6th Grade Summer Reading List

The $66 Summer
John Armistead
While working in his grandmother's store in Obadiah, Alabama, during the summer of 1955, thirteen-year-old George 
becomes friends with two Black children with whom he stumbles onto evidence of a violent death.

Sounder
William Armstrong
Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy 
grows in courage and understanding  by learning to read and with the help of the devoted dog Sounder.

Midnight Magic
Avi
In Italy in 1491, Magnus the Magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of King Claudio to determine 
if his daughter is indeed being haunted by a ghost. 


The Indian in the Cupboard
Lynn Reid Banks
A nine-year-old boy receives a plastic Indian, a cupboard, and a little key for his birthday and finds 
himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life in the cupboard and befriends him.

The Folk Keeper
Billingsley
Orphan Corinna disguises herself as a boy to pose as a Folk Keeper, one who keeps the 
Evil Folk at bay, and discovers her heritage as a seal maiden when she is taken to live with a 
wealthy family in their manor by the sea. 


SOS Titanic
Eve Bunting
Fifteen-year-old Barry O'Neill, traveling from Ireland to America on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, 
finds his life endangered when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink. 


Catherine Called Birdy
Karen Cushman
The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, 
particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Tiger Rising
Kate DiCamillo
Rob, who passes the time in his rural Florida community by wood carving, is drawn by his spunky but angry friend 
Sistine into a plan to free a caged tiger.

Joey Pigza Loses Control
Jack Gantos
Joey, who is still taking medication to keep him from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer 
with the hard-drinking father he has never known and tries to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.

On the Far Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George
Sam's peaceful existence in his wilderness home is disrupted when his sister runs away and his pet falcon is 
confiscated by a conservation officer.

Nory Ryan's Song
Patricia Reilly Giff
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve-year-old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity 
help her family and neighbors survive. 

Jason's Gold
Will Hobbs
When news of the discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon Territory in 1897 reaches fifteen-year-old Jason,
 he embarks on a 5,000-mile journey to strike it rich.

Our Only May Amelia
Jennifer Holm
As the only girl in a Finnish American family of seven brothers, May Amelia Jackson resents 
being expected to act like a lady while growing up in Washington state in 1899.

Secret of Platform 13
Eva Ibbotson
Odge Gribble, a young hag, accompanies an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on their mission 
through a magical tunnel from their Island to London to rescue their King and Queen's son who 
had been stolen as an infant. 


The View from Saturday
E.L. Konigsburg
Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the 
attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who choses them to represent their sixth-grade class 
in the Academic Bowl competition.

The Black Pearl
Scott O'Dell
In claiming as his own the magnificent black pearl he finds, a sixteen-year-old youth 
enrages the sea devil who legend says is its owner.

Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O'Dell
Unusual story of an Indian girl who spent eighteen years alone on a 
rocky island off the coast of California.

JIP
Katherine Paterson
While living on a Vermont poor farm during 1855 and 1856, Jip learns his identity 
and that of his mother and comes to understand how he arrived at this place.

Dogsong
Gary Paulsen
A fourteen-year-old Eskimo boy who feels assailed by the modernity of his life takes a 
1400-mile journey by dog sled across ice, tundra, and mountains seeking his own "song" of himself.

The Islander
Cynthia Rylant
Living with his grandfather on an island off British Columbia, ten-year-old Daniel feels deep 
loneliness until the night he meets a mermaid whose identity he tries to learn.

There's a Girl in My Hammerlock
Jerry Spinelli
Thirteen-year-old Maisie joins her school's formerly all-male wrestling team 
and tries to last through the season, despite opposition from other students, 
her best friend, and her own teammates.

Sammy Keyes  (Mystery Series)
Wendelin Van Draanen
A series of exciting mystery stories that involve a teenage girl named Sammy Keyes

Teen Bibliographies