Summer Reading for NCCS Upper School Students 2025

To save their father's life, a brother and sister must journey across a land full of magical beings from Colombian folklore and find the most powerful and dangerous of them all--the Madremonte. Grade 4-7

The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy―a foster child raised in the human world―is dying to attend. A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and―most importantly―finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago. When Kelcie tests into the school, she learns that she’s a Saiga, one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. Secretive, shunned, and possessed of imposing elemental powers, the Saiga are also kin to the Otherworld's most infamous traitor. But Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies. Grade 6-8

All Momo wants for her twelfth birthay is an ordinary life, but instead she finds out she is half human, half goddess and must unlock her divine powers to save her mother's life and keep countless evil spirits from escaping Yomi, the land of the dead. Grade 5-7

Searching for her buried friend after the mines collapse, twelve-year-old Pakistani mica miner Nura finds herself at the Sijj Palace, a luxury hotel for the dangerous and deceitful jinn, where she must discover the truth beneath the glitter or be trapped forever. Grade 5-8

After her home is attacked by shapeshifting vampires, twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng is sent to live with her aunt and cousin in Maryland, but the aspiring vampire hunter discovers that middle school is harder than it appears on television, especially when she has to avoid detention and turn her classmates into warriors before they become vampire food. Grade 5-8

Riley Oh ventures into the Spiritrealm, where she hopes to convince Saint Heo Jun to become the new patron god of the Gom clan and restore their healing powers. Grade 4-8

After twelve-year-old Lebanese-American Shad Hadid discovershe is an Alchemist, he receives an invitation to the Alexandria Academy where he discovers not everything is as it seems and shadowy figures are lurking around every corner. Grade 4-7

Armed with her fledgling powers, a magic cookbook, and the mentorship of a talking rabbit, sixth-grader Winnie Zeng must embrace her heritage and the powers of her ancestors to save her town from an evil spirit of Chinese legend. Grade 5-8

In a society where conformity is valued above all else, a teen girl training to become an Imperial pilot is forced to return to her rebel roots to save her world. Grades 7-10 (Lexile: 910) Book 1

ona hears music everywhere, even though it has long been outlawed in the land of Devia. Sona is a descendant of the Malechs, foreigners who took over Devia centuries ago. Malechs put Devans to work mining gems and forbade music, so Devans cant cast their own magic anymore. But Sonas world shifts after discovering an orphaned wolf pup. She believes the pup, with its golden ears, might be related to one of the five sacred beasts of Devia, which a Malechian Hunter has been killing one by one. And when someone Sona loves falls ill, she is drawn into a quest with a Devan boy to retrieve the nectar of life. On the perilous journey, Sona must try to avoid the deadly Hunter while keeping her companions safe. But as she uncovers secrets about the Malechian empire and her own identity, Sona realizes that the fate of the sacred beasts, and the future of Devia, just might come down to her. Grades 4-7

Studious Prince Lir is next in line to become the Wolfhound King, but he can't ride a horse, lift a sword, or summon the fabled wolfhounds. So his stepmother decrees that her own son will inherit the crown instead, sending Lir away on a seemingly impossible--and assuredly fatal--quest: to rescue the maiden Cethlenn from the once-fearsome dragon Lasvarg. Rather than wage battle, Lir insists that Lasvarg, now decidedly past his prime, honor tradition by setting him three tasks to perform--starting with tackling the mold encrusting the dragon's cave (and his feet!). As Lir improves Lasvarg's life, he also grows closer to Cethlenn ... as well as the wolfhound puppy strangely devoted to her. In time, they learn more of the dark magic that may be making pawns of them all--and how Cethlenn herself could be the key to breaking a spell that clouds the entire kingdom. Grades 3-7

Sixteen-year-old Iranian American Marjan travels around the world to search for and rescue a mythical bird, whose fate could determine the future of the world. Book 2 of Once There Was. Grades 6-9

MJ Rodriguez has spent her life hiding in the human world, keeping a heavy secret: she's half-encanto. As the only child of King Vivencio of the Sirena Court, she' s also next in line for the throne. And now, upon her estranged father's sudden death, MJ must claim her place as rightful heir. ... [She] has to win over a backstabbing council that objects to a half-human ruler. And when it looks like her father's passing wasn't natural but possibly inflicted by a curse, she must hunt down the sorceress behind this merciless magic. Grade 7-11 (Lexile: 660)

Oswin Fields, a foundling in the icy settlement of Tundra, must prove his worth as a new magic apprentice while battling monsters and confronting a dark legacy tied to his infamous adopted uncle. Grades 4-7 (Book 1)

Christopher discovers the Archipelago, a world where mythological creatures were secreted away by magic long ago, but those creatures are now dying, and it is up to Christopher and Mal, a girl from the Archipelago, to save both of their worlds. Grades 3-7 Grades 3-7 (Lexile: 650)

