Nashua School District
English Teachers Printable List (PDF)
SUMMER READING SUGGESTIONS 2010
Incoming 6th Graders
Students entering grade 6 are expected to read at least one book from the following titles.
*Click Title to Reserve a Copy*
Absolutely Normal Chaos (prequel to Walk Two Moons) by Sharon Creech
Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou grows up quickly during the summer while learning about romance, homesickness, death, and her cousin's search for his biological father.
Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
Dogboy by Christopher Russell
In 1346, twelve-year-old Brind, an orphaned kennel boy raised with hunting dogs at an English manor, accompanies his master, along with half of the manor's prized mastiffs, to France, where he must fend for himself when both his master and the dogs are lost at the decisive battle of Crecy.
Sequel: Hunted: Brind, the huntsman of Dowe Manor, is tossed out of the manor--along with his mastiff Glaive, the foster child Aurelie, and her puppy Gabion--after the landlord's wife dies of the Plague, and together the small group goes in search of safety in a land filled with the Black Death.
Everything on a Waffle by Patty Horvath
Eleven-year-old Primrose, who lives in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts her experiences and all that she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life in the months after her parents are lost at sea.
The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey
College student David Rain rents a room in an unusual boardinghouse full of clay dragons, not realizing that they, along with some lively squirrels, will help jumpstart his writing career.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen
With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.
Free Baseball by Sue Corbett
Eleven-year-old Felix becomes a bat boy for a minor league baseball team, hoping to someday be like his father, a famous Cuban outfielder.
Frindle by Andrew Clements
When he decides to turn his fifth-grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Claudia Kincaid and her brother run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in order to teach their parents a lesson and embark upon a mystery involving a priceless work of art and the strange old woman who sold the piece to the museum.
How Tia Lola Came to Stay by Julia Alvarez
Although ten-year-old Miguel is at first embarrassed by his colorful aunt, Tia Lola, when she comes to Vermont from the Dominican Republic to stay with his mother, his sister, and him after his parents' divorce, he learns to love her.
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Kek, an African refugee, is confronted by many strange things at the Minneapolis home of his aunt and cousin, as well as in his fifth-grade classroom, and longs for his missing mother, but finds comfort in the company of a cow and her owner.
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
A nine-year-old boy receives a plastic Indian, a cupboard, and a little key for his birthday and finds himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life in the cupboard and befriends him.
The Island by Gary Paulsen
Fifteen-year-old Will discovers himself and the wonders of nature when he leaves home to live on an island in northern Wisconsin.
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.
The Mother/Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
The mothers of four very different sixth-grade girls pressure them into forming a book club, and find, as they read the classic novel "Little Women," that they have more in common than they thought.
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well.
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters.
