5th and 6th Graders: Action, Adventure, and Sports Fiction

This list includes titles from the Hartford 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 13, 2026
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The 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...
Spy school
Gibbs, Stuart
Paper Book
"Combines Alex Rider's espionage skills with a huge dose of the sarcasm of Artemis Fowl." --School Library Journal Can an undercover nerd become a superstar agent? In the first book in the New York Times bestselling Spy School series, Ben Ripley sure hopes so-...
Home Run Baseball Great Series, Book 4
Green, Tim.
Ebook
Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica's sports books and Dan Gutman's Baseball Card Adventures, New York Times bestselling author and former NFL player Tim Green gives readers a thrilling new addition to his bestselling Baseball Great series. Josh's life has just fallen apart. His father will no...
Game changer
Greenwald, Tom
Paper Book
Thirteen-year-old Teddy Youngblood is in a coma, fighting for his life after an unspecified football injury at training camp. His family and friends flock to his bedside to support his recovery-and to discuss the events leading up to the tragic accident. Was this the inevitable result of playing...
Runaway Twin
Kehret, Peg
Paper Book
Thirteen-year-old Sunny runs away from her current foster parent in search of her twin sister, from whom she was separated ten years earlier. On the way, she'll face a tornado, bullies, and a stray dog- and the fact that her sister may not be who Sunny hoped she would be.
Hero
Lupica, Mike
Paper Book
From the #1 bestselling author of Heat, Travel Team and Million-Dollar Throw. Zach Harriman knew that his dad was something of a hero, a man trusted by the president to solve international crises at a moment's notice. Suddenly people...
Becoming Muhammad Ali : a novel
Patterson, James
Paper Book
Two literary heavy-hitters--New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander and the world's #1 bestselling author James Patterson--deliver a knockout critically acclaimed bestselling biographical novel about cultural icon Muhammad Ali. ...
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
Paper Book
This award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are compared--and a page-turning, heart-stopping adventure, recipient of the Newbery Honor. Hatchet has also been nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read....
City spies
Ponti, James
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! A GMA3 Summer Reading Squad Selection! "Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight." --People "Will keep young readers glued to the page...So when do I get the sequel?" --Beth McMullen, author of Mrs. Smith's Spy School...
Holes
Sachar, Louis
Paper Book
This groundbreaking classic is now available in a special anniversary edition with bonus content. Winner of the Newbery Medal as well as the National Book Award, HOLES is a New York Times bestseller and one of the strongest-selling middle-grade books to ever hit shelves!
Clean getaway
Stone, Nic
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone comes a timely middle-grade road-trip story through landmarks of the Civil Rights movement and the map they lay for contemporary race relations. How to Go on an Unplanned Road Trip with Your Grandma: Grab a...
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...

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