Please consider buying your child a book this holiday season. Not only will it provide hours of entertainment, but giving a book also gives your child a very important message: that you value reading and literature. Have a happy holiday!
All of the following are highly recommended for middle school students by School Library Journal.
Agnes Parker-- Keeping Cool in Middle School by Kathleen O’Dell
Agnes Parker tries to maintain her old persona and keep a low profile in middle school, but her best friend Prejean's problems, persistent harassment from the eighth-grade boys, and a friendship with an interesting boy in her art class make it difficult.
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
This book depicts the journey of one man, threatened by dark shapes that cast shadows on his family's life, to a new country. The only writing is in an invented alphabet, which creates the sensation immigrants must feel when they encounter a strange new language and way of life.
Benny and Omar by Eoin Colfer
Irish twelve-year-old Benny Shaw, a fanatic of the sport of hurling, has a hard time adjusting to his new life in a Tunisian village until he meets Omar, an inventive orphan living on the streets.
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
Jake Mendoza, whose father runs the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies, goes on his first solo overnight in the Smokehill National Park where he finds an infant dragon whose mother has been killed by a poacher.
Gabriel’s Horses by Alison Hart
In Kentucky, during the Civil War, the twelve-year-old slave Gabriel, contends with a cruel new horse trainer and skirmishes with Confederate soldiers as he pursues his dream of becoming a jockey.
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Still moping months after being dumped by her Arizona boyfriend Leo, fifteen-year-old Stargirl, a home-schooled free spirit, writes "the world's longest letter" to Leo, describing her new life in Pennsylvania.
Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer Holm
Ginny makes a to do list for her seventh grade year, which includes landing a role in the school play, trying to make friends, ignoring her horoscope, and going to see her grandpa Joe in Florida; but she always seems to come up short in accomplishing any of it.
The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg
Amedeo and William find themselves working together on a house sale for Amedeo's eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender, whose house is crammed with memorabilia and stories that date back to Nazi Germany.
Olivia Kidney and the Secret Beneath the City by Ellen Potter
While preparing for her participation in a wedding, adjusting to being a student at a school for the arts, and dealing with surprise visitors at home, twelve-year-old Olivia ventures into the New York City subway tunnels in search of a man who might help her friend Frannie
Yellow Flag by Robert Lipsyte
When seventeen-year-old Kyle reluctantly succumbs to family pressure and replaces his injured brother in the family racecar, he struggles to keep up with his trumpet playing while deciding how--or if--he can continue making music with a brass quintet and headlines as a Nascar racer.
This bibliography was compiled by the Middle School Library Media Specialists:
Cheryl Carr- Oregon