Books for 6th Graders			Back to Booklist
	Chasing Vermeer		J BALLIETT, B.
		Blue Balliett
		When strange and seemingly unrelated events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.
	The Wright 3		J BALLIETT, B.
		Blue Balliett
		In the midst of a series of unexplained accidents and mysterious coincidences, sixth-graders Calder, Petra, and Tommy lead their classmates in an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Robie House from being demolished.
	Peter and the Shadow Theives		J BARRY, D.
		Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
		Realizing that Molly and the other Starcatchers are in danger when the sinister being Lord Ombra visits the island and seems to control people through their shadows, Peter and Tinker Bell travel to England to help save the stardust.
	The Penderwicks		J BIRDSALL, J.
		Jeanne Birdsall
		While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother. v
	Here's to you, Rachel Robinson		J BLUME, J.
		Judy Blume
		Rachel's a straight-A student, on every teacher's wish list of Natural Helpers. But she grinds her teeth at night and dreads dinnertime, now that her troublemaker brother has been expelled from boarding school and is now home. Matters are complicated by Rachel's crush on his tutor, her older sister's acne problem, and her friendships with Stephanie and Alison.
	Shakespeare's Secret		J BROACH, E
		Elise Broach
		Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.
	The Sisters Grimm. Book one, the fairy-tale detectives		J BUCKLEY, M
		Michael Buckley
		Orphans Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are sent to live with an eccentric grandmother that they have always believed to be dead.
	Al Capone Does my Shirts		J CHOLDENKO, G.
		Gennifer Choldenko
		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.
	School Story		J Clements
		Clements, Andrew, 1949-
		After twelve-year-old Natalie writes a wonderful novel, her friend Zoe helps her devise a scheme to get it accepted at the publishing house where Natalie's mother works as an editor.
	Gregor the Overlander		J COLLINS, S.
		Suzanne Collins.
		When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.
	Heartbeat		J CREECH, S.
		Sharon Creech
		Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant.
	Rodzina		J CUSHMAN, K.
		Karen Cushman
		A twelve-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.
	Bindi Babes		J DHAMI, N.
		Narinder Dhami
		Three Indian-British sisters team up to marry off their traditional, nosy aunt and get her out of the house.
	The City of Ember		J DUPRAU, J.
		Jeanne DuPrau
		In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
	Shadow Spinner		J FLETCHER, S.
		Susan Fletcher.
		When Marjan, a thirteen-year-old crippled girl, joins the Sultan's harem in ancient Persia, she gathers for Shahrazad the stories which will save the queen's life.
	Inkheart		J FUNKE, C.
		Cornelia Funke
		Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.
	Julie of the Wolves		J GEORGE, J.
		Jean Craighead George
		Faced with the prospect of a disagreeable arranged marriage or a journey acoss the barren Alaskan tundra, 13-year-old Miyax chooses the tundra. She finds herself caught between the traditional Eskimo ways and the modern ways of the whites. Miyax, or Julie as her pen pal Amy calls her, sets out alone to visit Amy in San Francisco, a world far away from Eskimo culture and the frozen land of Alaska. During her long and arduous journey, Miyax comes to appreciate the value of her Eskimo heritage, learns about herself, and wins the friednship of a pack of wolves. After learning the language of the wolves and slowly earning their trust, Julie becomes a member of the pack.
	Pictures of Hollis Woods		J GIFF, P.
		Patricia Reilly Giff.
		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.
	Olive's Ocean		J HENKES, K.
		Kevin Henkes
		On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.
	Flush		J HIAASEN, C
		Carl Hiaasen.
		With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.
	The Pepins and their Problems		J HORVATH, P
		Polly Horvath
		The reader is invited to help solve the Pepin family's unusual problems, which include having a cow who creates lemonade rather than milk and having to cope with a competitive neighbor.
	The Star of Kazan		J IBBOTSON, E.
		Eva Ibbotson
		After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany.
	Dave at Night		J LEVINE, G
		Gail Carson Levine
		When orphaned Dave is sent to the Hebrew Home for Boys where he is treated cruelly, he sneaks out at night and is welcomed into the music- and culture-filled world of the Harlem Renaissance.
	Gossamer		J LOWRY, L.
		Lois Lowry
		While learning to bestow dreams, a young dream giver tries to save an eight-year-old boy from the effects of both his abusive past and the nightmares inflicted on him by the frightening Sinisteeds.
	A Corner of the Universe		J MARTIN, A.
		Ann M. Martin
		The summer that Hattie turns twelve, she meets the childlike uncle she never knew and becomes friends with a girl who works at the carnival that comes to Hattie's small town.
	Indigo's Star		J MCKAY, H.
