RECOMMENDED READING LIST – GRADE 5
SGI LIBRARY
ADVENTURE
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
When orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the marketplace one day who tells him that his sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures in an attempt to find her.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Mission Unstoppable (Series: Genius Files #1) by Dan Gutman
On a cross-country vacation with their parents, twins Coke and Pepsi, soon to be thirteen, fend off strange assassins as they try to come to terms with their being part of a top-secret government organization known as The Genius Files.
Dive (Series) by Gordon Korman
An action-packed underwater trilogy.
Everest (Series) by Gordon Korman
The youngest expedition ever to attempt an Everest climb has begun.
Island (Series) by Gordon Korman
Six children try to survive on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean after a storm destroys their boat.
On the Run (Series) by Gordon Korman
Tells a story about two children who try to clear their parents' name.
Titanic (Series) by Gordan Korman
Focuses on the sinking of the Titanic, along with the struggles and adventures of the kids aboard the grand ship.
Swindle by Gordon Korman
After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino's heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father's failing invention, the Smart Pick fruit picker.
Maze of Bones (Series: 39 Clues #1) by Rick Riordan
Amy and Dan, members of the powerful Cahill family, try to uncover the thirty-nine clues which will reveal the secrets of their lineage and find out what really happened to their parents.
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
Chase Masters and his father are "storm runners," racing across the country in pursuit of hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Anywhere bad weather strikes, they are not far behind. Chase is learning more on the road than he ever would just sitting in a classroom. But when the hurricane of the century hits, he will be tested in ways he never could have imagined.
I Survived (Series) by Lauren Tarshis
Based on real, historical events: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hurricane Katrina, the shark attacks of 1916, the sinking of the Titanic
ANIMAL FICTION
Sounder by William Armstrong
Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy grows in courage and understanding with the help of the devoted dog Sounder.
The Incredible Journey by Carl Burger
A Siamese cat, an old bull terrier, and a young Labrador retriever travel together 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their family.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
A reckless young mouse named Ralph makes friends with a boy in room 215 of the Mountain View Inn and discovers the joys of motorcycling.
Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
Presents the further adventures of a motorcycle-riding mouse who goes to school and becomes the instigator of an investigation of rodents and the peacemaker for two lonely boys.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
With nowhere else to turn, a field mouse asks the clever escaped lab rats living under the rosebush to help save her son, who lies in the path of the farmer's tractor, too ill to be moved.
How to Steal a Dog: A Novel by Barbara O'Connor
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds
When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The adventures of a country cricket who unintentionally arrives in New York and is befriended by Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat.
Stuart Little by E. B. White
The adventures of the mouse Stuart Little as he sets out in the world to seek out his dearest friend, a little bird who stayed a few days in his family's garden.
Vet Volunteers (Series) by Laurie Halse Anderson
Maggie's grandmother runs an animal clinic, Dr. Mac's place, so Maggie knows her way around animals who are in danger, and there are lots of animals who need to be saved.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
Presents humorous anecdotes from the author's childhood, including his summer vacations in Norway and life at an English boarding school.
Knots in My Yo-yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid by Jerry Spinelli
This Italian-American Newbery Medalist presents a humorous account of his childhood and youth in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION
The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain
When a strange little man comes to the Coven Tree Church Social promising he can give people exactly what they ask for, three young believers-in-magic each make a wish that comes true in the most unexpected way.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.
Among the Hidden (Shadow Children #1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.
A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering such wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers and other helpful folk. Based in part on the Grimms' fairy tales Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The seven ravens, Brother and sister, The robber bridegroom, and The devil and his three golden hairs.
Warriors (Series) by Erin Hunter
A fascinating feline fantasy--the struggle between ThunderClan, a group of feral cats, and the enemy, ShadowClan.
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.
The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman
Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
11 birthdays by Wendy Mass
After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again.
HISTORICAL FICTION
City of Orphans by Avi
In 1893 New York, thirteen-year-old Maks, a newsboy, teams up with Willa, a homeless girl, to clear his older sister, Emma, from charges that she stole from the brand new Waldorf Hotel, where she works.
The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady
During the Revolutionary War, a ten-year-old girl crosses enemy lines to deliver a loaf of bread containing a message for the patriots.
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell
When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.
The Birchmark House by Louise Erdich
Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.
Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.
Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff
Eleven-year-old Meggie Dillon shares her feelings and experiences on the homefront during World War II after her family moves from Rockaway, New York to Willow Run, Michigan.
Jason’s Gold by Will Hobbs
When news of the discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon Territory in 1897 reaches fifteen-year-old Jason, he embarks on a 10,000-mile journey to strike it rich.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Henry Mazer
After his father is killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adam, his mother, and sister are evacuated from Hawaii to California, where he must deal with his feelings about the war, Japanese internment camps, his father, and his own identity.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Fictionalizes the story of a Native American woman's eighteen years of solitary survival on San Nicolas Island, the most remote of California's Channel Islands, after being left there in 1835 when her tribe was removed to the mainland.
Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder
At the end of the Civil War, twelve-year-old Will, having lost all his immediate family, reluctantly leaves his city home to live in the Virginia countryside with his aunt and the uncle he considers a traitor because he refused to take part in the war.
Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury
Tomi Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
GHOST & HORROR STORIES
The ghost and Mrs. Hobbs by Cynthia DeFelice
Hindered by a fight with her friend Dub and a series of mysterious fires, eleven-year-old Allie investigates the fire seventeen years earlier which claimed the lives of the husband and infant son of a school cafeteria worker, as well as the handsome young man whose ghost asks Allie for help.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
When thirteen-year-old Ali spends the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family's vacation home, she stumbles upon a secret that her mother and aunt have been hiding for over thirty years.
The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
Ashley, who has recently moved from Baltimore to a new town with her widowed mother, finds an antique doll buried in old Miss Cooper's garden and discovers she can enter a ghostly turn-of-the-century world by going through a hole in the hedge.
The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn
In the nineteenth century, ten-year-old Florence Crutchfield leaves a London orphanage to live with her great-uncle, great-aunt, and sickly cousin James, but she soon realizes the home has another resident, who means to do her and James harm.