Webster Reads 2013: Middle School
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BOOKS FOR STUDENTS ENTERING 6TH - 8TH GRADE
Louisa May Alcott. Little
Women.
The classic story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in
nineteenth-century New England. Book Trailer
Laurie Halse Anderson. Fever
1793.Sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick
mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope
with the horrors of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in
1793. Book Trailer
Katherine Applegate. The
One and Only Ivan. Newbery Medal Winner
When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in
a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been
added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better
life. Book Trailer 1 Book Trailer 2
Marc Aronson and H. P. Newquist. For
Boys Only: the Baddest Book Ever.
Information on a variety of topics of interest
to boys, such as how to fight off an alligator, make fake blood, escape from
being tied-up, land an airplane, and much more.
Avi. Crispin: the Cross of
Lead. (Newbery Medal winner) Crispin: at the Edge of the World;
Crispin: The End of Time. Falsely accused of theft and declared a
"wolf's head" (whom any man may kill) after his mother's death,
humble, pious Crispin flees the feudal village where he was raised and the
steward who wants him dead. Taken in as an apprentice by a massive, red-haired,
itinerant juggler who calls himself Bear, Crispin learns about music and
mummery, about freedom and questioning fate, and about his own mysterious
parentage that seems to be the reason behind the steward's continuing pursuit
of him. Set in fourteenth century England. Newbery Award
2002 Book Trailer
Avi. Nothing But the Truth: A
Documentary Novel.
A ninth-grader's suspension for singing
"The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news
story. Newbery Honor Book. Book Trailer
Blue Balliett. Chasing
Vermeer; The Wright Three; The Calder Game.
When seemingly unrelated and strange events
start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds
Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. Book Trailer 1 Book Trailer 2
Joan Bauer. Almost Home.
When twelve-year-old Sugar's grandfather dies
and her gambling father takes off yet again, Sugar and her mother lose their
home in Missouri. With the help of a rescue dog, Shush; a foster family; a
supportive teacher; a love of poetry; and her own grace and good humor, Sugar
comes to understand that while she can't control the hand life deals her, she
can control how she responds.
Michael D. Beil. Summer
at Forsaken Lake.
Twelve-year-old Nicholas and his ten-year-old,
twin sisters, Hetty and Haley, spend the summer with their Great-Uncle Nick at
Forsaken Lake, where he and their new friend Charlie investigate the truth
about an accident involving their families many years before.
Pseudonymous Bosch. The
Name of This Book is Secret; If You're Reading This, It's Too Late; This Book
is Not Good For You; This Isn’t What It Looks Like. Secret series. (only
one can count)
Cassandra and Max find a missing magician's
notebook and start to investigate the fire that burned down his house and his
mysterious "symphony of smells. Book Trailer
Linda Buckley Archer. The
Time Travelers; The Time Thief; The Time Quake. The Gideon Trilogy.
When an attempt to bring Peter and Kate back to their own time is bungled,
Peter finds himself stranded in 1763 while The Tar Man, a villainous
eighteenth-century criminal, returns with Kate to twenty-first-century
London. Book Trailer
Frank Cottrell Boyce. Cosmic.
Twelve-year-old Liam, who looks like he is
thirty and is tired of being treated like he is older than he actually is,
decides he is going to pose as the adult chaperone on the first spaceship to
take civilians into space, but when he ends up in outer space with a group of
kids and no adult supervision, he must think fast to make things
right. BookTrailer
Georgia Bragg. How
They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous.
This fascinating collection of remarkable
deaths relays all the gory details of how 19 world figures gave up the ghost,
including King Tut, Julius Caesar, George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe, and
Henry VIII.
Frances Hodgson Burnett. The
Secret Garden.
Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely
house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries
of a locked garden. Book Trailer
Ann Cameron. Colibri.
She was little and quick and pretty. Her mother
nicknamed her Colibrí, Spanish for "Hummingbird." At age four she was
kidnapped, torn from her parents on a crowded bus in Guatemala City. Since then
she's traveled with "Uncle," the ex-soldier and wandering beggar who
has renamed her Rosa. Uncle has always told Rosa that he searched for her
parents but had no success. There’s almost no chance Rosa will ever find them – but
Rosa still remembers and longs for them.
Janet Lee Carey. Dragon’s
Keep; Dragonswood.
