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The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien · Middle-earth series · 300 pagesBilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum. (back cover)
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Wonderby R.J. Palacio · 315 pagesTen-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.
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New Kidby Jerry Craft · New Kid series · 256 pagesSeventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true t
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Refugeeby Alan Gratz · 338 pagesAlthough separated by continents and decades, Josef, a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl trying to escape the riots and unrest plaguing her country in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015 whose homeland is torn apart by violence and destruction, embark on harrowing journeys in search of refuge, discovering shocking connections that tie their stories together.
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Bud, Not Buddyby Christopher Paul Curtis · 272 pagesIt's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own suitcase filled with his own important, secret things. 2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobeby C.S. Lewis · Narnia series · 189 pagesNARNIA...the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy...the place where the adventure begins. Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first, no one believes her when she tells of her adventures in the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund and then Peter and Susan discover the Magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. In the blink of an eye, their lives are changed forever. --back cover
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Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curseby Rick Riordan · Percy Jackson series · 352 pagesWhen Percy Jackson gets an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he will need his powerful demigod allies at his side, his trusty bronze sword Riptide, and…a ride from his mom. The demigods rush to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that’s not all that awaits them. The titan lord Kronos has devised his most treacherous plot yet, and the young heroes have just fallen prey. They’re not the only ones in danger. An ancient monster has arisen—one rumored to be so
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963by Christopher Paul Curtis · 210 pagesThe ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
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Echoby Pam Munoz Ryan · 583 pagesOtto se pierde en un bosque prohibido cuando de repente se encuentra con tres misteriosas hermanas. En ese momento, su destino quedará ligado a una insólita búsqueda que entraña una profecía, una promesa y una armónica. Décadas más tarde, las vidas de Friedrich en Alemania, Mike en Pennsylvania, e Ivy en California, se conectan entre sí cuando la misma armónica llega a ellos. Estos niños se enfrentarán a grandes desafíos: rescatar a un padre, proteger a un hermano y mantener a una familia unida. -- Publisher description. Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters
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Smileby Raina Telgemeier · 214 pagesFrom sixth grade through ninth, Raina copes with various dental problems, including braces, while wishing to be noticed by the right boy, enduring teasing from her friends, and finally realizing that life is about more than just how she looks.
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Amulet: The Stonekeeperby Kazu Kibuishi · Amulet series · 192 pagesThe first book in Kazu Kibuishi's #1 New York Times bestselling series that features a beautiful but dangerous world of new friends, giant robots, and shadowy enemies! After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather. The strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a tentacled creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into a fantastical world inhabited by robots, mysterious plants, and talking animals. It's up to Em and Navin to figure out ho
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The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spellby Chris Colfer · Land of Stories seriesFrustrated by all the happy goofy representations of fairy tales? (Note: Chris began the concept for this book in his late high school years, which were much earlier than the copyright date of 2012.) Well, so was Chris. So, he decided to mix them up a little. This book has several of the standard fairy tale characters, such as Red Riding Hood, the witch who liked to eat children (Hansel & Gretel), Snow White, the Frog Prince, and more. The thing is, the Frog Prince is in hiding; Red Riding Hood is a snippy warrior-type (bounty hunter, if I remember correctly) on a mighty steed, Snow White is p
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When You Trap a Tigerby Tae KellerWould you make a deal with a magical tiger? This uplifting story brings Korean folklore to life as a girl goes on a quest to unlock the power of stories and save her grandmother. Some stories refuse to stay bottled up. When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her Halmoni's Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal -- return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni's
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Counting by 7sby Holly Goldberg Sloan · 380 pagesFourteen-year-old homeschooled genius Willow Chance convinces her adoptive parents to let her attend high school to observe people her own age, and soon she has connected with a group of eccentrics who stand by her when tragedy strikes.
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Inside Out & Back Againby Thanhha Lai · 277 pagesFor all the ten years of her life, Hä has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hä and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next. --back cover
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The Thing About Jellyfishby Ali Benjamin · 343 pagesSome hearts beat only about 412 million times. Which might sound like a lot. But the truth is, it barely even gets you twelve years. Suzy Swanson has always known things that others don't. She can explain the sleep patterns of ants. She knows there are 150 million jellyfish stings on the planet every year. She knows that the average middle school kid contains about 20 billion of Shakespeare's atoms. But she can't understand how Franny Jackson's lifetime could be cut so short ... before Suzy could make up for the worst thing she'd ever done to her friend. As Suzy retreats into a silent world of
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Roller Girlby Victoria Jamieson · 32 pagesRoller Girl by Victoria Jamieson. A recommended summer reading selection for grade 6.
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Ghostby Jason Reynolds · Track series · 181 pages"Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential"--
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The City of Emberby Jeanne DuPrau · Ember series · 270 pagesA modern-day classic. This highly acclaimed adventure series about two friends desperate to save their doomed city has captivated kids and teachers alike for almost fifteen years and has sold over 3.5 MILLION copies! The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must race to figure out the clues before the lights go out on Ember forever!
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The False Princeby Jennifer A. Nielsen · Ascendance series · 352 pagesIn the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.
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Hootby Carl Hiaasen · 304 pagesEverything changes when sees a strange boy wearing no shoes run passed his bus. Come with Roy, Beatrice, and the strange boy to save the owls from the evil Paula's Pancakes.
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A Wrinkle in Timeby Madeleine L'Engle · Time Quintet series · 245 pagesMeg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.
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A Single Shardby Linda Sue Park · 152 pagesTree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
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The Lightning Thiefby Rick Riordan · Percy Jackson series · 416 pagesTwelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction—Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend. [**The Lightning Thief**](https://chesserresources.com/doc/the-lightning-thief-by-rick-riordan/)
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Brown Girl Dreamingby Jacqueline Woodson · 368 pagesRaised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.
