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Kids > Reading and writing > Booklists > Shorter Books for Taller Readers Grades 5-8

Shorter Books for Taller Readers Grades 5-8

Use this booklist to find fun, quick books to read. Each book's reading level is included at the end of the description.

Readers in Grades 5 and 6 • Reading Levels 2–4

Alexander
j ALEXANDER
Motivated by her quest to learn a legendary rope trick, the magician Princess Lidi and her troupe embark on a journey through Renaissance Italy. RL 4
Batten
j583.75 B335h 2000 Beginning Facts
Find out about the structure and behavior of various carnivorous plants, including the Venus flytrap, sundew, pitcher plant and bladderwort. RL 4
Blume
j BLUME
Faced with the difficulties of growing up and choosing a religion, a 12-year-old girl talks over her problems with her own private God. RL 3.5
Couloumbis
y COULOUMBI
In her efforts to hang on following the disappearance of her stepmother, Casey resorts to anything, including robbery. RL 3.5
Daly-Weir
j940.1D153k 1998
William, a page in England in 1415, dreams of becoming a squire and hopes someday to be dubbed a knight. RL 3
DiCamillo
j DICAMILLO, CASSETTE Children DICAMILLO
India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie. RL 4
Figueroa
jE Reader FIGUEROA
With his new spider-like abilities, Peter Parker can spin webs, climb buildings, and sense danger before it happens in this cartoon book. RL 2
Fresh
j FRESH
It's never easy being the new kid at school, especially if you're different from everyone else in class. CD performed by Doug E. Fresh is included. RL 4
Gauthier
j GAUTHIER
In this hilarious chapter book, Will and Rob begin to wonder if it is their mother's bran muffins that are attracting the aliens that keep showing up at their house. RL 4
Gould
j GOULD
"Do you have what it takes to be a time soldier? Are you up for the adventure? Do you dare?" RL 3.2
Hesse
j HESSE, y HESSE
A teenaged girl, rescued from the sea by researchers, must decide whether to stay with her fellow humans or return to the dolphins who raised her. RL 3.5
Lewis
jE Reader LEWIS
Read the story of the birth of Paricutin Volcano in the field of a poor Mexican farmer. RL 3
L.L. Cool J
j LLCOOLJ
“Remember when you won how you laughed at your competition?” LL Cool J rhymes about winning and losing gracefully in basketball. Includes a CD performed by LL Cool J. RL 2.5
Parks
jB-P253i Beginning Facts, CASSETTE j323.092 PARKS
The black woman whose acts of civil disobedience led to the 1956 Supreme Court order to desegregate buses in Montgomery, Alabama, explains what she did and why. RL 3.5
Sachar
j SACHAR
Bradley Chalkers, an 11-year-old misfit, learns to believe in himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit too. RL 3.5
Sanvoisin
j SANVOISIN
A boy who hates books discovers an ink-drinking vampire in his father's bookshop and follows him to his underground vault. RL 4
Smith
j796.323 S644r 1999
The emotions felt by basketball lovers on and off the court sizzle here through stories, poems and pictures. RL 4
Stilton
j STILTON
The gang from The Rodent's Gazette are dragged into a treasure hunt when they discover an old, mysterious map showing a secret treasure hidden on a faraway island. RL 3.5
Williams
j WILLIAMS
Their mother is working and their father has been sent to jail, so Amber and Essie take care of each other in these sometimes funny, sometimes sad poems and portraits. RL 4
Zuchora-Walske
j594.56 Z94g 2000
Get up close and personal with a giant octopus, and learn what it eats, how it moves, and where it lives. RL 2.5

