Grade 5

2
0
1
6
E
D
I
T
I
O
N
Summer Reading
!
O N M A R T H A’ S V I N E YA R D
For Students Entering 5th Grade
!
New Favorites
Here are some of our newest
favorites for 5th grade!
Home Run
by Tim Green
!
Maybe a Fox
by Kathi Appelt
!
Home Sweet Home Alaska
by Carol Estby Dagg
!
Land of Stories (series)
by Chris Colfer
!
Sunny Side Up (graphic)
by Jennifer Hole
!
Frank Einstein (series)
by Jon Scieszka
!
Drama (graphic)
by Raina Telgemeier
!
Terrible Two (series)
by Mac Barnett
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where
we are.” -- Mason Cooley
Dear 5th graders,
!
Summer vacation is here (yahoo!) but it is also a wonderful time to
READ! You graders should be exploring different genres and finding
what you enjoy the most. It is important that you read books that
are not too hard and not too easy, but are right at your level. The
five finger test is a great way to determine if a book is just right -if you can count five words on a page that you don’t understand, it
isn’t a good fit for you.
!
Summer is also the perfect time for students to explore books that
they choose and are interested in. Here are some summer reading
tips for parents and students:
!
• Set aside regular reading time.
• Visit the local library -- they have wonderful collections and
summer activities!
• Pack a book wherever you go!
• Try listening to an Audiobook.
!
REQUIRED READING
Mrs. Simmons is requiring all incoming 5th graders to read at least
1 book this summer and create a poster. You can choose one from
this list or find another book at your reading level. See her packet
for instructions in order to come to school prepared on the first day.
the directions are also on her website.
Created 2016 by Ms. Cole, Librarian at the Edgartown School on Martha’s Vineyard
in Massachusetts. It is based on an earlier version by Ms Lambacher and influenced by
ideas from the staff at the Edgartown School. Happy reading!
Books About 5th Grade
Nothing’s Fair in Fifth
Grade
by Barthe DeClements
There’s a Boy in the Girl’s
Bathroom
by Louis Sachar
Jack on the Tracks: Four
Seasons of Fifth Grade
by Jack Gantos
A fifth grade class gets a new
student they dislike, but after
discovering her difficult home
life, will they learn to accept
her?
An unmanageable, but
lovable, eleven-year-old
misfit learns to believe in
himself when he gets to know
the new school counselor,
who is a sort of misfit too.
After moving with his
unbearable sister to Miami,
Florida, Jack tries to break
some of his bad habits but
finds himself irresistibly
drawn to things disgusting,
gross, and weird.
Blubber
by Judy Blume
Radio Fifth Grade
by Gordon Korman
Jill goes along with the rest of
the fifth grade class in
tormenting a classmate and
then finds out what it's like
when she, too, becomes a
target.
Mayhem breaks out in fifth
grade when Venice bullies his
classmates into letting him
on the school radio program.
The Homework Machine by
Dan Gutman
A boy creates a computer
program to do his homework,
and the results are
unexpected -- for more than
just himself.
Shredderman: Secret
Identity
by Wendelin Van Draanen
Fifth grader Nolan is tired of
being picked on by the class
bully, and creates a secret
identity -- Shredderman.
!
The Report Card
by Andrew Clements
No More Nasty
by Amy MacDonald
Simon’s Great Aunt Matilda
becomes the substitute
teacher for his unruly fifth
grade class.
Nora decides to prove that
grades aren’t important.
!
Realistic Fiction and Humor
Any title by Matt Christopher
Happy Birthday, Sophie
Hartley! by Stephanie Greene
Snarf Attack, Underfoodle,
and the Secret of Life: The
Riot Brothers Tell All
by Mary Amato
Kickoff! by Tiki & Ronde
Barber
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Hoot or Scat by Carl Hiaasen
A Week in the Woods
by Andrew Clements
The Puzzling World of
Winston Breen
by Eric Berlin
Lawn Boy
by Gary Paulsen
The Million Dollar Shot
by Dan Gutman
The Terrible Two
by Mac Barnett
Screaming at the Ump by
Audrey Vernick
13 Gifts by Wendy Mass
Finding Ruby Starling
Karen Rvers
by
All Rise for the Honorable
Perry T. Cook by Leslie
Connor
Love, Aubrey
by Suzanne LaFleur
Graham Cracker Plot
by Shelley Tougas
Joey Pigza books
by Jack Gantos
The Cat at the Wall
by Deborah Ellis
Historical Fiction
The Mostly True
Adventures of Homer P.
Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Elijah of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Tin Snail by Cameron
McCallister
Lily’s Crossing
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Titanic: Unsinkable
(series)by Gordon Korman
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O’Dell
Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
War Horse
by Michael Morpurgo
Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan
My Name is America series
by various authors
The Invention of Hugo
Cabret by Brian Selznick
!
!
The War that Saved My Life
by Kimberly Bradley
Firth of March
by Ann Rinaldi
!
Mystery
Nancy Drew books by
Carolyn Keene
Gilda Joyce: Psychic
Investigator by Jennifer
Allison
Hardy Boys
by Franklin Dixon
Trackers (series) by Patrick
Carman
The Ghost of Cutler Creek
by Cynthia DeFelice
Floors by Patrick Carman
Bunnicula by James Howe
The Egypt Game
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Murder at Midnight by Avi
Chasing Vermeer
by Blue Balliet
Closed For the Season
by Mary Downing Hahn
Sammy Keyes (series) by
Wendelin Van Draanen
Fantasy
I,Q: Independence Hall by
Roland Smith
Benjamin Pratt and the
Keepers of the School
(series) by Andrew Clements
Death at Devil’s Bridge
by Cynthia DeFelice
Baseball Bats by Sharon
Jennings
Bone (series)
by Jeff Smith
Breadcrumbs
by Anne Ursu
Warriors (series) by Erin
Hunter
Savvy
by Ingrid Law
The White Giraffe
by Lauren St. James
Gossamer by Lois Lowry
The Girl Who Could Fly
by Victoria Forrester
Guardians of Ga’hoole
(series) by Kathryn Lasky
Midnight for Charlie Bone
(series) by Jenny Nimmo
Secrets at Sea by Richard
Peck
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Artemis Fowl (series)
by Eoin Colfer
Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
Falling In by Frances Dowell
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
Into the Land of the
Unicorns (series) by Bruce
Coville
The City of Ember (series)
by Jeanne DuPrau
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon
Hatcher (series) by Bruce
Coville
Dealing With Dragons
(series) by Patricia C. Wrede
The Runaway Dolls
by Ann M. Martin
How to Catch a Bogle
by Catherine Jinks
The Islands of Chaldea
by Diana Wynne Jones
Zombie Baseball Beatdown
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Science Fiction
The Lost Children
by Carolyn Cohagan
Among the Hidden (series)
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L’Engle
My Teacher is an Alien
by Bruce Coville
The Supernaturalist*
by Eoin Colfer
Animorphs (series)
by K.A. Applegate
The Time Hackers
by Gary Paulsen
Behind the Gates
(Tomorrow Girls) by Eva
Gray
Space Case: a Moon Base
Alpha Novel by Stuart Gibbs
Turnabout
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Cosmic
by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Ambassador by William
Alexander
N.E.R.D.S. (series) by
Michael Buckley
Found (series) by Margaret
Peterson Haddix
!
Action/Adventure
The Mysterious Benedict
Society (series) by Trenton
Lee Stewart
Island: Shipwreck* (series)
by Gordon Korman
The Heights (series)
by Ed Hansen
Rescue Josh McGuire
by Ben Mikaelsen
Swindle by Gordon Korman
Hatchett (series)
by Gary Paulsen
Stormbreaker (series)
by Anthony Horowitz
Middleworld (series)
by J & P Voelkel
Peak by Roland Smith
Bearstone by Will Hobbs
The Twenty One Balloons
by William Pene Du Bois
Tunnels (series) by Roderick
Gordon
Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
The Dangerous Days of
Daniel X (series) by James
Patterson
Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen
The Last Musketeer by
Stuart Gibbs
The Imaginary
by A. F. Harrold
Newbery and King Awards
Harriet the Spy
by Louise Fitzhugh
The Graveyard Book by Neil
Gaiman
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of
NIMH by Robert O’Brien
The Higher Power of Lucky
by Susan Patron
!
!
!
Turtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
!
Where the Mountain Meets
the Moon by Grace Lin
!
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
The Incredible Journey
by Sheila Every Burnford
!
