Kids > Book Center > 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 & 6: Reading Levels 2–4
The Rope Trick by Lloyd 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.
- Reading Level: 4
Hungry Plants by Mary Batten- Find out about the structure and behavior of various carnivorous plants, including the Venus flytrap, sundew, pitcher plant and bladderwort.
- Reading Level: 4
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate 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.
- Reading Level: 4
My Life Among the Aliens by Gail 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.
- Reading Level: 4
Time Soldiers. No. 1, Rex by Robert Gould- Do you have what it takes to be a time soldier? Are you up for the adventure? Do you dare?
- Reading level: 3.2
Hill of Fire by Thomas P. Lewis- Read the story of the birth of Paricutin Volcano in the field of a poor Mexican farmer.
- Reading Level: 3
I Am Rosa Parks by Rosa 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
The Ink Drinker by Eric Sanvoisin- A boy who hates books discovers an ink-drinking vampire in his father's bookshop and follows him to his underground vault.
- Reading Level: 4
Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms by Charles R. Smith, Jr.- The emotions felt by basketball lovers on and off the court sizzle here through stories, poems and pictures.
- Reading Level: 4
Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart: The Story of Amber and Essie Told Here in Poems and Pictures by Vera B. 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.
- Reading Level: 4
Giant Octopuses by Christine Zuchora-Walske- Get up close and personal with a giant octopus, and learn what it eats, how it moves, and where it lives.
- Reading Level: 2.5
Readers in Grades 7 & 8: Reading Levels 3–4
Skellig by David 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?
- Reading level: 3.5
Burger Wuss by M. T. Anderson- Anything goes when geeky Anthony starts a war between the workers at two competing fast food restaurants.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel by Avi- When Philip, a high school freshman, is suspended for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom, it soon becomes a national news story.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Stand Tall by Joan 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.
- Reading Level: 4
A Stone in My Hand by Cathryn 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Drive-By by Lynne 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Begging for Change by Sharon G. Flake- Teenager Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her feelings of disgust, shame and love for her homeless, drug addicted father.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Stoner & Spaz by Ron 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
The Paper Doorway: Funny Verse and Nothing Worse by Dean Koontz- Read absurd poems from the master of terror.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Truth by Tanya Lloyd 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.
- Reading Level: 3
The Wish by Gail Carson 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Can of Worms by Kathy 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.
- Reading Level: 4
A Step from Heaven by An Na- Young Ju Park and her family, who are Korean, find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.
- Reading Level: 4
Dangerous Girls: A Novel by R.L. 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.
- Reading Level: 3.5
Swear to Howdy by Wendelin Van Draanen- Russell and Joey are bound together in a friendship based on neighborhood adventures, complaining about their older sisters, family secrets, and guilt.
- Reading Level: 4
