Summer Reading Lists 2013 - Transit Middle

7/28/2019 Summer Reading Lists 2013 - Transit Middle

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Frank Asch. Star Jumper: a Journal of a Cardboard GeniusSelf-proclaimed genius inventor Alex decides to build a cardboard spaceship to escape his annoying

littlebrother.

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Peter and the Starcatchers:Peter, an orphan boy, and his friend Molly fight off thieves and pirates in order to keep the secret safeaway from the diabolical Black Stache and his evil associate Mister Grin.

Gennifer Choldenko. Al Capone Does My ShirtsMoose Flanagan, who lives on Alcatraz along with his family and the families of the other prison

guards, is frightened when he discovers that noted gangster Al Capone, a prisoner there, wants afavor in return for the help that he secretly gave Moose.

Andrew Clements. We the ChildrenSixth-grader Benjamin Pratt is thrown into this mystery after the school janitor gives him a tarnishedcoin with some old engravings and then dies, passing on the responsibility to save Oaks School fromdevelopers.

Suzanne Collins. Gregor the OverlanderWhen eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange undergroundworld, they trigger an epic battle involving humans, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a

quest foretold byancient prophecy.

Doug Cooney. The Beloved Dearly.Ernie is a twelve-year-old tycoon, always on the lookout for a fast buck. This time he stumbles onto amoney-making bonanza: pet funerals. He hires Dusty to decorate the burial boxes and Tony to digthe holes, but his prize find is Swimming Pool, a tomboy who can cry on cue.

Sharon Creech. Heartbeat.Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant,hergrandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant.

Karen Cushman. Alchemy and Meggy Swann.Meggy Swann, a girl who walks with the aid of two sticks, arrives in Elizabethan London, along withher goose Louise, to stay with her father who really does not want her, and while he pursues hisdream of transforming base metal into gold, Meggy undergoes a transformation herself.

Gitty Daneshvari. School of FearFour children are sent to a remote Massachusetts school to overcome their phobias, but tragedystrikes andthe four must work together with no adult assistance to face their fears.

Paul Fleischman. Bull Run.Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory,

thehorror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War.


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Patricia Reilly Giff. Storyteller.While staying with her aunt, Elizabeth finds something remarkable: a drawing. It hangs on the wall, aportrait of her ancestor, Eliza, known as Zee. She looks like Elizabeth. The girls lives intertwine asElizabeths present-day story alternates with Zees, which takes place during the AmericanRevolution. Zee is dreamy, and hopeful for the futureuntil the Revolution tears apart her family and

her community in upstate New York. Left on her own, she struggles to survive and to follow her fatherand brother into battle.

Michael Grant. The Magnificent 12: The CallA seemingly average twelve-year-old learns that he is destined to gather a team of similarly giftedchildren to try to save the world from a nameless evil that is threatening to reappear after having beenimprisoned for three thousand years. This is a magical, laugh out loud story, filled with excitement.

Tom Greenwald. Charlie Joe Jacksons Guide to Not ReadingMiddle schooler Charlie Joe is proud of his success at avoiding reading, but eventually his schemesgo too far.

Kimberly Willis Holt. When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Calmeet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world. National BookAward Winne.r

Kathleen Karr. The Great Turkey Walk.Simon Green can't pass third grade (he's tried four times), but he's a canny businessman who's goingto drive a thousand head of turkeys from Missouri to Denver to sell at a profit. Set in the 1860's.

Gordon Korman. The 6thGrade Nickname Game.

Eleven-year-old best friends Jeff and Wiley, who like to give nicknames to their classmates, try to findthe right one for the new girl Cassandra, while adjusting to the football coach who has become theirnew teacher.

Jack London. White Fang.Follows the adventures of a dog that is part wolf as he eventually makes his peace with man in thewilderness of northern Canada.

Lois Lowry Number the Stars.In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be braveand courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis. Newbery Medal Winner

Lois Lowry. The Willoughbys.A tongue-in-cheek story in which the four Willoughby children set out to become "deserving orphans"after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them inthe care of a despicable nanny.

