“Read for the fun of it” with these great middle school recommendations from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Teen Specialists! Every year the Young Adult Library Association (YALSA) celebrates Teen Read Week, a national adolescent literacy initiative held in October. Its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users and this year’s theme is “Read for the Fun of It”. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Teen Specialists have put together this list of books that are great for middle schoolers and that we hope will inspire them to “Read for the fun of it” not just during Teen Read Week but all year long!
Stop by your neighborhood Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh location to pick up a printed copy of this booklist, which features additional titles!
Theo Rollins is starting eighth grade six inches taller, and his new height is making everyone expect more from him. Coach Mandrake wants to transform him from invisible science geek into star basketball player, even though Theo has little experience with the game.
In Sam Bosma’s debut graphic novel, a young explorer and her musclebound friend go treasure hunting in a mummy’s tomb — but if they want to get rich, they’re going to have to best the mummy in a game of hoops! Can they trust their bandaged adversary to play by the rules? Or will they be stuck in the tomb . . . forever?
A graphic novel adventure about a twelve-year-old girl who discovers roller derby right as she and her best friend are growing apart.
Adelina survived the blood fever, a deadly illness that killed many, but left others with strange markings and supernatural powers. Cast out by her family, Adelina joins the secret society of the Young Elites and discovers her own dangerous abilities.
When Connor’s grandmother dies, she leaves his ill father a letter confessing that the man who raised him was not his biological father. Connor then takes it upon himself to dig into their ancestry and makes a fascinating discovery.
A biography, in graphic novel format, of Latin American baseball star Roberto Clemente. It chronicles Clemente’s life from his early days growing up in rural Puerto Rico, to the highlights of his career (including the 1960 World Series where he helped the Pirates win their first victory in 33 years and his 3000th hit in 1972 during the last official at-bat of his life). You can also check out this title as eBook on Hoopla.
Petrel is an outcast on the ancient ship, an icebreaker, that has been following the same course for 300 years. In that time, the ship’s crew has broken into three warring tribes. Everyone has a tribe except Petrel, who lives in the ship’s darkest corners, and trusts no one except two large gray rats – that is, until a mysterious boy is discovered on an iceberg, and brought onto the ship.
Welcome to the Human Body Theater, where your master of ceremonies is going to lead you through a theatrical revue of each and every biological system of the human body! Starting out as a skeleton, the MC puts on a new layer of her costume (her body) with each “act.”