Middle School Recommended Reads

Fiction

• Burns, T. R. Bad Apple. 2012. (fantasy)
  

  After a freak accident, Seamus' parents take him to the most infamous of reform schools. But the headmistress lets him in on the big secret: the mission of Kilter Academy is to foster troublemaking, and she's decided Seamus is her star pupil!

• Coben, Harlan. Shelter. 2011. (thriller)
  

  Mickey Bolitar is as quick-witted and clever as his Uncle Myron, and eager to go to any lengths to save the people he cares about.

• Dionne, Erin. Notes from an Accidental Band Geek. 2011. (realistic)
  

  French horn virtuoso Elsie Wyatt resents having to join her high school's marching band playing a mellophone, but finally finds a sense of belonging that transcends the pressure she has always felt to be as good as her musical father.

• Evans, Richard Paul. Michael Vey: the Prisoner of Cell 25. 2011. (fantasy)
  

  To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary 14-year-old. But Michael is anything but ordinary. He has special powers, and will have to rely on them, as well as his wits and friends, if he's to survive.

• Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. 2011. (humor)
  

  Jack Gantos spends the summer grounded until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving and countless bloody noses.

• Haddix, Margaret Peterson. The Always War. 2011. (dystopian)
  

  In a war-torn future United States, three kids enter enemy territory and discover the shocking truth about a war that began more than 75 years earlier.

• Ibbotson, Eva. One Dog and His Boy. 2012. (realistic)
  

  When lonely Hal learns that his parents only rented Fleck, the dog he always wanted, he and new friend Pippa take Fleck and four other dogs from the rental agency on a trek from London to Scotland, where Hal's grandparents live.

• Lu, Marie. Legend. 2011. (science fiction, dystopian)
  

  In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, 15-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.

• McMann, Lisa. The Unwanteds. 2011. (science fiction dystopian)
  

  In the society of Quill, 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 creative abilities and learn magic.

• Meloy, Maile. The Apothecary. 2011. (fantasy)
  

  A 14-year-old American girl's life is unexpectedly transformed when she moves to London in 1952 and gets swept up in a race to save the world from nuclear war.

• Palacio, R. J. Wonder. 2012. (realistic)
  

  Born with extreme facial abnormalities, Auggie Pullman goes from being home-schooled to entering a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to assimilate.

• Roecker, Lisa. The Liar Society. 2011. (mystery)
  

  Best friends don't send e-mails once they're dead. On the trail to prove that Grace's death was no accident, Kate Lowry uncovers a secret lurking in the halls of her elite private school.

• Roth, Veronica. Divergent. 2011. (dystopian)
  

  Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is flawed.

• Schmidt, Gary D. Okay for Now. 2011. (historical)
  

  Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity and survival.

• Schreiber, Joe. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick. 2011. (adventure)
  

  Infused with capers, car chases, heists, hits, henchmen and even a bear fight, this story mixes romance, comedy and tragedy in a true teen coming-of-age adventure—and it's not over until it's "au revoir."

• Smith, Emily Wing. Back When You Were Easier to Love. 2011. (realistic)
  

  Joy got no goodbye, and certainly no explanation when Zan—the love of her life—unceremoniously and unexpectedly left for college a year early. Joy needs closure almost as much as she needs Zan, so she heads for California.

• Smith, Roland. Storm Runners. 2011. (adventure)
  

  Chase Masters and his father are "storm runners," racing across the country in pursuit of hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. But when the hurricane of the century hits, Chase will be tested in ways he never could have imagined.

• Stephens, John. The Emerald Atlas. 2011. (fantasy)
  

  Kate, Michael and Emma have passed from one orphanage to another in the 10 years since their parents disappeared, but now they learn that they have special powers, a prophesied quest to find a magical book and a fearsome enemy.

• TenNapel, Doug. Bad Island. 2011. (graphic novel)
  

  When a family boating trip goes wrong, Reese is shipwrecked on an island—one teeming with weird plants and animals. Things go from bad to worse as the castaways must find a way to escape while dodging the island's dangerous inhabitants.

• Wells, Robison. Variant. 2011. (thriller)
  

  After years in foster homes, 17-year-old Benson Fisher applies to New Mexico's Maxfield Academy in hopes of securing a brighter future, but instead he finds that the school is a prison and no one is what he or she seems.

Nonfiction

• How They Croaked: the Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg. 2011. [920.02 BRA]
  

  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.

• Are You "Normal?" by Mark Shulman. 2011. [J 155.2 SHU]
  

  Can you rub your belly and pat your head? Do you like pepperoni on your pizza? Are "you" normal? Shulman has pulled out all the stops breaking down the facts on our silliest secrets.

revised May 2012