Marianne Malone. The Sixty-Eight RoomsAn adventure about the Thorne Rooms, sixty-eight miniature rooms made by Mrs. James WardThorne in the 1930s, and a magic key that allows a person to shrink down small enough to explorethe rooms' secrets.


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Leslie Margolis. Boys are Dogs; Girls Acting Catty. (only one from this series can count)After Annabelle's mother starts dating a new boyfriend, she faces life in a new town with a newschool, and a new puppy, and while training the dog Annabelle decides to experiment with some ofher training techniques to deal with the unruly middle school boys in her class.

Wendy Mass. The Candymakers.Four gifted twelve-year-olds, including Logan, the candymaker's son, are set to be contestants in theConfectionary Association's national competition to determine the nation's tastiest sweet, but nobodyanticipates that a friendship will form between them.

Jan Merrill. The Pushcart War.The outbreak of a war between truck drivers and pushcart peddlers brings the mounting problems oftraffic to the attention of both the city of New York and the world.

L. M. Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables.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 a lasting impression on everyonearound her.

Jon Scieszka. Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories About Growing Up.Scieszka.Hilarious memoir of what it was like to grow up in the1950s.

Jerry Spinelli. Maniac MageeYoung Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee appears in Two Mills, apparently out of nowhere, and takes the townby storm in a cross between a tall tale and a twentieth-century morality play told with exaggeration,humor, and melodrama. Newbery Medal Winner

Nancy Springer. The Case of the Missing Marquess;Enola Holmes, much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, must travel to London in disguiseto unravel the disappearance of her missing mother.

John Stephens. The Emerald Atlas(Books of Beginnings)Kate, Michael, and Emma have passed from one orphanage to another in the ten years since theirparents disappeared to protect them, but now they learn that they have special powers--and afearsome enemyand embark on a prophesied quest to find a magical book.

Jake Tashjian. My Life as a BookCalled a reluctant reader by his teacher, Derek spends summer vacation learning important lessons

even though he does not complete his summer reading list. This is a great read for fans of the WimpyKidseries.

Lauren Tarshis. Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a TreeA quirky and utterly logical seventh-grade girl named Emma-Jean Lazarus discovers someinteresting results when she gets involved in the messy everyday problems of her peers.

Linda Urban. A Crooked Kind of Perfect.Ten-year-old Zoe Elias longs to play the piano and become a musical prodigy, wearing a grand tiara.Unfortunately, her father buys her an organ instead. A humorous story about family, friends, andschool sociallife.


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Sarah Weeks. So B. ItAfter spending her life with her mentally disabled mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-oldHeidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.

Marc Aronson and H. P. Newquist. For Boys Only: the Baddest Book Ever.Information on a variety of topics of interest to boys, such as how to fight off an alligator, make fakeblood, escape from being tied-up, land an airplane, and much more.

Avi. Crispin: the Cross of Lead. (Newbery Medal winner)Falsely accused of theft and declared a "wolf's head" (whom any man may kill) after his mother'sdeath, humble, pious Crispin flees the feudal village where he was raised and the steward who wants

him dead. Taken in as an apprentice by a massive, red-haired, itinerant juggler who calls himselfBear, Crispin learns about music and mummery, about freedom and questioning fate, and about hisown mysterious parentage that seems to be the reason behind the steward's continuing pursuit ofhim. Set in fourteenth century England. Newbery Award 2002

Michael D. Beil. The Red Blazer GirlsSeventh-graders Sophie, Margaret, Rebecca, and Leigh Ann help an elderly neighbor solve a puzzleher father left for her estranged daughter twenty years ago.

Pseudonymous Bosch. The Name of This Book is SecretCassandra and Max find a missing magician's notebook and start to investigate the fire that burned

down his house and his mysterious "symphony of smells.

Linda Buckley Archer. The Time TravelersWhen an attempt to bring Peter and Kate back to their own time is bungled, Peter finds himselfstranded in 1763 while The Tar Man, a villainous eighteenth-century criminal, returns with Kate totwenty-first-century London.

Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Secret Garden.Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalidcousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.

Ann Cameron. Colibri.She was little and quick and pretty. Her mother nicknamed her Colibr, Spanish for "Hummingbird." Atage four she was kidnapped, torn from her parents on a crowded bus in Guatemala City. Since thenshe's traveled with "Uncle," the ex-soldier and wandering beggar who has renamed her Rosa. Unclehas always told Rosa that he searched for her parents but had no success. Theres almost no chanceRosa will ever find them but Rosa still remembers and longs for them.

Janet Lee Carey. Dragons Keep.In 1145 A.D., as foretold by Merlin, fourteen-year-old Rosalind, who will be the twenty-first PendragonQueen of Wilde Island, has much to accomplish to fulfill her destiny, while hiding from her people thedragon's claw she was born with that reflects only one of her mother's dark secrets.


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Gennifer Choldenko. No Passengers Beyond This Point.With their house in foreclosure, sisters India and Mouse and brother Finn are sent to stay with anuncle in Colorado until their mother can join them, but when the plane lands, the children are

welcomed by cheering crowds to a strange place where each of them has a perfect house and aclock that is ticking down the time.

Frank Cottrell Boyce. Cosmic.Twelve-year-old Liam, who looks like he is thirty and is tired of being treated like he is older than heactually is, decides he is going to pose as the adult chaperone on the first spaceship to take civiliansinto space, but when he ends up in outer space with a group of kids and no adult supervision, hemust think fast to make things right.

Emily Diamond. Raiders RansomIn twenty-second-century Great Britain, where climate change has caused vast flooding, piratical

raiders kidnap the Prime Minister's daughter and thirteen-year-old Lilly Melkun, an English fisher-girl,takes her seacat on a daring rescue attempt, with a mysterious talking jewel from a past computerage tucked in her belt as ransom.

Laura Dower. For Girls Only: Everything Great About Being a Girl.Discusses the benefits of being a girl, from sleepovers to pedicures and friendship bracelets, coveringfamous women from sports, science, and history, and how to be a baby-sitter and get a job for thesummer.

Kathryn Erskine. Mockingbird: (Moking-burd)Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show

empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project withher father.

John Feinstein. Last Shot: a Final Four MysteryAs winners of a writing contest, eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson travel tothe NCAA Final Four as journalists. In addition to meeting college basketball celebrities, the two alsouncover a plot to fix the championship game. This fast-moving mystery takes the reader to a behind-the-scenes look at the Final Four.

Catherine Fisher. Dark CityGalen, a man of the old Order and a Keeper of relics, and his sixteen-year-old apprentice, Raffi, face

many obstacles as they search for a powerful relic that has been hidden for centuries in an effort tostop the devastation that has hit their world.

Sid Fleischman. Escape: The Story of The Great Houdini.A biography of the magician, ghost chaser, aviator, and king of escape artists whose amazing featsare remembered long after his death in 1926.

Jack Gantos. Joey Pigza Swallowed the KeyTo the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention orcontrolling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting workedup and acting wired.


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Donna Gephart. How to Survive Middle School.When thirteen-year-old David Greenbergs best friend makes the start of middle school even worsethan he feared it could be, David becomes friends with Sophie, who shares his love of televisionshows and posts on of their skits on YouTube, making them wildly popular online, at least.

John Grisham. Theodore Boone: KidThirteen-year-old Theodore Boone, who knows every judge, police officer, and court clerk in the smalltown of Strattenburg, finds himself involved in a murder trial because of knowledge he might haveabout a cold-blooded killer.

Richard Harland. WorldshakerSixteen-year-old Col Porpentine is being groomed as the next Commander of Worldshaker, a

juggernaut where elite families live on the upper decks while the Filthies toil below, but when hemeets Riff, a Filthy girl on the run, he discovers how ignorant he is of his home and its residents.

