6th Grade Fiction Reading List

Abbott, Tony                                         Firegirl

A middle school boy's life is changed when Jessica, a girl disfigured by burns, starts attending his Catholic school while receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Avi                                                          Crispin 

Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.

Babbit, Natalie                                    Tuck Everlasting

Welcome to the town of Treegap.   The Tucks and Fosters are brought together by a magic water spring.  Winnie Foster learns the importance of the life cycle and that it has a natural beauty and balance.  She learns that this should not be disturbed by human greed. 

Burnett, Frances Hodgson                                The Secret Garden

Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.

Clements, Andrew                               The School Story                                                                                

After twelve-year-old Natalie writes a wonderful novel, her friend Zoe helps her devise a scheme to get it accepted at the publishing house where Natalie's mother works as an editor.

Colfer, Eoin                                          Artemis Fowl (series)                                                                                         

                                                When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Curtis, Chirtopher Paul                     Bud, Not Buddy

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, the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

                                                                Elijah of Buxton

Eleven-year-old Elijah  Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American

South in 1859, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to

buy a family's freedom.

#DiCamillo, Kate                                The Tale of Despereaux:  Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread

The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

#DiTerlizzi, Tony                                 The Spiderwick Chronicles – The Field Guide (series)

When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda's worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences.

DuPrau, Jeanne                                   City of Ember

In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

#Durrant, Lynda                                  Echohawk                                                                                             

A twelve-year-old white boy , adopted and raised by Mochicans in the Hudson River Valley during the 1730's, is sent with his younger brother to an English settlement for schooling.

Feinstein, John                                    Last Shot

After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game.

Ferris, Jean                                          Once Upon a Marigold

A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father.

Gantos, Jack

Funke, Cornelia                                  Igraine the Brave

The daughter of two magicians, twelve-year-old Igraine wants nothing more than to be a knight, and when their castle is attacked by a treacherous neighbor bent on stealing their singing magic books, Igraine has an opportunity to demonstrate her bravery.

Gantos, Jack                                        Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (series)                                                                           

To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.

Golden, Christopher

Sniegoski, Thomas                              Outcast the Un-Magician

Timothy has spent his life on a remote hidden island.  He is the only person in existence without magical powers.  When he is able to return to his birthplace, he finds out he is marked for death.  The government is watching his every move.  He can’t imagine why, he wields no power.  Or does he?

#Haddix, Margaret Peterson            Among the Hidden

In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.

Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas         The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn (series)

While attempting to solve the mystery of a stolen jewel, Seikei, a merchant's son who longs to be a samurai, joins a group of kabuki actors in eighteenth-century Japan.

Horowitz, Anthony                              Stormbreaker (Alex Ryder series)                                                     

                                                After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.

Horvath, Polly                                     Everything on a Waffle                                                                      

                                                Eleven-year-old Primrose, who lives in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts her experiences and all that she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life in the months after her parents are lost at sea.

Hunter, Erin                                         Into the Wild (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.

Ibbotson, Eva                                       Dial-A-Ghost

A family of nice ghosts protects a British orphan from the diabolical plans of his evil guardians.

Jacques, Brian                                     Redwall (Redwall series)

                                                When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.

#Jones, Elizabeth McDavid              The Night Flyers                                                                                 

                                                In 1918, caring for her family's homing pigeons while her father is away fighting in World War I, twelve-year-old Pam comes to suspect that a mysterious stranger in her small North Carolina town is a German spy.

Kehret, Peg                                           Abduction

Thirteen-year-old Bonnie has a feeling of foreboding on the very day that her six-year-old brother Matt and their dog Pookie are abducted, and she becomes involved in a major search effort as well as a frightening adventure.

Korman, Gordon                                 No More Dead Dogs

Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well.

Korman, Gordan                                 Kidnapped (series)

Aiden teams up with the FBI to track down his sister Meg who was kidnapped while they were walking home from school.

Levine, Gail Carson                            Ella Enchanted                                                                                     

                                                In this Cinderella based fantasy, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

Lewis, C. S.                                           The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (series)                           

Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia.

Lubar, David                                        Wizards of the Game

                                                Eighth grader Mercer, whose passion is the fantasy role-playing game Wizard of the Warrior World, hopes to use a fund raiser to bring a gaming convention to his middle school, but instead he attracts four genuine wizards who are trapped on Earth and want his help in returning to their own world.

