Grades 6 – 7

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The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

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In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.

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Artemis Fowl **series

Eoin Colfer

Book CoverWhen 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.

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Walk Two Moons

by Sharon Creech

Book CoverAfter her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother’s route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Jacqueline Kelly

Book CoverIn central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

 

 

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The City of Ember

Jeanne Duprau

Book CoverIn 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.

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The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman; with illustrations by Dave McKean

Book CoverAfter the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

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My Side of the Mountain

written and illustrated by Jean Craighead George

Book CoverA young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.

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Hoot

Carl Hiaasen

Book CoverRoy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy’s attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.

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Stormbreaker

Anthony Horowitz

Book CoverAfter the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle’s dangerous work for Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6.

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Warriors **series

Erin Hunter

Book CoverFor generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest. When their warrior code is threatened by mysterious deaths, a house cat named Rusty may turn out to be the bravest warrior of all.

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Schooled

Gordon Korman

Book CoverAfter his hippie grandmother ends up in the hospital, Cap Anderson is forced to leave the commune where he is homeschooled and attend Claverage Middle School, where his odd looks and behavior make him the target of bullies.

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I’m a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President

Josh Lieb

Book CoverOmaha, Nebraska, twelve-year-old Oliver Watson has everyone convinced that he is extremely stupid and lazy, but he is actually a very wealthy, evil genius, and when he decides to run for seventh-grade class president, nothing will stand in his way.

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The Call of the Wild

Jack London, Martin Gascoigne (Illustrator)

Book CoverThe adventures of an unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, that is forcibly taken to the Klondike gold fields where he eventually becomes the leader of a wolf pack

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The Big Field

Mike Lupica

Book CoverWhen fourteen-year-old baseball player Hutch feels threatened by the arrival of a new teammate named Darryl, he tries to work through his insecurities about both Darryl and his remote and silent father, who was once a great ballplayer too.

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Mister Monday: The Keys to the Kingdom **series

Garth Nix

Book CoverArthur Penhaligon is supposed to die at a young age, but is saved by a key that is shaped like the minute hand of a clock. The key causes bizarre creatures to come from another realm, bringing with them a plague. A man named Mister Monday will stop at nothing to get the key back. Arthur goes to a mysterious house that only he can see, so that he can learn the truth about himself and the key.

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Bread and Roses, Too

Katherine Paterson

Book CoverJake and Rosa, two children, form an unlikely friendship as they try to survive and understand the 1912 Bread and Roses strike of mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

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Maximum Ride **series

James Patterson

Book CoverAfter the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the “birdkids,” who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

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Lawn Boy

Gary Paulsen

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Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.

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Holes

Louis Sachar

Book CoverAs 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.

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Elephant Run

Roland Smith

Book CoverNick endures servitude, beatings, and more after his British father’s plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in 1941, and when his father and others are taken prisoner and Nick is stranded with his friend Mya, they plan a daring escape on elephants, risking their lives to save Nick’s father and Mya’s brother from a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

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When You Reach Me

Rebecca Stead

Book CoverFour mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever. By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.

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The Amulet of Samarkand

Jonathan Stroud

Book CoverNathaniel, a magician’s apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace.

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Sammy Keyes **series

Wendelin Van Draanen; [illustrations by Dan Yaccarino]

Book CoverWhen cats begin to mysteriously disappear in Santa Martina, thirteen-year-old friends Sammy and Holly start snooping around town to find out what is happening.

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