Books for Advanced Middle Grades Readers

by Leslie Preddy

Perry Meridian Middle School

With the advances in the publishing world, this is an exciting time to me a middle grades educator and reading promoter. In recent years, progress has been made with the publication of high quality literature appropriate for advanced middle grades readers. Through this literature, the unique intellectual, emotional and literary needs of middle grades readers reading above grade level. Through the Books for Advanced Middle Grades Readers project, a committee of middle grades educators with students to meet the important needs of this group of students, historically overlooked by publishers and educators. Traditionally, it was assumed these students could manage on their own, but that is not a fair or equal assumption. Advanced readers need as much personalized time and attention selecting appropriate reading materials as do struggling readers.

To that end, a committee of library media specialists, in cooperation with classroom teachers and advanced readers in grades 6-8 throughout Indiana collaborated to develop a list of recommended books for advanced readers in the middle school. Begun in 2005, the committee’s work is ongoing, and the list is continually changing and evolving as the publishing world and advanced readers continue to change. The list of “Books for Advanced Middle Grades Readers” is available at [http://mgrn.evansville.edu/vocabulary.htm].

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Participating schools utilized a reader’s rubric inspired by and adapted from a rubric developed by Denise Keogh, Tipton Middle School. This post-reading assessment tool was created and annually revised and approved by the committee. Committee members collaborated, trained and taught teachers and students about the program and shared a recommended reading list compiled my committee members based on recommendations, reviews and professional assessment. Students with an advanced reading level read from the book list, or added to the list a recommendation of their own, completed the evaluation form after a book was read, and turned the completed form.

At the end of the semester, committee members turned in the completed reviews from their school. Based on comments students placed on the evaluations and a numerical formula for a quantitative score, the reading list was narrowed to the nearly finalized list. This list was then reviewed by the committee. Committee members, using their own professional expertise, reviewed the list and participated in electronic discussion until a final list was ready.

After the recommended list was posted, work is still not complete. It is the committee’s philosophy that the recommended book list will never be static, therefore we are always seeking suggestions for committee’s recommended reading list. Throughout summer and first semester, titles are collected for the project reading list before participating school’s advanced reading use the list second semester to evaluation and review titles. Any school interested in sending recommendations for the list or participating in the student evaluation process and joining the committee should send an email to <>.

This year, for the first time, books were divided into two categories: Middle Grades Advanced Reader Classics and Middle Grades Advanced Reader Contemporary List. It is also important to note that what is advanced reading for 6th grade varies greatly for what is appropriately advanced of 8th grade. As committee member Cindy Newton commented, “Personal maturity changes so much during this middle school journey.” It is always important to consider the individual student and the community in which the students live when making recommendations. The committee strongly recommends that when selecting a book for yourself, your students, or your child, please keep in mind that children mature at different rates. Not every book is appropriate for every child at every age. When choosing a book, always rely on your wisdom and good judgment. Continue to encourage students and parents to read together as a family and enjoy lively discussions about they are reading.

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Through the generous support of the Middle Grades Reading Network, spine labels are available to help designate books for advanced middle grades’ readers on school library shelves. This allows students, parents and educators to browse for advanced reading materials, quickly and efficiently, and sometimes with the privacy one needs when choosing something so personal as something to read.

It is the committee’s goal to provide intellectually stimulating and high reading level books that have been reviewed and recommended by students, educators, and committee members. Books were selected for review based on lexile, a published reading level, and/or theintellectually stimulating nature of the reading, which taps the imagination, both intellectually and in an entertaining fashion. If your school would like to be involved in the selection and review process, or if you would like to recommend a book or books (fiction and non-fiction) to be evaluated for possible inclusion in this list, please email me at <>. Remember to check the website annually for an updated, revised list.

