Summer Reading for NCCS Middle School Students 2024: Animals

Free dog Johannes' job is to observe everything that happens in his urban park and report back to the park's three bison elders, but changes are afoot, including more humans, a new building, a boatload of goats, and a shocking revelation that changes his view of the world. Grades 4-7 (790 Lexile)

Twelve-year-old nonbinary B forms a connection with an anxious stray dog, Gooseberry, prompting them to pursue their dream of becoming a dog trainer while navigating the complexities of trust and building a family in their newest foster home. Grade 4-6

A dog walking venture helps thirteen-year-old Louis, who would rather kick back than stand out, learn how to be a friend. Grades 5-8

In the opulent, sinking city of Dantessa, the Great Game rules all. Pia Paro believes that so long as you follow the rules, you always have a chance at winning. But after her beloved Gramps is sentenced to a life of servitude, Pia accepts a dangerous offer and joins a team of players seeking to win the most perilous game of all: Noctis. The Seafoxes—Pia’s new teammates—are unlike anyone she’s ever met. Each has their own reason for playing, and soon, Pia begins to question all her long-held beliefs. Maybe the rules Pia once trusted to lift her up have only been keeping her—and thousands of others like her—down. As she struggles with these revelations, Pia must survive a gauntlet of clockwork soldiers, perilous underwater adventures, and even a game against Death herself. But with Pia’s grandfather’s life at stake, Pia must finally decide whether she’s brave enough to not just break the rules, but to change the very nature of the Game. Grades 4-7

When fifteen-year-old Iranian American Marjan discovers her murdered father was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures, she realizes she must take up his mantle, despite the many dangers. Grades 6-9

While on a weeks-long visit to her aunt Verity's house, eleven-year-old Elsby discovers there is more to the cats living in the house next door than first meets the eye. Grades 4-7

A heartwarming tale about a girl who discovers a pair of endangered birds about to lay eggs in the marshes of her summer camp...and the secret plan she hatches to help them. Grades 4-7

Things get squirrely when Jerry discovers that his new town is a sanctuary for were-creatures, humans who turn into animals when the moon is full. Grades 4-6

Ruby's story picks up a few months after the events of The One and Only Bob. Now living in a wildlife sanctuary, Ruby's caretaker from the elephant orphanage in Africa where she grew up is visiting. Seeing him again brings back a flood of memories both happy and sad of her life before the circus, and she recounts the time she spent in the African savannah to Ivan and Bob. Grades 3-6

A gripping novel about a family's will to endure, mystical horses, and the beauty of self-sufficiency and restoration. Grades 3-6 (Lexile: (850)

Ratty Barclay wasn't supposed to be born a four-foot-tall, walking, talking rodent, but thanks to the Barclay family curse, he's had to live in hiding from the rest of the world. All he wants for his thirteenth birthday is to return to his family's abandoned estate on Fairweather Island to somehow break the curse. Then he'll finally get to live his life as a four-foot-tall, walking, talking, human boy. Edweena Gup, the granddaughter of the Barclays' groundskeeper, has dedicated her life to being a Rat-Catcher Extraordinaire like her great-great-great grandmother before her. It doesn't matter that Fairweather Island has been rat-free for over a hundred years—she's determined to make sure everyone is prepared for their imminent return. And when she spots a human-sized rat lurking on the Barclay grounds, her worst fears are confirmed. Though it seems like Ratty and Edweena are destined to be enemies, they have a lot in common—they're both lonely and misunderstood. But will they be able to overcome their fears of each other and maybe even become . . . friends? Grades 4-6 (Lexile: 680)

A heartwarming tale about a girl who discovers a pair of endangered birds about to lay eggs in the marshes of her summer camp...and the secret plan she hatches to help them. Grades 4-7

When a mysterious Little Free Library guarded by a large orange cat appears overnight, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change. Grades 4-7

An unlikely group of dinosaur misfits discover a deadly secret and must band together to save their herbivore kingdoms from doom at the hands of ruthless carnivores, Grades 4-7

When ten-year-old Indian American Geetanjali, part of a family of classical Hindustani music singers, believes her neighbor has become an ichchaadari naagin, a cobra that can turn human, she must overcome her fears and harness the power of her voice before the naagin changes the whole town into snakes. Grades 4-7