Exceptional Books for Sixth Graders

Juvenile Fiction

  • Abbott, Tony. The Postcard. 2008.
    While in Florida to help clean out his recently-deceased grandmother's house, Jason finds an old postcard which leads him on an adventure that blends figures from an old detective story with his family's past.
  • Aguiar, Nadia. The Lost Island of Tamarind. 2008.
    Thirteen-year-old Maya, who has spent her life at sea with her marine biologist parents, yearns for a normal life, but when a storm washes her parents overboard, life becomes anything but normal for Maya, her younger brother and baby sister, as they land on a mysterious, uncharted island filled with danger.
  • Baker, E. D. Wings. 2008.
    When Tamisin discovers she is half fairy, she decides to find out more answers directly from the fairies themselves, including her mother, the fairy queen.
  • Balliett, Blue. The Calder Game. 2008.
    When Calder Pillay disappears from a remote English village-along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn-his friends fly from Chicago to help his father find him.
  • Basye, Dale E. Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go. 2008.
    When timid Milton and his older, rebellious sister Marlo die in a marshmallow bear explosion at Grizzly Mall, they are sent to Heck, an otherworldly reform school from which they are determined to escape.
  • Bell, Ted. Nick of Time. 2008.
    With the help of Lord Hawke, whose children have been taken by the evil pirate Captain Billy Blood, young Nick McIver uses a time machine to rescue the two children as well as change the course of events in two time periods, the Napoleonic Wars and World War II.
  • Connor, Leslie. Waiting for Normal. 2008.
    Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.
  • Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Found. 2008.
    This first book in the Missing series tells of two adopted 13-year-olds, Jonah and Chip, who begin getting letters saying, "They are coming for you." When they learn the FBI was involved in their adoption, they set out to discover what's going on.
  • Kibuishi, Kazu. Amulet: Book 1, the Stonekeeper. 2008. (graphic novel)
    After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous.
  • Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Last Straw. 2009.
    Middle-schooler Greg Heffley nimbly sidesteps his father's attempts to change Greg's wimpy ways until his father threatens to send him to military school.
  • Kuhlman, Evan. The Last Invisible Boy. 2008.
    After his father's death, 12-year-old Finn decides he is becoming invisible as his hair and skin become whiter by the day, and so he writes and illustrates a book about the ups and downs of life as an invisible kid.
  • Law, Ingrid. Savvy. 2008.
    Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy," a magical power unique to each member of her family, just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.
  • Nielsen-Fernlund, Susin. Word Nerd. 2008
    When school bullies almost kill him by slipping a peanut into his sandwich, Ambrose's mother decides to home-school him. Alone in the evenings, Ambrose pesters Cosmo, his 25-year-old convict neighbor, into taking him to a Scrabble club.
  • Pearsall, Shelley. All Shook Up. 2008.
    When 13-year-old Josh goes to stay with his father in Chicago for a few months, he discovers-to his horror-that his dad has become an Elvis impersonator.
  • Rinaldi, Ann. The Redheaded Princess. 2008.
    In 1542, nine-year-old Lady Elizabeth lives on an estate near London, striving to get back into the good graces of her father, King Henry VIII. As the years pass, she faces his death and those of other close relatives until she finds herself next in line to ascend the throne of England in 1558.
  • Russell, P. Craig. Coraline. 2008. (graphic novel)
    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.

Non-fiction

  • Cool Stuff Exploded by Chris Woodford. 2008. [J 600 WOO]
    Discover how modern technology and science work with cool close-up diagrams and photographs!
  • What the World Eats by Peter Menzel. 2008. [J 641.3 MEN]
    This photographic collection explores what the world eats and features portraits of 25 families from 21 countries surrounded by a week's worth of food.
  • The Raucous Royals: Test Your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries, and Deduce Which Royal Rumors Are True by Caroline Beccia. 2008. [J 929.7 BEC]
    Quiz your knowledge of past royals through clues, hints, games and codes. Turn the page to find the true answer and learn about historical royalty in this fun and interactive book.
  • King George What Was His Problem? by Steve Sheinkin. 2008. [J 973.3 SHE]
    What do the most famous traitor in history, hundreds of naked soldiers and a salmon lunch have in common? They're all part of the amazing story of the American Revolution.

revised May 2009