Lewis Harris. A Taste for Red.When some of her classmates disappear, sixth-grader Svetlana, along with her new friends, goes insearch of the missing students using her newfound ability as an Olfactive, one who has heightenedsmell, hearing, and the ability to detect vampires.

Lois Lowry. The Birthday Ball.When a bored Princess Patricia Priscilla makes her chambermaid switch identities with her so shecan attend the village school, her attitude changes and she plans a new way to celebrate hersixteenth birthday.

D. J. MacHale. The Merchant of Death

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon, having learned he is a Traveler--someone who can ride"flumes" through time and space, is soon off to the alternative dimension of Denduron where heteams up with Loor, a girl his age from the warrior-territory of Zadaa, in an attempt to save the gentleMilago people from slavery.

Eloise Jarvis McGraw. The Golden Goblet.Ranofer struggles to thwart the plottings of his evil brother, Gebu, so he can become mastergoldsmith like their father in this exciting tale of ancient Egyptian mystery and intrigue. NewberyHonor Book.

Lisa McMann. The Unwanteds.

In a society that purges thirteen-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex areseparated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in awondrous place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Emilys Fortune.While traveling to her aunt's home in Redbud by train and stagecoach, quiet young Emily and herturtle, Rufus, team up with Jackson, fellow orphan and troublemaker extraordinaire, to outsmart meanUncle Victor, who is after Emily's inheritance.

O. T. Nelson. The Girl Who Owned a City.When a plague sweeps over the earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisaorganizes a group to rebuild a new way of life.


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Lauren Oliver. Liesl & Po.After her father's death, Liesl is locked away in a tiny attic room by her stepmother, where she meetsPo, a lonely ghost, and Will, an alchemist's apprentice who bungles an important delivery and enlistsLiesl and Po's help in setting things right.

Richard Peck. The Teachers Funeral: a Comedy in Three Parts.In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheatthreshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-roomschoolhouse after mean old Myrt Arbuckle "hauls off and dies."

Susan Runholt. The Mystery of the Third LucretiaWhile traveling in London, Paris, and Amsterdam, fourteen-year-old best friends Kari and Lucas solvean international art forgery mystery.

Anna Sewell. Black Beauty.A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters.

R. A. Spratt. The Adventures of Nanny Piggins.When Mr. Green, a stingy widower with three children he cannot be bothered with, decides to find ananny for his children, he winds up hiring a glamorous ex-circus pig who knows nothing aboutchildren but a lot about chocolate.

Diane Stanley. The Silver Bowl.From the age of seven when she became scullery maid in a castle, Molly has seen visions of thefuture which, years later, lead her and friend Tobias on an adventure to keep Alaric, the heir to the

throne, safe from a curse.

Trenton Lee Stewart. The Mysterious Benedict SocietyAfter passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission thatrequires them to go undercover at the learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only ruleis that there are no rules.

Annika Thor. A Faraway Island.Stephie and Nellie, two Austrian Jewish sisters, are evacuated in 1938 from Vienna to a Swedishisland and placed in separate foster homes.

Jacqueline West. The ShadowsWhen eleven-year old Olive and her distracted parents move into an old Victorian mansion, Olivefinds herself ensnared in a dark plan involving some mysterious paintings, a trapped and angry nine-year-old boy, and three talking cats.

Ben H. Winters. The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman.Spurred by a special project from her social studies teacher, seventh-grader Bethesda Fieldinguncovers the secret identity of her music teacher, which leads to a most unusual concert performanceand a tutoring assignment.

Johann David Wyss. The Swiss Family Robinson.Relates the fortunes of a shipwrecked family as they adapt to life on an island with abundant animaland plant life.


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Rick Yancy. The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred KroppThrough a series of dangerous and violent misadventures, teenage loser Alfred Kropp rescues KingArthur's legendary sword Excalibur from the forces of evil.

Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.The classic story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in nineteenth-century New England.

Blue Balliett. Chasing VermeerWhen seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer paintingdisappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international artscandal. Baseball Crazy: Ten Short Stories That Cover All the Bases. A collection of ten short storiesfrom popular, contemporary authors that celebrate the joys of America's favorite pastime and thewonder, frustration, and delight of its fans.

