Barthe DeClements.  6th Grade Can Really Kill You

Helen fears that lack of improvement in her reading may leave her stuck in the sixth grade forever, until a good teacher recognizes her reading problem.

Kathleen O'Dell.  Agnes Parker--Girl in Progress

As she starts in the sixth grade, Agnes faces challenges with her old best friend, a longtime bully, a wonderful new classmate and neighbor, and herself.

Phyllis Shalant.  Beware of Kissing Lizard Lips

Zach is small for a sixth grader and the girls at school make fun of him, but when one girl in his class starts showing him some tae kwon do moves and teaching him about martial arts, things begin to change.

Betsy Cromer Byars.  Bingo Brown, Gypsy Lover

A sixth-grade boy deals with the prospect of a new baby brother and a long-distance love relationship.

Shelley Swanson Sateren.  Cat on a Hottie's Tin Roof:  a Novel

Sixth-grader Cat tries to hide the fact that she is a good student in order to make friends with Cassidy, but when a third girl who likes the same music and fashions as Cassidy comes on the scene, Cat is afraid she will lose her new friend.

Barbara Ware Holmes.  Charlotte Shakespeare and Annie the Great

After prodding her best friend Annie into trying out for the lead in the play she has written for their sixth grade class, Charlotte feels herself losing control of her own play and experiences jealousy when Annie suddenly gets all the attention.

Jacqueline Turner Banks.  A Day for Vincent Chin and Me

Although Tommy, a Japanese-American sixth-grader, has serious doubts when his mother starts organizing a rally to fight racism, once he and his friends find a cause of their own he gains more understanding of her motives.

Susan Beth Pfeffer.  Dear Dad, Love Laurie

Laurie's letters to her divorced father chronicle her year in the sixth grade and her efforts to enter her school's program for the gifted and talented.

Claudia Mills.  Dinah in Love

Dynamite Dinah finds her feelings about sixth-grade classmate Nick Tribble changing when they share involvement in a school play, a debate, and a sock hop.

Jamie Gilson.  Do Bananas Chew Gum?

Able to read and write at only a second grade level, sixth-grader Sam Mott considers himself dumb until he is prompted to cooperate with those who think something can be done about his problem.

Carol Gorman.  Dork on the Run

Having reluctantly agreed to run for sixth-grade president, Jerry, who has been trying to change his image as a dork, finds his opponent playing dirty tricks on him.

Barbara O'Connor.  Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia

Unpopular sixth-grader Burdette "Bird" Weaver persuades the new boy at school, whom everyone thinks is mean and dumb, to be her partner for a spelling bee that might win her everything she's ever wanted.

Bill Wallace.  Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridge

Liz tells her zoologist father he must get rid of all the homeless animals he keeps at their house or she'll never win the sixth-grade class presidency, but when they're gone she misses them and learns there are more important things than winning.

John Bellairs.  The Figure in the Shadows

A painfully overweight sixth-grade boy receives a magic amulet which brings him luck, but also terrifying side effects.

Ralph J. Fletcher.  Flying Solo

Rachel, having chosen to be mute following the sudden death of a classmate, shares responsibility with the other sixth-graders who decide not to report that the substitute teacher failed to show up.

Joanne Rocklin.  For Your Eyes Only

The entries in the journals of two sixth grade students reveal much about their personal feelings, family lives, and a growing interest in poetry sparked by their new substitute teacher.

Donna Guthrie.  Frankie Murphy's Kiss List

All the boys in the sixth grade get involved when Frankie, the new kid, makes a bet that he can kiss every girl in their class before the last day of school.

Kazumi Yumoto.  The Friends

Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends.

Martha Tannery Jones.  The Ghost at the Old Stone Fort

Searching for a jewel thief, two sixth-grade boys in Nacogdoches, Texas, spend two nights in the Old Stone Fort, where they meet a legendary Texas judge, Three-legged Willie.

Patricia Reilly Giff.  The Gift of the Pirate Queen

Sixth-grader Grace, her mother dead and her only sister ill with diabetes, learns to be brave like the pirate queen Grace O'Malley, whom her Irish cousin says she resembles.

