a seventh grade classmate, slowly develops a tentative friendship with Jessica that changes him.

Fox, Paula.  WESTERN WIND. Twelve year-old Elizabeth is angry about spending the summer in Maine with her grandmother, but nothing can prepare her for what is to come.

Henry, Marguerite.  MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE.  Paul and Maureen capture and tame Phantom, a beautiful wild mare, and her foal, Misty.

Hite, Sid.  IT’S NOTHING TO A MOUNTAIN.  Two young teenagers try to adjust to the death of their parents. 

Kehret, Peg.  EARTHQUAKE TERROR.  Jonathan and Abby’s parents have just rushed to the emergency room, leaving their children alone when an earthquake strikes the island where they are camping.  The book recounts the children’s survival efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds.  JADE GREEN.  A girl living with her uncle in a haunted home that has odd transgressions.  A ghost story. 

Park, Barbara.  SKINNYBONES.  Alex’s sense of humor helps him to get along with the school braggart, make the most of his limited athletic ability and small size, and cope with life.

Pitts, Paul.  RACING THE SUN.  Brandon Rogers begins to learn some new lessons about heritage and love when his Navajo grandfather moves from the reservation into Brandon’s room.

Rylant, Cynthis.  THE ISLANDER.  Living with his grandfather on an island off British Columbia, 10 year-old Daniel feels deep loneliness until the night he meets a mermaid whose identity he tries to learn.

Steig, William.  ABEL’S ISLAND.  When Abel, a mouse, is unexpectedly swept away by flood waters and dumped on an island, he is forced to use all his resourcefulness to survive and to find his way home.

Taylor, Mildred.  SONG OF THE TREES.  Cassie’s family is deeply attached to the forest on the land where they live.  While Cassie’s father is away, the family tries to save the trees from being destroyed by an unscrupulous man.

Woodruff, Elvira.  GEORGE WASHINGTON’S SOCKS.  During a campout, five children are transported back to George Washington’s time, where they learn the sober realities of the Revolutionary War.

NonFiction

Kehret, Peg.  SMALL STEPS.  Peg Kehret, author of the Frightmare series, tells the story of her struggles to survive a severe case of polio at the age of twelve.  She uses humor in describing her emotional and physical battles against the dreaded disease.

Murphy, Jim.  THE BOYS’ WAR.  This book includes diary entries, personal letters, and archival photographs describing the experiences of boys, 16 years old or younger, who fought in the Civil War.

Reiss, Johanna.  THE UPSTAIRS ROOM.  This is a recollection of a Jewish child who was forced to hide from the Nazis in Holland during World War II.

Shura, Mary Francis.  GENTLE ANNIE.  This book describes the conflicts of the Civil War through the story of Annie Etheridge, who entered the Union Army at the age of 16.

Simon, Seymour.  EARTHQUAKES.  The phenomenon of earthquakes is examined, including descriptions of how and where they occur, how they can be predicted, and how much damage they can inflict.