Chris Bradford. Young SamuraiOrphaned by a ninja pirate attack off the coast of Japan in 1611, twelve-year-old English lad JackFletcher is determined to prove himself, despite the bullying of fellow students, when the legendarysword master who rescued him begins training him as a samurai warrior.

Julie Chibarro. Deadly.Sixteen-year-old Prudence Galewski takes a job in the early 1900s as assistant to the headepidemiologist at New York's Department of Health and Sanitation, who is trying to discover how aseemingly healthy woman can be spreading typhoid fever.

Eoin Colfer. AirmanThis is a fast-paced, highly entertaining tale of flying machines, criminals, martial arts, swordplay,princesses, poisons, and evil villains, mixed with themes of justice, revenge, romance, goodtriumphing over evil, realizing one's dreams, blackmail, conspiracy, corruption, and betrayal.

James Dashner. The Maze RunnerSixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he mustwork with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

Erin Dionne. The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet.

All Hamlet Kennedy wants is to be a normal eighth grader. But with parents like hers Shakespearean scholars who actually dress in Elizabethan regalia . . . in public! its not that easy.As if they werent strange enough, her genius seven-year-old sister will be attending her middleschool, and is named the new math tutor. Then, when the Shakespeare Project is announced, Hamletreveals herself to be an amazing actress. Even though she wants to be average, Hamlet can nolonger hide from the fact that she - like her family - is anything but ordinary.

John Flanagan. The OutcastsHal, Stig, and the other outcasts do not have the size and strength of the Skandians, but when theyface off against the Wolves and the Sharks in an ultimate race for survival, they hope that theircourage and cunning are enough to help them win in a game that everyone seems to think is a matter

of life and death.


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Cornelia Funke. Reckless.Jacob and Will Reckless have looked out for each other ever since their father disappeared, but whenJacob discovers a magical mirror that transports him to a warring world populated by witches, giants,

and ogres, he keeps it to himself until Will follows him one day, with dire consequences.

Kerstin Gier. Ruby Red.Sixteen-year-old Gwyneth Shepherd unexpectedly travels through time to the eighteenth century, andshe must find out why her mother lied about her date of birth to hide her ability, research her history,and work with Gideon, another time traveler.

Will Hobbs. Take Me to the River.When North Carolina fourteen-year-old Dylan Sands joins his fifteen-year-old cousin Rio in runningthe Rio Grande River, they face a tropical storm and a fugitive kidnapper.

Mary Hoffman. The Falconers Knot: a Story of Friars, Flirtation, and Foul Play.Silvano and Chiara, teens sent to live in a friary and a nunnery in Renaissance Italy, are drawn to oneanother and dream of a future together, but when murders are committed in the friary, they mustdiscover who is behind the crimes before they can realize their love.

Jennifer L. Holm. Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf.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 shealways seems to come up short in accomplishing any of it.

Tonya Hurley. Ghostgirl

Charlotte Usher has always struggled to fit in at her high school, and when Charlotte finds herselfliving in a parallel spiritual world after choking to death on a gummy bear, she tries to reconnect withthe physical world while making new friends at her new school for the dead.

Catherine Jinks. The Reformed Vampires Support GroupFifteen-year-old vampire Nina has been stuck for fifty-one years in a boring support group forvampires, and nothing exciting has ever happened to them--until one of them is murdered and theothers must try to solve the crime.

E. L. Konigsburg. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place.Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane spearheads a

campaign to preserve three unique towers her grand uncles have been building in their back yard forover forty years.

Kristen Landon. The Limit.When his family exceeds its legal debt limit, thirteen-year-old Matt is sent to the Federal DebtRehabilitation Agency workhouse, where he discovers illicit activities are being carried out using thechildren who have been placed there.

Andy Lane. Death Cloud.In 1868, with his army officer father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously "unwell,"fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast housein Hampshire, where he uncovers his first murder and a diabolical villain.


