6th Grade Summer Reading Program

Black Star by Kwame Alexander (2024)

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book

This second book in the Door of No Return trilogy easily stands alone. Set during the segregation era and the beginning of The Great Migration, this is a story of struggle, determination, and a resilient American family. Black Star is a verse novel featuring Charley Cuffey, a 12-year-old girl who wants to be a professional pitcher during the time of the Negro Leagues, living in the Jim Crow South. She can beat just about anyone, but at what cost?

El Niño by Pam Muñoz Ryan (2025)

Kai Sosa is so passionate about swimming he is practically a fish. This summer, he's determined to become the athlete he once was on an elite swim team, but something holds him back. Dreams of his sister Cali haunt him. After Kai discovers a library book Cali had checked out multiple times about an underwater realm, details from the story begin to appear in his own life. As myth and reality collide, El Niño unleashes its fury, and Kai is swept up in a storm of events that will change his understanding of love, death, and grief. 

The Enigma Girls by Candace Fleming (2024)

Sibert Honor 

The true story of 10 young women who left their homes during WWII to work in secret at Bletchley Park, intercepting German communications, breaking their codes, and helping end the war. This top-secret work was first revealed in the 1970s; Fleming’s book adds depth to readers’ understanding by sharing the stories of 10 young women in the context of changing societal gender roles. Their work helped the Allies defeat the Italian navy in 1941, launch the D-Day invasion of 1944, and bring the Pacific front to a close in 1945. This is a gripping narrative celebrating teen girls’ underrecognized contributions to Allied war efforts includes photographs, author’s note, bibliography, and source notes.

The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly (2024)

Newbery Medal Winner

It's August 1999. 12-year-old Michael Rosario is worried about the looming Y2K crisis  and preoccupied with his crush on his babysitter when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere. When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveler, Michael introduces him to  1999, to microwaves, basketballs, and malls. A story of time travel, friendship, found family, and first loves, this thematically rich novel is distinguished by its voice, character development, setting, and exploration of the issues that resonate with young readers.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (2024)

The day that Christopher saved a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lake would change his life forever. It’s the day he learned about the Archipelago—a cluster of unmapped islands where magical creatures of every kind have thrived for thousands of years, until now. And it’s the day he met Mal—a girl on the run, in desperate need of his help. Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what’s happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves. Katherine Rundell’s story crackles and roars with energy and delight. It is brought vividly to life with more than 60 illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.

It's All or Nothing, Vale by  Andrea Beatriz Arango (2025)

Puerto Rican seventh grader Valentina Marí Camacho can’t wait to fence again. After she and Papi were in a serious motorbike accident, anticipating fencing again was the only way Vale endured doctors, surgeries, and “the complete rearranging / of [her] life.” But her return four months later is far from triumphant. Unpredictable flares of pain make previously effortless moves challenging, and even worse, Cuban American newcomer Myrka Marerro, who’s cued lesbian, has taken her place as top fencer. But, Vale explains, fencing is “what keeps me me.” If Vale’s not the best, who is she? This verse novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All is the story of a girl who finds her way back to her life’s passion and discovers that the sum of a person's achievements doesn’t amount to the whole of them.

Not Nothing by Gayle Forman (2024)

Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home where he’s bossed around by an annoying and self-important do-gooder named Maya-Jade. He hasn’t seen his mom in a year, his aunt and uncle don’t want him, and Shady Glen’s geriatric residents seem like zombies to him. Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp—all thanks to the heroism of a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days in room 206 at Shady Glen, refusing to speak and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to die. Until Alex knocks on Josey’s door…and Josey begins to tell Alex his story. As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: Can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he’s ever done?

One Wrong Step by Jennifer A. Nielsen (2025)

Twelve-year-old Atlas Wade has been climbing mountains for years, but after being forced to stay behind as his father joins a team of Mount Everest climbers, he sees an avalanche trapping his father's expedition, then--along with their Sherpa Chodak and an American girl, Maddie--Atlas begins a perilous journey to rescue the team.