Carolee Brockmann.  Going for Great

Feeling abandoned by her parents and her best friend, sixth grader Jenna worries that her severe stage fright will spoil her performance at a flute competition--until she gets to know a class misfit who is a good musician and an even better friend.

Janet Anderson.  Going Through the Gate

The five sixth-grade students in a small town prepare for their teacher's annual graduation ceremony, a mysterious ritual that several generations of students have experienced but no one can discuss.

Kate McMullan.  The Great Eggspectations of Lila Fenwick

When faced with the challenges of sixth grade, Lila sees her "Great Ideas" backfire but soon discovers that good things can happen when they're least "eggspected."

Stephen Roos.  The Gypsies Never Came

Sixth-grader Augie Knapp, who has a deformed hand, is convinced by Lydie Rose, the strange new girl in town, that the Gypsies are coming for him.

Bruce Hale.  The Hamster of Baskervilles:  from the Tattered

Casebook of Chet Gecko, Private Eye   Something is trashing the classrooms at Emerson Hicky Elementary School, and sixth-grade private eye Chet Gecko sets out to find the creature that's responsible.

Jamie Gilson.  Harvey, the Beer Can King

A twelve-year-old boy hopes his beer can collection will win him the title of sixth-grade Superkid.

Jack Gantos.  Heads or Tails:  Stories From the Sixth Grade

Jack's diary helps him deal with his problems which include dog-eating alligators, a terror for an older sister, a younger brother who keeps breaking parts of himself, and next-door neighbors who are really weird.

Linda Bailey.  How Come the Best Clues Are Always in the

Garbage?   When a thief steals money from her mom's Garbage Busters project, Stephanie, a sixth grader, identifies herself as "Stevie Diamond, Detective" and sets off to find the culprit.

Janet Taylor Lisle.  How I Became a Writer and Oggie Learned to

Drive   As sixth-grader Archie and his six-year-old brother Oggie shuttle back and forth between their separated parents' two homes, Archie tries desperately to take care of Oggie and to pretend that everything is normal.

Seymour Simon.  The Howling Dog and Other Cases

Sixth-grade sleuth Adam "Einstein" Anderson uses his scientific knowledge to solve a variety of puzzles, including a machine that makes things shrink and an encounter with people from a flying saucer.

Bruce Coville.  I Was a Sixth Grade Alien

When aliens come to Earth on an interplanetary trade mission, sixth-grader Tim makes friends with the ambassador's son and together they uncover a plot to sabotage the mission.

Marthe Jocelyn.  The Invisible Enemy

Sixth grader Billie finds her life complicated when a cute boy from Montreal transfers to her school and her enemy Alyssa accidentally uses her vanishing powder.

Judy Blume.  It's Not the End of the World

When her parents divorce, a sixth grader struggles to understand that sometimes people are unable to live together.

Andrew Clements.  The Jacket

An incident at school forces sixth grader Phil Morelli, a white boy, to become aware of racial discrimination and segregation, and to seriously consider if he himself is prejudiced.

Kathleen Duey.  Janey G. Blue:  Pearl Harbor, 1941

In Hawaii in 1941, sixth grader Janey G. Blue experiences the terror of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Graham Salisbury.  Jungle Dogs

While worrying about the wild dogs that supposedly lurk in the jungle along his paper route, Hawaiian sixth grader Boy Regis also seeks to stop his older brother Damon from fighting all his battles for him.

Johanna Hurwitz.  Just Desserts Club

Sixth grader Cricket finds just the right dessert to bake for school events during the year. Includes recipes for Zucchini "Apple" Crisp, No Bake Orange Balls, and Mystery Ingredient Chocolate Cake.

Patricia Reilly Giff.  Kidnap at the Catfish Cafe

Assisted by her cat Max, sixth grader Minnie starts up her new detective agency by investigating a kidnapping and a thief who will steal anything, even a hot stove.