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Marie Lu. Legend.In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, afamous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have acommon enemy.

Mike Lupica. Travel TeamAfter he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to nationalprominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot atvictory.

Andy Mulligan. Trash.A group of fourteen-year-old boys, who make a living picking garbage from the outskirts of a largecity, finds something special and mysterious that brings terrifying consequences.

Jim Murphy. Truce: the Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting.Tells the story of the December 25, 1914, truce between German and British soldiers as they laid

down their weapons and met in No Man's Land to celebrate Christmas.

Garth Nix. Mister MondayArthur Penhaligon, destined to die at a young age, is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of aclock, but his survival invokes the wrath of the mysterious Mister Monday who will stop at nothing toget the key back, and Arthur is forced into a desperate quest to unravel the secrets of the key anddiscover his true fate.

Lauren Oliver. DeliriumLena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love andleads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and

her treatment, when she falls in love.

Gary Paulsen. Harris and Me: a Summer Remembered.Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boymeets his distant cousin, Harris, and is given an introduction to a whole new world.

Arthur G. Slade. The Hunchback AssignmentsIn Victorian London, fourteen-year-old Modo, a shape-changing hunchback, becomes a secret agentfor the Permanent Association, which strives to protect the world from the evil machinations of theClockworkGuild.

Rebecca Stead. When You Reach Me. Newbery Award WinnerAs her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notesreceived from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island.While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of aninn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a pirate's fortune.


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Laurie Halse Anderson. Fever 1793.Sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance andselfreliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in1793.

Avi. Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel.A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes anational news story. Newbery Honor Book.

Paolo Bacigalupi. Ship BreakerIn a futuristic world, teenaged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living,but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he shouldstrip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.

Chris Barton. Can I see your I.D.? : true stories of false identities.From the impoverished young woman who enchanted 19th-century British society as a faux Asianprincess to the lonely but clever Frank Abagnale of "Catch Me if You Can" fame, these 10 vignettesoffer riveting insight into mind-blowing masquerades.

James Bradley. Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iowa Jima. (abridged)In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima and into history. The son ofone of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different men who came together inthe heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island.

Robin Brande. Fat Cat.Overweight teenage Catherine embarks on a high school science project in which she must emulatethe ways of hominims, the earliest ancestors of human beings, by eating an all-natural diet andforegoing technology.

Libba Bray. A Great and Terrible BeautyAfter the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, aftermany years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powersand ability to see into the spirit world.

Kristin Cashore. GracelingIn a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsastruggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace of killing and teams up with another youngfighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Cassandra Clare. Clockwork AngelSixteen-year-old Tessa Gray travels to England in search of her brother only to be abducted by theDark Sisters, residents of London's Downworld, home to the city's supernatural folk, and shebecomes the object of much attention--both good and bad--when it is discovered she has the powerto transform at will into another person.


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Eoin Colfer. The Supernaturalist.In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from an abusive orphanage andteams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, and

together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that are invisible tomost humans.

Ally Condi. MatchedCassia has always had complete trust in the Society to make decisions for her, but when she is beingpaired with her ideal mate, a second face flashes on the screen, and Cassia begins to doubt theSociety's infallibility as she tries to decide which man she truly loves.

Daphne Du Maurier. Rebecca.For months after her death, the memory of Rebecca de Winter continues to dominate everyone at herformer home, Manderley, one of the most famous English country houses.

Alexandre Dumas. The Count of Monte Cristo.After escaping from the island fortress where he has been imprisoned for treason, Edmund Dantessets out to discover the treasure of Monte Cristo and seek revenge against the people who falselyaccused him.

Margaret Haddix. Turnabout.In the year 2000 Melly and Anny Beth were old and ready to die. But when offered the chance to beyoung again by participating in a top-secret experiment called Project Turnabout, they agreed. Theyreceived injections that made them grow younger, and it seemed like a miracle. But when theinjections that were supposed to stop the unaging process turned out to be deadly, Melly and Anny

Beth decided to run for their lives.

