Harrington Middle School Summer 2026 Reading Suggestions

The titles in this list are merely suggestions. Students may choose to read any middle grade book for summer reading!

Updated May 11, 2026
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Amal unbound
Saeed, Aisha
Paper Book
"Saeed's timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review The compelling story of a girl's fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude. Life is quiet and...
Attack of the Black Rectangles
King, A. S.
Paper Book
Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write. When Mac first opens his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends...
Busted
Gemeinhart, Dan
Paper Book
"A humdinger doozy of a read filled with humor, heart, and incredible characters you won't soon forget!" --Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of the Mr. Lemoncello's Library series "Busted is about to be your kid's new favorite." --...
Fighting words
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker
Paper Book
*Newbery Honor Book* *Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor* A candid and fierce middle grade novel about sisterhood and sexual abuse, by two-time Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times best seller Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, author of The War that Saved My Life ...
Holding on for Dear Life
Bowling, Dusti
Paper Book
A USA Today bestseller! Acclaimed author Dusti Bowling takes the bull by the horns in this moving novel about a boy struggling to keep his family together while facing the side effects of bull riding. Thirteen-year-old Canyon loves bull riding, but...
One for the Murphys
Hunt, Lynda Mullaly.
Paper Book
A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family's love Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family...
Please Pay Attention
Sumner, Jamie
Paper Book
Three starred reviews! A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn't built for her in this "intimate, lyrical" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel in verse from Jamie Sumner, the...
The Unteachables
Korman, Gordon.
Audiobook
A hilarious new middle grade novel from beloved and bestselling author Gordon Korman about what happens when the worst class of kids in school is paired with the worst teacher--perfect for fans of Ms. Bixby's Last Day. A good choice for summer reading or anytime! The Unteachables are...
Wish
O'Connor, Barbara
Paper Book
Dream, the standalone companion to Wish, out now! The #1 New York Times-bestselling middle-grade novel about a girl who, with the help of a true-blue friend, a big-hearted aunt and uncle, and the dog of her dreams, unexpectedly learns the true meaning...
Al Capone does my shirts
Choldenko, Gennifer
Paper Book
Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school.  But Natalie has autism, and when she's denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms...
The Bletchley Riddle
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A thrilling mystery and collaboration between award-winning and bestselling authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin! This historical adventure follows two siblings at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers, as they try to unravel a mystery surrounding...
Code talker : a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
Bruchac, Joseph
Audiobook
Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved...
The Wednesday wars
Schmidt, Gary D.
Paper Book
In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt tells the witty and compelling story of a teenage boy who feels that fate has it in for him. Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn't happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Throughout the school year,...
Concealed
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz
Audiobook
The lovely and the lost
Barnes, Jennifer
Ebook
FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE INHERITANCE GAMES   In this unputdownable standalone mystery from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, a teenage girl, her friends, and their search-and-rescue dogs must uncover long-buried secrets to save a life.
Stormbreaker
Horowitz, Anthony
Ebook
The raft
Bodeen, S. A.
Ebook
Robie is an experienced traveler. She's taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She...
Caraval Caraval Series, Book 1
Garber, Stephanie.
Ebook
Welcome, welcome to CARAVAL, the first book in Stephanie Garber's enchanting, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Caraval series, about two sisters swept up in a mysterious competition filled with magic, heartbreak, and danger THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER!
The cruel prince
Black, Holly
Paper Book
By #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue. Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine...
The false prince
Nielsen, Jennifer A.
Ebook
New York Times bestseller The False Prince thrills with wild twists and turns, danger and deceit, and the revelation of hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.In a discontented kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a...
The Unwanteds
McMann, Lisa.
Paper Book
"Imagination runs wild in this creative adventure." --Brandon Mull, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Beyonders and Fablehaven series Twin brothers have their fates diverge in this first book in the New York Times bestselling middle grade...
I will always write back : how one letter changed two lives
Alifirenka, Caitlin