Everly "Benny" Benedict and her mom have always managed to get by, though they're broke most of the time. But all that could change. Benny's just learned she's the sole heir to the vast fortune of Evelyn Terry, a mysterious ancestor from the 1800s! There's a catch, though. First Benny needs to play―and win―a game: following clues that are more than a century old, she must find her way to the tiny island Evelyn wrote about in her diary. It was somewhere off the shoreline of Evelyn's home town, but according to legend, it vanished long ago and hasn't appeared on maps for hundreds of years. Yet Benny has only a couple weeks to locate it. If she's successful, she'll collect the inheritance. But what if there's more than a fortune at stake in this game? What if Benny has to break an ancient curse to win? Grades 4-7

Thirteen-year-old Lunar Jones was born on Mars, with every day a struggle, until he stumbles into a restricted military zone where he learns dragons are real and a new dragon has chosen him as a rider--a role he needs to embrace quickly because this dragon could save the Martian colony. Grades 5-8 (Book 1)

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini's blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return. Grades 7-10

An outsider in her village above the cloud sea, 12-year-old orphan Yeung Zhi Ging's only hope of escape is to win the single invitation to train as a Silhouette: an apprentice to the immortals. After her ill-fated attempt to impress the Silhouette scout leads to a dragon attack on the jade mountain, Zhi Ging is sure that her chances, and her life, are over. But the scout spots her potential and offers her protection and a second chance. She's in. Grades 5-8 (Lexile: 940)

hen twelve-year-old Rayleigh discovers he's part monster and that his dad, the Supreme Scarer, is missing, he journeys to a magical world below London where he must fight the most frightening, decide what sort of monster he is at heart, and find his father. Grade 6-8

In order to steal the Midnight Drum and free her powerful grandmother, twelve-year-old vampire Serwa deceptively collaborates with her rival Declan, a Slayer, but joining forces compels Serwa to confront truths about herself she's tried hard to deny. Book 2. Grades 5-8 (Lexile: 940)

Senka lives between the Living and the Dead as the ward of Charon, assisting him in ferrying souls across the River--but when she is dragged downriver by a girl looking for her brother she encounters dangers and uncovers secrets about her own origin. Grades 4-7 (Book 1)

The War of the Maps is a breathtaking fantasy in the vein of His Dark Materials and The Last Battle that dares to give new answers to age-old questions--inviting readers of all ages to sail beyond the edges of the map into a world of magic, myth, and boundless adventure. Since time before time, two opposing forces have been locked in an endless battle: It is the war between magic and reason--between what if and what is. And the victor will not just shape the future but the very nature of reality. Peter Nimble and Sophie Quire have spent the last four years fighting to protect a world of magic from the insidious, unstoppable forces of "progress." But, every day, the wonders that once surrounded them are vanishing. Lurking behind this transformation is a mysterious group called The League of Maps that seems to hold the answers. As Peter and Sophie fight to untangle this mystery, they find themselves thrown into opposing sides of a vast war that stretches from the very beginning of humanity and into our present age. Grades 5-8 Book 3

MJ Rodriguez has spent her life hiding in the human world, keeping a heavy secret: she's half-encanto. As the only child of King Vivencio of the Sirena Court, she' s also next in line for the throne. And now, upon her estranged father's sudden death, MJ must claim her place as rightful heir. ... [She] has to win over a backstabbing council that objects to a half-human ruler. And when it looks like her father's passing wasn't natural but possibly inflicted by a curse, she must hunt down the sorceress behind this merciless magic. Grade 7-11 (Lexile: 660)

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

Christopher discovers the Archipelago, a world where mythological creatures were secreted away by magic long ago, but those creatures are now dying, and it is up to Christopher and Mal, a girl from the Archipelago, to save both of their worlds. Grades 3-7 (Lexile: 650)

Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn't worried. She's going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war... Grades 7-12

A spooky, atmospheric adventure about a reluctant hero's journey into a terrifying other world.Grades 4-7

Senka lives between the Living and the Dead as the ward of Charon, assisting him in ferrying souls across the River--but when she is dragged downriver by a girl looking for her brother she encounters dangers and uncovers secrets about her own origin. Grades 4-7 (Book 1)

After coming out as trans, fourteen-year-old A is forced to attend weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings, where he uncovers the terrifying truth that the group is run by a demon feeding on their pain and is part of a larger, darker force preying on the world's vulnerable. Grades 5-8 (840 Lexile).

Fourteen-year-old Aria Loveridge lives at the Resthaven Home for Dreamslingers, a safe haven for children born with a genetic mutation that transports them to a powerfully magical realm while they sleep, but this magic can be unpredictable--even deadly

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

Christopher discovers the Archipelago, a world where mythological creatures were secreted away by magic long ago, but those creatures are now dying, and it is up to Christopher and Mal, a girl from the Archipelago, to save both of their worlds. Grades 3-7

Thirteen-year-old Lunar Jones was born on Mars, with every day a struggle, until he stumbles into a restricted military zone where he learns dragons are real and a new dragon has chosen him as a rider--a role he needs to embrace quickly because this dragon could save the Martian colony. Grades 5-8 (Book 1)

