100 Books To Read In Middle School
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Author
Title
©Date
Annotation
Higson, Charles; Fleming, Ian.
2006
During a summer holiday in Italy, the teen-age James Bond tangles with an underground empire of criminals as he attempts the rescue of a kidnapped young girl.
1.
Emerson, Kevin.
2008
Recounts the events that occur at the end of seventh grade, when a group of friends plan to trick Carlos, an annoying "problem" student who says he is visited by aliens, while they are on a field trip in the mountains of New Hampshire
2.
Perkins, Mitali.
First daughter : extreme American makeover
sequel is First daughter : White House rules
2007
During her father's presidential campaign, sixteen-year-old Sameera Righton, who was adopted from Pakistan at the age of three, struggles with campaign staffers who want to give her a more "all-American" image and create a fake weblog in her name.
3.
Roth, Matthue.
2005
Don't think for a second that you know Hava or her place in the world. Yes, she's an Orthodox Jew. But that doesn't mean she can't rock out. And yes, she has opinions about everything around her. But her opinions about herself can be twice as harsh. Now Hava's just been asked to be the token Jew on a TV show about a Jewish family, trading one insular community for another. There is soon a collision of both cultures and desires -- with one headstrong heroine caught in the middle.
4.
Alexie, Sherman
2007
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Native American is the school mascot.
5.
Avi
1991
Ninth grader Philip Malloy is suspended for humming the National Anthem during homeroom. When the story hits the national news, the results of telling nothing but the truth unfold in surprising and thought-provoking ways.
6.
Bloor, Edward
2001
Though legally blind, Paul Fisher can see what others cannot. He can see that his parents' constant praise of his brother, Erik, the football star, is to cover up something that is terribly wrong. But no one listens to Paul--until his family moves to Tangerine. In this Florida town, weird is normal: Lightning strikes at the same time every day, a sinkhole swallows a local school, and Paul the geek finds himself adopted into the toughest group around: the soccer team at his middle school.
7.
The boy in the striped pajamas : a fable
2006
Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence. The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book ont he jkacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We thiink it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. If you do start to read this book, you wll go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence.
8.
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker
2007
Abigail is starting a new middle school, a Catholic school, because she’s been expelled from her old one. She’s sure that this place will be just the same as the last, and no one will listen to her here either. Even her parents don’t seem able to really hear the truth about what happened at the previous school. But now she finds herself in a community of people who do listen, who want to be her friends, and who help her discover a talent for theater that she never knew she had. Converting to Catholicism began merely as a way to annoy her parents, but quickly it becomes more. Could she be developing real faith?
9.
Brashares, Ann
The sisterhood of the traveling pants
*series
The second summer of the sisterhood2001 etc.
“The guys-to -die-for romances, sibling rivalry, and heartbreaking tragedy are themes enabling the book’s popularity to gain legs as teen girls share the book and recommend it to others. (RW) Four gossipy adolescents share a used pair of jeans. It’s like eavesdropping on their daily lives—romance, parents, and jobs.”
10.
Butler, Dori Hillestad.
2008
Tired of being told what to write by the school newspaper's advisor, Zibby and her friend Amr start an underground newspaper online where everyone is free to post anything, but things spiral out of control when a cyberbully starts using the site to harrass one popular girl.
11.
Cabot, Meg
* Series
2005
Susannah, a mediator--a contact person for dead people with unresolved issues--has moved with her mother and stepfather to California, and there's a ghost sitting in her new bedroom and another one at her new high school.
12.
Card, Orson Scott
*series
1977
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
13.
Choldenko, Gennifer
2004
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
14.
Choldenko, Gennifer
2007
Kirsten and Walk, seventh-graders at an elite private school, alternate telling how race, wealth, weight, and other issues shape their relationships as they and other misfits stand up to a mean but influential classmate, even as they are uncovering a long-kept secret about themselves.
15.
Velde, Vivian Vande
2002
Various people recall aspects of the life of Raquel Falcone, an unpopular, overweight freshman at Quail Run High School, including classmates, her parents, and the driver who struck and killed her as she was walking home from an animated film festival.
16.
Colfer, Eoin
* Series
2002
Artemis Fowl, a charming but villainous twelve-year-old, takes on the dangerous world of the Fairy People. Artemis Fowl opens up a riveting world of fantasy and mystery where anything, literally, is possible.