#Lubar, David                                      Punished!

After Logan receives a face full of magic dust from a man in the reference section of the library, he finds the only way to stop his incessant punning is to find oxymorons, anagrams, and palindromes to fulfill the requirements of three quests.

#Mikaelsen, Ben                                  Rescue Josh McGuire

When thirteen-year-old Josh runs away to the mountains of Montana with an orphaned bear cub destined for laboratory testing, they both must fight for their lives in a sudden snowstorm.

Montgomery, L. M.                              Anne of Green Gables (series)                                                          

                                                An orphan girl mistakenly sent to Prince Edward Island to live with a lonely old couple changes their lives.

Nix, Garth                                             Mister Monday (series)

A key that saves Arthur Penhaligon's life also brings with it a plague and a stranger named Mister Monday who is set on destroying Arthur and everything around him.

O’Connor, Barbara

Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.

O’Dell, Scott                                         Sing Down the Moon                                                                         

.                                               A young Navaho girl recounts the events of 1864 when her tribe was forced to march to Fort Sumner as prisoners of the white soldiers.

Osborne, Mary Pope                           Adaline Falling Star                                                                            

.                                               The daughter of explorer, Kit Carson, and an Arapaho mother, Adaline runs away from her prejudiced cousins and faces a battle for survival in the wilderness.

Park, Barbara                                      The Graduation of Jake Moon                                                          

                                                Fourteen-year-old Jake tells about his last four years as his grandfather suffered the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Paterson, Katherine                           The Bridge To Terabithia

The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.

Paulsen, Gary                                      Lawn Boy

Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.

Peck, Richard                                      A Long Way From Chicago / A Year Down Yonder                     

                                                Humorous account of two siblings’ annual summer trip to eccentric grandmother during the Great Depression.

Perkins, Lynne Rae                             All Alone in the Universe                                                                  

                                                Debbie is dismayed when her best friend Maureen starts spending time with ordinary, boring Glenna. 

Philbrick, Rodman                              The Young Man and The Sea

After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father, so he undertakes a dangerous trip alone out on the ocean off the coast of Maine to try to catch a huge bluefin tuna.

Raskin, Ellen                                        The Westing Game

The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

Riordan, Rick                                       Lightning Thief

Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable to control his temper, learns the truth from his mother that his father is the Greek god Poseidon, and is sent to Camp Half Blood where he is befriended by a satyr and the demigod daughter of Athena who join him in a journey to the Underworld to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt and prevent a catastrophic war.

Rowling, J.K.                                        Harry Potter

Harry lives in a tiny closet in his uncle, aunt and cousin’s house.  He hasn’t celebrated his birthday in eleven years.  All of that changes when he is invited to a wonderful, mysterious, magical place.  Join Harry and his adventure to a place of broomsticks, invisibility cloaks and dragons.

Ruby, Lois                                             Steal Away Home                                                                               

                                                Almost 150 years after a Quaker family in Kansas operated a station on the Underground Railroad, twelve-year-old Dana moves into the same house and finds a skeleton.

Ryan, Pam Munoz                               Esperanza Rising

Esperanza lived a wonderful life in Mexico with her family.  However, a tragedy forces Esperanza and her mother to flee to California where they settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers.  It’s the Great Depression and Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances.

Selznick, Brian                                    The Invention of Hugo Cabret

When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toy seller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

Snicket, Lemony                                  The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events)                 

                                                After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and their wits when it turns out that the distant relative who is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means necessary to get their fortune.

Spinelli, Jerry                                      Loser

Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

Springer, Nancy                                  Enola Olmes Mystery (series)

Enola Holmes, much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, must travel to London in disguise to unravel the disappearance of her missing mother.

Tolan, Stephanie                                 Surviving the Applewhites

Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had.

VanDraanen, Wendelin                      Sammy Keyes (series)

                                                Sammy continues to make life with her grandmother interesting as she tries to discover who is stealing from St. Mary's church, befriends a homeless girl, and plays in a softball tournament against a bitter rival.

Wrede, Patricia C.                               Dealing With Dragons (series)                                                                         

                                                Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards.