Houston Public Library
Books for 5th & 6th Graders
Spring 2022
Select Your Preference:
New Books
Favorite Series
New Books
The Ogress and the Orphans
by Kelly Regan Barnhill

Stone-in-the-Glen has fallen on hard times. When a child goes missing and their Ogress is accused, the Orphans of Orphan House must prove her innocence to the town and expose the real villain in their midst. .
Across the Desert
by Dusti Bowling

While using a public library computer to find help for her mother, who is addicted to pain medicine, twelve-year-old Jolene witnesses a friend's livestreamed crash-landing in the Arizona desert and embarks on a journey to rescue her.
Dream, Annie, Dream
by Waka T. Brown

When she lands a big role in the production of The King and I, Japanese American seventh grader Annie is belittled by her mostly white classmates and must rise above racism while chasing her dreams. 
Keeping It Real
by Paula Chase

Fourteen-year-old Marigold's family owns Flexx Unlimited, a hip-hop lifestyle company, and attends the elite school  Flowered Arms Academy. She has never felt entirely comfortable in the mostly White school, and prefers to hang out with Justice, a star basketball player. Enrolling in Style High with him for a trainee program funded by Mari's family seems like a good way to spend the summer - until she meets Kara, who obviously hates Mari and seems determined to turn Justice against her
The Shadow Prince
by David Anthony Durham

In this solarpunk novel set in an alternate Egyptian universe, twelve-year-old Ash must compete and survive to become the shadow-and protector-of the prince.
Spell Sweeper
by Lee Edward Födi

Training to be a Magical Occurrence Purger - one who cleans up messes real wizards leave behind - failed wizard Cara Moone must fix a rift in the fabric of magic itself when the so-called Chosen One’s spell goes awry. 
Fireborn
by Aisling Fowler

Training to take revenge on those who attacked her new home and took her family, Twelve goes on an unexpected journey where her hidden past is intertwined with her destiny—and the fate of the world. 50,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook.
How to Find What You're Not Looking For
by Veera Hiranandani

Middle schooler Ariel Goldberg must find her own voice and define her own beliefs after her big sister elopes with a young man from India following the Supreme Court decision that strikes down laws banning interracial marriage.
Girl Giant and the Jade War
by Văn Hoàng

In this sequel to Girl Giant and the Monkey King, Thom Ngoh and her dragon friend Kha search for allies to stop the Monkey King from waging war on the Heavens. But the price for help may be more than she is willing to pay.
Operation Do-Over
by Gordon Korman

When he is magically transported back to the seventh grade before he and his best friend had a falling out, science nerd Mason gets a chance to stop the chain of events that made his previous life implode.
Map of Flames
by Lisa McMann

Forced into hiding due to their supernatural criminal parents, five children with superpowers of their own leave their isolated tropical hideout to follow a strange map and enter a world where being supernatural is a crime. 
A Bird Will Soar
by Alison Green Myers

After a tornado, Axel, who loves birds, finds an injured eaglet, and helps to rescue it - and also helps to resolve the problems in his broken family, and draw his father back home.
Escape From Atlantis
by Kate O'Hearn

Shipwrecked on Atlantis, a place beyond imagination, cousins Riley and Alfie soon discover that beneath this mythical land lurks dangerous secrets that are the key to both finding their parents - and finding their way home.
The Insiders
by Mark Oshiro

When he stumbles into a room that shouldn’t exist, Héctor is connected with two new friends from different parts of the country and opens the door to a world that changes his life.
Katt Loves Dogg
by James Patterson

During a family reunion at the Eastern Wilderness Reserve, adventurers and expert trackers Molly the katt and Oscar the dogg must outsmart the rule-makers when two of their cousins run away together.
Talespinners: Breaking Badlands
by Scott Reintgen

Going undercover at the legendary school for villains-in-training, Indira is drawn into a virtual warfare competition known as the Badlands and must stop this virtual landscape from spilling over into a real war for ultimate control of Imagination.
The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh
by Helen Rutter

Dreaming of being a comedian but feeling that his stutter stands in his way, Billy Plimpton, shows everyone that nothing can hold him back as he makes his way to the spotlight! 
Children of the Fox
by Kevin Sands

Five young criminals - each with their own special talent - are hired to steal a heavily guarded treasure from the most powerful sorcerer in the city and must learn to trust each other in order to get the job done. 
Code Name: Serendipity
by Amber Smith

Eleven-year-old Sadie Mitchell-Rosen is having trouble fitting in at school and at home, so when she meets a dog named Dewey things seem to get better for her.
Symbiosis
by Nic Stone

