It’s time for another round of “Hot Books in My Middle School Classroom”! This is a meme I put together every few weeks/months where I share what my 6th graders are sharing and reading lately during reading.
My girls are romantics this year. Because of this, there are four copies of Nicholas Sparks’s Dear John being passed from one teary-eyed girl to the next. I don’t have any copies in my classroom library so those four girls went out and bought their own copies which they have now been passing on to their friends. Every few days I see it on another desk. And I love looking up during Reading Workshop to see one of my readers wiping tears from her eyes. How can you read Sparks and not cry!?
I have a lot of Gordon Korman fans in my classes this year, so when Scholastic offered The Toilet Paper Tigers earlier this year, they jumped on it! They have been comparing it to the movie “Bad News Bears” and giving it rave reviews. Gordon Korman can do no wrong in my eyes so I’m thrilled that this has been reissued for my students to enjoy.
The first two Cinderella Cleaners books were packaged together in the last Scholastic order and they caught the attention of a few students. There were a few orders placed and one student already started reading the first one. She is giving it rave reviews and recommending the series to her friends.
Mike Lupica’s Million-Dollar Throw is making its way from student to student and they are telling me I have to read it. One student called it Lupica’s best book yet. That’s a pretty ringing endorsement, I’d say!
And the most popular book of all right now? The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians). It crosses all genres, reading levels, and cliques. My kids can not put Percy down and I am thrilled! It means I can’t use The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) as a read aloud this year, but I think that’s a pretty ok reason. I’m fine with the fact that at least half my students have read or are reading the books!
So what books are popular in your class right now?
The Reading Zone 
Our school year has only just begun, but popular books include the books of Cathy Cassidy which are doing the rounds of the girls, and Sarah Dessen is beginning to make an appearance. Also The Hunger Games, Battle Boy books, and Hatchet
My 8th graders are hooked on The Hunger Games.
Anything I put on my “high shelf” seems to turn into a hot read in my classroom. My “high shelf” is really just the top of a tall book case where I happened to rest some books at the beginning of the school year. I teach Grade 5 so most of the kids cannot reach the shelf. Naturally there were questions….”Why are those there? What is that book? Have you read those Mrs. Hall? Where did you get those?” I pulled a few down and book talked them to the students who had asked and they caught on like wild-fire.
Books on the “high shelf” that are popular are: The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson (This is a great book told from the point of view of a British WW2 evacuee that has been sent to Canada), Unwind, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Uglies, Savvy, Sent, Found, Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, Far Flung Adventures series, Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow were a hit with my high flying reader.
But really, anything I put up on that high shelf gets passed from one chld to another!…as long as it works, I’m going with it.
The Twilight books are also popular but they are not on my high shelf.
5th Graders – The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, All things Percy and Wendy Mass, The City of Ashes, Bones, etc., the Alex Rider series, The 39 Clues and, or course, Harry Potter.
It’s always fun to see your posts in this series. My girls have been loving I Heart You, You Haunt Me this year. It is fun to see readers from a wide range of reading levels being able to enjoy the same book.
My students are also loving Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Percy Jackson books. One boy is tearing through the Warriors books. Cinderella Cleaners is also catching interest. It is fun to see a lot of books in common, as well as ideas for new additions.
I am excited to see the first book in Rick Riordan’s new series out this spring.
My 6/7’s are loving the Artemis Fowl graphic novels – I am hoping that they will switch over to the novels in order to continue on with the series.
My sixth graders love Mike Lupica books. Lately, we are all abuzz about The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Mysterious Benedict Society series is another popular choice!
I love Lupica’s books. The title of this one though makes me think of Dan Gutman’s Million Dollar Shot, Million Dollar Putt, Million Dollar Kick. Now I’m going off to check out Heart You, You Haunt Me.
My (fifth grade) boys love: The Roar, Maximum Ride and Daniel X series, and Hatchet
My girls are loving: When You Reach Me, All the Broken Pieces, Dork Diaries and Also Known as Harper