Contemporary

Author / Tilte
Adam / Hitchhiker's Guide SERIES
Alexie / Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Alphin / Ghost Soldier
Anderson / Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
Anderson / Chains
Anderson / Pox Party
Anderson / Speak
Anderson / Wintergirls
Avi / True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Bartoletti / Boy Who Dared
Bass / Sign of the Qin SERIES
Bauer / Am I Blue? Coming out of the Silence
Bauer / Rules of the Road
Beddor / Looking Glass Wars SERIES
Bell / Nick of Time
Bissinger / Friday Night Lights
Bodeen / Compound
Bray / Going Bovine
Brian / Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys
Brown / DaVinci Code
Bryson / Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Buckley-Archer / Gideon SERIES
Carvell / Sweetgrass Basket
Chabon / Summerland
Clancy / Hunt for Red October
Clements / Things Not Seen SERIES
Collins / Hunger Games SERIES
Connor / Miss Birdie Chose a Shovel
Cormier / Chocolate War
Crutcher / Athletic Shorts: six short stories
Curry / Black Canary
Curtis / Bucking the Sarge
Curtis / Elijah of Buxton
Curtis / Watsons Go to Birmingham
Cushman / Catherine, called Birdy
Cushman / Midwife's Apprentice
Delaney / Last Apprentice SERIES
Denenberg / Pandora of Athens: 399 BC
Dhami / Bindi Babes
Dickinson / Ropemaker
Draper / Fire From the Rock
Draper / Just Another Hero
Elliott / Give Me Liberty
Ellis / Breadwinner
Ende / Neverending Story
Farmer / House of Scorpion
Farmer / Land of the Silver Apples, The
Feinstein / Cover-Up
Flamel / Secrets of the Immortal SERIES
Fleischman / Bull Run
Fletcher / Shadow Spinner
Follett / Pillars of the Earth
Frost / Braid, The
Frost / Crossing Stones
Frost / Keesha's House
Funke / Inkheart SERIES
Gantos / Joey Pigza SERIES
Gilmore / Exchange Student
Gordon / Deeper SERIES
Gottleib / Stick Figure: a Diary of My Former Self
Green / An Abundance of Katherines
Grimes / Jazmin's Notebook
Gruber / Witch's Boy
Haddon / Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night
Hannigan / Ida B
Hardinge / Fly by Night
Hesse / Out of the Dust
Hoffman / Indigo SERIES
Hoffman / Water Tales SERIES
Horvath / Vacation
Hosseini / Kite Runner
Houston / New Boy
Howe / Totally Joe
Hulme / Seems SERIES
Hunter / Warriors SERIES
Jacques / Redwall SERIES
Jacques / Ribberjack & Other Curious Yarns, The
Jansen / Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You
Junger / Perfect Storm
Kadohata / Cracker!
Karim / Skunk Girl
Kelly / Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, The
Kidd / Secret Life of Bees
Kingsolver / Bean Trees
Koja / Buddha Boy
Larbalestier / Magic or Madness
leavitt / Keturah and Lord Death
Lester / Day of Tears
Lester / Guardian
Lieb / I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President
Luttrell / Lone Survivor
McClintock / Back
McCormick / Cut
McKinley / Spindle's End
Meyers / Jacky Farber SERIES
Moore / Hero
mortenson / Three Cups of Tea
Murdock / Princess Ben
Myers / Fallen Angels
Naylor / Jade Green
Nix / Keys to the Kingdom SERIES
O'Brien / Aquamarine
O'Brien / Things They Carried
Ogilvy / Measle and the Mallockee
Ortiz / Call me Maria: a novel
Paolini / Inheritance Cycle SERIES
Patron / Higher Power of Lucky
Paulsen / Boy who owned the School
Paulsen / Hatchet SERIES
Paulsen / Puppies, Dogs & Blue Northers
Paulsen / Soldier's Heart
Pearson / Adoration of Jenna Fox
Pfetzer & Galvin / Within Reach: My Everest Story: One Young Man’s Unforgettable Journey
Philbrick / Freak the Mighty
Picoult / My Sister's Keeper
Pullman / Amber Spyglass SERIES
Reeve / Larklight
Riordan / Percy Jackson SERIES
Roth / From Baghdad with Love
Rowling / Harry Potter SERIES
Sage / Septimus Heap SERIES
Schlasser / Fast Food Nation
Sedaris / Dress Your Family in Denim and Corduroy
Sedaris / Engulfed in Flames
Sedaris / Naked
Shaffer / Guernsey Literqary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Shusterman / Downsiders
Smith / Boys of San Joaquin
Springer / Enola Holmes SERIES
Stanley / Bella at Midnight
Staples / Green Dog
Staples / Shiva's Fire
Stolz / Cezanne Pinto
Stroud / Bartimaeus TRILOGY
Takaya / Fruits Basket: Vol. 1
Taylor / Land, The
Valentine / Me, the Missing, and the Dead
VandeVelde / Now you see it
Walls / Glass Castle: A Memoir
welsh / Unresolved, The
Williams / Chosen One: A Novel
Wilson / I rode a horse of milk white jade
Wooding / Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
Woodson / After Tupac and D Foster
Woodson / Feathers
Yolen / Devil's Arithmetic
Zusak / Book Thief