		Hilary McKay
		Spurred on by his youngest sister, Rose, twelve-year-old Indigo sticks up for himself and an American boy who has replaced him as the primary target of the school bullies.
	Beauty: A Retelling of the story		J MCKINLEY, R.
		Robin McKinley
		Kind Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay and through her love releases him from the spell which had turned him from a handsome prince into an ugly beast.
	Here Lies The Librarian		J PECK, R.
		Richard Peck
		Fourteen-year-old Eleanor "Peewee" McGrath, a tomboy and automobile enthusiast, discovers new possibilities for her future after the 1914 arrival in her small Indiana town of four young librarians.
	Young Man and The Sea		J PHILBRICK, W.
		Rodman Philbrick
		After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father, so he undertakes a dangerous trip alone out on the ocean off the coast of Maine to try to catch a huge bluefin tuna.
	Wild Magic		J PIERCE, T.
		Tamora Pierce.
		The mage Numair, the knight Alanna, and Queen Thayet enlist thirteen-year-old Daine's help to battle the dreadful immortal creatures that have recently begun to attack the kingdom of Tortall.
	Boy who saved baseball		J RITTER, J.
		John H. Ritter
		The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato.
	Becoming Naomi Leon		J RYAN, P
		Pam Muñoz Ryan.
		When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
	Double-Dare to be scared		J SAN SOUCI, R
		Robert D. San Souci
		Campfire tale -- Best friends -- The quilt -- Circus dreams -- Rosalie -- Mountain childers -- Class cootie -- Half-past midnight -- Laughter -- Click-clack -- Daddy Boogey -- Grey -- "Gulp!"
	Case of the missing Marquess		J SPRINGER, N.
		Nancy Springer
		Enola Holmes, much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, must travel to London in disguise to unravel the disappearance of her missing mother.
	Beyond the deepwoods		J STEWART, P.
		Paul Stewart
		Thirteen-year-old Twig, having always looked and felt different from his woodtroll family, learns that he is adopted and travels out of his Deepwoods home to find the place where he belongs.
	Shadows of Ghadames		J STOLZ, J.
		Joëlle Stolz
		At the end of the nineteenth century in Libya, eleven-year-old Malika simultaneously enjoys and feels constricted by the narrow world of women, but an injured stranger enters her home and disrupts the traditional order of things.
	Roll of thunder, hear my cry		J TAYLOR, M
		Mildred D. Taylor
		In Mississippi, during the Great Depression of the 1930's, the Logans are one of the few African American families who own their own land. Nine-year-old Cassie Logan doesn't understand why her parents attach so much importance to this, any more than she understands the Night Riders, white men who terrorize African Americans.
	Heir Apparent		J VANDE VELDE, V.
		Vivian Vande Velde
		While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.
	Millicent Min, Girl Genius		J YEE, L
		Lisa Yee
		In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother's departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.
	Children of the Great Depression		J305.23097 FREEDMAN
		Russell Freedman.
		"The sight of my father crying" -- "Ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished" -- In and out of school -- Kids at work -- "Okie, go home!" -- Boxcar kids -- The Lone Ranger and Captain Midnight -- A brighter tomorrow.
	Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes		J333.95988 TURNER
		Pamela S. Turner
		Mountain gorillas are one of the most endangered species in the world. Now they are facing a new threat, from the very tourism that is helping to protect them: exposure to human disease. This is the story of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project and its work to provide medical care to the gorillas.
	Top Secret handbook of codes		J652.8 JANECZKO
		Paul B. Janeczko
		A handbook for the budding cryptographer including codes and ciphers, invisible inks, concealment techniques, spy stories and some history.
	Poke in the I: A collection of concrete poems		J811.008 POKE
		Paul B. Janeczko
	Don't know much about American History		J973 DAVIS
		Kenneth C. Davis
		Presents, in question and answer format, a history of the United States from the exploration of Christopher Columbus to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
	George Vs. George American Revolution		J973.3 SCHANZER
		Rosalyn Schanzer
	Through My Eyes		JB BRIDGES, R
		Ruby Bridges
		Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.
	Ben Franklin's Almanac		JB FRANKLIN, B
		Candace Fleming.
		Brings together eighteenth century etchings, artifacts, and quotations to create the effect of a scrapbook of the life of Benjamin Franklin.
	Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer		JB LEONARDO
		Robert Byrd
		Illustrations and text portray the life of Leonardo da Vinci, who gained fame as a artist through such works as the Mona Lisa, and as a scientist by studying various subjects including human anatomy and flight.
	My Life in Dog Years		JB PAULSEN, G.
		Gary Paulsen
		The author describes some of the dogs that have had special places in his life, including his first dog, Snowball, in the Phillippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, who saved his life.