Although the following book list is not mandatory, it may be helpful when looking for the best books for middle schoolers to read in preparation for high school and college. It’s wise to read as many classics as possible, and this list may help you to get started.
Louisa M. Alcott Little Women
Anonymous Go Ask Alice
Enid Bagnold National Velvet
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
Vera Cleaver Where the Lilies Bloom
Robert Cormier I Am the Cheese, The Chocolate War
Steven Crane The Red Badge of Courage
Paul Creswick Robin Hood
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca
Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe
Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist
Michael Dorris A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Alexander Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo
Allan W. Eckert Incident at Hawk’s Hill
Esther Forbes Johnny Tremain
Amos Forture Free Man
Anne Frank Diary of Anne Frank
Jean Craighead George Julie of the Wolves
William Golding Lord of the Flies
John Hershey Hiroshima
S.E. Hinton The Outsiders
Victor Hugo The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Irene Hunt Across Five Aprils
Helen Keller Story of My Life
Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon
Rudyard Kipling Captains Courageous, Kim
Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird
Madeline L'Engle A Wrinkle in Time
Jack London The Call of the Wild
Lois Lowry The Giver, Gathering Blue
Anne McCaffrey Dragonsong
Scott O'Dell Island of the Blue Dolphins
Mary O’Hara My Friend Flicka
Katherine Paterson Jacob Have I Loved
Robert Newton Peck A Day No Pigs Would Die
M. Rawlings The Yearling
Wilson Rawls Where the Red Fern Grows
Johanna Reiss The Upstairs Room
Louis Sachar Holes
Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
John Steinbeck The Pearl
Betty Smith A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
Armstrong Sperry Call It Courage
Robert Louis Stevenson Treasure Island, Kidnapped
John Steinbeck The Red Pony
J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit
Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jean Webster Daddy Long Legs
H.G. Wells War of the Worlds
Laurence Yep Dragonwings
Paul Zindel The Pigman
Louisa M. Alcott Little Women
Anonymous Go Ask Alice
Enid Bagnold National Velvet
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
Vera Cleaver Where the Lilies Bloom
Robert Cormier I Am the Cheese, The Chocolate War
Steven Crane The Red Badge of Courage
Paul Creswick Robin Hood
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca
Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe
Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist
Michael Dorris A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Alexander Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo
Allan W. Eckert Incident at Hawk’s Hill
Esther Forbes Johnny Tremain
Amos Forture Free Man
Anne Frank Diary of Anne Frank
Jean Craighead George Julie of the Wolves
William Golding Lord of the Flies
John Hershey Hiroshima
S.E. Hinton The Outsiders
Victor Hugo The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Irene Hunt Across Five Aprils
Helen Keller Story of My Life
Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon
Rudyard Kipling Captains Courageous, Kim
Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird
Madeline L'Engle A Wrinkle in Time
Jack London The Call of the Wild
Lois Lowry The Giver, Gathering Blue
Anne McCaffrey Dragonsong
Scott O'Dell Island of the Blue Dolphins
Mary O’Hara My Friend Flicka
Katherine Paterson Jacob Have I Loved
Robert Newton Peck A Day No Pigs Would Die
M. Rawlings The Yearling
Wilson Rawls Where the Red Fern Grows
Johanna Reiss The Upstairs Room
Louis Sachar Holes
Sir Walter Scott Ivanhoe
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
John Steinbeck The Pearl
Betty Smith A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
Armstrong Sperry Call It Courage
Robert Louis Stevenson Treasure Island, Kidnapped
John Steinbeck The Red Pony
J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit
Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jean Webster Daddy Long Legs
H.G. Wells War of the Worlds
Laurence Yep Dragonwings
Paul Zindel The Pigman