Fiction
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (or other books from this series) by Rick Riordan
Holes by Lois Sachar
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Z for Zachariah by Robert O’Brien
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Anything by Gary Paulsen, Sharon G. Flake, Angela Draper, or Walter Dean Myers
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
Liar & Spy by Rebecca
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Additional Fiction Titles: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/middle-school-fiction
Non-Fiction
Twelve Mighty Orphans by Jim Dent
Twice Toward Justice by Claudette Colvin
Into the West: From Reconstruction to the Final Days of the American Frontier
Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs and RabbleRousers by Brandon Marie Miller
We’ve Got the Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda
Micheaux Nelson
Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel
Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Hilarious Guide to Living the Poet’s
Life by Alan Wolf
What Are You?: Voices of Mixed-Race Young People by Fuyo Gaskins
Never Cry Wolf by Farely Mowat
Additional Non-Fiction titles http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/middle-school-nonfiction
Non-fiction by category: http://www.downersgrovelibrary.org/teens/great_reads/nonfiction.php:
Adventure and Travel
Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston - 2004, 354p.
Ralston recounts the harrowing story of his near death and self-amputation alone on a canyon wall
in Utah.
Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold by Michael Benanav - 2006,
220p.
A perilous journey across the desert leads to a glimpse at a vanishing way of life in the ancient salt
trade.
Frost on My Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer by Tim Moore - 2000, 280p.
Travels across Iceland by boat and mountain bike retrace the steps of a once famous explorer in
this darkly humorous travelogue.
Animals
The Lost Pet Chronicles: Adventures of a K–9 Cop Turned Pet Detective by Kat Albrecht - 2004,
243p.
A fascinating peek into the life of a cop turned pet detective and the lives she helped save.
Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo by Lawrence Anthony 2007, 248 p.
Terrific tale about how Iraqis, a South African conservationist and American soldiers saved the
animals of the Baghdad Zoo in April 2003 after the Baghdad Zoo was bombed during the opening
days of the Iraq war.
Zamba by Ralph Helfer - 2005, 258p.
The inventor of "affection training" for Hollywood's screen animals tells of his relationship with a
lion cub.
Crime
Flim-Flam Man: A True Family History by Jennifer Vogel - 2004, 213 p.
An absorbing memoir of the author’s beloved father who also happened to be a liar and criminal.
True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall by Mark Salzman - 2003, 330 p.
These thoughts of teens behind bars are full of insight and emotion.
Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe - 2003, 128
p.
A bold and honest look at how young Emmett Till’s murder ignited the spark of America’s civil
rights movement.
History
Einstein's Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History by Steve Silverman - 2001,
183p.
Off-beat stories from the annals of science history. See more at his website,
www.uselessinformation.org.
Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 2004, 302p.
Abdul-Jabbar chronicles the bravery of Patton's all-black tank battalion and its 183 days on the
front lines at the Battle of the Bulge.
War by Sebastian Junger - 2010, 287p.
In this riveting combat narrative Junger spends 14 months in 2007–2008 intermittently embedded
with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, one of the
bloodiest corners of the conflict.
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from
Rwanda by Phillip Gourevitch - 1999, 355p.
In Rwanda, after 800,000 ethnic Hutus are murdered in 100 days the survivors try to rebuild their
lives while awaiting the slow-moving justice system.
Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa by Mark
Mathabane - 1986, 354p.
Mathabane's hopeless life in Johannesburg is full of violence and poverty, but he is determined to
get out.
Real Life Stories
Born on a Blue Day: A Memoir: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel
Tammet - 2007, 226 p.
Recounting his long struggle to emotionally connect with others, Tammet vividly describes his
childhood and adolescence as an autistic savant.
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig - 2004, 246p.
In this humorous memoir, the author recalls her experiences as a child with obsessive-compulsive
disorder.
Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman by Zac Unger - 2004, 262p.
This action-packed story of life as a firefighter tells it from the inside.
The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis - 2002,
248p.
Three black high school students who vow to finish college together must rely on each other to
keep from returning to the streets.
Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius
Who Invented It by Julia Keller - 2008, 294 p.
Both a biography of Richard J. Gatling and an analysis of how his invention permanently changed
warfare. It created a blueprint for future rapid-fire weapons and contributed to American military
success, yet it also produced unprecedented carnage that forever changed the way people looked at
war.
