Thursday, May 29, 2014

Summer Reading Recommendations for 8-12 year-olds!

This was the handout I gave to my students and their parents at my Writing Workshop tonight.  There are so many incredible books for this age range.  Each one on this list is a fantastic read and there's something for everyone.

I mention each author only once, but several of them have MULTIPLE books that are FANTASTIC!!
**Indicates ALL books by this author are worth reading!!!

Al Capone Does My Shirts series, by Gennifer Choldenko
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,by Lewis Carroll**
Anne of Green Gables series, by L.M Montgomery
Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne**
At the Back of the North Wind, by George MacDonald**
Ballet Shoes series, by Noah Streatfield
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo**
The Fairy Book series, by Andrew Lang
The Borrrowers series by Mary Norton
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson**
Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London**
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee
The Cat Who Went to Heaven, by Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth
Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White **
Countdown, by Deborah Wiles
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos
The Doctor Dolittle Series, by Hugh Lofting
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, by Russell Freedman
Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly
The Family Under the Bridge, by Natalie Savage
Frindle, by Andrew Clements
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil
E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg**
Ginger Pye, by Eleanor Estes **
The Giver, by Lois Lowry**
The Golden Compass series, by Philip Pullman**
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Amy Schlitz
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
Half Magic, by Edward Eager**
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Heidi, by Johanna Spyri
Holes by Louis Sachar
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick**
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell**
Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes
Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling**
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, by Julie Andrews Edwards**
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving**
The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine
The Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott**
Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli**
Mary Poppins series, by P.L. Travers
Matilda, by Roald Dahl**
Miss Hickory, by Caroline Sherwin Bailey
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien
My Father’s Dragon series, by Ruth S. Gannett
My Side of the Mountain series, by Jean Craighead George
The Mysterious Benedict Society series, by Trenton Lee Stewart
Oliver, by Charles Dickens**
One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate
The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall
The Percy Jackson series, by Rick Riordan
Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
Pippi Longstocking series, Astrid Lindgren
Princess Academy, by Shannon  Hale
The Railway Children, by Edith Nesbitt**
Ramona series, by Beverly Cleary**
Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era, by Sterling North
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
The Saturdays, by Elizabeth Enright**
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnnett**
Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket
Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds
The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare**
Sounder, by William H. Armstrong
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger
Strawberry Girl, by Lois Lenski
Swallows and Amazons, by Lee Ransome
Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Rudolph Wyss
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume
Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain**
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson**
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi**
Trumpeter of Krakow, by Eric P. Kelly
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pene de Bois
Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis**
The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt**
The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin **
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Whipping Boy, by Sid Fleischman
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
A Wizard of Earthsea series, by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Wizard of Oz series, by L. Frank Baum
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
The Wrinkle in Time series, by Madeleine L’Engle
A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck **

Summer Reading Recommendations (TEENS)

As I said goodbye to students for the summer today, I left them with a long list of recommended books to entertain them until the fall semester.  I thought I'd post it here too, just in case anyone's looking for some great reads for their teens!


1776, by David McCullough (History)
1984 by George Orwell (Science Fiction)  
THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART‐TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie (Fiction)  
AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES by John Green (Fiction)  
THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho (Religion/Spirituality)  
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Historical Fiction)  
ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt (Memoir)  
ANYA’S GHOST written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol (Graphic Novel)  
ARISTOTLE & DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Saenz (Fiction) 
BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver (Fiction)  
BELOVED by Toni Morrison (Historical Fiction)  
BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys (Historical Fiction)  
BOMB by Steve Sheinkin (Non‐fiction) 
THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak (Historical Fiction)  
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS by John Boyne (Historical Fiction)  
BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley (Science Fiction)  
CATCH‐22 by Joseph Heller (Fiction)  
THE CHOSEN by Chaim Potok (Fiction)  
CINDER: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (Science Fiction) 
CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein (Historical Fiction) 
THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker (Fiction)  
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT‐TIME by Mark Haddon (Mystery)  
DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor (Fantasy) 
DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver (Fantasy)  
THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL by Anne Frank (Memoir)  
DUNE by Frank Herbert (Science Fiction)  
EAST OF EDEN by John Steinbeck (Fiction)  
ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell (Fiction)
ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card (Science Fiction)  
EVERY DAY by David Levithan (Science Fiction) 
FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury (Science Fiction)  
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes (Fiction)
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green (Fiction)  
THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck (Fiction/Classic)  
THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Fiction)  
HARRY POTTER series by J.K. Rowling
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers (Historical Fiction)  
HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad (Fiction/Classic)  
THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett (Historical Fiction)  
HIS DARK MATERIALS series, by Phillip Pullman (Science Fiction)
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams (Science Fiction)   
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Mystery)  
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneros (Fiction)  
THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (Science Fiction/Fantasy)  
I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith (Romance)  
IF I STAY by Gayle Forman (Fiction)  
INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer (Biography/Adventure)  
INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer (Nonfiction)  
JANE EYRE by Charlotte Brontë (Fiction/Classic)  
THE JOY LUCK CLUB by Amy Tan (Fiction)  
LEGEND by Marie Lu (Dystopian)  
LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET by Rainer Maria Rilke (Nonfiction)  
LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel (Fiction/Adventure)  
THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian (Fiction)
LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding (Fiction)  
MATCHED by Ally Condie (Dystopian Romance) 
THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner (Post‐Apocalyptic Thriller)  
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs (Mystery)
NIGHT by Elie Wiesel (Memoir)  
THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern (Fiction)  
ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline (Historical Fiction)
OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys (Historical Fiction) 
THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton (Fiction)  
PAPER TOWNS by John Green (Fiction)  
PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger (Fiction)  
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky (Fiction)  
PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi (Graphic Novel)  
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce (Fiction/Classic)  
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen (Fiction)  
THE PRINCESS BRIDE by William Goldman (Fiction)  
A RAISIN IN THE SUN by Lorraine Hansberry (Plays) 
READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN by Azar Nafisi (Memoir)  
REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier (Horror)  
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy (Fiction)  
ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein (Historical Fiction)
THE RUNNING DREAM by Wendelin Van Draanen (Fiction)  
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd (Historical Fiction)  
A SEPARATE PEACE by John Knowles (Fiction)  
SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman (Fantasy) 
SHADOW AND BONE, by Leigh Bardugo (Fantasy)
A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING by Bill Bryson (Science/Non-Fiction)  
THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS by Ann Brashares (Fiction)  
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (Fiction)  
STARGIRL by Jerry Spinelli (Romance)  
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston (Fiction)  
THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher (Fiction)  
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee (Historical Fiction)  
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith (Historical Fiction)  
WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman (Fiction)  
WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green and David Levithan (Fiction)