Readers in Grades 7–8 • Reading Levels 3–4

Almond
j ALMOND,y ALMOND, CASSETTE YA ALMOND
Among the cobwebs and dead flies in the old garage, Michael finds a mysterious creature. Is this stranger a bird, or maybe an angel? RL 3.5
Anderson
y ANDERSON
Anything goes when geeky Anthony starts a war between the workers at two competing fast food restaurants. RL 3.5
Avi
y AVI
When Philip, a high school freshman, is suspended for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom, it soon becomes a national news story. RL 3.5
Bauer
y BAUER
At six-foot-three, Tree is the tallest 12-year-old ever seen in his town. Being a tree isn’t easy: Everyone expects him to play basketball, but Tree doesn’t even like sports. RL 4
Clinton
y CLINTON
Malaak and her family are touched by the violence in Gaza between Jews and Palestinians when first her father disappears and then her older brother is drawn to the Islamic Jihad. RL 3.5
Ewing
y EWING, CASSETTE YA EWING
After his older brother is gunned down on the street, Tito learns that his brother may have hidden stolen drug money in their family home — money the dealers will kill for. RL 3.5
Flake
j FLAKE
Teenager Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her feelings of disgust, shame and love for her homeless, drug addicted father. RL 3.5
Flinn
y FLINN
Nick used to hit his girlfriend Caitlin. Now he’s in counseling, keeping this journal about himself and Caitlin, his anger, and living with his abusive father. RL 4
Herrera
y HERRERA
Sixteen-year-old Cesar Garcia, who lives with his mother (his father left home), narrates his struggles with life as a Mexican-American high school student. RL 3.5
Koertge
y KOERTGE
With an arm and a leg that don’t work all that well, Ben, a shy high school student (with cerebral palsy) finds adventure and friendship in the company of Colleen, who’s pretty, fun — and a drug addict. RL 3.5
Koontz
j811.5 K818p 2001
Read absurd poems from the master of terror. RL 3.5
Kyi
y KYI
Jen was at the party. A red-haired man was murdered in the upstairs bedroom — and now Jen wonders if her boyfriend knows what really happened that night. RL 3
Levine
j LEVINE
When granted her wish to be the most popular girl in middle school, Wilma, an eighth grader, forgets that she will graduate in three weeks and her popularity will vanish. RL 3.5
Logue
y LOGUE
Branko, a teenage boy from outer space, travels to earth on a mission to help save his planet. If he falls in love with the human girl Tonia, does he doom his mission to fail? RL 3
Mackel
j MACKEL
Bullied and unhappy at school because of his weird stories about being an alien, Mike sends a distress call into space asking to be rescued from the ignorance and cruelty of his life on Earth. RL 4
Na
y NA, CASSETTE YA NA
Young Ju Park and her family, who are Korean, find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America. RL 4
Peters
j PETERS, y PETERS
When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home. RL3.5
Salisbury
y SALISBURY, CASSETTE YA SALISBUR
Mokes is torn between obeying his father and being with his friends, who plan to go see a fight between an island boy and a sailor. RL 3.5
Smith
y SMITH
Fifteen-year-old Lucy, the largest girl in her school, leaves her small Alaska town and her alcoholic father and discovers hardship and friendship while posing as an adult aboard a commercial fishing boat. RL 4
Stine
y STINE
After 16-year-old twins Destiny and Livvy are turned into partial vampires at a summer camp, they try to find the "Restorer," a person who can return them to normal. RL 3.5
Tanzman
y TANZMAN
Lissa is worried about Rodney. She’s sworn to secrecy, but her lifelong friend is acting weird and increasingly hostile toward his abusive father. Then she learns in a chat room that Rodney intends to buy a gun. RL 3.5
Van Draanen
j VANDRAANE
Russell and Joey are bound together in a friendship based on neighborhood adventures, complaining about their older sisters, family secrets and guilt. RL 4
Withrow
j WITHROW
Gwen’s plans to spend eighth grade as a loner are upset by the new girl, Clara, who insists on being her friend. RL 4
Wyeth
j WYETH
Haley holds her life together with the help of good people after her mother suffers a nervous breakdown and her brother is arrested. RL 3.5