17.
COLLINS, Suzanne..–
2008
In reality TV run amok, an annual, government-run competition pits two dozen teens against one another in a fight to the death, and 16-year-old Katniss must hold her own against stronger and more ruthless players. A compelling and often-poignant portrait of young people forced to deal with unspeakable evil.
18.
Compestine, Ying
2007
Ling, the daughter of two doctors, struggles to make sense of the Cultural Revolution, which empties stores of food, homes of anything deemed bourgeois, and people of laughter.
19.
Cooney, Caroline B.
1990
"When Janie sees her own face on the milk carton under the words "Missing Child," she begins to wonder about her so-called parents."
20.
Creech, Sharon
1994
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.
21.
Cummings, Priscilla
2004
Living near the water on Maryland's Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.
22.
Curtis, Christopher Paul
1995
Two young boys travel with their parents to Birmingham, Alabama in the middle of the tumultuous civil rights movement. Violence and racism are everywhere, but the family does a great job of protecting itself until an unspeakable event impacts all of them. This is loved by boys and girls, and is a must read for everyone.
23.
Deuker, Carl
2007
When a new job falls his way, Chance jumps at the opportunity, becoming a runner who picks up strange packages on a daily route and delivers them to a shady man at the marina. Chase knows how much he will earn—what he doesn’t know is how much he will pay. Suspenseful, fast-paced, and timely, this novel avoids easy answers as it examines issues of terrorism and patriotism, fear and courage, and lives of privilege and poverty.
24.
Curtis, Christopher Paul
1999
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.
25.
Draper, Sharon-
2002
Three eighth-grade friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition cope with Randy's missing father, Delia's inability to read, and Yo Yo's encounter with the class bullies. Great for reluctant readers.
26.
Ellis, Deborah
2000
Young Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan. Because he has a foreign education, her father is arrested by the Taliban, the religious group that controls the country. Since women cannot appear in public unless covered head to toe, or go to school, or work outside the home, the family becomes increasingly desperate until Parvana conceives a plan. She cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy to earn money for her family.
27.
Feinstein, John
Last shot : a Final Four mystery
Cover-up -
Final Four Mystery series
. 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.
28.
Fergus, Maureen
Exploits of a Reluctant (But Extremely Goodlooking) Hero
Meet a teenage hero who likes nothing better than to sit back with a bucket of fried chicken and a girlie magazine, waiting for his family plumbing fortune to come to him. But when our hero gets into some serious trouble, he's forced to volunteer at a local soup kitchen where he finds himself at the center of a struggle between the rich and the poor, the selfish and the selfless. It is a worthy cause he could care less about until the day he stumbles across a shocking piece of information. What happens next surprises everybody, including our very reluctant hero... Exploits of a Reluctant (But Extremely Goodlooking) Hero is a novel of adventure, intrigue, Ukrainian dance lessons, disruptive horseplay, inappropriate ogling and some truly heroic consumption of junk food. Adrian Mole meets South Parkin this often outrageous and always hilarious trip into the inner world of a boy teetering on the brink of manhood.
29.
Flake, Sharon
Who am I without him? : short stories about girls and the boys in their lives
2004
This is the antidote for the sappy romance genre: gritty and funny stories about boys and first loves. (TSL) This book is on a subject of primary importance to middle school girls, and it offers enough diverse views and situations that most teens will recognize themselves within its pages.
30.
Fleischman , John
2002
Lots of gory detail plus great nonfiction information about the brain makes this a knockout for boys (and girls like it, too). The mere thought of living with an iron rod embedded in one’s brain will fascinate and completely engage the middle school boy’s penchant for gross and gory.
31.
Freedman, Russell.
The voice that challenged a nation : Marian Anderson and the struggle for equal rights
2004
Opening with a moving account of the great African American contralto’s Easter Sunday concert from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, Freedman tells the powerful story of Marian Anderson’s struggle for the right to sing.
32.
Cooney, Caroline B Code Orange 2005 While conducting research for a school paper on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs and fears that he has infected himself and all of New York City.
33.
Gantos, Jack
Joey Pigza Series
1 Joey Pigza swallowed the key
2000
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his medication wears off.
