Nashua School District Media Specialists Printable List (PDF)
SUMMER READING SUGGESTIONS 2010
Grades 6-8
*Click Title to Reserve a Copy*
After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson.
In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.
All the Lovely Bad Ones: a Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn.
Travis and his sister Corey decide to boost business at their grandmother's Vermont inn by staging a few "hauntings" that soon draw tourists from across the country, but when their antics awaken a dark force, they must find a way to put to rest the ghosts they have disturbed.
Baseball Crazy : Ten Stories that Cover all the Bases
The great Gus Zernial and me / Jerry Spinelli -- Mark Pang and the impossible square / Frank Portman -- Fall ball / Sue Corbett -- Great moments in baseball / Paul Acampora -- Riding the pine : a play / Ron Koertge -- Tomboy forgiveness / David Rice -- Smile like Jeter / Maria Testa -- Baseball crazy / John H. Ritter -- Just like Grampy / Charles R. Smith, Jr. -- Ball hawk / by Joseph Bruchac. A collection of ten short stories from popular, contemporary authors that celebrate the joys of America's favorite pastime and the wonder, frustration, and delight of its fans.
The Big Field by Mike Lupica.
When fourteen-year-old baseball player Hutch feels threatened by the arrival of a new teammate named Darryl, he tries to work through his insecurities about both Darryl and his remote and silent father, who was once a great ballplayer too.
Billy Creekmore by Tracey Porter.
One day a stranger comes to claim Billy Creekmore from the Guardian Angels Home for Boys; and he embarks on a cross-country journey in search of his past, his future, and his own true self.
Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes.
Twelve-year-old Mitch, spending the summer with his grandparents at Bird Lake after his parents' separation, becomes friends with ten-year-old Spencer, who has returned with his family to the lake where his little brother drowned years earlier, and as the boys spend time together and their friendship grows, each of them begins to heal.
The Bone Magician by F.E. Higgins.
With his fugitive father falsely accused of multiple murders and the real serial killer stalking the wretched streets of Urbs Umida, Pin Carpue, a young undertaker's assistant, investigates and finds that all of the victims may have attended the performance of a stage magician who claims to be able to raise corpses and make the dead speak.
Brooklyn Bridge: a Novel by Karen Hesse.
Fourteen-year-old Joseph Michtom's life takes a dramatic turn when, in 1903 Brooklyn, his parents turn their apartment into a factory for making teddy bears; and Joseph wonders whether he will ever see the glitter of Coney Island.
Chasing Normal by Lisa Papademetriou.
When her mean, grouchy grandmother in Texas has a heart attack and she and father go to help, twelve-year-old Mieka meets her cousins' family and wishes for their "normal" type of life.
Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding.
Orphan Catherine "Cat" Royal, living at the Drury Lane Theater in 1790s London, tries to find the "diamond" supposedly hidden in the theater, which unmasks a treasonous political cartoonist, and involves her in the street gangs of Covent Garden and the world of nobility.
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost.
In a remote area of Alaska, twelve-year-old Willow helps her father with their sled dogs when she is not at school, wishing she were more popular, all the while unaware that the animals surrounding her carry the spirits of dead ancestors and friends who care for her.
Dragon Moon by Carole Wilkinson.
In China during the Han Dynasty, young Ping must take Kai, the dragon she rescued, on a long and perilous journey to the ancient haven of the dragons following cryptic clues left by the wise dragon, Danzi, and aided by old friends.
The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman.
A struggling American ventriloquist in post-World War II Europe is possessed by the mischievous spirit of a young Jewish boy killed in the Holocaust. Includes author's note which details the murder of over one million children by the Nazis during the 1930s and 1940s.
Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, homes, and communities, and find that although their lifestyles are total opposites they have a lot in common.
The Fire Pony by W.R. Philbrick.
Roy and his arsonist adult brother Joe find refuge at the Bar None Ranch, where Roy befriends Lady Luck, a wild pony that wins over Roy's heart, but when Joe's past catches up with the brothers, they must choose between fleeing and finally facing the truth.
Gods of Manhattan by Scott Mebus.
When thirteen-year-old Rory discovers a spirit world alongside his contemporary New York City that is filled with fantastical creatures, people from the city's colorful past--who have become gods and goddesses--choose Rory to perform a dangerous mission.
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones.
When Charmain is asked to housesit for Great Uncle William, the Royal Wizard of Norland, she is ecstatic to get away from her parents, but finds that his house is much more than it seems.
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow by James Rollins.
Jack Ransom and his sister, Kady, are sent on a wild hunt for answers when a mysterious letter arrives on the doorstep and leads them to a strange world inhabited by a mix of long-lost civilizations, where they hope to learn the truth about their parents' disappearance.
Letters from the corrugated castle: a novel of Gold Rush California, 1850-1852 by Joan W. Blos.
An epistolary novel set in the 1850s, in which thirteen-year-old Eldora, who was raised in Massachusetts as an orphan, moves with her guardians to San Francisco, where she begins teaching two "Mexicano" children English, befriends a boy searching for gold, and finds herself face-to-face with her influential mother.
Powerless by Matthew Cody.
Soon after moving to Noble's Green, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Daniel learns that his new friends have super powers that they will lose when they turn thirteen, unless he can use his brain power to protect them.
The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau.
While visiting the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina, eleven-year-old Nickie makes some decisions about how to identify both good and evil when she witnesses the townspeople's reactions to the apocalyptic visions of one of their neighbors.
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings.
Living near the water on Maryland's Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck.
Relates the surprising gifts bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently moved to a small Illinois town in 1958, by their larger-than-life neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel.
Trading Faces by Julia DeVillers.
Seventh-grade twins Payton and Emma decide to shake things up at their new middle school by switching places and taking on each other's lives, and their antics teach them that no one is exactly who the world thinks they are.
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
An old hound that has been chained up at his hateful owner's run-down shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation, danger, and many other tribulations in their quest to be reunited and free.
When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.