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Fish in a Treeby Lynda Mullaly HuntAlly can't read very well and writing is hard for her too. She finds friends that help with what she does at school and with bullies. Mr. Daniels helps her the best he can by realizing that something is " wrong " with her. This is a great and inspiring book for all people to read.
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Wishtreeby Katherine Applegate · 215 pagesTrees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . . Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this "wishtree" watches over the neighborhood. You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever.
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The Mighty Miss Maloneby Christopher Paul CurtisEmily decides that what the town of Pitchfork needs is a library, and comes up with a plan to make it happen.
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Holesby Louis Sachar · 272 pagesStanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day, digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize that Camp Green Lake isn't what it seems. Are the boys digging holes because the warden is looking for something
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Hatchetby Gary Paulsen · Brian's Saga series · 186 pagesBrian Robison, a teenage boy struggling through his parents divorce, is flying up north to stay with his dad for the summer. However, his plane crashes and he is forced to survive the Canadian wilderness. Now living in a world completely opposite of his own, he is now able to discover himself in this forsaken and misunderstood beautiful world. The story is continued in "The River" "Brian's Winter" "Brian's Return" and "The Hunt"
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The War That Saved My Lifeby Kimberly Brubaker Bradley · 320 pagesNine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or w
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Out of My Mindby Sharon M. Draper · 295 pagesA brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy, considered by many to be mentally retarded, discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
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Dog Man: Brawl of the Wildby Dav Pilkey · Dog Man seriesThe Supa Buddies have been working hard to help Dog Man overcome his bad habits. But when his obsessions turn to fears, Dog Man finds himself the target of an all-new supervillain! Meanwhile, Petey the Cat has been released from jail and starts a new life with Li'l Petey. But when Petey's own father arrives, Petey must face his past to understand the difference between being good and doing good.
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Diary of a Wimpy Kidby Jeff Kinney · Wimpy Kid series · 226 pagesGreg Heffley finds thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings like him share the hallways with much bigger kids who are already shaving. But nothing scares Greg more than the moldy piece of cheese on the blacktop. Can he and his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, make it through the year without getting the Cheese Touch?
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The Crossoverby Kwame Alexander · 240 pages"A bolt of lightning on my kicks, the court is sizzling, my sweat is drizzling. Stop all that quivering, cuz tonight I'm delivering," raps basketball phenom Josh Bell. Thanks to his dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court, with crossovers that make even the toughest ballers cry. But Josh has more than hoops in his blood. He's got a river of rhymes flowing through him -- a sick flow that helps him find his rhythm when everything's on the line. As their winning season unfolds, things begin to change. When Jordan meets the new girl in school, the twins' tight-knit bond unrave
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Restartby Gordon KormanChase Ambrose, an 8th grade bully has the chance to restart his life after a great, big fall that made him lose his memory.As he tries to rebuild his life he finds out about all the horrible things he has done and does not like that version of himself so he decides to make a change.But others cannot trust his new life.Will Chase be able to gain trust from others or will he never be forgiven?
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Amulet: The Stonekeeper's Curseby Kazu Kibuishi · Amulet series · 192 pagesThe first book in Kazu Kibuishi's #1 New York Times bestselling series that features a beautiful but dangerous world of new friends, giant robots, and shadowy enemies! After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather. The strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a tentacled creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into a fantastical world inhabited by robots, mysterious plants, and talking animals. It's up to Em and Navin to figure out ho
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stoneby J.K. Rowling · Harry Potter seriesTurning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'. HARRY POTTER has never even heard of Hogwarts when the LETTERS start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in GREEN INK on yellowish parchment with a PURPLE SEAL, they are swiftly confiscated by his GRISLY aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called RUBEUS HAGRID bursts in with some ASTONISHING news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogw
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The Girl Who Drank the Moonby Kelly Barnhill · 400 pagesAn epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, who must unlock the powerful magic buried deep inside her.
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Esperanza Risingby Pam Munoz Ryan · 262 pagesEsperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
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The Wild Robotby Peter Brown · Wild Robot seriesWhen robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.
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Ghost Boysby Jewell Parker Rhodes"After seventh-grader Jerome is shot by a white police officer, he observes the aftermath of his death and meets the ghosts of other fallen black boys including historical figure Emmett Till"--
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A Long Walk to Waterby Linda Sue ParkWhen the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan.
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The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returnsby Chris Colfer · Land of Stories series · 544 pagesWhen the twins life changes, it just get even more interesting. With choas in the other world caused from the Enchantress herself, Alex and Conner must save their mother. Will they succeed or will they be stuck in the Land of stories?
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Tuck Everlastingby Natalie Babbitt · 144 pagesA surprising encounter between a young girl and a family which is cursed with everlasting life develops into a deep friendship. Lovely prose and a lovely thought provoking story.
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Maniac Mageeby Jerry Spinelli · 184 pagesAfter his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
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When You Reach Meby Rebecca SteadWinner of the 2010 John Newbery MedalFour mysterious letters change Miranda's world forever.By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper
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The Westing Gameby Ellen Raskin · 192 pagesSixteen people were invited to the reading of the very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Westing. They could become millionaires, depending on how they played the game. The not-quite-perfect heirs were paired, and each pair was given $10,000 and a set of clues (no two sets of clues were alike). All they had to do was find the answer, but the answer to what? The Westing game was tricky and dangerous, but the heirs played on, through blizzards and burglaries and bombs bursting in air. And one of them won! With her own special blend of intricacy, humor, and upside-down perceptions, Ellen Ra
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Front Deskby Kelly Yang · Front Desk series · 286 pagesMia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. Number 3: She wants to be a writer. It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year.