34.
Giff, Patricia Reilly
2002
A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her.
35.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson
*Shadow Children series.
In the future, families are restricted to two children due to limited resources. But Luke is born a third child, and he finds it very lonely hiding inside his own home. He soon discovers another third child, and the book takes off from there.
36.
Halpin, Brendan.
2007
After his father dies and his mother goes into rehab, Eddie moves from the suburbs into his cousin's Boston loft, where he gradually adjusts to being one of the few white kids in a progressive private school, and learns how to feel like a normal teenager
37.
Hiaason, Carl
2002
Middle school students invent clever pranks to save the owls’ nesting site from new construction.
38.
Hobbs, Will
2006
Fifteen-year-old Victor Flores journeys north in a desperate attempt to cross the Arizona border and find work in the United States to support his family in central Mexico.
39.
Horowitz, Anthony
Alex Rider Adventures series
1) Stormbreaker
3) Skeleton Key
4) Eagle Strike
5) Scorpia
6) Ark Angel
7) Snakehead
These books effectively blend adventure, danger, technology—including cool gadgets—and an interesting hero, teen spy Alex Rider, in thrilling plots. Recruited by British Intelligence to become a secret agent, fourteen year old Alex outwits the bad guys while continuing to deal with the desires, fears, and doubts of a middle school boy.
40.
Houston, Julian
2005
Fifteen-year-old Rob Garrett wants nothing more than to escape the segregated South and prove himself. But in late 1950s Virginia, opportunity doesn’t come easily to an African American. So Rob’s parents take the unusual step of enrolling their son in a Connecticut boarding school, where he will have the best education available. He will also be the first student of color in the school’s history. No matter—Rob Garrett is on his way.
41.
Johnson, Angela
2003
Bobby is your classic urban teenaged boy -- impulsive, eager, restless. On his sixteenth birthday he gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever. She's pregnant. Bobby's going to be a father. Suddenly things like school and house parties and hanging with friends no longer seem important as they're replaced by visits to Nia's obstetrician and a social worker who says that the only way for Nia and Bobby to lead a normal life is to put their baby up for adoption. 42.
Kent, Rose.
2007
Adopted from Korea by Italian parents, fourteen-year-old Joseph Calderaro begins to make important self-discoveries about race and family after his social studies teacher assigns an essay on cultural heritage and tracing the past.
43.
Kinney, Jeff
2007
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.
44.
Konigsburg, E. L.
2004
Prefer Not To.... That's Margaret Rose Kane's response to every activity she's asked to participate in at the summer camp to which she's been exiled while her parents are in Peru. So Margaret Rose is delighted when her beloved uncles rescue her from Camp Talequa, with its uptight camp director and cruel cabinmates, and bring her to stay with them at their wonderful house at 19 Schuyler Place.
45.
Korman , Gordon
2007
46.
Korman, Gordon
2002
The time-tested Romeo and Juliet theme of opposites from feuding families falling in love is presented in a fresh, fast-moving, and completely funny story.
47.
Wallace, Rich.
1997
While pursuing his goal of helping his soccer team win the league championship, fifteen-year-old Bones tries to deal with his resentment of his best friend, on whose girlfriend he has a crush.
48.
Lasky, Kathryn
Fourteen-year-old Jerry Luna, mute since her mother's disappearance, is sent to her great-great aunt Constanza's house, where she discovers a trunk that draws her into the world of her ancestors during the Spanish Inquisition.
49.
Lawson, Kirby
2006
It is 1918 in rural Iowa, and Hattie Inez Brooks has survived to her sixteenth year being shuttled among various relatives and near-relatives. She has an opportunity to homestead in Montana when her uncle dies. All she has to do is cultivate 40 acres, put up 480 rods of fence and pay a filing fee of $37.75 within the next ten months.
50.
Lichtman, Wendy.
2007
Tess has always loved math, and she uses mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life, so she is dismayed to find out how much math--and life--can change in eighth grade.
51.
Lipsyte, Robert
2007
When seventeen-year-old Kyle reluctantly succumbs to family pressure and replaces his injured brother in the family racecar, he struggles to keep up with his trumpet playing while deciding how--or if--he can continue making music with a brass quintet and headlines as a Nascar racer.
52.