Determined to save her brother from the Darkness that plagues their home, ten-year-old Lola follows mythical chaneques into a secret world where she seeks help from the queen. Grades 4-7 (Lexile: 710)

hen twelve-year-old Rayleigh discovers he's part monster and that his dad, the Supreme Scarer, is missing, he journeys to a magical world below London where he must fight the most frightening, decide what sort of monster he is at heart, and find his father. Grade 6-8

Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare's mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father's death. Dare's suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father's death. Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she's always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil? The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are. Grade 5-8

Sycamore seed siblings Merwin and Louise must use their wits and imaginations to navigate a mysterious and often dangerous world, filled with talking plants, monsters, meteors, and the fear of never finding the right conditions to set down roots and become big trees. Grade 3-7

Sixteen-year-old Iranian American Marjan travels around the world to search for and rescue a mythical bird, whose fate could determine the future of the world. Book 2 of Once There Was. Grades 6-9

on a quest to defeat a tyrannical ruler and protect a magical book. Rachel and Robert live a gray, dreary life under the rule of cruel and calculating Charles Malstain. That is, until one night, when their librarian father enlists their help to steal a forbidden book.
Before their father is captured, Rachel and Robert are given one mission: find the missing final page.
But to uncover the secrets of The Book of Stolen Dreams, the siblings must face darkness and combat many evils to be rewarded with the astonishing, magical truth about the book. Nevertheless, they resolve to do everything in their power to stop it from falling into Charles Malstain's hands. For if it does, he could rule their world forever. Greade 4-8

Oswin Fields, a foundling in the icy settlement of Tundra, must prove his worth as a new magic apprentice while battling monsters and confronting a dark legacy tied to his infamous adopted uncle. Grades 4-7 (Book 1)

Everly "Benny" Benedict and her mom have always managed to get by, though they're broke most of the time. But all that could change. Benny's just learned she's the sole heir to the vast fortune of Evelyn Terry, a mysterious ancestor from the 1800s! There's a catch, though. First Benny needs to play―and win―a game: following clues that are more than a century old, she must find her way to the tiny island Evelyn wrote about in her diary. It was somewhere off the shoreline of Evelyn's home town, but according to legend, it vanished long ago and hasn't appeared on maps for hundreds of years. Yet Benny has only a couple weeks to locate it. If she's successful, she'll collect the inheritance. But what if there's more than a fortune at stake in this game? What if Benny has to break an ancient curse to win? Grades 4-7

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini's blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return. Grades 7-10

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune. Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own. The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire? Grades 7-12

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. Grade 6-9

Young Linnet, her father, and the other bird-people, the Alkonosts, have been driven to live in the swamps of Morovia, forbidden to sing magic, and often hunted by the humans, so when her father is captured Linnet embarks on a rescue mission. Grades 4-7

"Since Grandpa died, Dally's days are dull and restricted. She's eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already grooming her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother's clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. As Dally 'checks out' adventure after adventure--including an exhilarating outing with pirates--she begins to dive deep into her family's hidden history. Grades 4-7

The War of the Maps is a breathtaking fantasy in the vein of His Dark Materials and The Last Battle that dares to give new answers to age-old questions--inviting readers of all ages to sail beyond the edges of the map into a world of magic, myth, and boundless adventure. Since time before time, two opposing forces have been locked in an endless battle: It is the war between magic and reason--between what if and what is. And the victor will not just shape the future but the very nature of reality. Peter Nimble and Sophie Quire have spent the last four years fighting to protect a world of magic from the insidious, unstoppable forces of "progress." But, every day, the wonders that once surrounded them are vanishing. Lurking behind this transformation is a mysterious group called The League of Maps that seems to hold the answers. As Peter and Sophie fight to untangle this mystery, they find themselves thrown into opposing sides of a vast war that stretches from the very beginning of humanity and into our present age. Grades 5-8 Book 3

Everly "Benny" Benedict and her mom have always managed to get by, though they're broke most of the time. But all that could change. Benny's just learned she's the sole heir to the vast fortune of Evelyn Terry, a mysterious ancestor from the 1800s! There's a catch, though. First Benny needs to play―and win―a game: following clues that are more than a century old, she must find her way to the tiny island Evelyn wrote about in her diary. It was somewhere off the shoreline of Evelyn's home town, but according to legend, it vanished long ago and hasn't appeared on maps for hundreds of years. Yet Benny has only a couple weeks to locate it. If she's successful, she'll collect the inheritance. But what if there's more than a fortune at stake in this game? What if Benny has to break an ancient curse to win? Grades 4-7

Asperides, an ancient demonic talking sword, tricks Nack Furnival, a bumbling would-be knight, into battling a wicked sorcerer bent on summoning all the evils of the underworld. Grade 4-7

Ember, Miles, and Sam have been called home--only home is a place none of them have ever been before. Outside of time lies the world of the Fountain. It's vast, unexplored, unmapped and full of wild things--leviathan and tiny, scuttling things and all manner of creature in between. The borders that separate the Fountain from our world are already porous, and in every timeline that has been or will be, water can be a passageway for the violent and damned to enter our world. The three teens, all from different times, are on a mission that will either restore a cosmic balance or destroy the border that separates our world from the world beyond the Fountain, ending them both. Grades 7-10