In 1145 A.D., as foretold by Merlin, fourteen-year-old
Rosalind, who will be the twenty-first Pendragon Queen of Wilde Island, has
much to accomplish to fulfill her destiny, while hiding from her people the
dragon's claw she was born with that reflects only one of her mother's dark
secrets.
Gennifer Choldenko. No
Passengers Beyond This Point.
With their house in foreclosure, sisters India
and Mouse and brother Finn are sent to stay with an uncle in Colorado until
their mother can join them, but when the plane lands, the children are welcomed
by cheering crowds to a strange place where each of them has a perfect house
and a clock that is ticking down the time. Book Trailer
Sharon Creech. The
Great Unexpected.
Orphans Naomi and Lizzie, living in America,
and grown-up sisters Sybil and Nula, from Ireland, learn what life is truly
about as they receive help from one another and open up their hearts to love
and forgiveness. Author Reading
Laura Dower. For
Girls Only: Everything Great About Being a Girl.
Discusses the benefits of being a girl, from
sleepovers to pedicures and friendship bracelets, covering famous women from
sports, science, and history, and how to be a baby-sitter and get a job for the
summer. Book Trailer
John Feinstein. Last
Shot: a Final Four Mystery; Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U. S. Open; Cover-Up:
Mystery at the Super Bowl. Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series; The Rivalry:
Mystery at the Army-Navy Game; Rush For the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics.
As
winners of a writing contest, eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol
Anderson travel to the NCAA Final Four as journalists. In addition to meeting
college basketball celebrities, the two also uncover a plot to fix the
championship game. This fast-moving mystery takes the reader to a
behind-the-scenes look at the Final Four. Book Trailer
Sid Fleischman. Escape:
The Story of The Great Houdini.
A biography of the magician, ghost chaser,
aviator, and king of escape artists whose amazing feats are remembered long
after his death in 1926.
Cornelia Funke. Reckless.
Jacob and Will Reckless have looked out for
each other ever since their father disappeared, but when Jacob discovers a
magical mirror that transports him to a warring world populated by witches,
giants, and ogres, he keeps it to himself until Will follows him one day, with
dire consequences. Book Trailer
Jack Gantos. Joey
Pigza Swallowed the Key, Joey Pigza Loses Control, What Would Joey Do?; I Am
Not Joey Pigza.
To the constant disappointment of his mother
and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood
swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked
up and acting wired. Book Trailer
Stuart Gibbs. Spy
School.
Twelve-year-old Ben Ripley leaves his public
middle school to attend the CIA's highly secretive Espionage Academy, which
everyone is told is an elite science school.
John Grisham. Theodore
Boone: Kid Lawyer; Theodore Boone: The Abduction; Theodore Boone: The
Accused.
Thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone, who knows
every judge, police officer, and court clerk in the small town of Strattenburg,
finds himself involved in a murder trial because of knowledge he might have
about a cold-blooded killer. Book Trailer 1 Book Trailer 2
Lewis Harris. A
Taste for Red.
When some of her classmates disappear,
sixth-grader Svetlana, along with her new friends, goes in search of the
missing students using her newfound ability as an Olfactive, one who has heightened
smell, hearing, and the ability to detect
vampires. Book Trailer
Phillip Hoose. Moonbird:
a Year on the Wind With the Great Survivor B95. 2013
Kyle Likover Memorial Visiting Author.
Chronicles a year in the life of rufa red knot
B95, also called Moonbird, following him through his migration pattern, flying
from Tierra del Fuego to the breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, 9,000
miles away.
Gordon Korman. Ungifted.
Due to an administrative mix-up, troublemaker
Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special
program for gifted and talented students, after pulling a major prank at middle
school.
Gordon Korman. No
More Dead Dogs.
Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is
sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite
of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest
changes that improve not only the play but his life as well. Book Trailer
Thanhha Lai. Inside
Out & Back Again. Newberry Honor Book, National Book Award
Winner.
Through a series of poems, a young girl
chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her
brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. Book Trailer
Kristin Levine. The
Lions of Little Rock.
Twelve-year-old Marlee develops a strong
friendship with Liz, the new girl in school, but when Liz suddenly stops
attending school and Marlee hears a rumor that her friend is actually an
African American girl passing herself off as white, the two young girls must
decide whether their friendship is worth taking on integration and the dangers
it could bring to their families. Book Trailer
Jack London. The
Call of the Wild.
