Summer Reading Suggestions 2006 – Palo Alto Middle Schools
Note: (YA) = Young Adult title for more mature readers
Any books by these authors: T.A. Barron, Joan Bauer, Sharon Creech, Dan Gutman, Brian Jacques, Angela Johnson, Lois Lowry, Anne McCaffrey, Jerry Spinelli, Theodore Taylor, Cynthia Voight. Any book by Beverly Cleary – in honor of her 90th birthday – or Joan Lowry Nixon who passed away this year.
California Young Reader Medal 2007 Nominees
Bechard, Margaret. Hanging on to Max (YA) When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.
Choldenko, Gennifer Al Capone Does my Shirts (2005 Newbery Honor Book) A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
Giles, Gail Shattering Glass (YA) Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, provokes unexpected violence when he turns the school nerd into Prince Charming.
Ryan, Pam Munoz Becoming Naomi Leon When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
Sherlock, Patti Letters from Wolfie Certain that he is doing the right thing by donating his dog, Wolfie, to the Army's scout program in Vietnam, thirteen-year-old Mark begins to have second thoughts when the Army refuses to say when and if Wolfie will ever return.
Woods, Brenda Emako Blue (YA) Monterey, Savannah, Jamal, and Eddie have never had much to do with each other until Emako Blue shows up at chorus practice, but just as the lives of the five Los Angeles high school students become intertwined, tragedy tears them apart.
Classics
Dickens, Charles David Copperfield A classic story of growing up, an enchanting story of a gentle orphan discovering life and love in an indifferent adult world.
DuMaurier, Daphne Rebecca With a husband she barely knows, the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter is drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca, dead but never forgotten.
Lewis, C. S. Tales of Narnia (includes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) Four English school children enter the magic land of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe and assist Aslan, the golden lion, in defeating the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
Mitchell, Margaret Gone with the Wind (YA) After the Civil War sweeps away the genteel life to which she has been accustomed, Scarlett O’Hara sets about to salvage her plantation home.
Orwell, George Animal Farm A satire on communism in which the animals revolt against their master, and the pigs become the leaders
Sewell, Anna Black Beauty A horse in nineteenth century England has both good and bad masters.
Wells, H.G. War of the Worlds Martians armed with death-rays invade the Earth and humans fight back to save their civilization.
Contemporary
Anderson, Laurie Speak (YA) A traumatic event at the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda’s freshman year in high school.
Birdsall, Anne The Penderwicks (National Book Award For Young People 2005) While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.
Dowell, Frances O’Roark Dovey Coe When accused of murder in her North Carolina mountain town in 1928, Dovey Coe, a strong-willed twelve-year-old girl, comes to a new understanding of others, including her deaf brother.
Hautman, Pete Invisible (YA) Doug and Andy are unlikely best friends--one a loner obsessed by his model trains, the other a popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a bond that nothing can sever.
Hiaasen, Carl Hoot (or Flush) Roy, 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.
Horvath, Polly The Vacation When his parents go to Africa to work as missionaries, twelve-year-old Henry's eccentric aunts, Pigg and Mag, take him on a cross-country car trip, allowing him to gain insight into his family and himself.
Klise, Kate Deliver Us From Normal With a mother who buys Christmas cards in August and a younger brother who describes the Trinity as a toasted marshmallow on a graham cracker, life for eleven-year-old Charles Harrisong is anything but normal in Normal, Illinois.
Konigsburg, E. L. Silent to the Bone (YA) When he is wrongly accused of injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and his only friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.
Paratore, Coleen The Wedding Planner’s Daughter Willa, a romantic girl who wants a father, tries to find a husband for her mother, Cape Cod's most popular wedding planner.
Perkins, Lynne Rae Criss Cross (*2006 Newbery Award) Teenagers in a small town in the 1960’s experience new thoughts and feelings, question their identities, connect, and disconnect as they search for the meaning of life and love.
White, Ruth Belle Prater’s Boy When Woodrow’s mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparent’s home in a small Virginia town, where he befriends his cousin. Together they face the terrible losses and fears in their lives.
Fantasy/Science Fiction
Adams, Douglas The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy The first volume of the series, in which the destruction of the Earth turns homebody Arthur Dent into a hitchhiker in the galaxy.
Armstrong, Alan Whittington (2006 Newbery Honor book) Whittington, a feline descendant of Dick Whittington's famous cat of English folklore, appears at a rundown barnyard plagued by rats and restores harmony while telling his ancestor's story.