The royal palace of Wakanda is one of, if not the most, secure facilities on this planet - or any other. So the anxiety Shuri feels when she's jolted out of sleep by the queen mother with the news that someone broke into the palace is significant. And as quickly as they broke in, they vanished. The search for this interloper, a mysterious "symbiote" with superhuman speed and strength, will lead Shuri to the Jabari Lands, a remote, unforgiving part of the country she has never seen. And what she discovers will be more shocking than she could have imagined.
New from Here
by Kelly Yang

Moving from Hong Kong to California due to the coronavirus, 10-year-old Knox Wei-Evans tries to find a place in his new country. He and his family struggle to stay together and stand up to hate, as racism skyrockets during COVID-19,  
Favorite Series
Updated Each January
The Only
by Katherine Applegate

A trilogy conclusion finds Byx and her friends discovering that the same extinction facing the dairnes is threatening all living species, prompting the team to recruit creatures throughout the world into their revolution. 
Curse of the Forgotten City
by Alex Aster

To save his village from the terrible Calavera pirates, Tor must accept his abilities as he and his friends join a mysterious girl on the hunt for an ancient relic that would give them complete control of the high seas.
 
Force of Fire
by Sayantani DasGupta

A descendent from a long line of demons who build interspecies relationships to fight tyranny works competitively to control her dangerous fire-breathing skills, before a Serpentine Governor’s charming son enlists her help to defeat a growing rebellion. 
Spy School at Sea
by Stuart Gibbs

While on a mission aboard the The Emperor of the Seas, Ben Ripley faces off against his arch enemy, Murray Hill, on the high seas and quickly finds himself in hot water as things take a dangerous turn. 
Charlie Thorne and the Lost City
by Stuart Gibbs

A sequel to Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation finds genius fugitive Charlie Thorne approached by a mysterious woman who gives her a code linking Charles Darwin to a hidden treasure in South America.
The Messengers
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Receiving a mysterious message that their friends in the alternate world are under attack, the Greystone kids uncover evidence of mind-controlling forces that are preparing to invade the real universe. 
Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City
by Christian McKay Heidicker

When the lives of foxes O-370, who escaped from the Farm, and young Cozy intersect, they need to stick together if they’re to survive the City and the most dangerous creatures of all—humans.
Dragon Fury
by Lisa McMann

Regarded as a traitor by her loved ones in the aftermath of a devastating mistake, Thisbe reevaluates her plans and complex feelings about the Revinir before risking everything to make things right. 
Merci Suárez Can't Dance
by Meg Medina

A follow-up to the Newbery Medal-winning Merci Suárez Changes Gears finds Merci embarking on a seventh grade year shaped by high teacher expectations, a crush on a school-store co-worker and a bossy classmate’s plan for the annual Heart Ball. 
Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares
by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Months after confronting the legendary La Llorona, Paola starts dreaming again, this time about fantasmas that are stalking her and someone who might be even more dangerous--her estranged father.
Doom in the Deep
by Josh Berk

After unraveling the haunting of Lake Sweetwater and helping the ghosts to rest, Tez is ready to kick back and make the most of the few weeks of summer camp they have left, but when Ew tells Corryn her strange dreams about the lake, Corryn's on high alert and the first to notice the counselors' fixation with getting kids in the lake and the subsequent memory loss experienced by those kids.
Ali Cross: Like Father, Like Son
by James Patterson

Ali Cross is back in the gripping sequel to Ali Cross, the best-selling mystery that introduced readers to detective Alex Cross’ son. In Ali’s toughest case ever, his friend Zoe is in trouble after Ali and his friends witnessed a crime in Anacostia Park, and it’s up to Ali to figure out why Zoe is lying to the police—and who she’s protecting.
Golden Gate
by James Ponti

Rebel surfer-turned-field ops specialist Sydney finds herself in hot water while undercover on a marine research vessel, while her City Spies teammates investigate a suspected mole. 
Diana and the Underworld Odyssey
by Aisha Saeed

Young Wonder Woman Diana is sent by Artemis to finding missing children and must journey to the Underworld to confront Hades and the undead souls to save the children.
The Boy Who Lived with Dragons
by Andy Shepherd

Tomas discovers it is a challenge to have a pocket-sized dragon, but bigger problems include that the dragon fruit tree is looking unwell, and local bully Liam is up to something.
Forever This Summer
by Leslie C. Youngblood

Moving to Louisiana to help her mom take care of her great aunt, Georgie agrees to help Markie, a foster kid under her aunt’s care, find her mother, and as their histories begin to entwine, Georgie must find her own truth.
 
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