Classics

Author / Title
Alcott / Eight Cousins
alcott / Little Women SERIES
Austen / Pride and Prejudice
Austen / Sense and Sensibility
Barrett / Lilies of the Field
Baum / Wizard of Oz SERIES
Buck / Good Earth
Christie / Then There Were None
Cooper / Last of the Mohicans
Craven / I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Defoe / Robinson Crusoe
Dickens / Christmas Carol
Dickens / David Copperfield
Dickens / Great Expectations
Dickens / Hard Times
Dickens / Oliver Twist
Dickens / Tale of Two Cities
Doyle / Adventures of Sherlock Holmes SERIES
Fitzgerald / Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Fitzgerald / Great Gatsby
Forbes / Johnny Tremain
Frank / Alas, Babylon
Frank / Diary of Anne Frank
Gaines / Lesson Before Dying
Golding / Lord of the Flies
Hawthorne / Scarlet Letter
Herbert / Dune
Hinton / Outsiders
Hughes / Raisin in the Sun
Hugo / Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hunt / Lottery Rose
Hunt / Up a Road Slowly
Huxley / Brave New World
Irving / Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Kipling / Captains Courageous
Kipling / Jungle Book
Knowles / Separate Peace
Lee / To Kill a Mockingbird
LeGuin / Earthsea SERIES
Lewis / Screwtape Letters
London / Call of the Wild
London / White Fang
Miller / Crucible
Miller / Death of a Salesman
Mitchell / Gone with the Wind
Montgomery / Anne of Green Gables SERIES
O'Dell / Island of the Blue Dolphins
O'Neill / Long Day's Journey into Night
Orczy / Scarlet Pimpernel
Orwell / 1984
Orwell / Animal Farm
Poe / Pit and the Pendulum
Poe / Tell-tale Heart
Sewell / Black Beauty
Shakespeare / Hamlet
Shakespeare / History Plays
Shakespeare / Macbeth
Shakespeare / Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare / Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare / Twelfth Night
Shelley / Frankenstein
Steinbeck / Of Mice and Men
Stevenson / Treasure Island
Stowe / Uncle Tom's Cabin
Steinbeck / Pearl
Tolkein / Hobbit
Tolkien / Lord of the Rings SERIES
Twain / Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Twain / Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Twain / Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Upton / Jungle
Verne / 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
Verne / Around the World in Eighty Days
Wells / War of the Worlds

2009-2010 Advanced Reader’s Committee

Karen Ault, Brownstown Central Middle School

Amanda East, Lynhurst 7th & 8th Grade Center

Susan Hearon, Concord Junior High

Jack Humphrey, MGRN

Denise Keogh, Tipton Middle School

Nicki Kirchoff, Shelbyville Middle School

Jennifer Longgood, Northwestern Middle/Senior High Schools

Julie Mahaffey, Pleasant View Middle School

Kristina M. McGlaun. Jackson Creek Middle School

Nancy McGriff, South Central Schools

Cindy Newton, Connersville Middle School

Leslie Preddy, Perry Meridian Middle School