Lisle, Janet Taylor
2000
In 1942, Robert and his cousin Elliot uncover long-hidden family secrets while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town, where they also become involved with a German artist who is suspected of being a spy.
53.
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic
54.
Lupica, Mike
2004
After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.
55.
Lupica, Mike
2006
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
56.
MacHale, D.J.
Pendragon series
Reluctant hero Bobby Pendragon discovers his special talent forcing him to battle evil by entering different parallel worlds. Bobby’s resourcefulness and nobility continue drawing boy readers back to the series.
57.
Magorian, Michelle
Willie Beech, a nine-year-old abused child, goes to live with kind "Mister Tom" after being evacuated from World War II London, but is summoned home by his disturbed mother.
58.
Trueman, Terry
2003
A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage.
59.
Mass, Wendy
2003
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the death of her beloved cat, Mango.
60.
Meyer, L. A.
Bloody Jack : being an account of the curious adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, ship's boy
2002
Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a thirteen-year-old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way onto a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates.
61.
Meyer, Stephanie
* Series
Seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, where she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not entirely human.
62.
Moriarty, Jaclyn
2004
Lots of laughs, plenty of attitude, mystery, and hijinks permeate this book that has been incredibly popular with our eighth grade students. Three longtime girlfriends in high school—Emily, Lydia, and Cassie—who are connected through parents who went to law school together, are each required to become pen pals with guys in a cross-town school with a bad reputation. The story is told primarily through these letters back and forth,along with some journal entries, and a hysterically funny fill-in-the-blanks writing workbook that Lydia’s dad has given her.
63.
Myers, Walter Dean
1999
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Stevemon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the f of a film script as tries to come to terms with his life.
64.
Myers, Walter Dean
2008
Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there profoundly changes him.
65.
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Almost Alice
Dangerously Alice
Alice in the know
Alice Series2008, etc
The Alice series follows the main character, Alice McKinley, known as "Al" to her father and older brother as she grows up in Silver Spring, Maryland. The Alice series broaches many topics, including relationships, dating, sex, friendship, life problems, families, God, and understanding. The books have made the ALA (American Library Association) list of most challenged books for several years
66.
Nelson, Kadir
2008
Using the collective “we” to honor “the voice of every player,” this pitch-perfect history, the product of extensive research, features a folksy and conversational storytelling style and loads of attention-grabbing details. Nelson’s grand slam, though, is the art: each oil portrait transmits a proud formality, and his from-the-ground perspectives render the players appropriately larger than life.
67.
Nelson, Blake, 1960-
2006
When the students in health class at George Wilson Middle School are assigned girl/boy partners to discuss gender issues, no one could imagine that two students would actually switch bodies.
68.
Nye, Naomi Shihab.
1999
When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.
69.
Park, Linda Sue
2005
While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more. Between the chapters are short dialogues between the author and main character about the writing of the book.
70.
Paterson, Katherine.
2006
In the winter of 1912, the Lawrence, Massachusetts, mills go on strike and local workers endure horrible conditions. The children are shipped to Barre, Vermont, where Rosa and bad-boy Jake learn about cooperation. Rachel (8th grade) said, “Once the author went into detail with Rosa, the little girl won my heart. She was independent and determined but could not speak her mind.”
71.
Paulsen, Gary
How Angel Peterson got his name : and other outrageous tales about extreme sports
2003
Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.
72.
Trueman, Terry.
2007
Varsity baseball player Scott Latimer struggles with his own prejudices and those of others when his best friend reveals that he is gay.
73.
Pierce, Tamora.
Protector of the small.series .
1999.
Keladry of Mindalen, daughter of nobles, serves as a page but must prove herself to the males around her if she is ever to fulfill her dream of becoming a knight.
74.
Rees, Celia
Pirates! : the true and remarkable adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, female pirates
2003
At the dawn of the eighteenth century, Nancy Kington and Minerva Sharpe, set sail from Jamaica on a pirate vessel, hoping to escape from an arranged marriage and slavery.
75.
Rinaldi, Ann
An unlikely friendship : a novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley
2007
Relates the lives of Mary Todd Lincoln, raised in a wealthy Virginia family, and Lizzy Keckley, a dressmaker born a slave, as they grow up separately then become best friends when Mary's childhood dream of living in the White House comes true.
