Books for Advanced Middle Grades Readers
It is important to meet the reading needs and interests of middle school student reading above grade level. 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 reading continue to change. The committee’s purpose and purpose of the list provided below is to provide intellectually stimulating and high reading level books reviewed and recommended by students, educators, and committee members. Books were selected for review based on lexile, a published reading level, and/or the intellectually stimulating nature of the reading, which taps the imagination, both intellectually and in an entertaining fashion. If you have a book you would like evaluated for possible inclusion in this list, please email <lpreddy@msdpt.k12.in.us>.
When selecting a book for yourself, your students, or your child keep in mind that children mature at different rates. Not every book is appropriate for every child at every age. When choosing and reading a book, use wisdom and good judgment. Students should talk to their parents about what they are reading. Read together as a family and discuss what you are reading.
|
AUTHOR |
TITLE |
|
Adams, Douglas |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
|
Adams, Richard |
Watership Down |
|
Alcott, Louisa May |
Little Women series |
|
Anaya, Rudolfo |
Bless Me, Ultima |
|
Anderson , M. T. |
Feed |
|
Anderson, Laurie H. |
Speak |
|
Angelou, Maya |
I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing |
|
Austen, Jane |
Pride and Prejudice |
|
Baum, L. Frank |
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series |
|
Bissinger, H.G. |
Friday Night Lights |
|
Bosse, Malcolm J. |
Deep Dream of the Rain Forest |
|
Bradbury, Ray |
Something Wicked This Way Comes |
|
Brooks, Terry |
The Sword of Shannara series |
|
Buck, Pearl S. |
The Good Earth |
|
Cisneros, Sandra |
The House on Mango Street |
|
Clarke, Arthur C. |
2001: A Space Odyssey |
|
Cooper, James |
The Last of the Mohicans |
|
Cormier, Robert |
The Rag and Bone Shop |
|
Curtis, Christopher |
Bucking the Sarge |
|
Defoe, Daniel |
Robinson Crusoe |
|
Deuker, Carl |
High Heat |
|
Dickens, Charles |
Great Expectations |
|
Donnelly, Jennifer |
Northern Light |
|
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor |
Crime and Punishment |
|
Doyle, Arthur |
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
|
Draper, Sharon |
Copper Sun |
|
Fleischman, Paul |
Saturnalia |
|
Gaines, Ernest J. |
A Lesson Before Dying |
|
Golding, William |
Lord of the Flies |
|
Hawthorne, Nathaniel |
The Scarlet Letter |
|
Hearn, Lian |
Across the Nightingale Floor |
|
Heinlein, Robert A. |
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress |
|
Hemingway, Ernest |
A Farewell to Arms |
|
Hugo, Victor |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame |
|
Hunt, Irene |
Lottery Rose |
|
Irving, Washington |
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow |
|
Kidd, Sue Monk |
The Mermaid Chair |
|
Kidd, Sue Monk |
The Secret Life of Bees |
|
Kingsolver, Barbara |
The Bean Trees |
|
Kipling, Rudyard |
Captains Courageous |
|
Knowles, John |
A Separate Peace |
|
Lee, Harper |
To Kill a Mockingbird |
|
LeGuin, Ursula K. |
A Wizard of Earthsea |
|
London, Jack |
The Call of the Wild |
|
Martell, Yann |
Life of Pi |
|
Mason, Bobbi Ann |
In Country |
|
McKinley, Robin |
The Blue Sword |
|
McKinley, Robin |
Spindle's End |
|
Mitchell, Margaret |
Gone with the Wind |
|
Montgomery, L. M. |
Anne of Green Gables series |
|
Morrison, Toni |
Beloved |
|
Mosley, Walter |
47 |
|
Nix, Garth |
Sabriel |
|
Oppel, Kenneth |
Airborn |
|
Orwell, George |
1984 |
|
Paulsen, Gary |
Soldier's Heart |
|
Peet, Mal |
Tamar: Novel of Espionage, Passion & Betrayal |
|
Picoult, Jodi |
My Sister's Keeper |
|
Poe, Edgar Allan |
The Tell-tale Heart |
|
Quarles, Heather |
Door Near Here |
|
Rowling,J.K. |
Harry Potter series |
|
Sebold,Alice |
The Lovely Bones |
|
Sewell, Anna |
Black Beauty |
|
Shaara, Michael |
The Killer Angels |
|
Shusterman, Neal |
Downsiders |
|
Smith, Betty |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |
|
Sparks, Nicholas |
Message in a Bottle |
|
Steinbeck, John |
East of Eden |
|
Steinbeck, John |
The Grapes of Wrath |
|
Stevenson, Robert Louis |
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
|
Stolz, Mary |
Cezanne Pinto |
|
Stowe, Harriet Beecher |
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
|
Tashjian, Janet |
The Gospel According to Larry |
|
Tolkein, J.R. R. |
The Hobbit |
|
Twain, Mark |
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
|
Twain, Mark |
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
|
Verne, Jules |
Around the World in Eighty Days |
|
Wells, H. G. |
The War of the Worlds |
|
Wright, Richard |
Native Son |
|
Zusak, Markus |
The Book Thief |
2006-2007 Advanced Reader’s Committee
Lesa Calleo, Rhoades Elementary
Lu Dayment, Greenwood Middle School
Peg DeMott, Lakeland Middle School
Karen Finney, Clay Middle School
Pamala Gasway, West Vigo Middle School
Susie Highley, Creston Middle School
Barbara Hult, Beech Grove Middle
Jack Humphrey, MGRN
Denise Keogh, Tipton Middle School
Kym Kramer, ICAN book club
Jennifer Longgood, Northwestern Middle/Senior High Schools
John McDonald, Providence Jr. Sr. High
Kristina M. McGlaun. Jackson Creek Middle School
Leslie Preddy, Perry Meridian Middle School
Susan Robinson, Alexandria Middle School
Sarah Seligman, Zionsville Middle School
Beth Slightom. Fall Creek Valley Middle School