Good Books For 5th Through 6th

Cover Art: Ghoulish Song
 Ghoulish Song
by William Alexander

 When the music of a bone flute given to her by a goblin separates Kaile's shadow from herself, her family believes she has died and become a ghoul, and Kaile must set out to prove that she still lives.
  Cover Art: The One and Only Ivan
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate

 When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.
  Cover Art: Day of Doom
 Day of Doom
by David Baldacci

 When they deliver the last ransom, Amy and Dan discover Vesper One's terrifying endgame. The objects he demanded are vital pieces in a Vesper plot that will harm millions of innocent people. Now the two siblings and their friends are in an all-out sprint to stop Vesper One before the whole world goes boom!
  Cover Art: Hold Fast
 Hold Fast
By Blue Balliett

 On a cold winter day in Chicago, Early's father disappeared, and now she, her mother and her brother have been forced to flee their apartment and join the ranks of the homeless--and it is up to Early to hold her family together and solve the mystery surrounding her father.
  Cover Art: Girl Meets Ghost
 Girl Meets Ghost
by Lauren Barnholdt

 Seventh-grader Kendall can see dead people. Not only can she see them, she can speak to them. . . and they can speak to her. They want Kendall be a psychic sleuth and figure out what unresolved issues are keeping them from moving on.
  Cover Art: Saving Zasha
 Saving Zasha
by Randi G. Barrow

 In 1945 Russia, those who own German shepherds are considered traitors, but thirteen-year-old Mikhail and his family are determined to keep the dog a dying man brought them, while his classmate Katia strives to learn his secret.
                       
 
  Cover Art: Shadow Breakers
 Shadow Breakers
by Daniel Blythe

 After moving from London to what seems like a dull seaside town, twelve-year-old Miranda is recruited by a group of friends from school to help identify and stop the evil that is shadowing Miranda and causing weird events in town.
 


  Cover Art: The Mighty Miss Malone
 The Mighty Miss Malone
by Christopher Paul

 With love and determination befitting the "world's greatest family," twelve-year-old Deza Malone, her older brother Jimmie, and their parents endure tough times in Gary, Indiana, and later Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression.
                       
 
  Cover Art: Thrice Upon a Marigold
 Thrice Upon a Marigold
by Jean Ferris

 When Princess Poppy, the daughter of Queen Marigold and King Christian of Zandelphia-Beaurivage, is kidnapped by the kingdom's former torturer-in-chief and poisoner-in-chief, a ragtag group sets out to rescue her.
                         
  Cover Art: The Graveyard Book
 The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman

 Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
  Cover Art: Gingersnap
 Gingersnap
by Patricia Reilly

 When her brother Rob, a Navy cook, goes missing in action during World War II, Jayna, desperate for family, leaves upstate New York and their cranky landlady, accompanied by a turtle and a ghost, to seek their grandmother, who Rob believes may live in Brooklyn. Includes soup recipes.
  Cover Art: Closed for the Season : a Mystery Story
 Closed for the Season : a Mystery Story
by Mary Downing Hahn

 When thirteen-year-old Logan and his family move into a run-down old house in rural Virginia, he discovers that a woman was murdered there and becomes involved with his neighbor Arthur in a dangerous investigation to try to uncover the killer.
  Cover Art: Hideout
 Hideout
by Gordon Korman

 Luthor's former owner, Swindle, is back trying to reclaim his dog, and it is up to Griffin Bing, Savannah Drysdale and their friends to hide the Doberman until they can come up with a plan to rescue him from the vicious crook.
 
  Cover Art: The Cloak Society
 The Cloak Society
by Jeramey Kraatz

 Alex Knight, a twelve-year-old in training to be a supervillain in the elite Cloak Society, becomes friends with a young superhero and begins to question where his loyalty lies.
  Cover Art: Star Wolf
 Star Wolf
by Kathryn Lasky

 The Ring of Sacred Volcanoes has been destroyed and Faolan is leading his small band of wolves across the ice bridge to the hoped for safety of the Distant Blue--but his old enemy Heep is pursuing him and the icy path ahead is filled with danger.
  Cover Art: Spirit Fighter





  

 Spirit Fighter
by Jerel Law

 Seventh-grader Jonah Stone discovers that he is one-quarter angel--his mother is the daughter of a human and a fallen angel--and when she is kidnapped, Jonah and his sister Eliza must try to rescue her, with the help of prayers and a guardian angel.







