Suggested Reading List: Grades 6-8: Home

Two years after a tragedy saddles him with viral fame, twelve-year-old Simon O'Keeffe and his family move to Grin And Bear It, Nebraska, where the internet and cell phones are banned so astrophysicists can scan the sky for signs of alien life, and where, with the help of two new friends, a puppy, and a giant radio telescope, Simon plans to restart the narrative of his life.

After a devastating tornado tears apart her home, thirteen-year-old Quinn struggles to find stability and return to who she was before, finding she has to rebuild herself.

Nothing has gone right for twelve-year-old year old Lawrence since his Pop went away, but after getting expelled from school for fighting he discovers the world of chess and things begin to change.

After the death of his best friend and the only other trans boy at school, Noah starts writing letters expressing his feelings to the humanoid creature Mothman and risks everything when he treks into the woods to prove Mothman's existence.

Unable to find their rhythm, once-close twin sisters Maya and Chaya make a bet: they'll switch places at summer camp and whoever can keep the ruse going the longest will get to make a life-changing decision, which isn't as easy as it sounds.

Fifth period is hands down the best time of day in Connor U. Eubanks Middle School, because that's when Mr. Lewis teaches Jazz Lab. So his students are devastated when their beloved teacher quits abruptly. Once they make a connection between budget cuts and Mr. Lewis's disappearance, they hatch a plan: stop the cuts, save their class. Soon, they become an unlikely band of crusaders, and their quest quickly snowballs into something much bigger--a movement involving the whole middle school. But the adults in charge seem determined to ignore their every protest. How can the kids make themselves heard?

Thirteen-year-old Jordan Mendoza has a huge crush on his classmate, Sierra, but he’s never going to win her affections if he stays a C student and keeps embarrassing himself on the basketball court. And it doesn’t help that his best friend, Antonio, likes to tease him about it all a little too much. But when Jordan dives into the waters of a dangerous irrigation canal to save a drowning puppy, he’s suddenly got even more on his mind than kissing Sierra and making the starting team. Can he nurse the abandoned puppy back to health (and will his parents let him keep her)? Who threw her into the canal—and is it possible that there are more puppies needing rescue? And why are the cops suddenly at Jordan’s door, looking for him?

Twelve-year-old Melony befriends a wish-granting demon who encourages her to rebel against her overprotective parents, all while using her for his own evil scheme. Based on the Japanese folktale “Urikohime to Amanjaku,” or “The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku."

Twelve-year-old Marius Grey has a job as a Cemetery Boy, looking after the ghosts in his family's graveyard, but he also hunts monsters and, along with his flesh-eating mermaid friend, must race against the clock to save the ghost of his dead mother.

Twelve-year-old Zola discovers that she is stuck in a fake utopian future, and that those around her are counting on her to help them escape.

When fifteen-year-old Valdez Jones VIII, a.k.a. Wrecker, unwittingly becomes entangled with a group of smugglers and grave robbers, he must deep dive into their shady dealings in order to escape their twisted net.

Adam and Victor are brothers who have the usual fights over the remote, which movie to watch and whether or not it's morally acceptable to eat people. Well, not so much eat... just drink a little blood. They're vampires, hiding in plain sight with their eclectic yet loving family. Ten-year-old Adam knows he has a better purpose in his life (well, immortal life) than just drinking blood, but fourteen-year-old Victor wants to accept his own self-image of vampirism. Everything changes when bodies start to appear all over town, and it becomes clear that a vampire hunter may be on the lookout for the family. Can Adam and Victor reconcile their differences and work together to stop the killer before it's too late?

Twelve-year-old Minerva Keen forms a detective club to uncover who is poisoning residents of her storied Chicago apartment building, knowing that any one of her neighbors could be the poisoner--or the next victim.

Akim Aliu--also known as 'Dreamer'--is a Ukrainian-Nigerian-Canadian professional hockey player whose career took him all around the world and who experienced systemic racism at every turn. 'Dreamer' tells Akim's incredible story, from being the only Black child in his Ukrainian community, to his family struggling to make ends meet while living in Toronto, to confronting the racist violence he often experienced both on and off the ice.

