Middle Grade Action, Adventure and Sports Fiction

This list includes titles from the Harrington Middle School 2026 suggested summer reading list, as well as recommendations from staff at the Mount Laurel Library. Remember, you do not need to choose a title from the list; you can fulfill your summer reading obligations by reading any middle grade book.

Updated May 11, 2026
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Concealed
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz
Audiobook
Greetings from witness protection!
Burt, Jake
Ebook
"Part coming of age tale and part spy thriller," this funny, suspenseful middle grade novel "could be a collaboration between Judy Blume and Ian Fleming." --Ann M. Martin, New York Times-bestselling Nicki Demere is an orphan and a...
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...
Crossover
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
Series streaming now on Disney+, with executive producers including NBA great LeBron James! The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning middle grade bestseller! Basketball and heartache share the court in this slam-dunk novel in verse. "With a bolt of lightning on my...
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...
Rocket Arm
Green, Tim
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestselling author and former NFL player Tim Green is back with an action-packed novel about a football player with big dreams whose life changes forever when he attends an athletic boarding school. Zeno Dubois might be young, but he has a remarkable ability...
Hero
Lupica, Mike.
Ebook
Game changer
Greenwald, Tom
Paper Book
A gripping story about the impact of sports culture on young athletes. When high school football star Teddy Youngblood suffers a devastating injury that leaves him in a coma, the entire community is shaken. What begins as a tragic accident quickly unravels...
Curveball
Cartaya, Pablo
Paper Book
Roller Girl meets Cardboard Kingdom in this original, contemporary graphic novel for kids, from the New York Times best-selling and award-winning author of A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation, Pablo Cartaya, in partnership with New York Times best-selling...
Three Strike Summer
Schrempp, Skyler
Paper Book
Four starred reviews! A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Selection A Horn Book Magazine Best Book of 2022 "Told in a voice that is so real it reeks of filched peaches, this book is a home run." --Amy Sarig King, Printz Award-winning author of...
Fast Pitch
Stone, Nic
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone comes a challenging and heartwarming coming-of-age story about a softball player looking to prove herself on and off the field. Shenice Lockwood, captain of the Fulton Firebirds, is hyper-focused when she steps up to the...
We are big time
Khan, Hena
Paper Book
SWISH! Cheer courtside for a Muslim teen in this graphic novel-inspired by a true story-as she joins an all-girls, hijab-wearing basketball team and learns that she's much more than a score. Aliya is new to Wisconsin, and everything feels different than Florida. The Islamic...
Barely floating
Rivera, Lilliam
Paper Book
A dazzling story full of heart about how one twelve-year-old channels her rage into synchronized swimming dreams, from the author of The Education of Margot Sanchez and Never Look Back, Lilliam Rivera. Natalia de la Cruz Rivera y Santiago, also known as Nat, was...
Will's Race for Home
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Paper Book
★ Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award! ★ ★ A New York Times bestseller! ★ ★ "Rhodes deftly captures a unique ­aspect of this historical event, with a perspective...

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