Summer is a time for taking a break from school, right? This Middle School Summer Reading List will keep them engaged and wanting to read!
Don’t just let your children’s reading skills dwindle during the summer slump.
Plus, your kiddo will need a break from the sun and some downtime during the long summer days.
You can find these books at your local library or purchase through the affiliate links provided for your convenience.
A special thanks to the Association for Library Service to Children for the wonderful summer reading inspiration.
Middle School Summer Reading List
Why not even spend some time reading aloud to your middle schooler? Just because they’re older doesn’t mean they still don’t love being read to.
Curl up with a great book, keep their minds sharp and create some fun family memories with this wonderful middle school summer reading!
Summer Reading for Grades 5-8
Echo
Winner of a 2016 Newbery Honor.
Richly imagined and masterfully crafted, Echo pushes the boundaries of genre, form, and storytelling innovation to create a wholly original novel that will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck.
Lowriders in Space (Book 1)
Striking, unparalleled art from debut illustrator Raul the Third recalls ballpoint-pen-and-Sharpie desk-drawn doodles, while the story is sketched with Spanish, inked with science facts, and colored with true friendship.
With a glossary at the back to provide definitions for Spanish and science terms, this delightful book will educate and entertain in equal measure.
Sisters
Raina Telgemeieruses her signature humor and charm in both present-day narrative and perfectly placed flashbacks to tell the story of her relationship with her sister, which unfolds during the course of a road trip from their home in San Francisco to a family reunion in Colorado.
The Great Greene Heist (Jackson Greene)
Saving the school — one con at a time.
Jackson Greene swears he’s given up scheming. Then school bully Keith Sinclair announces he’s running for Student Council president, against Jackson’s former friend Gaby de la Cruz.
Gaby wants Jackson to stay out of it — but he knows Keith has “connections” to the principal, which could win him the presidency no matter the vote count.
So Jackson assembles a crack team. Together they devise a plan that will take down Keith, win Gaby’s respect, and make sure the election is done right.
If they can pull it off, it will be remembered as the school’s greatest con ever.
Better Nate Than Ever
New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Publishers’ Weekly Best Book of the Year. Slate Favorite Book of the Year.
Tim Federle’s debut novel is full of broken curfews, second chances, and the adventure of growing up — because sometimes you have to get four hundred miles from your backyard to finally feel at home.
Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life
Blockbuster author James Patterson delivers a genuinely hilarious – and surprisingly poignant – story of a wildly imaginative, one-of-kind kid that you won’t soon forget.
Fish in a Tree
The author of the beloved One for the Murphys gives readers an emotionally-charged, uplifting novel that will speak to anyone who’s ever thought there was something wrong with them because they didn’t fit in.
The Mark of the Dragonfly
For fans of Wrinkle in Time and The School of Good and Evil.
The New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fast-paced adventure story about a mysterious girl and a fearless boy, set in a magical world that is both exciting and dangerous.
A Song for Bijou
Told in alternating viewpoints against the vibrant backdrop of Haitian-American culture, Alex and Bijou take their first tender steps toward love in this heartwarming story.
Hook’s Revenge, Book 1 Hook’s Revenge
Twelve-year-old Jocelyn dreams of becoming every bit as daring as her infamous father, Captain James Hook. Her grandfather, on the other hand, intends to see her starched and pressed into a fine society lady.
But when Jocelyn receives a letter from her father challenging her to avenge his untimely demise at the jaws of the Neverland crocodile, she doesn’t hesitate – here at last is the adventure she has been waiting for.
Brown Girl Dreaming (Newbery Honor Book)
National Book Award Winner * A Newbery Honor Book * A Coretta Scott King Award Winner
Jacqueline Woodson, the acclaimed author of Another Brooklyn, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.
Raised 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.
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
An astonishing civil rights story from Newbery Honor winner and multiple-time National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin.
This is a fascinating story of the prejudice that faced black men and women in America’s armed forces during World War II, and a nuanced look at those who gave their lives in service of a country where they lacked the most basic rights.
Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School)
Fans of Ella Enchanted, Shrek and Disney’s Descendants will love exploring the magical, mixed-up world of Fairy Tale Reform School, where the villains are the teachers. Don’t miss book 2 in this hilarious, exciting series: Charmed!
Mark of the Thief (Mark of the Thief #1)
Jennifer A. Nielsen, author of the New York Times and USA Todaybestselling Ascendance Trilogy, has woven an electrifying tale of greed and power, magic and destiny, and one boy’s courage at the heart of it all.
The Accelerati Trilogy, Book One Tesla’s Attic (The Accelerati Trilogy, Book One)
Fans of intrigue, action, humor, and nonstop surprises are guaranteed a read unlike any other in Tesla’s Attic, Book One of the Accelerati Trilogy.
I Kill the Mockingbird
I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora is a middle grade novel perfect for fans of To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman.
Counting by 7s
In the tradition of Out of My Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle-grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss and discovering the true meaning of family.
Road Trip
With alternating chapters from both Ben and his dog, Atticus, this fast-paced book takes listeners on an unpredictable ride that’s all about family, friendship, and surprises.
The Fourteenth Goldfish
With a lighthearted touch and plenty of humor, Jennifer Holm celebrates the wonder of science and explores fascinating questions about life and death, family and friendship, immortality… and possibility.
Masterminds
The first book in the action-packed trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman is perfect for fans of Stranger Things and James Patterson.
Titanic: Voices From the Disaster
In this award-winning book, critically acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson weaves together the voices and stories of real TITANIC survivors and witnesses to the disaster.
Packed with heart-stopping action, devastating drama, fascinating historical details, loads of archival photographs on almost every page, quotes from primary sources, and painstaking back matter, this gripping story, which follows the Titanic and its passengers from the ship’s celebrated launch at Belfast to her cataclysmic icy end, is sure to thrill and move readers.
The Iron Trial (Magisterium, Book 1)
From the remarkable imaginations of bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a heart-stopping, mind-blowing, pulse-pounding plunge into the magical unknown.
Dogs of War
Based on the real-life roles of military dogs that served as Red Cross rescuers, messengers, scouts, search-and-rescue teams, sentries, and mascots, Dogs of War captures both the adventure and the devastation brought on by war, as well as the celebrations of life and friendship between boys and their dogs.
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co.)
Readers who enjoyed the action, suspense, and humor in Jonathan Stroud’s internationally best-selling Bartimaeus books will be delighted to find the same ingredients, combined with deliciously creepy scares, in his thrilling and chilling Lockwood & Co. series.
The Dolphins of Shark Bay (Scientists in the Field Series)
Beautiful photos of dolphins in their natural habitat and a funny, friendly, and fast-paced text make this another winner in the Scientists in the Field series[/easyazon_link].
Like this middle school summer reading book list? Don’t miss out on additional age-appropriate summer reading lists for all the kiddos – from Kindergarten all the way through 8th grade!
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