North Allegheny Middle Schools
Reading  Suggestions
Summer before 9th Grade

Adams, Douglas.  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.   Galactic traveler, Arthur Dent , and galaxy tour-guide writer, Ford Perfect, rush madly to save the universe in the first of a humorous series.  Science Fiction

Albom, Mitch. The Five People You  Meet  in Heaven. Killed in a tragic accident, Eddie, an elderly man who believes that he had an uninspired life, awakens in the afterlife, where he discovers that heaven consists of having five people
explain the meaning of one’s life.  Realistic Fiction

Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road. Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to
confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.  Then read the sequel Best Foot Forward. Realistic Fiction

Bell, Hilari.  A Matter of Profit.  Sick of the horrors of conquering beings on other planets, Ahvrem will end his service as a soldier and save his sister from an unhappy marriage if he can discover who is behind a rumored plot to assassinate the Emperor. Science Fiction

Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Shadow.  Follows the life of Ender Wiggin’s comrade Bean, from his escape from the mean streets of Rotterdam, to his student days at the Battle School, and to his role as Ender’s right hand ally, strategist, and friend in the epic struggle to save Earth from alien invaders. Sequel to Ender’s Game. Science Fiction

Cormier, Robert. I Am the Cheese: A Novel.  A young boy desperately tries to unlock his past yet knows he must hide those memories if he is to remain alive. 
Realistic Fiction

Crichton, Michael. Andromeda Strain.   A team of scientists struggles to define and contain a deadly bacteria brought back from outer space by a satellite. Science Fiction

Deuker, Carl.  Runner.    Living with his alcoholic father on a broken-down sailboat on Puget Sound has been hard on seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor, but when his love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk. Sports

Doyle, Arthur Conan.  The Hound of the Baskervilles.   The story of the demon-hound whose cry meant the fulfillment of an ancient supernatural legend. Mystery

Jiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. Provides the story of Ji-li a twelve-year-old girl growing up in China in 1966, the year that Chairman Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, and the changes it brought to her and her family. Autobiography

Johnson, Angela. Bird. Devastated by the loss of a second father, thirteen-year-old Bird follows her stepfather from Cleveland to Alabama in hopes of convincing him to come home, and along the way helps two boys with their difficulties.
Multicultural

Jones, Daiana Wynne.  Dark Lord of Derkholm. Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a plan to put a stop to the devastation tours of their world arranged by the tyrannical Mr. Chesney. Fantasy

King, Stephen. The Dead Zone.  After four and a half years in a coma, Johnny Smith awakens with a knowledge of the death zone and an ability to see the future, a horrible power that he does not want and cannot escape.  Horror

Korman, Gordon.  Son of the Mob.    Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent. Realistic Fiction

Myers, Walter Dean. Glory Field. Follows a family’s two hundred forty-one year history, from the capture of an African boy in the 1750’s through the lives of his descendants, as their dreams and circumstances lead them away from and back to a small plot in South Carolina that they call the Glory Field. Historical Fiction

Oppel, Kenneth.  Airborne.  Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.  Also read the sequel Skybreaker.  Fantasy

Patterson, James.  Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment.  After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the “birdkids,” who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose. Read the sequel School’s Out Forever. Science Fiction

Pierce, Tamora.  Trickster's Choice.  Alianne must call forth her mother's courage and her father's wit in order to survive on the Copper Isles in a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy. Also read the sequel Trickster’s Queen.  Fantasy

Pullman, Philip.  The Golden Compass.  Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North. Fantasy

Salisbury, Graham.  Eyes of the Emperor.  Following orders from the United States Army, several young Japanese American men train K-9 units to hunt Asians during World War II. Historical Fiction

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl. In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever. Realistic Fiction

Stevenson, Robert Lewis. Treasure Island.  While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads to a pirate fortune as well as great danger.  An exciting portrayal of good versus evil, as the young boy accompanies Long John Silver and his band of pirates in search of the buried treasure.  Classic

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit.  Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.Prequel to the Lord of the Rings. Classic

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  The adventures and pranks of a mischievous boy growing up In 19th-century Mississippi River town as he plays hooky on an island, witnesses a crime, hunts for pirate’s treasure, and becomes lost in a cave.  Classic

Wells, H.G. War of the Worlds.  An English astronomer, in company with an artilleryman, a country curate, and others, struggle to survive the invasion of Earth by Martians in 1894.  Classic

Wooding, Chris.  Poison.  When Poison leaves her home in the marshes of Gull to retrieve the infant sister who was snatched by the fairies, she and a group of unusual friends survive encounters with the inhabitants of various Realms, and Poison herself confronts a surprising destiny. Fantasy

North Allegheny School District Libraries 2006