  Cover Art: The Colossus Rises
 The Colossus Rises
by Peter Lerangis

 Teens Jack, Marco, Aly, and Cass begin a quest to find seven pieces of Atlantis's power that were hidden long ago and that will, if returned to Atlantis, save them from certain death due to the genetic abnormality that also gives them superior abilities.
  Cover Art: The Lions of Little Rock
 The Lions of Little Rock
by Kristin Levine

 In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.
  Cover Art: Casualties of War
 Casualties of War
by Chris Lynch

 One of four friends who have volunteered to fight in the Vietnam War, the intellectual Beck is in the Air Force, where he is part of a crew spraying Agent Orange, but the destruction of the jungle and his isolation from the fighting going on below is starting to effect him.
  Cover Art: The Case of the Superstar Scam
 The Case of the Superstar Scam
by Lewis B. Montgomery

 All of Westview is excited when teen idol Starr Silveira arrives to film an episode of her television show, but when contest winners start receiving letters asking them to return their valuable show memorabilia, sleuths-in-training Milo and Jazz suspect a scam.
  Cover Art: Faith Hope and Ivy June
 Faith Hope and Ivy June
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

 During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, homes, and communities, and find that although their lifestyles are total opposites they have a lot in common.
  Cover Art: Jade Green : a Ghost Story
 Jade Green : a Ghost Story
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

 While living with her uncle in a house haunted by the ghost of a young woman, recently orphaned Judith Sparrow wonders if her one small transgression causes mysterious happenings.
  Cover Art: Road Trip
 Road Trip
by Jim Paulsen

 A father and son embark on a road trip to a distant animal shelter to save a homeless border collie puppy.
  Cover Art: Shadow On the Mountain
 Shadow On the Mountain
by Margi Preus

 In Nazi-occupied Norway, fourteen-year-old Espen joins the resistance movement, graduating from deliverer of illegal newspapers to courier, and eventually, spy. 
  Cover Art: Words in the Dust
 Words in the Dust
by Trent Reedy

 Zulaikha, a thirteen-year-old girl in Afghanistan, faces a series of frightening but exhilirating changes in her life as she defies her father and secretly meets with an old woman who teaches her to read, her older sister gets married, and American troops offer her surgery to fix her disfiguring cleft lip.
  Cover Art: Dueling with the Three Musketeers
 Dueling with the Three Musketeers
by L.L. Samson

 Twins Linus and Ophelia and their friend, Walter, hope to rescue their friend's school from the headmistress's greedy brother with help from D'Artagnan of The Three Musketeers but their plans go horribly awry.
  Cover Art: Hokey Pokey
 Hokey Pokey
by Jerry Spinelli

 Ever since they were Snotsippers, Jack and the girl have fought, until one day she steals his bike and as he and the Amigos try to recover it, Jack realizes that he is growing up and must eventually leave the "goodlands and badlands of Hokey Pokey."
  Cover Art: Liar & Spy
 Liar & Spy
by Rebecca Stead

 Seventh-grader Georges adjusts to moving from a house to an apartment, his father's efforts to start a new business, his mother's extra shifts as a nurse, being picked on at school, and Safer, a boy who wants his help spying on another resident of their building.
  Cover Art: Smile
 Smile
by Raina Telgemeier

 "Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. Raina's story takes us from middle school to high school, where she discovers her artistic voice, finds out what true friendship really means, and where she can finally...smile."
  Cover Art: One Came Home
 One Came Home
by Amy Timberlake

 In 1871 Wisconsin, thirteen-year-old Georgia sets out to find her sister Agatha, presumed dead when remains are found wearing the dress she was last seen in, and before the end of the year gains fame as a sharpshooter and foiler of counterfeiters.
  Cover Art: How to Raise & Keep a Dragon
 How to Raise & Keep a Dragon
by John Topsell

 Learn all you need to know about the raising process: selecting and aquiring an available breed; building the perfect enclosure; hatching a dragon egg; feeding and grooming; training and riding; showing your dragon in competition; and much, much more. Hundreds of stunning illustrations complement the text.
  Cover Art: Navigating Early
 Navigating Early
by Clare Vanderpool

 Odyssey-like adventure of two boys' incredible quest on the Appalachian Trail where they deal with pirates, buried secrets, and extraordinary encounters.
  Cover Art: Leepike Ridge
 Leepike Ridge
by Nathan D. Wilson

 While his widowed mother continues to search for him, eleven-year-old Tom, presumed dead after drifting away down a river, finds himself trapped in a series of underground caves with another survivor and a dog, and pursued by murderous treasure-hunters.
  Cover Art: Everyone's a Critic
 Everyone's a Critic
by Rachel Wise

 Thriving in her position as the school newspaper's anonymous advice columnist, Samantha becomes the victim of cyberbullying when a well-meant suggestion backfires, a situation that is further complicated by hostility over her efforts to improve cafeteria food.
  Cover Art: Ivy in the Shadows
 Ivy in the Shadows
by Chris Woodworth

 To make ends meet, twelve-year-old Ivy's mother goes to work as a waitress and takes in a boarder, a strange boy named Caleb who Ivy is sure is a liar.
  Cover Art: City of Death
 City of Death
by Laurence Yep

 Scirye and her loyal companions chase the villainous Mr. Roland for a final showdown at Riye Srukalleyis, the City of Death, located in the heart of the Kushan Empire, along the Silk Road. There, they reunite with old friends, meet new allies, and confront an even more dangerous foe.