Monday, May 3, 2010

Great books for 6th graders

I love getting recommendations from students. Best of all, students love sharing books they love. Here is a list of books that 6th graders at our school recommend as the best books they read this year.

Action & Suspense

o Alex Rider series, by Anthony Horowitz
o Wolf Brother, by Michael Paver
o Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
o Young James Bond series (starting with SilverFin), by Charlie Higson
o Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
o Maze Runner, by James Dashner
o Dangerous Days of Daniel X, by James Patterson
o Tentacles, by Roland Smith
o Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentlman? by Eleanor Updale
o Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom series), by Garth Nix
o Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
o Elephant Run, by Roland Smith

Fantasy

o Lightning Thief series, by Rick Riordan
o Pendragon series, by D.J. MacHale
o White Giraffe, Lauren St. John
o Wicked series, by Nancy Holder and Debbie ViguiƩ
o Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer
o Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld
o Artemis Fowl series, by Eoin Colfer
o Seventh Tower series, by Garth Nix
o The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott
o Uglies series, by Scott Westerfeld
o Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett
o The Fellowship of the Ring (1st in the Lord of the Rings trilogy), by J. R. R. Tolkien
o Evermore (the Immortals series), by Alyson Noel

Realistic Fiction

o Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt
o Game, by Walter Dean Myers
o War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo
o Scat, by Carl Hiassen
o Alabama Moon, by Watt Key
o Saffy's Angel, by Hillary McKay
o The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, by Erin Dionne
o A Corner of the Universe, by Ann Martin
o Dirty Little Secrets, by C.J. Omololu
o Rules of the Road, by Joan Bauer
o Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks

Humor

o Guys Write for Guys Read, edited by Jon Sciezska
o Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
o The Schwa Was Here, by Neal Shusterman

Friendship

o Savvy, by Ingrid Law
o When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
o Smile, by Raina Telgemeier
o Indigo Blue, by Cathy Cassidy
o That Was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton
o The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
o Friendship for Today, by Patricia McKissack

Historical Fiction

o Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko
o Blood on the River, by Elisa Carbone
o My Louisiana Sky, by Kimberly Willis Holt

Animals

o The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
o Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
o The Georges and the Jewels, by Jane Smiley
o Chestnut Hill, by Lauren Brooke
o Sheep, by Valerie Hobbs

I will continue adding the WorldCat links for these titles. You can use these links to search public libraries near you.

Do you find any titles that you've already read? Try exploring others in the same category. Another good tip is to look at other books that author has written. Have fun!

69 comments:

  1. What an awesome list! I'm going to link to it, if you don't mind! :)

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  2. This is a great list. I am just doing this with my 3rd, 4th and 5th graders now that it is the end of the year. I put their lists at the end of my summer suggested reading lists for all grades.

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  3. Great list. Going to choose some for class.

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  4. Wow great used this with my class they loved it

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  5. this list helped me so much as a student but this is upsetting now that i am in sixth grade and read all of them

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    1. True, but some of them belong to series. Read them.

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  6. Thanks for The List!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

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  7. i used this for my class they loved it so much!!!

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  8. i dont like this list. There should be a sports section

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    1. I LOVE the Hunger Games series. They are well written and bloody!!!
      Please read the trilogy!!!!!!!

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    2. I know right? There so should be!

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    3. thank you for the list~~~!

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    4. love this list, so helpful ;)

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  9. NICE! I couldn't find any good books untill now!

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  10. I am doing a book report, so this really helped!


    TY sooo much!

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    1. The book Where the Red Fern Grows and the Hunger Games were the best books I have read!!!!!

      Thank you! :)

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    2. the movies were better

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  11. I dont like many of them , but good list

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  12. ok list could have been better but alot of great books in it next time ask us make an hour long sesh between people and you
    i think thtwill help

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  13. add the theif lord

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  14. this is a horrible list, no sports i disrecomend this to everyone

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    1. that is soooooooooooo rude for people to say "this list is bad," or " i don't recommend this to anyone. anyone with negative comments should realize that Mary Ann Scheuer took the time to research/type this long list of recommended books.She did this not only to inform people of wonderfully-written books, but to also help people to discover other/new books for people to read. THANK YOU SO MUCH, Ms. Scheuer for this Fantastic list. You= an amazing/creative person. thanks again.

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  15. Awesome. I read them and loved them!

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  16. thanks for supplying this AWESOME list of books- this will be my list for summer reads!!!
    Age:12

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  17. Great list I was stuck in what to read until now!

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  18. Twilight isn't a good book for anyone, especially 6th graders. All it's about is the importance of having a boyfriend.

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  19. Nice selection, but think about the michael vey series, my class loved it

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  20. My daughter is starting 6th grade this fall, and has to read 500 pages/quarter for private reading. She read the first 2 books of The Hunger Games series this summer, and was going to start the third book for her private reading. However, when school started, she brought home a paper from the Reading teacher stating that the following book series weren't allowed for reading credit: The Hunger Games, Twilight, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter. These book series were deemed inappropriate by the elementary school staff for the kids to read.

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    1. Good summer reading but not for everyone. Teachers are seeking strong, time-honored literary examples of the skills they're required to teach and they must steer clear of controversy. The ones you've mentioned? Not appropriate for school.

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  21. Oh, I must say that I'm sorry about this. I wish that they had asked families to make the decisions themselves, providing balanced information. What did your daughter think of the Hunger Games? In some ways, I can see that these series bring up challenging issues, especially for younger elementary students. But I strongly believe that each family and every student must be able to make this decision for themselves. Best of luck encouraging your daughter's reading.

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  22. Wow, I couldn't choose good books to read until now! You have a great taste of choosing!

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  23. ilove the hunger gmes and house at the end of the street

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  24. I have read some of these and I am in 5th grade! They are very good readings.

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  25. Love the fact that you made this list. But I am in 6th grade and have read every single one of these books except The Hunger Games

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  26. Love the list. But I am in 6th grade and have read every single book on this list!

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  27. Thanks for the list. A few of these are ones my students have also enjoyed so I'm glad to have a few additional ones and see that the ones they like are popular elsewhere.

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  28. I didn't know what to read, and the list really helped!!!!!!!!!!!
    THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  29. These are wonderful lists, thank you! Under Historical Fiction I would add the Crispin: Cross of Lead series by Avi. All three books were wonderful. Another title that I think belongs here possibly under Historical Fiction would be The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare as well as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (I think Avi is a wonderful children's writer). And one more book to consider under Realistic Fiction would be The Bridge to Terabithia.

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  30. you should put down the I am #4 series

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  31. Thank you very much I need to do a summer reading project and I didn't know what to read thanks.

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  32. Thank you for sharing. I'm definitely using your list for homeschooling.

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  33. I love these books!

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  34. I WANT MORE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!

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  35. This is a great list but may you please add this book called the book thief

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  36. Cool!! I have loved some of the series that you have listed. Thank you!!

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  37. Try reading Inkheart!!!!

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  38. great books !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  39. Some of these books I've never heard of, but evermore sounds good!!!

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  40. Thank goodness SOMEONE has a good list of books to read! (This is not meant to offend anyone) I have read EVERY. SINGLE. BOOK. On my book shelf!

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  41. Hunger Games and Twilight? Don't agree. This list has far too much sexiness, violence and darkness for 11 year olds, I think. More humor needed. They're 11 (or 12) year old kids.

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    1. Anonymous u have been talkingg for like 4 years in the comments btw nice list

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