Reading Beyond Grades 6-8

For children in grades 6-8 reading at a high school grade level. Books that are challenging to read but still appropriate for advanced younger readers.

Showing 1 - 20 of 33  There are a total of 117 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Alcatraz versus the evil Librarians"
Star rating for Alcatraz versus the evil Librarians
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry receives a bag of sand which is immediately stolen by the evil Librarians who are trying to take over the world, and Alcatraz is introduced to his grandfather and his own special talent, and told that he must use it to save civilization.
Book cover for "The burning bridge"
Star rating for The burning bridge
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
Will is forced to overcome his fear of Wargals, the foot soldiers of rebel warlord Morgarath, as Araluen's army prepares to battle Morgarath's forces.

3. Cinder

Book cover for "Cinder"
Star rating for Cinder
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince...
Book cover for "Counting by 7s"
Star rating for Counting by 7s
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.

5. Cress

Book cover for "Cress"
Star rating for Cress
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company.
Book cover for "Crossed"
Star rating for Crossed
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Seventeen-year-old Cassia sacrifices everything and heads to the Outer Provinces in search of Ky, where she is confronted with shocking revelations about Society and the promise of rebellion.
Book cover for "The death cure"
Star rating for The death cure
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
As the third Trial draws to a close, Thomas and some of his cohorts manage to escape from WICKED, their memories having been restored, only to face new dangers as WICKED claims to be trying to protect the human race from the deadly FLARE virus.
Book cover for "The eye of minds"
Star rating for The eye of minds
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
"Michael is a skilled internet gamer in a world of advanced technology. When a cyber-terrorist begins to threaten players, Michael is called upon to seek him and his secrets out"--
Book cover for "The false prince"
Star rating for The false prince
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.
Book cover for "The fever code"
Star rating for The fever code
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Reveals how Thomas and WICKED built the Maze against the backdrop of an apocalyptic world.
Book cover for "The final spark"
Star rating for The final spark
Description:
With Michael missing, the members of the Electroclan are divided, leaving them vulnerable to Hatch's forces.
Book cover for "The icebound land"
Star rating for The icebound land
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Will, trust in your friends, we will not let you down. You have been kidnapped by a fearsome wolfship captain, and are trapped on a ship headed to the icebound land of Skandia. Your future looks dark, as you face a life of backbreaking slavery. But you must be strong. Remember your training, and know that your friends will do anything to rescue you, even if they have to defy the King.

13. Jackaby

Book cover for "Jackaby"
Star rating for Jackaby
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Newly arrived in 1892 New England, Abigail Rook becomes assistant to R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with the ability to see supernatural beings, and she helps him delve into a case of serial murder which, Jackaby is convinced, is due to a nonhuman creature.
Book cover for "The kill order"
Star rating for The kill order
Average Rating:
3.5 stars
Description:
"Mark struggles to make sense of his new, post-disaster world in this prequel to The Maze Runner"--

15. Matched

Book cover for "Matched"
Star rating for Matched
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
All her life, Cassia has never had a choice. The Society dictates everything: when and how to play, where to work, where to live, what to eat and wear, when to die, and most importantly to Cassia as she turns 17, whom to marry. When she is Matched with her best friend Xander, things couldn't be more perfect. But why did her neighbor Ky's face show up on her match disk as well?
Book cover for "The maze runner"
Star rating for The maze runner
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.
Book cover for "Michael Vey"
Star rating for Michael Vey
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
To stop Hatch from using the Elgen fleet to gain world power, Michael and the rest of the Electroclan must destroy the lead ship, but divisions within the Electroclan threaten the success of their operation.
Book cover for "Michael Vey"
Star rating for Michael Vey
Book cover for "Michael Vey"
Star rating for Michael Vey
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Michael, Taylor, Ostin, and the rest of the Electroclan head to Taiwan in search of nine-year-old child prodigy Lin Julung, or Jade Dragon, who the Elgen kidnapped for Hatch's army of electric children.
Book cover for "Michael Vey"
Star rating for Michael Vey
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Fifteen-year-old Michael Vey, born with Tourette's syndrome and special electromagnetic powers, joins his techno-genius best friend and an alliance of other "electric" teenagers to battle powerful foes in the jungles of Peru, where Michael learns the Order of Elgen's plan to "restructure" the world.