PACL Recommends: Adventure Books for Middle GradesLike this list

25 items

• Project Mercury

  Smith, Ronald L. (Ronald Lenard), 1959-

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  Ike Pressure is an Army brat. Which, if you ask him, is not an insult. His mom's new job is in Mercury, Nevada, on a secretive military base close to Area 51. What's more, his childhood friend, Eesha Webb, and her family are about to move…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Averil Offline

  Parks, Amy Noelle,

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  Twelve-year-old Averil is on a mission to find the creator of the Ruby Slippers phone app, the app that her helicopter parents use to keep track of her. She teams up with Max, a new kid at school, to find the quirky Wizard of Oz-like…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• South of Somewhere

  Miller, Kalena,

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  The unforgettable tale of a girl, her maybe-criminal mom, her babysitting business, and her pet pineapple.

• Lifeboat 5

  Hood, Susan, 1954-

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  Based on the lives, rescue, and continuing friendship of British evacuees Bess Walder, 15, and Beth Cummings, 14, who spent fourteen hours in the North Atlantic with their hands grasped across their overturned lifeboat after the Nazis…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Max in the House of Spies

  Gidwitz, Adam,

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  To find his way back home to his family in Germany during WWII, Max Bretzfeld, with a kobold named Berg on one shoulder and a dybbuk named Stein on the other, sets out to do the impossible--become a British spy.

• Capitol Chase

  Landis, Matthew,

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  Ten-year-old twins Ike and Iris race to find the thief stealing valuable historical artifacts before their family is framed for the crimes.

• The Knight Thieves

  Bennett, Jenn,

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  Thirteen-year-old Ruthless Rose, once a fair maiden turned outlaw leader, faces a dilemma when her gang accidentally attacks a carriage carrying Prince Timo, a young royal fleeing the Firebrands, forcing her to choose between revenge and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Just Keep Walking

  Downing, Erin Soderberg,

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  Two years after her parents' surprising and painful split, twelve-year-old Jo and her mom find themselves on the 100-mile hike on the Superior Hiking Trail along Lake Superior's north shore--a journey that Jo had always looked forward to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Game of Noctis

  Fagan, Deva,

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  A thrilling middle grade fantasy about a girl who must participate in a deadly game with a ragtag team of players to save her grandfather from a terrible fate. Pia must survive a gauntlet of clockwork soldiers, perilous underwater…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Survival

  Melki-Wegner, Skye,

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  Seeking to escape carnivorous pursuers, a band of exiled prehistoric herbivores find themselves trapped inside the volcanic heart of the Carrion Kingdom where they must free fellow plant eating prisoners and gather proof of the carnivores'…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Vega's Piece of the Sky

  Torres, Jennifer, 1980-

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  When a meteorite falls, three middle schoolers reluctantly join together to find it. Each has a motivation—raising money for a grandparent's medical bills, appeasing a rock-hunting father, or quelling their anxiety. Told in alternating…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All

  Miller, Chanel,

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  A self-proclaimed sock detective inside her parents' New York City laundromat, 10-year-old Magnolia Wu and Iris, a new friend from California, set off across the city to solve the mystery of each missing sock, meeting people and uncovering…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Map of Flames

  McMann, Lisa,

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  Five children who are the offspring of supernatural criminals and who have special abilities of their own leave their isolated tropical home and head to the city of Estero, where they hope to find their parents and the treasure they hid…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• City Spies

  Ponti, James,

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  Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City juvenile justice system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, she finds herself facing years in a juvenile…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Spy Runner

  Yelchin, Eugene

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  A Cold War noir mystery by the Newbery Honor-winning author of Breaking Stalin's Nose finds a 12-year-old boy targeting a Russian boarder in his home with suspicion in his determination to learn the fate of his father, who went missing in…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lions & Liars

  Beasley, Kate,

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  Fifth-grader Frederick is sent to a disciplinary camp where he and his terrifying troop mates have just started forging a friendship when they learn a Category 5 hurricane is headed their way.

• The Book of Boy

  Murdock, Catherine Gilbert,

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  In 1350, a boy with a large hump on his back becomes the servant of a shadowy pilgrim on his way to Rome, who pulls the boy into a dangerous expedition across Europe to gather the seven precious relics of Saint Peter.

• Fire the Depths

  Lerangis, Peter,

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  Thirteen-year-old Max Tilt discovers an unpublished manuscript by Jules Verne and sets out to find the treasure it describes. But Max and his friend Alex aren't the only ones who know about the treasure ...

• Pax

  Pennypacker, Sara, 1951-

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  After being forced to give up his pet fox Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to leave home and get his best friend back.

• The Island of Dr. Libris

  Grabenstein, Chris

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  A twelve-year-old boy, worried that his parents may divorce, discovers that an island in the middle of the lake where he is spending the summer is the testing grounds of the mysterious Dr. Libris, who may have invented a way to make the…Read moreRead more of this annotation