Books for 5th and 6th Graders
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Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller Mallory Moss knows the rules of middle school. The most important one? You have to fit in to survive. But then Jennifer Chan moves in across the street, and that rule doesn’t seem to apply. Jennifer doesn’t care about the laws of middle school … Then Jennifer goes missing. Using clues from Jennifer’s journals, Mallory goes searching. But the closer she gets, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run … and face the truth within herself. |
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Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros Best friends Isaac and Marco face various challenges in sixth grade, such as Isaac getting better grades, Marco winning a spot on the basketball team, and both seeing their efforts make a change in their respective family lives. They hope their friendship and support for one another will be enough to help them from falling short. |
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The Last Kids on Earth #8: The Last Kids on Earth and the Forbidden Fortress by Max Brallier Picking up after Quint and Dirk’s Hero Quest, the Last Kids are happily reunited–but quickly faced with a monstrous new mission. Inside an other-dimensional fortress, the evil Thrull, alongside a vile new villain, is carrying out a sinister plan. Jack, Quint, June and Dirk must make their own plans to infiltrate the stronghold before Thrull gets any closer to completing the mysterious Tower, a structure that could ultimately spell doom for this dimension. |
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Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
In 1573, the crippled, scorned, and destitute Meggy Swann goes to London, where she meets her father, an impoverished alchemist, and eventually discovers that although her legs are bent and weak, she has many other strengths. |
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Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
In his letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his problems in coping with his parents’ divorce, being the new boy in school, and generally finding his own place in the world. |
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Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Catcher by Bruce Coville
Small for his age but artistically talented, twelve-year-old Jeremy Thatcher unknowingly buys a dragon’s egg. |
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Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. Hers is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery. |
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Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others. |
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Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student. |
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
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. |
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Number the Starts by Lois Lowry
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis. |
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The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (The 39 Clues #1)
What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the source of the family’s power was hidden around the world, in the form of 39 clues? What if you were given a choice – take a million dollars and walk away … or get the first clue? If you’re Amy and Dan Cahill, you take the clue – and begin a very dangerous race. |
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The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Milo is bored, bored, bored. He’s too bored to do anything. When a mysterious tollbooth appears in his bedroom Milo picks up his toy car, pays the toll and drives it on through… to another world! In this magical new world Milo meets all kinds of creatures who are anything but dull. Setting out his exciting and dangerous journey Milo doesn’t have time to be bored anymore. |
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The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Gen is an accomplished thief, but when he tries to steal the King’s Seal things don’t turn out quite as planned. Thrown in to the dungeons Gen’s dragged out to be given a choice – steal for the King, or face death. It’s no easy task; the King wants Gen to steal Hamiathes’s Gift, a creation of the God’s that gives its owner the right to rule. For Gen it’s a simple choice, steal the stone for the King… or die trying. |
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Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Esperanza has a wonderful life, with all the treasures a girl could want, fancy dresses, servants, a grand estate. Esperanza is destined to be the mistress of it all when a tragedy strikes and her father dies. Forced to flee to California with her mother Esperanza’s new life couldn’t be more different from the one she left behind in Mexico. The challenge of hard work and poverty are one thing, but Esperanza’s toughest task is letting go of the past and facing up to her new future in America. |
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Matilda by Roald Dahl
Matilda is very clever, much cleverer than her parents in fact. Living with her beastly parents and her good for nothing brother Matilda teachers herself to read using magazines and newspapers. By the time she’s five Matilda has read all the children’s books in the library… and half the adult books too! |
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Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith
When Babe is little he’s taken in by Farmer Hogget’s sheepdog, Fly. Babe adores his foster mom and wants only to follow in her footsteps and be the best sheepdog there is. There’s just one problem, Babe is a pig. Just how is a pig going to become the best sheepdog ever? |
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Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillio
Ten year old Opal adopts a big, ugly, lovable dog named Winn-Dixie after he’s abandoned at a local store. Winn-Dixie helps Opal make new friends in the strange new town her and her father have just moved to. More importantly, because of Winn-Dixie Opal finds a way to talk to her father and find out more about the mother she hasn’t seen since she was three years old. |