Can five overlooked kids make one big difference? There's George: the brain Sara: the loner Dayara: the tough kid Nico: the rich kid And Miguel: the athlete And they're stuck together when they're forced to complete their school's community service hours. Although they're sure they have nothing in common with one another, some people see them as all the same...just five Spanish-speaking kids. Then they meet someone who truly needs their help, and they must decide whether they are each willing to expose their own secrets to help...or if remaining invisible is the only way to survive middle school

Follows Marguerite de Pruitt and her canine pal, Daisy, as they embark on a journey to save the world.

Examines the life of Snow White's stepmother, the Wicked Queen, to find out just what it is that makes her so evil that she would want to cut out her teenage step-daughter's heart and have it delivered in a locked keepsake box.

Preet and Valissa live peacefully together in a magical village until they are soon divided by different paths, insecurities, and distance, getting sent on separate adventures and trying to find their way back to each other.

A young shepherdess, her wolf companion, and a young oracle-apprentice must stop a king's reign of terror after he receives a frightening prophecy.

Set in a world inspired by pre-Shogun era Japan and woven through with Japanese culture and legends. When Kai's twin sister, Kishi, is stolen and killed by the legendary Ghost Whale, Kai sets out a long and dangerous adventure to bring her back to life

When Rachel and Robert are passed a stolen book by their librarian father, they have to go on the run and protect it at all costs. With their father captured and everyone hunting for the Book, they must uncover its secrets and track down the final, missing page. But the cruel and calculating Charles Malstain is on their trail. When the children discover the astonishing, magical truth about the Book, they resolve to do everything in their power to stop it falling into his hands.

Welcome to the most spectacular theme park in the world. Everyone wants a ticket to Futureland, where you can literally live out your wildest dreams. Want to step inside your favorite video game? Go pro in a sports arena? Perform at a real live concert?Grab your ticket and come right in. Yet with all its attractions, Futureland has always just been home to Cam Walker, the son of the park's famous creators. And when the park arrives at its latest stop in Atlanta, Cam is thrilled for what promises to be Futureland's biggest opening ever. But things aren't quite right with the Atlanta opening. Park attractions are glitching. Kids start to go missing. And when his parents are blamed, Cam must find the missing kids and whoever's trying to take down his family before it's too late.

Jade is starting eighth grade in a new city--Atlanta. She just wants to go back to Chicago, where her friends are. Where her Abuela lives. There, Jade meets Itztli, an elderly storyteller who exists between dreams and reality. In the golden afternoons when Itztli appears, he steps out of the forest as a lithe, agile jaguar. But when he speaks to Jade, he is a wise old man who makes intricate works of art and tells her ancestral stories of Mexico. At first, Itztli's stories feel far removed from Jade's life. But as her Abuela suddenly falls ill, two towers come crashing down in New York City, and Jade becomes someone or something she doesn't yet understand, Itztli's stories take on new meaning. Jade must learn to have patience and strength to become who she was always meant to be, as the stirrings of an ancient power awaken within her.

This is the tale of an exciting journey along the Silk Road with a young orphan Monk and his newfound guardian, Samir, a larger than life character and the so-called "Seller of Dreams." The man is a scammer; his biggest skill being the ability to talk his way into getting what he wants. While that talking did save Monkey's life, it has left a lot of people furious with Samir--furious enough to hire assassins. These include a Viking berserker, a Rogue legion, a Persian mystic, a Bedouin clan, a Mongolian gunner, a Chinese ablutionist, and a mythic figure known as "Cid". Monkey decides to try and save Samir from the attempts on his life--as a way to pay off his debt! If he can save Samir six times, he'll be a free man...but will they all survive that long?

The invasion begins--but not as you'd expect. It begins with rain. Rain that carries seeds. Seeds that sprout--overnight, everywhere. These new plants take over crop fields, twine up houses, and burrow below streets. They bloom--and release toxic pollens. They bloom--and form Venus flytrap-like pods that swallow animals and people. They bloom--everywhere, unstoppable.Or are they? Three kids on a remote island seem immune to the toxic plants. Anaya, Petra, Seth. They each have strange allergies--and yet not to these plants. What's their secret? Can they somehow be the key to beating back this invasion? They'd better figure it out fast, because it's starting to rain again.

On the run from her latest bank robbery, Scarlett McCain comes to the rescue of Albert Browne, the sole survivor of a horrific accident, and soon learns he may be the most dangerous threat of all. (Dystopian Sci-Fi)