James VanOosting.  The Last Payback

Getting revenge for the death of her twin brother will be hard for sixth-grader Dimple Dorfman, especially because she thinks that he was shot by the boy she likes best in her small town.

Barthe DeClements.  Liar, Liar

Sixth-grader Gretchen and her friends begin to have problems when a new girl starts telling some very believable, but untrue, stories.

Richard Peck.  Lost in Cyberspace

While dealing with changes at home, sixth-grader Josh and his friend Aaron use the computer at their New York prep school to travel through time, learning some secrets from the school's past and improving Josh's home situation.

Susan Richards Shreve.  Lucy Forever, Miss Rosetree and the

Stolen Baby   Sixth-grader Lucy Childs and her friend Rosie Treeman do not have much time for their pretend psychiatric practice when Lucy's family decides to adopt a baby, who is kidnapped the day after she arrives at their house.

Katherine Ayres.  Macaroni Boy

In Pittsburgh in 1933, sixth-grader Mike Costa notices a connection between several strange occurrences, but the only way he can find out the truth about what's happening is to be nice to the class bully.

Paula Danziger.  Make Like a Tree and Leave

Sixth-grader Matthew gets into trouble at home and at school, spars with his older sister, and helps save an elderly friend's property from the hands of a developer.

Mame Farrell.  Marrying Malcolm Murgatroyd

Hannah Billings hates being teased about marrying Malcolm Murgatroyd, the most unpopular and misunderstood boy in her sixth-grade class, until he reveals his true personality when her brother succumbs to muscular dystrophy.

Patricia Calvert.  Michael, Wait For Me

Sixth-grader Sarah develops a crush on the troubled young man that her older sister brings home from college for the summer.

Jean Craighead George.  The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo:  an

Ecological Mystery   Sixth-grader Liza K., one of five homeless people living in an unspoiled forest in southern Florida, searches for a missing alligator destined for official extermination and studies the delicate ecological balance keeping her outdoor home beautiful.

Barthe DeClements.  Monkey See Monkey Do

Jerry's adored father seems unable to stay out of jail, causing the sixth grader anguish at home and in school.

Matt Christopher.  Mountain Bike Mania

Sixth-grader Will is looking for an after-school activity, but when he joins the mountain biking club, his old friendships and values are challenged.

Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna.  Murphy's Island

Collette Murphy has to go with her large, often trying family to a small island and start sixth grade there as the new girl in school.

Jeanne Betancourt.  My Name is Brain Brian

Although he is helped by his new sixth grade teacher after being diagnosed as dyslexic, Brian still has some problems with school and with people he thought were his friends.

Bill Wallace.  Never Say Quit

Angry when they are excluded from the soccer team, sixth-grader Justine and the rest of the school misfits form their own team and begin training with a coach who drinks heavily but gives them a special gift.

Anne Capeci.  Now You See It--:  the Incredible Illusions of Ethan

Flask and Professor Von Offel   Ethan Flask is teaching his sixth-grade science class about optical illusions, and other people in the school are seeing things.

Diane Muldrow.  On the Back Burner

Things are heating up for the sixth-graders' cooking business when they get their biggest job yet while Peichi is busy preparing for her family's Chinese New Year celebration and all the rest of the girls come down with the flu.

Eve Bunting.  Our Sixth Grade Sugar Babies

Vicki and her best friend fear that their sixth grade project, carrying around five-pound bags of sugar to learn about parental responsibility, will make them look ridiculous in the eyes of the seventh grade boy they both love.

Mary Francis Shura.  Polly Panic

When disastrous things happen as Polly enters sixth grade, she finds that in dealing with untrustworthy friends, bullies, and family problems, she has overcome her natural fearfulness.

Ilene Cooper.  Queen of the Sixth Grade

After helping her supposed best friend Veronica found the sixth grade's secret club, the Awesome Kennedy Girls, Robin accidentally gets on her wrong side and discovers how bossy and cruel Veronica really is.

