Children's 2004 choices by the International Reading Association. Advanced readers grades 5th & 6th

Act I, Act II, Act Normal. Martha Weston.A middle school boy deals with being bullied over having the lead as Rumpelstiltskin in the school play, the death of his family pet, his loyalty to his best friend, and the range of emotions of middle school girls.

Agnes Parker…Girl in Progress. Kathleen O'Dell. Being 11 definitely makes her a girl in progress.

The Cheat. Amy Goldman Koss.Six middle school students tell of their knowledge or involvement in a midterm exam cheating incident in short, alternating chapters.

The City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau. An underground city surviving on stored supplies and a failing generator stretch the imagination as Lina and Doon lead a suspenseful and exciting search for a new world that might not exist but offers the only hope for their community.

Cowboy Boy. James Proimos. Children will relate to Ricky as he exaggerates and uses humor to describe his parents, best friend, teachers, and life in middle school.

Dare to Be Scared: Thirteen Stories to Chill and Thrill. David Ouimet. Between the black end papers are 13 dark tales for readers who love to be scared.

The Emerald Throne (Eaglesmount series). Cherith Baldry.This is the second of the Eaglesmount Trilogy.

Firewing. Kenneth Oppel.In this installment, the third in a series of books about bats.

Frosty: The Adventures of a Morgan Horse. Ellen F. Feld.

Hello, Goodbye, I Love You. Pamela Bauer Mueller.Heartstrings will be pulled as you read about the life of Aloha the guide dog and his trainer Diego.

Little Vampire Goes to School. Joann Sfar.

Locomotion. Jacqueline Woodson. Readers are captivated by an 11yr olds poems, which reveal his determination to make life better.

Millicent Min, Girl Genius. Lisa Yee. Millicent Min is 11 and a genius. Her high school classmates hate her.

Overnight. Adele Griffin.Gray floats in and out of being an accepted member of the “Lucky Seven.” It was bad enough dealing with her mother's cancer.

PredicKtions. John Halliday. The sleepy town of Westlake is in search of something to attract visitors.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception. Wendelin Van Draanen. This seventh-grade sleuth gets a kiss, visits a gallery, meets the artists, foils a heist, exposes a fraud, and discovers her own definition of art.

The Sisters Club. Megan McDonald. Stevie, Alex, and Joey are the sole members of the Sisters Club.

Skeleton Key. Anthony Horowitz.Alex Rider is on another adventure in the world of spies.

Spy Cat. Peg Kehret and Pete the Cat.
Pete the cat can understand everything he hears, but no one can understand him when he tries to tell them about dangerous burglars in the neighborhood.

The Steps. Rachel Cohn. Twelve-year-old Annabel experiences feelings and emotions that children can relate to as she finds her place within two new stepfamilies.

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. Lauren Child. Clarice and her friends get help from their favorite book character and child detective, Ruby Redfort, to solve a class mystery and enter a literature contest.

Where I'd Like to Be. Frances O'Roark Dowell. Maddie just wants to find a permanent home and live with a family.

The Wild World of the Future. Claire Pye. The complex relationships among climate, habitat, and the animal kingdom are traced from 200 million years ago to the present. Evolution is explained through detailed text, full-color drawings, and photographs.