Buck, who is half St. Bernard and half Scotch
shepherd, is abducted and taken to the Klondike where he reverts to the wild
and becomes a leader of a pack of wolves. Book Trailer
Pittacus Lore. I Am Number Four, The
Power of Six, The Rise of Nine. Lorien Legacies series
“Three are dead. I am Number
Four”. Book Trailer 1 Book Trailer 2
Josh Lacey. Island
of Thieves.
Tom goes with his Uncle Harvey to Peru, where
they narrowly escape imprisonment and death as they hunt for buried treasure
after tracking down a journal written by John Drake, a young relative of Sir
Francis Drake, on a voyage to Lima in 1577.
Lisa McMann. The
Unwanteds; Island of Silence.
In a society that purges thirteen-year-olds who
are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend
University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous
place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic. Book Trailer
Maile Meloy. The
Apothecary.
Fourteen-year-old Janie Scott, newly arrived in
London from Los Angeles in 1952, becomes friends with a mysterious apothecary
and his son, Benjamin Burrows, and is drawn into a dangerous adventure with
Benjamin when his father is kidnapped and Russian spies try to steal his book
of secrets. Book Trailer
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Emily’s
Fortune.
While traveling to her aunt's home in Redbud by
train and stagecoach, quiet young Emily and her turtle, Rufus, team up with
Jackson, fellow orphan and troublemaker extraordinaire, to outsmart mean Uncle
Victor, who is after Emily's inheritance. Book Trailer
O. T. Nelson. The
Girl Who Owned a City.
When a plague sweeps over the earth killing
everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to
rebuild a new way of life. Book Trailer
R. J. Palacio. Wonder.
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 taunts and fear of his classmates as he struggles to
be seen as just another student. Book Trailer
Richard Peck. The Teacher’s Funeral: a
Comedy in Three Parts.
In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old
Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew are
disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room
schoolhouse after mean old Myrt Arbuckle "hauls off and
dies." Book Trailer
Susan Runholt. The
Mystery of the Third Lucretia; Rescuing Seneca Crane; Adventure at Simba
Hill.Kari + Lucas Mystery.
While traveling in London, Paris, and
Amsterdam, fourteen-year-old best friends Kari and Lucas solve an international
art forgery mystery.
Anna Sewell. Black
Beauty.
A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts
his experiences with both good and bad masters. Book Trailer
Diane Stanley. The Silver Bowl; The Cup
and the Crown.
From the age of seven when she became scullery
maid in a castle, Molly has seen visions of the future which, years later, lead
her and friend Tobias on an adventure to keep Alaric, the heir to the throne,
safe from a curse. Book Trailer
Rebecca Stead. Liar
& Spy.
Seventh-grader Georges adjusts to moving from a
house to an apartment, his father's efforts to start a new business, his
mother's extra shifts as a nurse, being picked on at school, and Safer, a boy
who wants his help spying on another resident of their building. Book Trailer
Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure
Island.
While
going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the
mistress of an inn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a
pirate's fortune. Book Trailer
Trenton Lee Stewart. The
Mysterious Benedict Society; The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous
Journey; The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma; The
Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict.
After
passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret
mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the
Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no
rules. Book Trailer
Allan Stratton. The
Grave Robber’s Apprentice.
Hans, a foundling raised by a grave robber,
helps Countess Angela Gabriela, nearly thirteen, when she is torn away from her
dream of being a professional puppeteer by an evil archduke out to destroy her
and her parents. Book Trailer 1 Book Trailer 2
Annika Thor. A
Faraway Island.
Stephie and Nellie, two Austrian Jewish
sisters, are evacuated in 1938 from Vienna to a Swedish island and placed in
separate foster homes.
Jules Verne. 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea.
Science-fiction tale about a French professor
and his companions who are trapped aboard a futuristic submarine with a mad sea
captain and come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights
hidden from the world above. Book Trailer
Jacqueline West. The
Shadows; Spellbound; The Second Spy. The Books of Elsewhere series.
When eleven-year old Olive and her distracted parents move into an old Victorian
mansion, Olive finds herself ensnared in a dark plan involving some mysterious
paintings, a trapped and angry nine-year-old boy, and three talking
cats. Book Trailer
Ben H. Winters. The
Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman.
Spurred by a special project from her social
studies teacher, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding uncovers the secret identity
of her music teacher, which leads to a most unusual concert performance and a
tutoring assignment.
Johann David Wyss. The
Swiss Family Robinson.
Relates the fortunes of a shipwrecked family as
they adapt to life on an island with abundant animal and plant
life. Book Trailer
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