MIDDLE SCHOOL

middle SCHOOL READING LIST

THE SORA APP LOGO

In order to give more students access to books this summer, we will once again feature materials that are available on our online ebook platform, SORA, for the Middle School summer reading list.

ALL BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON SORA BEGINNING MAY 28, 2021

HOW TO USE SORA:
Download the free Sora app onto your mobile device from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store OR Sign into Classlink with your FCS username and password.

Open the SORA app and search for "Fulton County Schools". Sign in using your FCS username and password.

WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER

Author: Tae Keller
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description: Some stories refuse to stay bottled up...

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history.

Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal--return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni's health--Lily is tempted to agree.

But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice...and the courage to face a tiger.

FIGHTING WORDS

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Publisher: Dial Books
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
Ten-year-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della's own wolf--her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to kill herself, and Della's world turns so far upside down, it feels like it's shaking her by the ankles. Maybe she's been quiet about the wrong things. Maybe it's time to be loud.

In this powerful novel that explodes the stigma around child sexual abuse and leavens an intense tale with compassion and humor, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley tells a story about two sisters, linked by love and trauma, who must find their own voices before they can find their way back to each other.

dress coded

Author: Carrie Firestone
Publisher: Putnam Publishing
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
Molly Frost is FED UP... Because Olivia was yelled at for wearing a tank top. Because Liza got dress coded and Molly didn't, even though they were wearing the exact same outfit. Because when Jessica was pulled over by the principal and missed a math quiz, her teacher gave her an F.

Because it's impossible to find shorts that are longer than her fingertips. Because girls' bodies are not a distraction. Because middle school is hard enough.And so Molly starts a podcast where girls can tell their stories, and before long, her small rebellion swells into a revolution. Because now the girls are standing up for what's right, and they're not backing down.

PECULIAR NATURE (ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY)

Author: John Joseph Micklos
Publisher: Capstone Press
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
The natural world can be a beautiful and awesome place. But sometimes things happen naturally that are quite peculiar. Have you heard of Blood Falls in Antarctica? Ice cold water flows bright red out of a glacier. Did you know that Death Valley National Park in California has boulders that mysteriously slide across the desert? Learn the details of these mysteries and other peculiar natural phenomena.

EVERY LAST DROP : BRINGING CLEAN WATER HOME

Author: Michelle Mulder
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Year: 2014

Publisher's Description:
In the developed world, if you want a drink of water you just turn on a tap or open a bottle. But for millions of families worldwide, finding clean water is a daily challenge, and kids are often the ones responsible for carrying water to their homes. Every Last Drop looks at why the world’s water resources are at risk and how communities around the world are finding innovative ways to quench their thirst and water their crops. Maybe you’re not ready to drink fog, as they do in Chile, or use water made from treated sewage, but you can get a low-flush toilet, plant a tree, protect a wetland or just take shorter showers. Every last drop counts!

WINK

Author: Rob Harrell
Publisher: Dial Books
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
Ross Maloy just wants to be a normal seventh grader. He doesn't want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don't know what to say to "the cancer kid." But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, blending in is off the table.

Based on Rob Harrell's real life experience, and packed with comic panels and spot art, this incredibly personal and poignant novel is an unforgettable, heartbreaking, hilarious, and uplifting story of survival and finding the music, magic, and laughter in life's weirdness.

IKENGA

Author: Nnedi Okoafor
Publisher: Viking
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description: Nnamdi's father was a good chief of police, perhaps the best Kalaria had ever had. He was determined to root out the criminals that had invaded the town. But then he was murdered, and most people believed the Chief of Chiefs, most powerful of the criminals, was responsible.

Nnamdi has vowed to avenge his father, but he wonders what a twelve-year-old boy can do. Until a mysterious nighttime meeting, the gift of a magical object that enables super powers, and a charge to use those powers for good changes his life forever.

How can he fulfill his mission? How will he learn to control his newfound powers?

MILLIONAIRES FOR A MONTH

Author: Stacy McAnulty
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
Felix Rannells and Benji Porter were never supposed to be field-trip partners. Felix is a rule follower. Benji is a rule bender. They're not friends.

And they don't have anything to talk about. Until . . .

They find a wallet. A wallet that belongs to tech billionaire Laura Friendly. They're totally going to return it-but not before Benji "borrows" twenty dollars to buy hot dogs. Because twenty dollars is like a penny to a billionaire, right?

But a penny has value. A penny doubled every day for thirty days is $5,368,709.12! So that's exactly how much money Laura Friendly challenges Felix and Benji to spend. They have thirty days. They can't tell anyone. And there are LOTS of other rules. But if they succeed, they each get ten million dollars to spend however they want.

Challenge accepted! They rent cool cars, go to Disney World, buy pizza for the whole school-and that's just the beginning! But money can't buy everything or fix every problem. And spending it isn't always as easy and fun as they thought it would be. . . .
family?

energy and waves through infographics

Author: Rebecca Rowell & Alex Sciuto
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
The supercharged facts about energy and waves can set your brain buzzing! You learn about huge rates of consumption (like the 35.3 quadrillion BTUs of petroleum used in the United States in 2011), huge timelines (it took 300 million years for our greatest source of energy, fossil fuels, to be created), and even huger mysteries (how long it will be before fossil fuels run out).

How can all these big numbers and concepts make more sense? Infographics! The charts, maps, and illustrations in this book tell a visual story to help you better understand key concepts about energy and waves. Crack open this book to explore mind-boggling questions such as:
• What is “the grid” and how does it work?
• How does sound travel?
• How can dancing create energy?

The answers are sure to be shocking!

NOTORIUS

Author: Gordon Korman
 Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year: 2021

Publisher's Description:
Keenan has lived all over the world but nowhere quite as strange as Centerlight Island, which is split between the United States and Canada. The only thing weirder than Centerlight itself is his neighbor Zarabeth, aka ZeeBee.

ZeeBee is obsessed with the island’s history as a Prohibition-era smuggling route. She’s also convinced that her beloved dog, Barney, was murdered—something Keenan finds pretty hard to believe.
Just about everyone on Centerlight is a suspect, because everyone hated Barney, a huge dog—part mastiff, part rottweiler—notorious for terrorizing the community. Accompanied by a mild-mannered new dog who is practically Barney’s opposite, ZeeBee enlists Keenan’s help to solve the mystery.

As Keenan and ZeeBee start to unravel the clues, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that dates back to Centerlight’s gangster past. The good news is that Keenan may have found the best friend he’s ever had. The bad news is that the stakes are sky-high.

And now someone is after them. . . .

STAND UP, yUMI CHUNG!

Author: Jessica Kim
Publisher: Kokila
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her "Yu-MEAT" because she smells like her family's Korean barbecue restaurant.

On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she's reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage.Instead of spending the summer studying her favorite YouTube comedians, Yumi is enrolled in test-prep tutoring to qualify for a private school scholarship, which will help in a time of hardship at the restaurant.
One day after class, Yumi stumbles on an opportunity that will change her life: a comedy camp for kids taught by one of her favorite YouTube stars. The only problem is that the instructor and all the students think she's a girl named Kay Nakamura--and Yumi doesn't correct them.

As this case of mistaken identity unravels, Yumi must decide to stand up and reveal the truth or risk losing her dreams and disappointing everyone she cares about.

EFREN DIVIDED

Author: Ernesto Cisneros
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
Efrén Nava’s Amá is his Superwoman—or Soperwoman, named after the delicious Mexican sopes his mother often prepares.

Both Amá and Apá work hard all day to provide for the family, making sure Efrén and his younger siblings Max and Mía feel safe and loved.

But Efrén worries about his parents; although he’s American-born, his parents are undocumented. His worst nightmare comes true one day when Amá doesn’t return from work and is deported across the border to Tijuana, México.

Now more than ever, Efrén must channel his inner Soperboy to help take care of and try to reunite his family.

HOW WE GOT TO THE MOON : THE PEOPLE, TECHNOLOGY, AND DARING

Author: John Rocco
Publisher: Crown Books For Young Readers
Year: 2020

Publisher's Description:
Everyone knows of Neil Armstrong's famous first steps on the moon. But what did it really take to get us there?

The Moon landing is one of the most ambitious, thrilling, and dangerous ventures in human history. This exquisitely researched and illustrated book tells the stories of the 400,000 unsung heroes--the engineers, mathematicians, seamstresses, welders, and factory workers--and their innovations and life-changing technological leaps forward that allowed NASA to achieve this unparalleled accomplishment.

From the shocking launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik to the triumphant splashdown of Apollo 11, Caldecott Honor winner John Rocco answers every possible question about this world-altering mission. Each challenging step in the space race is revealed, examined, and displayed through stunning diagrams, experiments, moments of crisis, and unforgettable human stories.

Forest Talk: How Trees Communicate

Author: Melissa Koch
Publisher: Lerners Publishing Group
Year: 2019

Publisher's Description:
Trees are essential. They provide water, shelter, and food for millions of plant and animal species, including humans. They deliver proven health benefits, and they capture and store carbon, which combats climate change. Yet trees are in trouble. Forests are struggling to adapt to climate change, and deforestation is a major threat.Recently, researchers and citizen scientists made the surprising revelation that trees communicate with each other through an underground system of soil fungi and other methods. Complex social networks help trees survive and thrive by transferring resources to each other, sending defense signals, communicating with their kin, and more. Meet the tree scientists and learn more of their fascinating discoveries.

REACH FOR THE SKAI

Author: Skai Jackson
Publisher: Crown Books For Young Readers
Year: 2019

Publisher's Description:
Actress and activist Skai Jackson is a star! Her rise to fame started on the popular Disney Channel shows Bunk'd and Jessie. Her cool sense of style led her to create her own fashion line. And her success has made her a major influencer, with millions of followers on Instagram, who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

But being a teen celebrity isn't always glamorous. For the first time, Skai discusses the negative experiences that sometimes come with living in the spotlight--the insecurities about her appearance, the challenges of separating her real personality from her TV roles, and the bullying she's faced both personally and professionally. She knows firsthand the struggles tweens and teens face today, and she has found her calling as an antibullying activist, known as the queen of the classy clapback.

Skai is a positive force and a role model for inspiring change and embracing differences in others. Her story will encourage girls and boys alike to believe in themselves and to have the courage to reach for the sky and follow their dreams.