Julie Ann Peters.  Revenge of the Snob Squad

An overweight sixth-grader joins forces with three other gym class outcasts to plot revenge against the spoiled popular girl who has been tormenting them.

Anna Myers. Rosie's Tiger

In 1952 in Oklahoma, sixth grader Rosie enlists the aid of her new best friend, the flamboyant Cassandra, in trying to get rid of the Korean wife and stepson her older brother has brought back from the war.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Saving Shiloh

Sixth-grader Marty and his family try to help their rough neighbor, Judd Travers, change his mean ways, even though their West Virginia community continues to expect the worst of him.

Dona Schenker.  The Secret Circle

Sixth grader Jamie enters a new school and must decide if membership in an exclusive clique, The Secret Circle, is worth the price of betraying a friend.

Gordon Korman.  The Sixth Grade Nickname Game

Eleven-year-old best friends Jeff and Wiley, who like to give nicknames to their classmates, try to find the right one for the new girl Cassandra, while adjusting to the football coach who has become their new teacher.

Louis Sachar.  Sixth Grade Secrets

When Laura Sibbie starts a club called Pig City, she incites a near-war among her sixth-grade classmates and generates the creation of a rival club that has designs on Pig City's precious box of secrets.

Eve Bunting.  Sixth-Grade Sleepover

Janey worries that the sixth grade Rabbit Reading Club's all-night sleepover will expose her fear of the dark, but it turns out that she is not the only member with a secret.

Bruce Coville.  The Skull of Truth

Charlie, a sixth-grader with a compulsion to tell lies, acquires a mysterious skull that forces its owner to tell only the truth, causing some awkward moments before he understands its power.

Lynn Cullen.  Stink Bomb

Taking care of two orphaned baby squirrels helps Kenny forget how bad he feels about blaming a shy sixth-grade classmate for his own "stink bomb," but his mother refuses to allow him or his brothers to bring home any more animals.

Mildred Pitts Walter.  Suitcase

Despite his love of drawing and his feelings of inadequacy as an athlete, sixth-grader Xander "Suitcase" Bingham works to become a baseball player to win the approval of his father.

Zilpha Keatley Snyder.  The Trespassers

Having trespassed and explored the empty Hutchinson mansion, which seems haunted by the presence of a long-dead young girl, sixth grader Neely and her little brother become regular visitors when emotionally disturbed Curtis Hutchinson moves in.

Bill Wallace.  True Friends

The new girl in Courtney's sixth-grade class shows her a way to survive when things at school and home begin to fall apart.

Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna.  The Truth About Sixth Grade

Collette finds herself unexpectedly popular when her fellow students find out her family knows the world's most gorgeous teacher personally.

Gordon Korman.  The Twinkie Squad

Chaos spreads when Douglas, the most eccentric sixth grader in Thaddeus G. Little Middle School, joins the Twinkie Squad, a special counselling group for problem students.

Sheila Solomon Klass.  The Uncivil War

Even with her father as principal, Asa Andersen is certain that sixth grade will be perfect, until a new boy in school starts making fun of her name and the baby her mother is expecting is born prematurely.

E. L. Konigsburg.  The View From Saturday

Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who choses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

Jamie Gilson.  Wagon Train 911

As a school project, sixth graders recreate a westward trek to Oregon with all the perils that faced real pioneers.

Avi.  Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?

In the early forties when nearly everyone else is thinking about World War II, sixth-grader Frankie Wattleson gets in trouble at home and at school because of his preoccupation with his favorite radio programs.

Emily Moore.  Whose Side Are You On?

When Barbra's friend and sixth-grade math tutor T.J. disappears from school, she sets out to "rescue" him.

Karen Hesse. Wish On a Unicorn

Sixth grader Maggie feels burdened by her seven-year-old sister Hannie, who is slightly brain-damaged and believes that a toy unicorn has magical powers, until one afternoon a crisis shows her how special Hannie is.

Gail Gauthier.  A Year With Butch and Spike

Upon entering the sixth grade, straight-A student Jasper falls under the spell of the dreaded, irrepressible Cootch cousins.