April Henry. Girl, Stolen.When an impulsive carjacking turns into a kidnapping, Griffin, a high school dropout, finds himselfmore in sympathy with his wealthy, blind victim, sixteen-year-old Cheyenne, than with his greedyfather.

Jack Higgins. Sure FireResentful of having to go and live with their estranged father after the death of their mother,fifteenyear-old twins Rich and Jade soon find they have more complicated problems when their fatheriskidnapped and their attempts to rescue him involve them in a dangerous international plot to control

the world's oil.

Catherine Jinks. Evil GeniusChild prodigy Cadel Piggot, an antisocial computer hacker, discovers his true identity when he enrollsas a first-year student at an advanced crime academy.

Gordon Korman. Son of the MobSeventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerfulMafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.

D. J. MacHale. The LightSixteen-year-old Marshall Seaver is expecting a boring summer when his best friend goes away, butinstead he finds himself haunted--and hunted--by ghosts that want something from him which hecannot decipher. A real page-turner with nonstop action.


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Lensey Namioka. Ties That Bind, Ties That Break: A Novel.Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society byrefusing to have her feet bound.

Lauren Oliver. DeliriumLena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love andleads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday andher treatment, when she falls in love.

Kenneth Oppel. This Dark Endeavor. (Apprenticeship of Victor Frankensteinseries)Victor and Konrad Frankenstein are inseparable twin brothers who stumble upon The Dark Library,where secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are housed, but after their father forbids themto ever return to the library Konrad falls gravely ill and Victor seeks out a cure for his brother beyondtraditional medicine.

Nancy Osa. Cuba 15 : a Novel.Violet Paz, a Chicago high school student, reluctantly prepares for her upcoming "quince," a Spanishnickname for the celebration of an Hispanic girl's fifteenth birthday.

Susan Beth Pfeffer. Life As We Knew ItIn this survival story, an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it closer toward Earth, which results incataclysmic natural disasters. Mirandas disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocksthe moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamiswipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, volcanic ash blocks out the sun, and summerturns to Arctic winter?

Ransom Riggs. Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children.Sixteen-year-old Jacob, having traveled to a remote island after a family tragedy, discovers anabandoned orphanage, and, after some investigating, he learns the children who lived there mayhave been dangerous and quarantined and may also still be alive.

Veronica Roth. DivergentIn a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factionsto define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers thatshe is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfectafter all.

Jon Sciescka. Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys

Collection of short stories, drawings, poems, and memoirs from well-known writers of "guy" fiction.Includes pieces by Daniel Pinkwater, Neil Gaiman, Will Hobbs, Stephen King, Gary Paulsen, amongothers.

Alex Scarrow. Time RidersRescued from imminent death, teens Maddy, Liam, and Sal join forces in 2001 Manhattan to correctchanges in history made by other time travelers, using a "time bubble" to hide their journeys.


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Maggie Stiefvater. The Scorpio Races.Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girlever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horseslong enough to make it to the finish line.

J. R. R. Tolkein. The Fellowsip of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King. (The Lord ofthe Ringstrilogy) The story of a grand quest to keep the Ring of Power from falling into the hands ofthe evil Sauron.

Mark Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.The adventures of a mischievous Missouri boy named Tom Sawyer, growing up a few decadesbefore the Civil War.

Scott Westerfeld. LeviathanIn an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the ClankerPowers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy

alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts. Steampunk at its best!

Gloria Whelan. Homeless Bird.When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer adestiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it. National Book Award.

Kiersten White. ParanormalcyWhen a dark prophecy begins to come true, sixteen-year-old Evie of the International ParanormalContainment Agency must not only try to stop it, she must also uncover its connection to herself andthe alluring shapeshifter, Lend.

Markus Zusak. The Book ThiefTrying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a youngGerman girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish manthey are hiding, as well as their neighbors.


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Summer Reading Lists 2013 - Transit Middle

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Transcript of Summer Reading Lists 2013 - Transit Middle