Safe Harbor by Padma Venkatraman (2025)

When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents’ divorce, they leave everything Geetha loves behind—her family, her friends, her dog, and all that’s familiar. As if that’s not hard enough, Geetha is bullied at her new school for her clothes, her food, and her English (who knew so many English words could be spelled or pronounced differently in the US—or just be altogether different!). She finds some solace in playing her flute and writing poetry, and even more when she meets Miguel, a kid with whom she has a lot in common, and the two of them help rescue an injured harp seal stranded on the beach. But Geetha can feel her anger building over lots of things—careless people who pollute the sea and hurt animals, and her mom for making her move. She’s never been so sad and angry. She can see a lot of her fears mirrored in the injured seal when she visits it at the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center, and this broadens her understanding of survival skills. And when she and Miguel start a beach-clean-up venture, she’s surprised to find how many kind kids are out there. Geetha is torn as the time comes to let the seal go, knowing she’ll miss him, but wanting the best for him. She’s learning to live with mixed feelings and accept that while there will always be rough waters, there are plenty of safe harbors too.

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024)

As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

Tear This Down by Barbara Dee (2025)

For as long as Freya can remember, she has loved living in her cozy hometown of Wellstone. Not only is the town itself named for local and historical hero Benjamin Wellstone but everything in it: schools, beaches, and stores. There’s even a giant statue of him to remind everyone of the good things he did. But while doing research for a big school project, Freya discovers that Benjamin isn’t the big hero everyone has been taught to believe. He had some redeeming qualities, but he also held problematic views towards women, believing they shouldn’t have the right to vote—or even to exist outside of the home. Disappointed by her revelation, Freya wonders if she can figure out a way to not only show what the hometown hero was really like but also to replace his statue with one of an unsung hero: local suffragette Octavia Padgett. Though Freya knows not everyone will agree with her, she is shocked when her efforts cause even bigger issues than she could have imagined. Even her own parents seem uneasy with Freya’s cause. With the help of her beloved Nan, friends new and old, and the local librarian, can Freya stand firm and tear down outdated views?

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko (2024)

When eleven-year-old Hank’s mom doesn’t come home, he takes care of his toddler sister, Boo, like he always does. But it’s been a week now. They are out of food and mom has never stayed away this long… Hank knows he needs help, so he and Boo seek out the stranger listed as their emergency contact. But asking for help has consequences. It means social workers, and a new school, and having to answer questions about his mom that he's been trying to keep secret. And if they can't find his mom soon, Hank and Boo may end up in different foster homes--he could lose everything. Gennifer Choldenko has written a heart-wrenching, healing, and ultimately hopeful story about how complicated family can be. About how you can love someone, even when you can’t rely on them. And about the transformative power of second chances.

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman (2025)

Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. Here, leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall: not quite dead, but not quite alive—just like Clare. Long ago, he was struck by a car, and, hovering between life and death, he was given the choice to either cross into the Afterlife or become an Usher of wandering souls. Clare chose the latter: a solitary life of guiding souls to their final resting place. Clare’s quiet and predictable days are met with upheaval when a badger soul named Gingersnipes knocks on his door. Despite Clare’s efforts to usher her into the Afterlife, the badger is unable to leave Deadwood. This is unprecedented. Baffling. A disturbing mystery which threatens the delicate balance between the living and the dead. Desperate for help, Clare and Gingersnipes set out on a treacherous journey to find Hesterfowl—the visionary grouse who recently foretold of turmoil in Deadwood. But upon their arrival, Hesterfowl divulges a shocking revelation that leaves Clare devastated, outraged, and determined to do anything to change his fate.

Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes (2025)

It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own. So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free—if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn’t easy—the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger. And then there’s the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention—and more trouble—than any of them need. All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home—but is a strong will enough to get them there?