FRIENDS ACADEMY
2013 Middle School Summer Reading List
for students entering
6th Grade
CHALLENGE ONE – Students entering sixth grade are required to read one of the following
titles:
 Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy.
2000 Newbery Medal Winner. Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in
Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets
out in search of the man he believes to be his father, a renowned bandleader.
 Paterson, Katherine. Great Gilly Hopkins, The.
1979 Newbery Honor Book. Eleven-year-old Gilly Hopkins, a smart but
difficult foster child, dreams of being reunited with her mother. She is placed
with a strange foster family and devises a plan to have her mother rescue her.
CHALLENGE TWO – All Middle School students are required to read the following book for a
September book discussion:

Palacio, R.J. Wonder
Wonder is the story of August (Auggie) Pullman, a 5th grader who was born with
a facial deformity. As a first-time student in a mainstream school, Auggie, just an
ordinary kid with an extraordinary face, has to convince his new classmates that
he’s no different from them.
CHALLENGE THREE – One book from this list will be required summer reading for sixth
grade, in addition to the challenge one and challenge two requirements:

Cummings, Priscilla. Red Kayak.
Thirteen-year-old Brady and his friends’ idyllic life is being threatened by land
developers with eyes on their neighborhood. When tragedy strikes and a
neighbor’s child dies, Brady must make a decision which carries grave
consequences for his best friends.

Gantos, Jack. Jack’s New Power : Stories From a Caribbean Year
In this follow-up to Heads or Tails, Jack finds plenty of new adventures to fill his
journal when his family moves to Barbados.

Gipson, Fred. Old Yeller.
1957 Newbery Honor Book. Fourteen-year-old Travis adopts an ugly, yellow,
stray dog who he has fun and adventures with until he has to make a difficult
decision after his dog is bitten by a rabid wolf.

Greenwald, Lisa. My Life in Pink and Green
12-year-old Lucy uses her problem-solving ability to save her family pharmacy
and help keep her Connecticut town green. Offering free beauty tips and makeup
applications to bring in customers, she also applies for a Green Grant in order to
set up an eco spa, while dealing with patronizing adults and a best friend in need
of advice.

Konigsburg, E. L. The View from Saturday
1997 Newbery Medal Winner. Mrs. Olinski has chosen four sixth-graders from
Epiphany Middle School to participate in the Academic Bowl Team. Who she
has chosen remains a mystery until the pieces of this puzzling question are
revealed, and the characters become “The Souls” who bond together and try to
win the state championship.

Myers, Walter Dean. The Glory Field.
Follow one African-American family’s roots from slavery through present day,
beginning with the capture of the founder of the family, Muhammad Bilal, in
Sierra Leone. Read about Muhammad and his descendants from slavery to escape,
through the Civil War, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and up
to a family reunion in present day New York City.

O’Roarke Dowell, Frances. The Secret Language of Girls
Kate and Marylin have pledged to be friends forever, but when Flannery moves in
the dynamics of their relationship change. Through a series of events, the girls
learn the meaning of true friendship.

Raskin, Ellen. Westing Game, The.
1979 Newbery Medal Winner. The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire
brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must solve the mystery of his
death before they can claim their inheritance.

Scattergood, Augusta. Glory Be
The summer of 1964 brings many changes for Gloriana June Hemphill, or Glory,
as everyone knows her. She’s turning 12, her sister has no time for her, the
segregated pool may be closing, and there is suddenly a new girl intruding from
the north. Glory Be is a novel about family, friendship, and choices that aren’t
always easy to make.

Sonnenblick, Jordan. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie
When his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-year-old Steven
tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his school life, and his desire to
support his family.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me.
2010 Newbery Medal Winner. Twelve year-old Miranda travels in her 1970’s
New York City Neighborhood with ease. But her everyday life becomes harder to
navigate as she tries to make sense of notes from an anonymous source who
claims to want to save her life. There is a criss cross of reality and fantasy in this
book that is similar to A Wrinkle in Time, Miranda’s favorite book.

Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer.
Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award Finalist, and Coretta Scott King
Award.
Eleven-year-old Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern fly from their home in
Brooklyn to Oakland, California to spend the summer with Cecile, their mother,
who left them seven years earlier, and now must deal with their return to her life.
It is 1968, and the girls are sent to a summer camp sponsored by the Black
Panthers, where they learn many things from these radicals with their Afros and
black berets.
Students may also choose any of these titles from James Dashner’s Maze Runner series, John
Feinstein’s sports mystery series, Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series, or Scott
Westerfeld’s Uglies series for a Challenge III book.

James Dashner. The Maze Runner series
Follow Mark, Trina and Thomas as they struggle to solve the Maze and cross the Scorch,
while having to rely on Gladers and fight off Cranks. If only they were sure that they
could trust Wicked as they make their way through these trials.
o Kill Order, Prequel
o Maze Runner, Book 1
o Scorch Trials, Book 2
o Death Cure, Book 3

Feinstein, John. Sports and mystery
In this series, follow reporters Steve Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson as they go
behind the scenes and cover stories about baseball, football, basketball, tennis and
swimming.
o Change Up: Mystery at the World Series
o Cover Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl
o Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery
o The Rivalry: Mystery at the Army-Navy Game
o Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U.S. Open

Riordan, Rick. The Heroes of Olympus series
In the brand-new series The Heroes of Olympus from the blockbuster best-selling author
Rick Riordan, fans return to the world of Camp Half-Blood, where a new group of heroes
will inherit a quest. But to survive the journey, they’ll need the help of some familiar
demigods.
o Lost Hero Book 1
o Son of Neptune, Book 2
o Mark of Athena Book 3

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies series
Tally can't wait to turn 16, but in her world, turning 16 means undergoing an operation to
turn your unattractive characteristics into gorgeous ones. Is life truly better as a Pretty?
And what about as a Special? Find out by reading this series and see if Tally is truly
happy with her new beauty.
o Extras
o Pretties
o Specials
o Uglies