5th Grade Book Recommendations
You do not have to read all of these books. These are just a few book options that you might want to read this summer. We have put together this list for your convenience. Please pick 5 books.​
Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata
Recommended by: Christina I.
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A Japanese family, the Takeshimas had to move to Georgia after the dad lost his job, in Iowa. The two sisters, Lynn and Katie always stick together. When they move, Lynn becomes distant from her family. She starts hanging out with all her new friends. Katie starts to feel more distant from Lynn than she has ever felt before. One day Lynn gets very sick. Will this be the time for Katie to keep her sister or lose her forever?
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Recommended by: Fourth Grade Students
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Coraline Jones moves into a new house and discovers a door in the wall. Despite all her neighbors warning her not to go through it, she does anyway. She discovers that the door only opens at night. She is in a different world, an alternate universe. She meets the Other Mother who is way better than her real mother. Of course there is danger!
Pax, by Sara Pennypacker
Recommended by: Sophie L. ​
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Peter, and his pet fox are best friends and they do everything together. But then one day he is forced to release his best friend. But he misses him too much and decides to leave home and get his fox back.
Jinx, by Sage Blackwood
Recommended by: Anjali M., Kate W. and Sophie L.
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Jinx' stepparents try to abandon him in the Urwald, but a wizard comes along and offers to buy Jinx instead. The wizard, Simon, makes Jinx a servant in his home. Finally Jinx goes on a journey to find a way to recapture his life and along the way he meets two people his own age, Reven and Elfwyn, who are also cursed and looking for a way to fix their situation.
What does a Fish have to do with Anything, by Avi
Recommended by: Christina I.
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These stories tell about kids in middle school. Each of the 7 stories has a different character and different moral.
Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Recommended by: Arnav G.
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Peter and his mates are sent to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They set sail aboard the Never Land, a ship carrying a precious and mysterious cargo called the greatest treasure on earth. There’s an island that Peter and his group are eventually stuck on, and it turns out to be a life or death mystery.
The Secret Series, by Pseudonymous Bosch,
Recommended by: Colombe G.
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This series, is the story of two unexpected friends, talkative Max-Earnest and less chatty survival obsessed Cassandra. When a Magician named Pietro Bergamo goes missing and strange things start to happen. Throughout the series the children go on many daring adventures and find out a big secret that may change everything.
The Maze Runner series, by James Dashner
Recommended by: Anjali M. and Oliver C.
Thomas knows nothing but his first name and has no idea how he got to “The Glade”. The metal elevator that brought Thomas into The Glade used to bring food, supplies, and a new person every month with no memory but their first name, but after Thomas came, the elevator stopped coming. The Glade is surrounded by 4-mile high walls all around and a maze on the outside that changes everyday so you can't escape. There are creatures in the maze called “Grievers” which are monsters of metal and flesh which won’t show any mercy.
Poison is Not Polite, by Robin Stevens
Recommended by: Anjali M.
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Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are good friends. At Daisy’s home, one member of the household falls very ill and it’s clear it was poisoning. Daisy and Hazel have to crack the case before someone else is struck.
Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett
Recommended By: Arnav G.
This mystery is set in Chicago's Hyde Park, where two children, Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee live. After a famous Vermeer painting, A Lady In Writing, is stolen, Calder and Petra work together to try to decode what happened and bring back the painting.
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy
Recommended by: Vivienne W.
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Prue lives in Portland on the edge of unknown woods. When her baby brother Mac is abducted my a murder of crows and is taken into the woods Prue has to venture along to find him, but there is more trouble when Prue’s friend Curtis tags along. Along with a missing baby there is an evil empress, talking animals, and much more.
A Night Divided, by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Recommended by: Sophie L.
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Girta's family is divided overnight when the Berlin Wall suddenly goes up. Her father and brother are on the outside, in the free world, but she is stuck on the inside with her mother and other brother. Gerta is determined to reunite her family. So she has to dig a tunnel in secret to the other side of the wall without getting caught. She can trust no one.
Rules, by Cynthia Lord
Recommended by: Christina I.
Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. This is hard when you have a brother with differences. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules she had made up-from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" and to "keep your pants on in public"-in order to stop his embarrassing behavior. But the summer Catherine meets Jason and Kristi, she is forced her to ask herself: What is normal?