Reading List, Middle School
Grade 6 GOR List
Avi: The Blue Heron, The Man Who Was Poe, Nothing But the Truth, Crispin, Cross of Lead, and others. Note: We will read The True Confessions of Charlo3e Doyle in Grade 6, so please DO NOT read this one on your own.
Lloyd Alexander: The Chronicles of Prydain (series) and others
Joan Aiken: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, and others
Laurie Anderson: Chains
Natalie BabbiA: Tuck EverlasHng
Blue Balliet: Chasing Vermeer
Joan Bauer: Hope Was Here, and others
Gary Blackwood: The Shakespeare Stealer
Betsy Byers: Summer of the Swans, The Midnight Fox and others
Gennifer Choldenko: Al Capone Does My Shirts
Andrew Clements: Frindle, Things Not Seen
Susan Cooper: The Dark is Rising (series)
Padriac Collum: The Golden Fleece
Zizou Corder: Lion Boy
Sharon Creech: Walk Two Moons, Bloomability, The Wanderer, and others, but not her shorter stories
Christopher Paul CurLs: Bud, Not Buddy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Karen Cushman: Catherine Called Birdie, The Midwife’s ApprenHce
Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, MaHlda, and others
Kate DiCamillo: The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising Kathryn Erskine: Mockingbird
Paula Fox: Slave Dancer, One-Eyed Cat, Monkey Island
Cornelia Funke: The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, Inkheart, Inkspell
Jack Gantos: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, and sequels
Jean Craighead George: My Side of the Mountain, and sequels
Patricia Reilly Giff: Pictures of Hollis Woods, Lily’s Crossing
BeAe Greene: Summer of My German Soldier
Margaret Peterson Haddix: Among The Hidden
Karen Hesse: Out of the Dust, The Music of Dolphins, Stowaway, and others
Polly Horvath: Everything on a Waffle
Eva IboAson: The Secret of PlaWorm 13, and sequels
E.L. Konigsburg: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The View from Saturday, Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, and others
Joseph Krumgold: Onion John, And Now Miguel
Cynthia Kadohata: Kira-Kira
Stephen Lawhead: The Dragon King Saga (series)
Madeleine L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A SwiZly TilHng Planet, Meet the AusHns, and many more.
Gail Carson Levine: Ella Enchanted, Dave at Night (not her shorter fairy tales)
KrisLn Levine: The Best Bad Luck I Have Ever Had
Lois Lenski: Indian CapHve
C.S. Lewis: Note: You will be required to read The Magician’s Nephew during the summer before Grade 6 as part of the summer reading program. (If you would like to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or any of the other books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, these would be excellent choices for GOR.)
Lois Lowry: The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, Number the Stars, The Willoughbys, and others
Michelle Magorian: Goodnight Mr. Tom
Walter Dean Myers: Somewhere in the Darkness, and others ScoA O’Dell: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Linda Sue Park: A Single Shard, My Name Is Keoko, and others  Katherine Paterson: Bridge to Terabithia, Lyddie, Jip, and others
Gary Paulson: Hatchet, Dogsong, Brian’s Winter, and others
Richard Peck: A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Under
Rodman Philbrick: Freak the Mighty
Wilson Rawls: Where the Red Fern Grows, Summer of the Monkeys
Louis Sachar: Holes
Zilpha Snyder: The Bronze Pen
Elizabeth George Speare: The Witch of Blackbird Pond and others. Note: We will read The Bronze Bow together in Grade 6, so please DO NOT read this one on your own.
Armstrong Sperry: Call it Courage
Jerry Spinelli: Maniac Magee, Wringer, and others
J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (series)
Yoshiko Uchida: Jar of Dreams
Cynthia Voight: Homecoming, Dicey’s Song, Jackaroo, and others
Virginia Euer Wolff: True Believer
Lawrence Yep: Dragonwings, The Star Fisher, and others
Jane Yolen: The Devil’s ArithmeHc and others
- There are many other wonderful authors to choose from, but any addiLons to this list must be approved by one of your English teachers in order to count for independent reading. One guideline is to first check if a book that you would like to read has won any significant awards.
- Not all books are appropriate for every sixth grader; a book’s appropriateness may depend on one’s level of maturity, understanding of the topic, and familiarity with English. If you have a quesLon about whether or not a book is appropriate for you, please check with one of your English teachers, with one of the CAJ librarians, or with your parents.