The Full Burn: On the Set, at the Bar, Behind the Wheel, and Over the Edge with Hollywood
Stuntmen by Kevin Conley - 2008, 218 p.
Conley visited the sets of action films to talk with Hollywood stuntmen and women.
Clara’s War: One Girl’s Story of Survival by Clara Kramer - 2009, 339 p.
Chronicling the 18 months she spent as a teen hiding with other polish Jews under Nazi
occupation.
Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Ruya Hakakian 2004, 245 p.
A haunting story of being a Jewish teenager in Tehran as civil rights are stripped away.
Shane Comes Home by Rinker Buck - 2005, 272p.
The moving story of the first American killed in the Iraq War.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah - 2007, 229 p.
A former child soldier in Sierra Leone recalls the heart-wrenching experiences that transformed
him from an innocent 12-year-old into a cold-blooded killer.
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany
Hamilton - 2004, 213p.
Could you return to the water after losing an arm in a shark attack? Hamilton did.
Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses: A Memoir by Paula McLain - 2003, 260p.
Growing up shuffled between foster homes, the author records the wretched conditions she and
her sisters endured.
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls - 2005, 288p.
This unusual memoir of making it on your own while living with your parents is full of the
"adventures" of being homeless.
Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory - 2003, 244p.
This astounding story describes a life crippled by an insidious form of child abuse, and the struggle
to move beyond it.
Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos - 2002, 199p.
Gantos tells a true and gripping tale about his teenage years in jail for trafficking drugs.
Science
Hidden Evidence: 40 True Crimes and How Forensic Science Helped Solve Them by David
Owen - 2000, 240p.
The world of forensic crime fights for justice with the invisible.
Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic by Marla Cone - 2005, 246p.
A wake up call to change our thinking and behavior to salvage our Arctic environment.
Count Down: Six Kids Vie for Glory at the World's Toughest Math Competition by Steve Olson 2004, 244p.
This story of the 2001 Math Olympiad and its U.S. team shows that math is not just for nerds.
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray 2009, 240 p.
The 118 elements of the periodic table are photographed and described with humor, style and
authority.
The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero by Robert Kaplan - 2000, 225p.
It's amazing how interesting a book about nothing can be.
Spix’s Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Tony Juniper - 2003, 287p.
Rare parrots sold on the black market can go for $40,000. There is only one Spix's macaw left in
the wild—can it survive?
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach - 2003, 303p.
For anyone interested in what happens when you donate your body to science, this humorously
macabre work shines some light on the bizarre details of your entrails.
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken
Silverstein - 2004, 209p.
Quiet David Hahn sidesteps his dysfunctional family to create a dangerously effective reactor in the
middle of his suburban neighborhood.
Electric Dreams: One Unlikely Team of Kids and the Race to Build the Car of the Future by
Caroline Kettlewell - 2004, 290p.
This true tale of a high school competition to convert an automobile into an electric vehicle is full
of characters and will leave you "shocked."
Sports
Glory Road: My Story of the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and How One Team
Triumphed Against the Odds and Changed America Forever by Don Haskins - 2006, 254p.
Haskins changed the face of college basketball by introducing great players who were black.
Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey - 1996, 230p.
Frey followed four star players, including Stephon Marbury, from Lincoln High’s basketball team
in New York. When you’re a talented basketball player from the projects, there are a million
things that can go wrong, and only one thing that can go right.
The Jump: Sebastian Telfair and the High Stakes Business of High School Ball by Ian O'Connor 2005, 307p.
If you were a high school basketball player in a gang-ridden neighborhood and the NBA wanted
you in the draft, would you make the jump?
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal
Bascomb - 2004,322p.
Breaking the four-minute mile had never been done, but in 1954 three men were determined to
be the first to do it.
Blood in the Cage: Pat Miletich and the Furious Rise of the UFC by Jon L. Wertheim - 2009, 251
p.
A look into the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and its rival organizations and its rise into
the mainstream. Focuses on Pat Miletich, who runs the most famous MMA training school in the
world.
Between Boardslides and Burnout: My Notes from the Road by Tony Hawk - 2002, 169p.
The skateboarding superstar's competitive travels and adventures in words and pictures.