!
!
!
!
Holes by Louis Sachar
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
My Side of the Mountain by
Jean Craighead George
The Westing Game by Ellen
Raskin
When You Reach Me by
Rebecca Stead
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Hope Was Here
by Joan Bauer
Elijah of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
P. S. Be Eleven
by Rita Williams-Garcia
We Are the Ship: The Story
of the Negro Baseball
League
by Kadir Nelson
Copper Sun
by Sharon Draper
!
Favorite Series
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney
A Series of Unfortunate
Events by Lemony Snicket
Percy Jackson and the
Olympians by Rick Riordan
Dear Dumb Diary
by Jim Benton
Sisters Grimm by Michael
Buckley
Molly Moon by Georgia Byng
The Boys Start the War /
The Girls Get Even (series)
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Main Street Girls by Ann M.
Martin
39 Clues by various authors
The Name of This Book is
Secret by Pseudonymous
Bosch
How to Train Your Dragon
by Cressida Cowell
Big Nate by Lincoln Pierce
The Spiderwick Chronicles*
by Tony DiTerlizzi
!
!
Everest by Gordon Korman
Dive by Gordon Korman
Skeleton Creek by Patrick
Carman
!
Non-fiction
FAVORITE
AUTHORS/
ILLUSTRATORS
Avi
Jim Benton
Judy Blume
Andrew Clements
Christopher Paul
Curtis
Margaret Peterson
Haddix
Jack Gantos
Jeff Kinney
Gordon Korman
Phyllis Reynolds
Naylor
Jack Prelutsky
Louis Sachar
Brian Selznick
Shel Silverstein
Jerry Spinelli
Princess Diaries by Meg
Cabot
Bulu: African Wonder Dog
by Dick Houston
Bulu, a Jack Russell Terrier born in
Zambia, becomes a foster parent
for orphaned baby animals after
being adopted by Anna and Steve,
who left England to live in the
African bush.
!
The Top of the World: Climbing
Mount Everest
by Steve Jenkins
Describes the conditions and terrain
of Mount Everest, attempts that
have been made to scale this peak,
and general information about the
equipment and techniques of
mountain climbing.
!
Titanic: Voices From the
Disaster
by Deborah Hopkinson
Tells the tale of the sinking of the
Titanic using the narratives of the
witnesses and survivors to the
disaster.
!
The Crossing: How George
Washington Saved the
American Revolution
by Jim Murphy
Learn how George Washington’s
crossing of the Delaware River
helped save the American
Revolution.
!
Spy School
by Adrian Gilbert
Discusses the skills and training
needed to become a spy, spying
techniques and different types of
surveillance. Includes profiles of
famous spies and double agents.
!
Ballpark: The Story of America’s
Baseball Fields by Lynn Curlee
From the first ballpark converted
from an ice rink in 1862 to the
space-aged Houston Astrodome to
the league's newest state-of-the-art
stadiums, this book tells the history
of baseball through its ballparks. As
America changed so did its
ballparks, and their various
architectural forms helped shape
the game we know today.
!
Technically, It’s Not My Fault by
John Grandits
Offers the thoughts of an elevenyear-old boy who, through a
collection of poetry and
illustrations, ponders the many
things he sees and experiences in
the world around him.
Classics
Little Women (series)
by Louisa May Alcott
The Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Old Yeller
by Fred Gipson
!
!
!
!
!
Chronicles of Narnia
by C. S. Lewis
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Wizard of Oz books by Frank L. Baum
Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates
by Mary Mapes Dodge
!
!
!
!
!
Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling
The Hornblower series
by C. S. Forrester
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Recommendations from Former 5th Graders
Wildlife
Heist (the Heights series)
Dog Days
Devil’s Bridge
Island (series)
Kingdom Keepers
It’s Raining Cupcakes
Great Escape
Whatever After (series
Otherwise Known as Sheila
the Great
!Survivors (series)
Palomino Pony (series)
Nanny Piggins
Harry Potter
Treasure Hunters
Treasure Hunters
The Bell Bandit
Listen to the Moon
Geronimo Stilton
Allie Finkel
Hatchet
Shiloh
Warriors (series)
Seekers (series)
Ronde and Tiki Barber books
Sister, Smile, Drama (series)
The One and Only Ivan