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The true story of an all-American girl, a boy from Zimbabwe, and the letter that changed both of their lives forever. It started as an assignment. Caitlin had never even heard of Zimbabwe when everyone in her class was told to...
Obsessed : a memoir of my life with OCD
Britz, Allison
Audiobook
Brave
Chmakova, Svetlana
Paper Book
In his daydreams, Jensen is the biggest hero that ever was, saving the world and his friends on a daily basis. But his middle school reality is VERY different--math is hard, getting along with friends is hard...Even finding a partner for the class project is a huge problem when you always get picked...
Invisible
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz
Paper Book
A USA TODAY and Indie Bestseller! For fans of New Kidand Allergic, a must-have graphic novel about five very different students who are forced together by their school to complete community service... and may just have more in common than they thought. ...
Speechless: A Graphic Novel
Steinke, Aron Nels
Paper Book
From Eisner Award-winning author Aron Nels Steinke comes a heartfelt and funny middle-grade graphic novel about friendship, anxiety, and expressing yourself. Middle school was supposed to be a fresh start for Mira, who struggles to speak in class even though she can speak at home...
Coach
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
Three starred reviews! In this "beautifully executed victory lap" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) to Jason Reynolds's award-winning and New York Times bestselling Track series, meet Coach as a boy striving to come into...
Blood in the Water
Jackson, Tiffany D
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller! Mega bestselling and award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson (The Weight of Blood; White Smoke) makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with a can't-put-it-down murder mystery set on Martha's Vineyard. R.L. Stine,...
The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum
Yee, Lisa
Paper Book
" When a notorious thief is out for priceless treasure (gems! cats! general decorum!)--who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series from Newbery Honoree Lisa Yee and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat!...
The Naturals
Barnes, Jennifer Lynn
Ebook
Cold cases are about to get hot. Don't miss this exhilarating crime thriller--perfect for fans of Criminal Minds and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder--from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The...
After Life
Forman, Gayle
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Book Club YA Pick "Gayle Forman has an uncanny ability to create characters in which we see ourselves, and her latest--which looks at where love goes, after a loss--is an honest, heartbreaking elegy to how memory makes relationships...
Cinder
Meyer, Marissa.
Paper Book
As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic tak
The Last Cuentista
Higuera, Donna Barba
Paper Book
Winner of the Newbery Medal--a brilliant journey through the stars, to the very heart of what makes us human. "Gripping in its twists and turns, and moving in its themes -- truly a beautiful cuento."--New York Times Había una vez . . .  ...
Legend
Lu, Marie
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success...
Matched
Condie, Allyson Braithwaite.
Paper Book
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her. When Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate--until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades.
All the Blues in the Sky
Watson, Renee
Paper Book
Winner of the Newbery Medal | A New York Times bestseller | A USA Today bestseller #1 New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal winner Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant novel in verse and...
Alone
Freeman, Megan E.
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! Perfect for fans ofHatchet and the I Survived series, this "riveting, immersive" (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade debut novel in verse from a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to...
And then, boom!
Fipps, Lisa
Paper Book
A gripping new novel in verse by the author of the Printz Honor-winning Starfish, featuring a poverty-stricken boy who bravely rides out all the storms life keeps throwing at him Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground. His mom can't be depended on as she never stays...
House arrest
Holt, K. A
Audiobook
Timothy is on probation. It's a strange word-something that happens to other kids, to delinquents, not to kids like him. And yet, he is under house arrest for the next year. He must check in weekly with a probation officer and a therapist, and keep a journal for an entire year. And mostly, he has to...
Iveliz Explains It All
Arango, Andrea Beatriz
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER * In this timely and moving novel in verse, a preteen girl navigates seventh grade while facing mental health challenges. A hopeful, poetic story about learning to advocate for the help and understanding you deserve. "Powerful." --Lisa Fipps,...
Louder Than Hunger
Schu, John
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book "Every so often a book comes along that is so brave and necessary, it extends a lifeline when it's needed most. This is one of those books." --Katherine Applegate, author of the Newbery Medal-winning,...
The Trouble with Heroes
Messner, Kate
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! A USA Today bestseller! Read with Jenna Jr. Summer Reading List Pick! "Genuinely moving." --The New York Times Book Review "Explores the healing power of...

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