The 2012/2013 Entering Sixth Gra de Core Summer
Reading Book is:
(ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO READ ONE OF THESE BOOKS)
Any of the following JACK GANTOS books:
Jack Henry Series Joey Pigza Series
Jack Adrift Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key Dead End in Norvelt
Jack on Tracks Joey Pigza Loses Control
Heads or Tails What Would Joey Pigza Do?
Jack’s New Power I am Not Joey Pigza
Jacks Black Book
All students are required to read the 6th Grade Core Summer Reading Book
as well as one other book on the following list.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a
lonely middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm
and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around
her.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial Marty finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home,
abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being and tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-
home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his
Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunts and fear of his dogs.
classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Icefall by Matthew Kirby A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin
Princess Solveig and her siblings are trapped in a hidden fortress frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their
tucked between towering mountains and a frozen fjord, along with her father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they
best friend and an army of restless soldiers, all awaiting news of the get together with relatives or neighbors.
king's victory in battle, but as they wait for winter's end and the all-
encompassing ice to break, acts of treachery make it clear that a
traitor lurks in their midst.
Something to Hold by Katherine Noe
In the early 1960s, Kitty is one of only two white children in her class
on Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon, where her father is a
government forester, and although past injustices and pain are still The Great Molasses Flood: Boston 1919 by Deborah Kops
very much alive there, she eventually finds friendships and Chronicles the events surrounding the Great Molasses Flood, during
opportunities to make a difference. which a large storage tank burst in a Boston neighborhood in 1919
and caused a deadly wave of molasses to flood the streets.
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
Deza Malone, the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman
accompanies her mother and older brother on a trip to find her father, Presents the story of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and the
an African American man who left to find work after the Great major persons and events that contributed to the year-long struggle
Depression hit. They end up in a Hooverville outside of Flint, Michigan, for equal rights on Montgomery's city buses.
and her brother attempts to be a performer while Deza and her
mother search for a home. Case Closed? by Susan Hughes
Examines how developments in modern science, such as DNA analysis
Black Radishes by Susan Meyer and spectroscopy, have helped to reopen archaeological mysteries
Gustave, having been forced to move from Paris to the countryside about ancient cities, Egypt's first female pharaoh, a missing expedition
after his parents decided it was not safe for Jews to live in the city to find the Northwest Passage, and more, with illustrations, maps, and
during World War II, meets a Catholic girl named Nicole, whose family photographs.
is part of the French Resistance, and together they devise a plan to
rescue his friend and family members from the Nazi occupied territory. Oh, Rats! by Albert Marrin
Describes rat behavior and survival skills and aspects of their
relationship with humans, including disease, rats as food, rats as
pests, and the training of rats as rescuers.
Six-Million Paperclips by Peter W. Schroeder & Dagmar Schoeder-
Hildebrand
In rural Whitwell, Tennessee, the community middle school decided to
teach diversity by focusing on the Holocaust. To help them grasp the
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo numbers of people who died, they collected 11 million paper clips,
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town which they placed in a memorial made from a German World War II
of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because railcar.
of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
2
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.
Neil Armstrong is My Uncle by Nan Marino Saffy’s Angel by Hillary McKay (series)
Ten-year-old Tamara Ann Simpson thinks she has finally found a Meet the Cassons, an artistic and eccentric family, whose ups and
chance to prove Muscle Man McGinty is a liar when he brags he can downs are charmingly told in the four books of this series. Saffy’s
beat anyone in the neighborhood at kickball, but as she awaits Angel, the first in the series, tells of Saffron Casson’s quest to find her
McGinty's downfall, she begins to understand his motives for lying. real parents once she finds out that unlike her brother and sisters,
she is adopted.
Buttermilk Hill by Ruth White
Ten-year-old Piper's worries about fitting in with her dad's new family Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
and about her mother's dating ring true as she tries to build her own When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs
sense of family amid the rancor and change away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in
search of her father.
Pie by Sarah Weeks
Alice's Aunt Polly passes away and entrusts the recipe for her world-
famous pie crust to her cat, which she leaves in Alice's care, and as
everyone, including Alice, tries to discover the secret ingredients, Alice
learns some important lessons about faith, love, and family.
The Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an Rick Riordan (any title)
African-American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically
changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
1963. Twelve-year-old Liam, who looks like he is thirty and is tired of being
treated like he is older than he actually is, decides he is going to pose
Nory Ryan’s Song by Patricia Reilly Giff as the adult chaperone on the first spaceship to take civilians into
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve- space, but when he ends up in outer space with a group of kids and
year-old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and no adult supervision, he must think fast to make things right.
neighbors survive.
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy
young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the
existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds
of feet above the Earth's surface.
Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch
Twelve-year-old Jack, freed from a dismal orphanage, makes his way
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea to the elusive and impossible Imagine Nation, where a mentor saves
It is the beginning of fifth grade, and Mr. Terupt is a brand new him from dissection and trains him to use his superpower, despite the
teacher. He has his hands full with seven distinctive voices in his class. virus he carries that makes him a threat.
Only Mr. Terupt seems able to reach his students, and things are
beginning to look up for each of them until a fateful winter day when Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
an accident occurs that will change everything and everyone. Halli Sveinsson, a mischievous young man who does not fit in with his
peers and siblings, plays a trick on Ragnor that goes too far, forcing
Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper him to embark on a hero's quest in which he will face highway
Eleven-year-old Melody is one of the smartest people around, but robbers, monsters, an intriguing girl, and truths about his family and
nobody knows it. Melody has cerebral palsy and can't talk, can't walk, the legends he grew up with.
can't write. When she discovers something that will allow her to speak
for the first time ever, at last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone
around her is ready to hear it.
3
Half-Minute Horrors by multiple authors
An anthology of very short, scary stories by an assortment of authors
and illustrators including Chris Raschka, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil
Gaiman, Jack Gantos, and Lane Smith.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Science Fair by Dave Barry The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an
The president of Kprshtskan is plotting to infiltrate the science fair at unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of
Hubble Middle School in Maryland in order to take over the United his death before they can claim their inheritance.
States government, but when Toby Harbinger, an ordinary student,
makes up his mind finally to win the fair, the terrorists' plans go awry. The View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
Rob's family is pre-occupied with his sister’s upcoming wedding. Rob
School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari stays out of their way, up in his favorite spot, his cherry tree where he
Twelve-year-olds Madeleine, Theo, and Lulu, and thirteen-year-old sees old Mrs. Calloway get murdered. No one likes the old woman,
Garrison, are sent to a remote Massachusetts school to overcome and everyone seems to think it was an accident. But Rob knows it
their phobias, but tragedy strikes and the quartet must work together wasn't and he’ll prove it too.
– with no adult assistance – to face their fears.
Guys Read: Funny Business by multiple authors
A collection of humorous stories featuring a teenaged mummy, a
homicidal turkey, and the world's largest pool of chocolate milk.
As if Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough My Mother is Running for
President! by Donna Gephart
Preparing for spelling bees, having a secret admirer, and waiting for The Stonekeeper (Amulet series) by Kazu Kibuishi
her chest size to catch up with her enormous feet are pressure
After moving to their ancestral home, Emily and Navin's mother is
enough, but twelve-year-old Vanessa must also deal with loneliness
kidnapped by a tentacled creature in the basement that leads the
and very real fears as her mother, Florida's governor, runs for
children on a deadly chase into the magical world below their home.
President of the United States.
The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Sixth-graders Mac and Vince operate a business charging The author relates, in graphic form, her experiences after she injured
schoolmates for protection from bullies and for help to negotiate her two front teeth and had to have surgeries and wear embarrassing
conflicts peacefully, with amazing challenges and results. braces and headgear, all while also dealing with the trials and
tribulations of middle school.
The Lost Key by Melinda Thielbar (Math Manga series)
Joy, Sam, and their friends from the kung fu school use their
knowledge of mathematics and whole numbers to discover who stole
the keys to the school and used them to steal all the kung fu
equipment.
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs Lost and Found by Shaun Tan
Twelve-year-old Teddy's life is somewhat unconventional, as he lives Collects three stories by Shaun Tan that explore how people lose and
on a theme park/zoo where both of his parents work. When the park's find what matters most to them, as a girl finds a bright spot in a dark
mascot, Henry the Hippo, goes belly up, Teddy suspects foul play. It world, a boy leads a strange, lost being home, and a group of
turns out the list of suspects who might have wanted him dead is long. peaceful creatures loses its home to cruel invaders.
The search for Henry's killer heats up as Teddy starts to fear for his
own life! Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
This wordless graphic novel depicts an enduring friendship between a
Pish Posh by Ellen Potter dog and his robot. Dog wants a friend, so he orders and constructs a
Eleven-year-old Clara Frankofile sits in her parents' elegant New York mail-order robot. The two are the best of friends until a rust-inducing
City restaurant, Pish Posh, and passes judgment on each customer as trip to the beach. After that fateful visit, dog and robot are able to
a Somebody or a Nobody, but her all-seeing eyes fail to observe the see what true friendship it.
mysterious events occurring right under her nose.
4
Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman
Eddie Ball has the chance of a lifetime: to win a million dollars by
sinking a foul shot during halftime at the NBA finals, but someone
really wants Eddie to shoot an air ball on the big day and will do
anything to sabotage the million dollar shot.
Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman
In a small Iowa town in 1952, eleven-year-old Charlie Nebraska,
whose father died in the Korean War, learns the meaning of both
racism and heroism when he befriends Luther Peale, a young man
who once played for the old Negro Baseball League.
Two Hot Dogs with Everything by Paul Haven
Although everyone credits him and his superstitions for the Sluggers’
first winning streak in 108 baseball seasons, eleven-year-old Danny
Gurkin believes that his discovery of a secret from the team's past
may be the real reason behind the ball club's success.
Travel Team by Mike Lupica
Danny Walker is crushed when he doesn't make the seventh grade
basketball team because he is too short; he suspects that the real
reason has something to do with a feud between his father and the
father of the team's best player. Then Danny's father announces that
he is starting his own youth team, but unexpected setbacks sideline
his dad and the team.
Madcat by Kathy Mackel
Fast-pitch softball catcher MadCat Campione's love for the sport is
strained when her team competes on a national level and her best pal
Jess puts the game before her friends.