Card, Orson Scott Ender’s Shadow The story of brilliant children being trained in the orbiting Battle School to lead humanity’s fleets in the final war against alien invaders known as the Buggers. This book is a parallel novel to Card’s Ender’s Game.
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee The Conch Bearer In India, a healer invites twelve-year-old Anand to join him on a quest to return a magical conch to its safe and rightful home high in the Himalayan Mountains.
Farmer, Nancy The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm In 2195 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika’s three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine, while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them.
Hale, Shannon Princess Academy (2006 Newbery Honor book) While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland.
Hamlan, Ann Siberia After spending two years at a prison school, thirteen-year-old Sloe sets off on a trek across frozen wastelands, tending to the secret "seeds" of wild animals her mother left in her care, trying to reach a new life for all of them.
Hunter, Erin Into the Wild (or any of the Warriors series) Rusty, a bored house kitten, is apprenticed by the ThunderClan and must struggle to fit in when the group of feral cats is threatened by the enemy ShadowClan.
Lowry, Lois Gathering Blue (companion to The Giver) Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.
Pullman. Philip The Golden Compass Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
Pullman, Philip The Scarecrow and His Servant A scarecrow and his boy servant, Jack, set out on a dangerous adventure as they try to outwit the crooked Buffaloni family and stake their claim to valuable Spring Valley.
Rushdie, Salman Haroun and the Sea of Stories This is an adventure novel full of humor and magic. It is the story of Rashid and Haroun, father and son, and of Haroun’s attempt to rescue his father and return to him his Gift of Gab.
Westerfield, Scott Uglies (sequel: Pretties) Tally is faced with a difficult choice when her new friend Shay decides to risk life on the outside rather than submit to the forced operation that turns sixteen year old girls into gorgeous beauties, and realizes that there is a whole new side to the pretty world that she doesn't like.
Historical Fiction
Cushman, Karen Rodzina A twelve-year-old Polish–American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.
Lester, Julius Day of Tears (2006 Coretta Scott King Award) Follows Emma, the slave of Pierce Butler, through a series of events in her life as her master hosts the largest slave auction in American history in Savannah, Georgia in 1859 in order to pay off his mounting gambling debts.
Mazer, Harry Heroes Don’t Run. A Novel of the Pacific War To honor his father who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, seventeen-year-old Adam eagerly enlists in the Marines in 1944, survives boot camp, and faces combat on the tiny island of Okinawa.
McCaughrean, Geraldine Not the End of the World Noah's daughter, daughters-in-law, sons, wife, and the animals describe what it was like to be aboard the ark while they watched everyone around them drown.
Mosley, Walter 47 (YA) Number 47, a fourteen-year-old slave boy growing up under the watchful eye of a brutal master in 1832, meets the mysterious Tall John, who introduces him to a magical science and also teaches him the meaning of freedom.
Salisbury, Graham Under the Blood Red Sun (or The Kite Rider) Tomikazu Nakaji’s biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Taylor, Theodore Billy the Kid Young William Bonney is talked into committing his first train robbery, unaware that his cousin and best friend, Willie Monroe, is now sheriff of the nearest town, and that his fellow robbers are already wanted in four states.
Humor
Abott, Hailey The Bridesmaid Having vowed as children never to marry after witnessing many disastrous weddings and obnoxious brides in their parents' wedding planning business, fifteen-year-old Abby is dismayed when her older sister Carol suddenly gets engaged and turns into "Bridezilla."
Dahl, Roald Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Taking up where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory leaves off, Charlie, his family, and Mr. Wonka find themselves launched into space in the great glass elevator.
Ibbotson, Eva Island of the Aunts As they get older, several sisters decide that they must kidnap children and bring them to their secluded island home to help with the work of caring for an assortment of unusual sea creatures.
Larrochelle, David Absolutely, Positively Not (YA) Chronicles a teenage boy's humorous attempts to fit in at his Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy" pinup-displaying heterosexual.
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds Simply Alice (Alice series) In her freshman year, fourteen-year-old Alice experiences changes and challenges with friends, family, and school activities, which leave her feeling better about herself than ever before.
Rennison, Louise Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.
Smith, James The Boys of San Joaquin In a small California town in 1951, twelve-year-old Paolo and his deaf cousin Billy get caught up in a search for money missing from the church collection, leading them to complicated discoveries about themselves, other family members, and townspeople they thought they knew.
Yee, Lisa Millicent Min, Girl Genius In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother’s departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.
Yee, Lisa Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisfy his academically demanding father.
Multicultural
Brown, Jackie Little Cricket After the upheaval of the Vietnam War reaches them, twelve-year-old Kia and her Hmong family flee from the mountains of Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand and eventually to the alien world of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Hesse, Karen Witness A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl during the 1920’s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.
Mah, Adeline Yen Chinese Cinderella After her mother dies giving birth to her, Adeline’s affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck. Adeline tells the story of her painful childhood and her courage and ultimate triumph over despair.
Park, Linda Sue A Single Shard (*Newbery Award Winner) Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters’ village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
Staples, Suzanne Under the Persimmon Tree (YA) A young Afghan girl, Najmah, befriends an American woman, Nusrat, in Peshawar, Pakistan. After Najmah flees her native Afghanistan during the 2001 war, they begin a long journey to locate their missing loved ones.
Stratton, Allan Chanda’s Secrets (YA) Chandra Kabelo, a sixteen-year-old in a small South African town, faces down shame and stigma in her efforts to help friends and family members who are dying of AIDS.
Mystery/Suspense/Horror Any title by Lois Duncan.
Abrahams, Peter Down the Rabbit Hole Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth-grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve the murder of an eccentric local woman in her hometown of Echo Falls.
Cooney, Caroline The Face on the Milk Carton A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson Double Identity Thirteen-year-old Bethany’s parents have always been overprotective, but when they suddenly drop out of sight with no explanation, leaving her with an aunt she never knew existed, Bethany uncovers shocking secrets that make her question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family
Horowitz, Anthony Ark Angel (or any in the Alex Rider series) After recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound, teenage spy Alex Rider embarks on a new mission to stop a group of eco-terrorists from sabotaging the launch of the first outer space hotel.
Pearson, Ridley Kingdom Keepers Five young teens hired as models for theme park guides find themselves pitted against Disney villains and witches that threaten both the future of Walt Disney World and the stability of the world as a whole.
Karbo, Karen Minerva Clark Gets a Clue A thirteen-year-old girl in Portland, Oregon, loses all self-doubt when she is zapped by lightning and uses her newfound courage to solve a murder mystery.
Skurzynski, Gloria The Hunted (and other titles from the series: Mysteries in our NationalParks) The Landon family travels to Glacier National Park to investigate why Grizzly Bear cubs are disappearing and becomes involved with a ten-year-old Mexican runaway boy.
Non-Fiction Any book in the Chicken Soup series. Any poetry book.
Giblin, James Good Brother, Bad Brother Tells the life stories of nineteenth-century actor Edwin Booth and his actor brother John Wilkes Booth, describing the differences between the two men, chronicling John's assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and examining the impact of John’s crime on the Booth family for decades afterward.
Bartoletti, Susan Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow (2006 Newbery Honor Book) A photo-illustrated look at the youth organizations Adolf Hitler founded and used to meet his sociopolitical and military ends; includes profiles of individual Hitler Youth members as well as young people who opposed the Nazis, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl.
Frank, Mitch Understanding the Holy Land Presents a series of questions and answers that seeks to explain the origins and conflict behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, failed attempts at peace, and its significance to the rest of the world.
Kraske, Robert Marooned: The Strange But True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe Presents the story of Scottish mariner Alexander Selkirk and his experiences marooned on a South Pacific island for four years.
Krull, Kathleen Leonardo da Vinci A biography of Leonardo da Vinci focusing on his scientific rather than his artistic work.
Lekuton, Joseph Facing the Lion A member of the Masai people describes his life as he grew up in a northern Kenya village, traveled to America to attend college, and became an elementary school teacher in Virginia.
Partridge, Elizabeth John Lennon (YA) Presents a biography of musician John Lennon, chronicling his life and times from his troubled childhood in Liverpool, England, through his career writing, recording, and performing as a member of the Beatles. Includes 140 black-and-white photographs.
Sports
Baskin, Nora Raleigh Basketball (or Something Like it) Hank, Nathan, Jeremy, and Anabel deal with the realities of middle school basketball, including family pressure, a series of coaches with very different personalities and agendas, and what it means to be a team and a friend.
Krasner, Steven Play Ball Like the Hall of Famers Presents advice on how to play baseball like the pros from twenty big league stars such as Bobby Doerr, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver, Whitey Ford, and includes stories from their childhood and career, tips on making difficult plays, and player superstitions.
Lake, Sanoe Surfer Girl Presents a guide to surfing--for girls--including information on equipment, physical training, lingo, etiquette, safety, and basic surfing techniques.
Wither, Pam Peak Survival Jake, Peter, and Moses, looking forward to heli-skiing and snowboarding in the backcountry near Whistler, spring into crisis mode when bad weather sets in, a helicopter crashes, and they must get everyone to safety. |