76.
Riordan, Rick
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series
2005
Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, God of the Sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.
77.
Sonnenblick, Jordan
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.
78.
Rowling, J.K
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows
* Harry Potter Series
2007 etc
Harry Potter's final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
79.
How to get suspended and influence people
2006
Gifted eighth-grader Leon Harris becomes an instant celebrity when the film he makes for a class project sends him to in-school suspension.
80.
Selznick, Brian
The invention of Hugo Cabret : a novel in words and pictures
2007
When 12 year old Hugo, an orphan living in a Paris train station and repairing clocks, meets a mysterious toy seller, his life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.
81.
Sharenow, Robert.
2007
Louise’s alcoholic mother keeps her out of school and hurls insults daily at new student Ruby Bridges, but Louise is oblivious to the racism until Morgan Miller comes to stay at their boarding house and sheds light on the situation. Tiana (9th grade) says that “it offers an interesting and different perspective on the beginning of integration in schools.” LaVern (7th grade) recommends it “because it shows a great deal of courage [from] a young girl.”
82.
Shull, Megan.
2005
Tennis has a new "it" girl and her name is Grace Kincaid. The only problem is -- Grace has suddenly realized that being a teen sensation isn't all it's cracked up to be. With fame and fortune just a backswing away, all she really wants is to be ...NORMAL!
83.
Sones, Sonya
2001
Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.
84.
Zen and the art of faking it
2007
When thirteen-year-old San Lee moves to a new town and school for the umpteenth time, he is looking for a way to stand out when his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, gained in his previous school, provides the answer--and the need to quickly become a convincing Zen master.
85.
Spinelli, Jerry
1997
Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family
86.
Stroud, Jonathan.
The Amulet of Samarkand. - Bartimaeus trilogy ;
2004
Nathaniel, a young magician's apprentice, becomes caught in a web of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion, after he summons the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Loveland. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
87.
Tolan, Stephanie
2002
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.
88.
Van Draanen, Wendelin
2008
After reading her mother's secret collection of romance novels during her parent's difficult separation, seventeen-year-old Evangeline Logan begins a quest for the perfect kiss.
89.
Voight, Cynthia
1981
Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity.
90.
Weeks, Sarah
2004
After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.
91.
Whittenberg, Allison.
2006
In 1975, life is not fair for fourteen-year-old Charmaine Upshaw, who shares a room with her brother, tries to impress a handsome classmate, and acts as caretaker for a rambunctious six-year-old cousin who has taken over the family.
92.
Winerip, Michael
2005
While serving as co-editors of their school newspaper, middle-schoolers Adam and Jennifer uncover fraud and corruption in their school and in the city's government.
93.
Winthrop, Elizabeth.
2007 -
Inspired by a photograph of a young girl working in a textile mill taken by child labor reformer Lewis Hine, this story relates the struggles of immigrant workers as they attempt to make a living in the mill towns of New England
94.
Wolf, Joan M.
2007
In 1942, Milada is taken, along with other blond, blue-eyed children, to a school in Poland tobe trained as proper Germans in order to be adopted by German families. “I liked how it showed another side of the Nazi horrors. Usually Holocaust books are about the concentration camps, but this one is different. Although it is less harsh than many other books on the Holocaust, it affected me most because I can almost understand her fear and confusion. This book is that emotional and effective,” said Sudeshna (6th grade)
95.
Wolff, Virginia Euwer
Make lemonade
True believer
This full house*Series
1993
In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.
96.
Woodson, Jacqueline
2002
Shows the effects of a witness protection program on a family.
97.
Yee, Lisa
Stanford Wong flunks big-time
Millicent Min, girl genius
So totally Emily Ebers**3 books - different viewpoints on same story.
2005
After flunking English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisfy his academically demanding father.
98.
Yolen, Jane
When 12-year-old Hannah is transported back to a 1940's Polish village, she experiences the very horrors that had embarrassed and annoyed her when her elders related their Holocaust experiences.
99.
Zusak, Markus
2006
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.100.
Resources:
Student comments from Top Shelf Fiction Middle School Readers Voya (Voice of Youth Advocates)
Masscat annotations
Westwood Public Schools 100 Books to Read in Middle School
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