Issues for Discussion (6th Grade)

  • A Rat's Tale / Tor Seidler
  • Among the Hidden / Haddix--future society where 3rd children are forbidden--main character is "hidden" because he is a 3rd child
  • Bat 6 / Virginia Ewer Wolf?
  • Because of Winn-Dixie / DiCamillo
  • Behind the bedroom wall / Laura E. Williams
  • Belle Teal / Ann M. Martin writes about a poor girl who lives with her mother and grandmother. It deals with being poor, being different, forced segregation and prejudice, senility of the grandmother. Belle Teal is a wonderful character who will have you cheering on the sidelines.
  • Bud, not Buddy / Curtis is a great book for discussion, not only of the racial problems in the 1930's, but present and the jazz age vs. hip hop and rap.
  • Clockwork / Phillip Pullman - story of a clockmaker who put a mechanical heart into the body of a dying prince leads to some very interesting discussions. A quick read, too.
  • Crash / Spinelli
  • Esperenza Rising / Ruan
  • Gathering Blue / Lois Lowry - treatment of the handicapped; free will vs. *for the good of the society*; questions of captivity, honesty, progress vs tradition.
  • Hope Was Here / Bauer
  • Love that Dog / Creech will make for good discussion.
  • Love, Ruby Lavender / Deborah Wiles is a new book that deals with death of a father and grandfather, rivalry between two girls, the love a grandmother and granddaughter and plenty of other unusual characters.
  • My Louisiana Sky / Holt. which is about a girl whose mother is retarded and how she is ostracized by the other girls.
  • No More Dead Dogs / Korman,
  • Nothing But the Truth / Avi is a great one that our 6th grade superstar uses
  • Petey / Mikaelsen--deals with a high school age boy and a man who has cystic fibrosis and how they bond
  • Plain City / Virginia Hamilton
  • Reaching Dustin / Vicki Grove. It's about a student that doesn't do well in school and is made fun of, I believe. A girl classmate decides to find out about him and discovers that other factors could be causing his attitudes.
  • Skellig / David Almond - great discussion book about what is Skellig? home-schooling? do people have spiritual/psychic connections? stranger danger vs. helping others, etc.
  • Stargirl, / Jerry Spinelli
  • Tangerine / Bloor
  • The Girls / Amy Goldman Koss. It is a "girl" book but captures middle school ostracizing perfectly
  • The Last Book in the Universe / Rodman Philbrick,
  • THE MISFITS, / James Howe.
  • The Mouse and His Child / Hoban
  • The Trial of Anna Cotman / Vivien Alcock
  • The Wanderer / Creech
  • The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
  • The Wounded Spirit / Frank Peretti It is not very long and has such a wonderful message for all people who have ever been bullied and made fun of by others.
  • Weasel / DeFelice. It has some rather gross parts that the kids love. Great discussions about crime and punishment, the death penalty and how Native American were moved out of their homes. It also has a somewhat "odd" ending, and we discuss why a writer would include that.
  • When Zachary Beaver came to town / Holt--Zachary Beaver is "the fattest boy in the world"--all about relationships in a small town.
  • Whirligig / Fleishman
  • Wringer / Jerry Spinelli


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