What Are They Reading for Fun?: Middle School Edition
RSSCompiled by Marlene Charnizon
Here where "the mountains meet the sea" we have a huge crew of students reading up a storm in print and on our 14 Nooks. Top titles on the lighter side include James Patterson's Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (Little, Brown, 2011), Eric P. Kraft's Miracle Wimp (Little, Brown, 2007), Charlotte Agell's The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister (Holt, 2010), Brent Crawford's Carter Finally Gets It (Hyperion, 2009), Gary Paulsen's Liar, Liar (Random, 2011), and Lincoln Peirce's "Big Nate" books (HarperCollins). In realistic fiction, Holly Thompson's Orchards (Delacorte, 2011), Gayle Forman's If I Stay (2009) and Where She Went (2011, both Dutton), Davida Wills Hurwin's A Time for Dancing (Little, Brown, 1995), Kate Le Vann's Things I Know About Love (Egmont USA, 2010), and Gae H. Polisner's The Pull of Gravity (Farrar, 2011) are especially popular. Kids with a taste for fantasy, sci-fi, action, and adventure are eating up Pittacus Lore's "The Lorien Legacies" (HarperCollins), Caragh M. O'Brien's Birthmarked (2010) and Prized (2011, both Roaring Brook), Neal Shusterman's Bruiser (HarperTeen, 2010), Herbie Brennan's "Shadow Project" series (HarperCollins), Rick Yancey's "Alfred Kropp" titles (Bloomsbury), Ransom Rigg's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Quirk, 2011), and Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go and its sequels (Candlewick, 2008). Cynthia Cassidy, Mount Olive Middle School, Budd Lake, NJ: Those who like novels that are more grounded in reality are picking up Wendy Mass's Finally (Scholastic, 2010) and Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty (S & S, 2009), as well as Raina Telgemeier's autobiographical graphic novel, Smile (Scholastic, 2010). History buffs and eighth-grade boys interested in World War II have been drawn to Robert Sharenow's The Berlin Boxing Club (HarperCollins, 2011) and David Chotjewitz's Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi (S & S, 2004), as well as Pete Nelson's nonfiction title Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis (Delacorte, 2002). Science fiction and fantasy are by far the most popular genres, and rabid readers of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (Tor, 1985) will have plenty of time to read (or reread) the entire series before that book hits the big screen in 2013. Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA: Besides the usual suspects in science fiction and fantasy, favorites include "The Heir Chronicles" by Cinda Williams Chima (Hyperion); the "Shadow Children" books by Margaret Peterson Haddix (S & S), which have been around a while but are still enjoyed, especially by reluctant readers; and the "Ender's Game" series by Orson Scott Card (Tor), a longtime staple that never fails to hook boys. In nonfiction, students enjoy Bart King's The Big Book of Girl Stuff (Gibbs Smith, 2006), Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom's Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know, Instructions for Life from the Everyday to the Exotic (Harper Design, 2008), and Kelly Milner Halls, Rick Spears, and Roxyanne Young's Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist (Darby Creek, 2006). This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
December 20, 2011
Kathy Foss, Camden-Rockport Middle School, Camden, ME:
March 23, 2012, seems a long way off for students at our school who are eagerly awaiting the The Hunger Games movie. To help pass the time, they are reading Maurice Gee's "The Salt Trilogy" (Orca), James Dashner's "The Maze Runner" books (Delacorte), Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races (Scholastic, 2011), Michael Grant's "Gone" series (HarperCollins), and Truesight by David Stahler, Jr. (HarperCollins, 2004).
Patrick Taylor is a suburban New Orleans public school for 6th-12th-grade students. It is an advanced academy, and manga is a favorite genre of many of our middle schoolers. I consult with them when I get ready to purchase new titles because they have their fingers on the pulse of what's popular. Series they are currently reading include QuinRose's "Alice in the Country of Hearts" (Tokyopop), Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece" (Viz Media), Hiromu Arakawa's "Fullmetal Alchemist" (Viz Media), Hiro Mashima's "Fairy Tail" (Del Rey), Tsugumi Ohba's "Death Note" (Viz Media), and, of course, Tite Kubo's "Bleach" and Masashi Kishimoto "Naruto" (both Viz Media), which fly off the shelves as soon as they are returned.
