Summer Reading for Middle Schoolers 2016

Last year I posted a series about Summer Reading for Middle Schoolers.  Over four or five days I posted suggestions for fun summer reads.  If you missed it or just want to look at some of the suggestions from last year, you can find the first post here.  

This year I added a few that I've read over the school year.  I won't be posting about any of the ones I included last year, some of which are still on my 2016 Summer Reading Suggestions I give my students at the end of the school year.  

As a 6th grade Language Arts teacher, I am always trying to give my students new suggestions on really good books to read. Please keep in mind that I attempt to keep the list as clean as possible and I also try to stay away from really popular titles in hopes that you might discover little diamonds waiting for you!

The False Prince (Ascendance Trilogy) by Jennifer Nielsen—Fantasy

Sage has grown up an orphan, making his way by stealing what he needs.  One day a rich man buys him from the home he’s in, along with two other boys who look oddly like him.  Only when they arrive do they learn that they are look-alikes for the assumed dead prince and this man is training them to become his replacement.  Whoever can assume the role of Prince Jaron the best will be taken to the palace to rule.  The ones who can’t, won’t live to tell the tale.  Funny and full of adventure. Fast-paced and enjoyable.  All three books are enjoyable, but the first one is the best.

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano—Fantasy

Pram can talk to ghosts, but she’s learned not to allow her aunts in on this knowledge.  When it’s decided that home-schooling won’t be enough for her anymore, she’s sent to school where she makes her first living friend.  It isn’t long before she’s helping Clarence in his search to speak one more time to his mother who just died.  In their search, Clarence and Pram encounter an evil force who realizes Pram’s power is something it could use and now Pram and Clarence are in danger, but are unaware of what lies ahead.

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty—Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Serafina has spent her life in the cellar rooms beneath the Vanderbilt mansion, hidden by her father from the world.  At night she prowls the grounds and explores the mansion, until one night she witnesses a little girl being captured by a man in a cloak.  She just disappears before Serafina’s eyes and now the man is after her.  For the first time she meets someone else, Braeden Vanderbilt, the owners’ nephew, and he helps her in the search for the man in the cloak as more and more children go missing.

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley—Fantasy

If you have a Harry Potter fan, they’ll want to read this one.  Micah’s grandfather is dying and his great Aunt has come to stay, making Micah’s life difficult and limiting his time with his grandfather before the inevitable.  But Micah knows there is another way, that Circus Mirandus could change it all.  After hearing his grandfather’s stories of the magical circus, Micah on a search to find it in hopes that it will save his grandfather, and keep Micah from the awful fate of living with his great Aunt.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin—Realistic Fiction

After Suzy’s friend dies in a tragic drowning accident, she decides that she will not speak until she has a reason for the event.  It comes to her attention that jellyfish could have been the cause her friend’s death and she begins researching and looking for answers.  Told in both present time when Suzy is struggling to come to terms with such a great loss, and in flashbacks through the arc of her friendship, it is truly a heartbreaking story as Suzy tries to understand why something like this could happen.

Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland—Nonfiction, Memoir

Misty Copeland takes us through her life, beginning with the frequent moves during her young childhood, to living in a hotel with her family, discovering dance, finding a place for herself in the dance world, and her rise to soloist with the American Ballet Theater.  Just this past summer, Copeland was named a principal with the American Ballet Theater and she is the first female African American principal dancer for the ABT.  Her story is inspirational for both dancers and non dancers.

Don't forget to head back to last year's post for other books that I hope every child reads at some point before they become an adult.  

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