6th Grade – Summer Reading List 2010

Academic Language Arts Fiction Book Choices

Dowell, Frances O’Roark. Shooting the Moon. When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, 12-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in. Packages of undeveloped film start arriving from TJ in Vietnam, she learns both how to develop and how to look at the pictures, which give her an intimate and terrifying glimpse into the reality of the war.

Gutman, Dan. Million Dollar Kick. When Whisper Nelson wins a chance to kick a goal past a professional soccer star for a million-dollar prize, she is torn. Should she try it and risk humiliation, or just forget the whole thing and save what dignity she has left?

Lisle, Janet Taylor. Highway Cats. Three kittens abandoned on Highway 95 miraculously survive. Who are the survivors? How did they get so lucky? A modern fable about the stresses endured by homeless creatures of any species.

Spinelli, Jerry. Loser. Donald Zinkoff is a kid everyone will recognize. The one with the stupid laugh who cracks up over nothing, the klutz who trips over his own feet, the overly exuberant student who always raises his hand but never has the right answers. Follow Donald through his awkward middle school years.

Non-Fiction Book Choices for All Students

Editors of American Girl. A Smart Girl’s Guide to Sticky Situations: How to Tackle, Tricky, Icky Problems and Tough Times. Provides techniques for dealing with embarrassing, emotional, or frightening situations, including forgetting your lines on stage, being threatened by a bully, or losing your parents in a big city.

Hirschi, Ron. Searching for Grizzlies. The author provides a number of beautifully illustrated photographs and drawings describing his encounters with the American grizzly bear.

Hollander, Phyllis. Amazing but True Sports Stories. Contains 87 true stories about amazing moments in a wide variety of sports.

Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Celebrating a Quinceanera: A Latina’s 15th Birthday Celebration. Describes the customs and traditions connected with the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday.

Markle, Sandra. Outside and Inside: Giant Squid. Plunge into the depths of the ocean and discover some of the strangest, most mysterious creatures on Earth.

Paulsen, Gary. How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports. The popular author of Hatchet has written his memoir outlining the hilarious, and often dangerous stunts Paulsen and his friends pull in order to entertain themselves and impress the young ladies.

Romain, Trevor. Bullies are a Pain in the Brain. A serious yet humorous guide to dealing with bullies.

Savage, Jeff. Play by Play Football. A guide to the history, rules, skills, and strategy of football.

Required Reading for Students in Advanced Language Arts

Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer. When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, 11-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

Listen NJ

Listen NJ is a free library service that offers downloadable audio books which are playable on computers, iPods, and MP3 players. Accessing ListenNJ is very easy: Click the link on the North Brunswick Public Library home page.
The first time you log in you will need to create an account and download OverDrive. To download OverDrive, simply click on one of the links on the right side of the ListenNJ page under Software Downloads. (If you plan to use an MP3 player, download the OverDrive MP3 Audiobook. It is a very small file but is essential for converting tracks.)
Next, create an account. Click on Audiobook Account. Select your library (which is Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium), type in your library card number (on the back of your library card, starts with 29302...) and your PIN (If you don't know your PIN, bring your library card to the library so we can look it up for you).
Next, simply search for a title or author for your summer reading list. Once the list is populated, select ADD TO CART. If you want more than one, click Continue Browsing. At any time, click on My Cart at the top to begin downloading.
Click Proceed to Checkout to finalize the process. Click Download. A box will open with Open with (OverDrive Media Console) select OK. The download will begin filling in your OverDrive Folder. Once it is complete, you can listen to it.

Grade 6 Listen NJ
Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer.
Spinelli, Jerry. Loser.