Reading List, Middle School

Grade 6 GOR List

Avi: The Blue Heron, The Man Who Was Poe, Nothing But the Truth, Crispin, Cross of Lead, and others. Note: We will read The True Confessions of Charlo3e Doyle in Grade 6, so please DO NOT read this one on your own.

Lloyd Alexander: The Chronicles of Prydain (series) and others

Joan Aiken: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, and others

Laurie Anderson: Chains

Natalie BabbiA: Tuck EverlasHng

Blue Balliet: Chasing Vermeer

Joan Bauer: Hope Was Here, and others

Gary Blackwood: The Shakespeare Stealer

Betsy Byers: Summer of the Swans, The Midnight Fox and others

Gennifer Choldenko: Al Capone Does My Shirts

Andrew Clements: Frindle, Things Not Seen

Susan Cooper: The Dark is Rising (series)

Padriac Collum: The Golden Fleece

Zizou Corder: Lion Boy

Sharon Creech: Walk Two Moons, Bloomability, The Wanderer, and others, but not her shorter stories

Christopher Paul CurLs: Bud, Not Buddy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Karen Cushman: Catherine Called Birdie, The Midwife’s ApprenHce

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, MaHlda, and others

Kate DiCamillo: The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising Kathryn Erskine: Mockingbird

Paula Fox: Slave Dancer, One-Eyed Cat, Monkey Island

Cornelia Funke: The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, Inkheart, Inkspell

Jack Gantos: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, and sequels

Jean Craighead George: My Side of the Mountain, and sequels

Patricia Reilly Giff: Pictures of Hollis Woods, Lily’s Crossing

BeAe Greene: Summer of My German Soldier

Margaret Peterson Haddix: Among The Hidden

Karen Hesse: Out of the Dust, The Music of Dolphins, Stowaway, and others

Polly Horvath: Everything on a Waffle

Eva IboAson: The Secret of PlaWorm 13, and sequels

E.L. Konigsburg: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The View from Saturday, Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, and others

Joseph Krumgold: Onion John, And Now Miguel

Cynthia Kadohata: Kira-Kira

Stephen Lawhead: The Dragon King Saga (series)

Madeleine L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A SwiZly TilHng Planet, Meet the AusHns, and many more.

Gail Carson Levine: Ella Enchanted, Dave at Night (not her shorter fairy tales)

KrisLn Levine: The Best Bad Luck I Have Ever Had

Lois Lenski: Indian CapHve

C.S. Lewis: Note: You will be required to read The Magician’s Nephew during the summer before Grade 6 as part of the summer reading program. (If you would like to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or any of the other books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, these would be excellent choices for GOR.)

Lois Lowry: The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, Number the Stars, The Willoughbys, and others

Michelle Magorian: Goodnight Mr. Tom

Walter Dean Myers: Somewhere in the Darkness, and others ScoA O’Dell: Island of the Blue Dolphins

Linda Sue Park: A Single Shard, My Name Is Keoko, and others  Katherine Paterson: Bridge to Terabithia, Lyddie, Jip, and others

Gary Paulson: Hatchet, Dogsong, Brian’s Winter, and others

Richard Peck: A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Under

Rodman Philbrick: Freak the Mighty

Wilson Rawls: Where the Red Fern Grows, Summer of the Monkeys

Louis Sachar: Holes

Zilpha Snyder: The Bronze Pen

Elizabeth George Speare: The Witch of Blackbird Pond and others. Note: We will read The Bronze Bow together in Grade 6, so please DO NOT read this one on your own.

Armstrong Sperry: Call it Courage

Jerry Spinelli: Maniac Magee, Wringer, and others

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (series)

Yoshiko Uchida: Jar of Dreams

Cynthia Voight: Homecoming, Dicey’s Song, Jackaroo, and others

Virginia Euer Wolff: True Believer

Lawrence Yep: Dragonwings, The Star Fisher, and others

Jane Yolen: The Devil’s ArithmeHc and others

• There are many other wonderful authors to choose from, but any addiLons to this list must be approved by one of your English teachers in order to count for independent reading. One guideline is to first check if a book that you would like to read has won any significant awards.
• Not all books are appropriate for every sixth grader; a book’s appropriateness may depend on one’s level of maturity, understanding of the topic, and familiarity with English. If you have a quesLon about whether or not a book is appropriate for you, please check with one of your English teachers, with one of the CAJ librarians, or with your parents.