Patch Reads: Summer Reading for Middle Graders

James Patterson’s ReadKiddoRead.com is a tool that can help get kids reading—and get them to love reading—this summer. Don’t miss ReadKiddoRead.com’s Ultimate Summer Reading List, which will guide families through a list of fantastic reads over the next three months. 

This week, we'll take you through these great pageturners for your middle school-aged kiddos: 

GREAT SUMMER PAGETURNERS (ages 9 - 12)
 

The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee: An Origami Yoda Book

By Tom Angleberger

For ages 8 and up

In the third of the Origami Yoda books, Sara brings a paper fortune-teller in the form of Star War’s Chewbacca. – a Fortune Wookiee – to school to fill in while Dwight and Origami Yoda are suspended.

Or start with the first book in the series:  THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA

Never Say Die 

By Will Hobbs

For ages 8 and up

Nick Thrasher, a fifteen-year-old Inuit hunter and his older half-brother Ryan, a wildlife photographer, are off in search of caribou.  Soon into their travels, they are thrown into the frozen Firth River. Back on land, their struggle to survive continues as they are pursued by animals, including a half-grizzly, half-polar bear. An exciting wilderness survival tale set in Canada’s arctic — a perfect read to cool down a hot summer day.

Dog Days: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4

By Jeff Kinney

For ages 8 and up

This is not the newest in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, but it might be the right book to begin with since it’s all about summer vacation.  The weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. But not Greg Heffley! He’s in his house playing video games and enjoying himself, thank you very much.  But Greg’s mom has other ideas about outdoor activities and “family togetherness.”  Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?

 On the Road to Mr. Mineo’s

 By Barbara O’Connor

For ages 8 and up

When we remember summers, there’s often a single event that stands out. For the folks in Meadville, South Carolina, this summer will be recalled as the one when a one-legged pigeon named Sherman flew into town.  Where did Sherman come from? Only Mr. Mineo seems to know.  For many young readers, this summer may be remembered as the one they met Stella and Amos and Sherman, of course, in the pages of this wonderful novel.

Hades: Lord of the Dead: The Olympians, Book 4

By George O’Connor

For ages 9 and up

Welcome to the Underworld.  In a mix of action comic, superhero characters and Greek mythology this graphic novel introduces Hades and Persphone.

Or start with the first book in the series:  ZEUS: KING OF THE GODS

Wonder

By R.J. Palacio

For ages 9-12

August Pullman, 10, was born with a deformed face. Even though he’s been protected and homeschooled, he’s felt the stares and heard the whispers when the boldest jerks called him Freak or Freddy Krueger. Now his parents have decided that it’s time to enroll Auggie in school. The world he meets there doesn’t only test hiscourage; it also takes the measure of everyone he comes in contact with.  A rare book that just might open a closed heart.

My Brother is a Big Fat Liar

By James Patterson and Lisa Papademetriou, Illustrated by Neil Swaab

How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill

By James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, Illustrated by Laura Park

For ages 9-13

Two great new stories in the wildly popular Middle School series.

When Georgia Khatchadorian heads off to her first day at Hills Village Middle School, everyone she meets immediately brands Georgia a problem child just like Rafe! When Rafe sneakily signs the band up to play at Georgia’s first middle school dance, she’s terrified she’ll embarrass herself. Will she be able to overcome her fears?

Meanwhile, in How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill, Rafe is excited about summer camp, but is in for a letdown when he realizes it’s summer schoolcamp. Luckily, Rafe quickly makes friends with members of his “Loserville” cabin. And they need all the help they can get as they battle off against the “Cool” cabin all summer long.

Or start with the first book in the series:  Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Where the Red Fern Grows

By Wilson Rawls

For ages 8 and up

In an informal survey, I asked a bunch of grownups which childhood summer read they remembered most. Where the Red Fern Grows was the most frequent answer. Set in the Ozarks, the adventure tale of a boy, Billy, and his two hunting dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan, is recalled not only for the trio’s triumphs, but also for the story’s tenderness.  Give your kiddos this long-lasting book this summer.

The Egypt Game

By Zilpha Keatley Snyder

For ages 8 and up

Before role-playing computer games became so popular, Zilpha Keatley Snyder took young readers to an antiques store in California where Melanie and April and later four other friends create and play “The Egypt Game.”  With costumes, secret codes and elaborate stories, the kids become more and more involved until strange things start happening.  It just might be time to stop playing… Readers, too, will find themselves caught up in the game and in this characterful novel.

Hokey Pokey

By Jerry Spinelli

For ages 9 and up

This is an allegorical tale where childhood is not just a stage, it is a place called Hokey Pokey. There readers meet Jack, who, like many of them, is starting to “age out” of Hokey Pokey. Spinelli’s novel is sure to help them celebrate and cope with all that is past and all that is to come.

Navigating Early

By Clare Vanderpool

For Ages 9 and up

Jack is adrift after his mother dies, so his dad, just back from WWII, enrolls him in a boarding school in Maine. There he befriends Early Auden, a loner who rarely attends classes and whose brother, a soldier serving in France, is presumed dead.  Early believes otherwise … and so begins the two boys’ quest along the Appalachian Trail.

Angry Birds Playground Animals: An Around-the-World Habitat Adventure

By Jill Esbaum; Illustrated with photographs

For ages 8-11

Those popular angry birds are tour guides on this photo-filled exploration of habitats: rainforests, deserts, oceans, grasslands, and polar regions. The birds, who are on a world-wide search for their stolen eggs, introduce readers to five major habitats and the animals that thrive in each. With animal vital statistics in sidebars, descriptions in text, and funny asides from the birds on every page, this is the kind of book that gives nonfiction a good name!