Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

by Wendelin Van Draanen

Sammy Keyes is perusing the neighborhood through binoculars when she spots something fishy at the Heavenly Hotel. She's sure she's just seen a robbery, now she just has to prove it. Now in Knopf Paperback, is the first book in the exciting new series of middle-grade mysteries starring the smart and spunky seventh-grade ace detective. "This girl sleuth is no well-mannered Nancy Drew. She's hot-tempered, nosy... (more)

Things Not Seen

by Andrew Clements

The 39 Clues: Book 4

Beyond the Grave

by Jude Watson

A Clue found in Book 3 sends Amy and Dan jetting off to find out just what's behind the fierce rivalry between the Tomas and Ekaterina branches of the Cahill family. Was a Clue stolen from the Tomas branch? Where is it now? And most important, can Amy and Dan get their hands on it before their rivals do? It's a wild race that will take Amy and Dan deep into the bowels of the earth . . . and right into the hands... (more)

Shark Girl

by Kelly L. Bingham

One sunny day, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood goes for a swim. And then everything -- absolutely everything -- changes. Now she's counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, "That's her -- that's Shark Girl," as she passes. In the meantime there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about... (more)

Deep Down Popular

by Phoebe Stone

6th-grader Jessie Lou is deeply, madly, passionately in love with Conrad Parker Smith. Too bad she's a tomboy with only one on-again, off-again friend, and hair so short you can't spit on it. Too bad he's the most popular boy in their small-town school. But then Conrad hurts his leg and suddenly can't keep up with his old pursuits anymore. Jessie Lou and Conrad start spending a lot more time together, but she... (more)

Out Of The Dust (Apple Signature Edition)

Out Of The Dust (Apple Signature Edition)

by Karen Hesse

The Lemonade War

by Jacqueline Davies

Evan Treski is people-smart. He is good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart—but not especially good at understanding people. She knows that feelings are her weakest subject. So when their lemonade war begins, there really is no telling who will win—and even more important, if their fight will ever end. Here is a clever blend of humor and math fun. As... (more)

Seedfolks (Joanna Colter Books)

by Judy Pedersen, Paul Fleischman

Common Ground A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to... (more)

Abduction!

by Peg Kehret

When Matt leaves his kindergarten class for a quick trip to the bathroom, he never imagines what will happen next. He suddenly finds himself in a stranger’s car traveling to an unfamiliar place. But who is this man, and is he really a "stranger"? When the school bell rings and Matt is nowhere to be found, his sister, Bonnie, is frantic. She quickly realizes that her little brother is not lost, but missing!... (more)

Running Out of Time

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Run For Your Life Jessie lives with her family in the frontier village of Clifton, Indiana, in 1840 -- or so she believes. When diphtheria strikes the village and the children of Clifton start dying, Jessie's mother reveals a shocking secret -- it's actually 1996, and they are living in a reconstructed village that serves as a tourist site. In the world outside, medicine exists that can cure the dread disease,... (more)

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life

by Rachel Renee Russell

New school. New mean girl. New crush. New diary so Nikki can spill about all of it...

Overboard

by Elizabeth Fama

Fourteen-year-old Emily boards an over-crowded ferry in Sumatra. When the boat sinks, she’s trapped by hundreds of panicked people. She finds Isman, a terrified young Muslim boy, floating in a life vest. Together, with Emily’s physical strength and Isman’s quiet faith, they swim for their lives. “Fama conveys the elemental struggle and shows how Emily finds strength she didn’t know she had.”—Booklist “Each... (more)

Diamonds in the Shadow

by Caroline B. Cooney

THE FINCH FAMILY did not know that five refugees landed from Africa on the day they went to the airport to welcome the family sponsored by their church. The Finch family only knew about the four refugees they were meeting - Andre, Celestine, Mattu, and Alake - mother, father, teenage son and daughter. Soon Jared realizes that the good guys are not always innocent, and he must make a decision that could change the... (more)

Year of the Hangman

by Gary Blackwood

In 1776, the rebellion of the American colonies against British rule was crushed. Now, in 1777—the year of the hangman—George Washington is awaiting execution, Benjamin Franklin’s banned rebel newspaper, Liberty Tree , has gone underground, and young ne’er-do-well Creighton Brown, a fifteen-year-old Brit, has just arrived in the colonies. Having been shipped off against his will, with nothing but a distaste for... (more)

A Mango-Shaped Space

by Wendy Mass

Mia Winchell seems to be a typical teenager, but she+s keeping a huge secret from everyone who knows her: sounds, numbers, and words appear in color for her. Mia has synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. When trouble in school forces Mia to reveal her condition, her friends and family can+t relate to her, and she must look to herself to develop an... (more)

Lawn Boy

by Gary Paulsen

One day I was 12 years old and broke. Then Grandma gave me Grandpa's old riding lawnmower. I set out to mow some lawns. More people wanted me to mow their lawns. And more and more. . . . One client was Arnold the stockbroker, who offered to teach me about "the beauty of capitalism. Supply and Demand. Diversify labor. Distribute the wealth." "Wealth?" I said. "It's groovy, man," said Arnold. If I'd known what was... (more)

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Gallagher Girls: Book 1

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

by Ally Carter

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even... (more)

Escaping the Giant Wave

by Peg Kehret

The worst vacation ever! Thirteen-year old Kyle thought spending a vacation on the Oregon coast with his family would be great. He'd never flown before, and he'd never seen the Pacific Ocean. Kyle's perfect vacation becomes a nightmare while he's babysitting his sister, BeeBee. An earthquake hits the coast and starts afire in their hotel. While fighting their way through smoke and flame, Kyle remembers seeing a... (more)

Skeleton Man

by Joseph Bruchac

Ever since the morning Molly woke up to find that her parents hadvanished, her life has become filled with terrible questions. Where have her parents gone? Who is this spooky old man who's taken her to live with him, claiming to be her great-uncle? Why does he never eat, and why does he lock her in her room at night? What are her dreams of the Skeleton Man trying to tell her? There's one thing Molly does know. She... (more)

Young Bond: Book 1

SilverFin

A James Bond Adventure

by Charlie Higson

What does it take to become the greatest secret agent the world has ever known? In this thrilling prequel to the adventures of James Bond, 007, readers meet a young boy whose inquisitive mind and determination set him on a path that will someday take him across the globe, in pursuit of the most dangerous criminals of all time. When we first meet young James, he’s just started boarding school at Eton in the 1930s,... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: middle school reads

by Wendelin Van Draanen

by Andrew Clements

by Jude Watson

by Kelly L. Bingham

by Phoebe Stone

by Karen Hesse

by Jacqueline Davies

by Judy Pedersen, Paul Fleischman

by Peg Kehret

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

by Rachel Renee Russell

by Elizabeth Fama

by Caroline B. Cooney

by Gary Blackwood

by Wendy Mass

by Gary Paulsen

by Ally Carter

by Peg Kehret

by Joseph Bruchac

A James Bond Adventure

by Charlie Higson