Sixth Grade School Visit: The List

This is the annotated list of materials I took on my mid-year sixth grade visit. This year, I tried to divide everything into groups. This worked very well (when I finally got it displayed correctly). Starred titles had multiple requests for booktalking/touching and omg please, please hold this for me until I can come to the library after school! That isn't a totally fool-proof method of noting popularity, btw, since I booktalked a lot of these in their groups and many kids were more interested in the different books that weren't asked for when they came to look, but they were certainly the ones with grabby titles or covers.




  If you're bored it's totally your own fault; or, Our library theme for middle schoolers this year is defeat boredom at the library!

• Dance by Lorrie Mack
• Show off: How to do absolutely everything one step at a time by Sarah Stephens
• This book made me do it: Cool things to make, do and explore by John Woodward
• Unbored: The essential field guide to serious fun by Joshua Glenn
• *100% Pure Fake: Gross out your friends and family with 25 great special effects by Lyn Thomas
• *Quiz Whiz: 1,000 super fun mind-bending totally awesome trivia questions from National Geographic

The Zombie Books; or, Even the Undead Like to Read

• *Zombie Makers: True stories of nature's undead by Rebecca Johnson
• Zombies calling by Faith Erin Hicks

Realistic Fiction (Mostly), Preferably Funny and with a Limited Number of Dead Parents

• Laugh with the moon by Shana Burg
• *Who could that be at this hour? by Lemony Snicket
• *Road trip by Gary Paulsen
• Halfway to the sky by Kimberley Bradley
• *Bloodlines: Emergency Ops by M. Zachary Sherman
• Outlaw by Stephen Davies
• Stealing Air by Trent Reedy
• *Ungifted by Gordon Korman
• The creature from the seventh grade: Boy or Beast by Bob Balaban

Fantasy, including Voodoo and time travel

• Bad day for voodoo by Jeff Strand
• Pandemonium by Chris Wooding
• *How to ditch your fairy by Justine Larbalestier
• Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons by Barbara Mariconda
• Infinity Ring: A mutiny in time by James Dashner

Nonfiction, biography, and historical fiction (cuz we are totally down with this common core thing)

• Wild horse scientists by Kay Frydenborg
• Lily Renee, escape artist: from Holocaust survivor to comic book pioneer by Trina Robbins
• *Bomb: The race to build - and steal - the world's most dangerous weapon by Steve Sheinkin
• Moonbird: a year on the wind with the great survivor B95 by Philip Hoose
• The plant hunters: True stories of their daring escapades to the far corners of the earth by Anita Silvey
• Dogs of winter by Bobbie Pyron
• T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte
• *Sektion 20 by Paul Dowswell
• Haunted Histories: Creepy castles, dark dungeons and powerful palaces by J. H. Everett
• Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad
• Fatty Legs: A true story by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margartet Pokiak-Fenton

We Love Raina Telgemeier

• *Drama by Raina Telgemeier
• Lou! Secret Diary by Julien Neel
• Play ball by Nunzio DeFilippis
• Peanut by Ayun Halliday
• Friends with boys by Faith Erin Hicks

Mythic Stories; or, Meet a whole new mythological universe besides Percy Jackson

• Ichiro by Ryan Inzana
• Olympians: Hades, lord of the dead by George O'Connor
• *Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
• Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda
• *Marathon by Boaz Yakin

Vampires and their friends (and enemies): Darkly romantic reads

• *Team Human by Justine Larbalestier
• Jessica's guide to dating on the dark side by Beth Fantaskey
• Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Just for fun; or, You're never too old to be a kid

• Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
• *Last laughs: animal epitaphs by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen
• *Bird & Squirrel on the run by James Burks
• *Knuckle and Potty destroy Happy World by James Proimos

Manga Samples

• Psyren by Iwashiro
• Dawn of the Arcana by Rei Toma
• Natsume's Book of Friends by Yuki Midorikawa
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica