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Summer Reading Lists for Kids Ages 8-12

Patch has teamed up with James Patterson’s READKIDDOREAD program to bring you reading lists for every age. If you’re looking for some great summer reading options, check this list of “Favorite Pageturners.” from James Patterson.

Looking for a great book to read this summer? This list of books has something for everyone – adventure, magic, smart kids, and amazing kids. Read one, or read ‘em all – post your thoughts in the comments. Or, if we missed your favorite book, tell us in the comments!

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Two months of being grounded during summer vacation change Jack Gantos’ life forever. Especially since it involves the mysterious chore of typing obituaries for his intriguing neighbor.

Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald
What happens when Charlie Joe Jackson, the most reluctant reader EVER has to actually read a book?

Big Nate in a Class by Himself (Big Nate series) by Lincoln Peirce
Things don’t always go your way just because you’re awesome.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Dwight is a clueless boy with a prescient Yoda hand-puppet. His classmate Tommy is mystified.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (Middle School series) by James Patterson
Middle school student Rafe Khatchadorian decides to break every rule in the school’s Code of Conduct. But what happens when things don’t go as planned?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Wimpy Kid series) by Jeff Kinney
Read Greg Heffley’s diary detailing trials and tribulations from middle school.

Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Bud, a motherless boy on the run, is armed with his suitcase of secret, important things, his book with instructions on having a fun life and being a better liar and clues to find his father. Nothing is going to come in Bud’s way – not hunger, fear or vampires.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
This book weaves prose and illustrations beautifully to tell the story of Parisian orphan, clock keeper and petty thief Hugo.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Orphan Jeffrey Lionel “Maniac” Magee decides to run away from his unhappy aunt and uncle. And then he decides just to run.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
A facial deformity prevented August Pullman from going to a regular school. He craves an ordinary life when he joins Beecher Prep. as a fifth grader. But he soon learns that you can’t blend in when you were meant to stand out.

Eragon (Inheritance Cycle series) by Christopher Paolini
Can farm boy turned dragon rider Eragon and blue stone turned dragon Saphira join forces to save the world?

Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles series) by Suzanne Collins
What happens when New Yorker Gregor falls through the grate in his apartments and enter the strange world of the Underland?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by  J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter enters the world of magic and realizes his destiny.  
                                                                      
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This intricately plotted story has 16 people who could become millionaires if they can play the tricky and dangerous Westing game.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’engle
Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin travel through space and time to find Meg and Charles’ father.

Guinness: World Records 2012 by Guinness World Records
Read about extraordinary, interesting daredevils who want to push the limits and their record- breaking feats.

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2012 by National Geographic Kids
Learning about your world and everything in it was never so much fun!

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Special Edition 2012 by Ripley’s Inc.
Read about the bizarre, the hilarious and the incredible in this fun collection!

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The ReadKiddoRead program features bestselling author James Patterson’s picks for the summer. Find reviews of these books and more in the Pageturners section of ReadKiddoRead.com.

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Did your kids have fun reading the books on the list? What are you reading this summer? Are there other books that should make it to the list? Share your reading experiences with us and post a comment below!

Catherine Paull June 13, 2012 at 11:26 am
Thanks so much for posting this list. I just bought three of the books listed for my grandchildren, and I'm 99% sure they will love them.
Tappan Library June 13, 2012 at 01:10 pm
Don't forget your local library's children's and teen's summer reading programs. All Rockland County libraries offer them. There are wonderful events, programs and reading incentives the kids/teens can earn as they log their summer reading. Check with your local libraries for more info.
South Orangetown teens are invited to participate in one unified teen summer reading program in which they can log your reads online from anywhere to win raffle prizes such as $25 gift certificates to Palisades mall. Create your summer reading username and password at http://ny.evanced.info/southorangetown/sr/homepage.asp and Start logging your summer reads on Friday, June 22 through August 4, 2012. Register for our Arcade 2 Go Teen Summer Reading Kickoff Party on Tuesday, June 26, 6:30-8:30. You can register at http://ny.evanced.info/southorangetown/sr/homepage.asp and click on the arcde 2 go link.
Bonnie Tjomstol July 13, 2012 at 02:44 pm
All Westchesetr County public libraries also have Dream Big-Read Summer Reading Programs/games/events

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Lisa Buchman (Editor) June 13, 2013 at 11:09 am
Congratulations to Nyack Boat Club and member Justin Coplan! Would love to see photos of the team inRead More action!
Aerial of United Water's proposed water treatment plant location
Caleb June 13, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Untrue. Perhaps if United Water wasn't sending over 2 million gallons a day from Deforest Lake toRead More they're customers in Bergen County we would not have this shortage. Hydrologists have shown that there is enough water regularly collected in Rockland's reservoirs and aquifers for our current and growing needs. Many of the "facts" that United Water is putting forward are outdated, and are based on they're own mismanagement of our water basin. Lets remember that United Water has repeatedly been removed as a water provider of major cities throughout this country (6+ last time I checked, notably even from Camden NJ) for mismanagement of water resources. I think its a prudent choice to look into a plant that we will be stuck paying for for the next 4 years from a company that has repeatedly lied and provided water with toxin levels high above legal limits to they're customers. Better safe than sorry.
John Taggart June 13, 2013 at 11:59 pm
Rockland has grown to the point that it needs more water. Terminating the flow of a river and takingRead More the water resources away from other communities (stealing what we need) isn't going to happen.
drostan June 19, 2013 at 03:13 pm
A Response to the Response Mr. Michael Pointing, writing on behalf of United Water, opined in theRead More Journal News (June 7) and the Nyack Patch (June 11) that an Issues Conference on the pending desalination project is unnecessary. When it is so greatly to his personal and professional benefit to support this project, how can he expect to be taken seriously? Comments on the "desal" plant have only rarely mentioned that the radioactive tritium, which each day leaks into the Hudson from Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant - just 3 miles upstream from the plant - will end up, in diluted form, in our drinking water. Problem is, although highly diluted, there's no way to filter out tritium since it is chemically identical to water. Worse, there's no known safe exposure level. Like "normal" water, tritium goes into your body as fast as you drink it. Good news: about half of the tritium you do drink is filtered out by the kidneys within about ten days. Bad news: When your kitchen faucet keeps providing you with small amounts of tritium day after day, it tends to keep whatever levels you have in your body elevated. Welcome to your future, Rockland. Say, how about cracking open a nice plastic bottle of Deer Park for mixing up that baby formula? Why does United Water want this project to go forward so quickly as to necessarily preclude a thorough public education process in which all the variables and all the options can be openly discussed? What if one day you decided you don't like UW anymore and you wished the water utility was still owned by the government and not the private sector, because at least that way through your vote, you could democratically elect new people who would shut the plant down (whereas you can never "vote out" a private corporation from owning the pipes that carry your drinking water)? Let's just say arbitrarily that for the first ten years following completion of this more or less irreversible project there was an average of 500 additional picocuries of tritium per liter showing up in drinking water in Rockland County that was not there before. Even the NRC says Indian Point emits tritium into the ground water and presumably into the Hudson as well, since Hudson water is what flows - 24 hours a day - into and out of the power plant, cooling the atomic reaction that creates electrical power). In 1976 the EPA decided (more or less arbitrarily) that 20,000 picocuries of radioactivity would be roughly the "safe" upper limit for human consumption (due to drinking tritium or any other radionuclide). I say "arbitrarily" because I am aware of no one who has actually tried this since then, to see if it really turned out to be safe. Whose insurance policy would make Rockland homeowners whole again if at some future point tritium (or other radionuclide) levels skyrocketed while property values plummeted? Maybe something so terrible could never, ever happen. I certainly hope it couldn't. But why are we residents the guinea pigs, and how come we pay more - not less - for our water just so UW can do more business and, of course, collect more in utility bills? By the way, Fukushima was also never ever supposed to happen. Human health is not something you go back and study all over again once you realize you've lost it. Doesn't Rockland County have enough cancer already? Dan Rostan Nyack