6th Grade (Age 11)

A gifted paraplegic teacher and four extremely bright and diverse students work towards the same goal, winning the Academic Bowl. In the process they learn important lessons about kindness and respect. This book is made up of four short stories, each told from the perspective of one of the students. Each of the sections is woven into the larger story of how these four students and their teacher were able to sweep the competition.

“I was born at the beginning of it all, on the Red side—the Communist side—of the Iron Curtain.” Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sís shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Sís learned about beat poetry, rock ’n’ roll, blue jeans, and Coca-Cola. He let …

This tale of an Atlantic voyage from Connecticut to England is told through the journals of Sophie and her cousin Cody. Sophie joins her uncles and cousins on the trip, and their unseaworthy sailboat takes them on a journey full of unplanned stops, extended stays, and hasty departures. Packed with family secrets and allusions to Sophie’s past, this novel combines moments of anticipation and foreboding to create an intriguing plot.

Enter the hilarious world of 10-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There’s Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who’s 13 and an “official juvenile delinquent.” When Momma and Dad decide it’s time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They’re heading South. They’re going to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history.

Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero in THE WEDNESDAY WARS—a wonderfully witty and compelling novel about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year.

Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn’t like Holling—he’s sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on …

If you like stretching your students’ vocabulary, making up stories, or booing at bad puns, read this refreshing book — it’s one of my favorites! The authors have come up with 27 stories representing challenging words — from abasement to zealot — each ending in a word-defining pun. You and your students may roll your eyes, but you won’t forget the words’ meanings.

If your students like booing bad puns, have them read this. The authors have come up with 26 stories about challenging words–from abasement to zealot–each ending in a word-defining pun.

The Logan family is glad to share their water when all their neighbors’ wells go dry. But ten-year-old David Logan is challenged by mean-spirited Charlie, a white teenager, who is prejudiced against blacks. Tension builds in this story, keeping readers on edge until the end. Check your library for more stories about the Logan family and their struggle for civil rights, including In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Let the Circle Be Unbroken.