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Heros In Books For Middle Schoolers

Public and private, men and women of all backgrounds who face new challenges with unexpected backbone.

 

Fiction

Author       Title
Aiken, Joan       Is Underground
Is wants to know why the children of London are disappearing and how to rescue them.     
         
Farmer, Nancy       A Girl Named Disaster
An eleven-year-old flees from Mozambique to Zimbabwe to escape an arranged marriage.     
         
Fletcher, Susan        Shadow Spinner
Marjan vows to save the life of Scharazade.     
     
Haddix, Margaret   Running Out of Time
When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, Jessie discovers that the time is really 1996.     
         
Howker, Janni       Nature of the Beast
The moors are unsafe - but one boy knows of the strange beast killing the livestock.     
         
Philbrick, Rodman       Freak the Mighty
In the eighth grade, Max and his classmate Freak, who is the size of a four-year-old, team up against bullies and fate.     
         
Seidler, Tor       Wainscot Weasel
Zeke Whitebelly will be a hero if he saves the beautiful fish, Bridget.     
         
Shannon, Jacqueline   I Hate My Hero

When Rachel's best friend saves her from choking, their friendship suffers.     

         
Spinelli, Jerry       Wringer
When Palmer turns 10, he must become a "Wringer" for the town's annual Pigeon Day, or be brave enough to refuse.     
         
Taylor, Theodore       The Trouble with Tuck
Helen's dog has saved her life twice - can she save him when he goes blind?     
         
Temple, Frances       Grab Hands and Run

12-year-old Felipe and his mother and sister escape from El Salvador to Canada.

     
Voigt, Cynthia   Jackaroo
Gwen doesn't believe in the masked Jackaroo - until she becomes him.


Nonfiction

Call Number       Author       Title
325.2 L578f   Levine, Ellen   Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories
Meet some of the children and teenagers who took part in the American Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
         
364.106 V87   Atkin, S. Beth   Voices From the Streets; Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories
Why kids join gangs, and how some get out, in their own words.
         
398.2 H18h   Hamilton, Virginia   Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy tales and True Stories
African-American fairy tales, animal stories, supernatural tales, legends and true stories of the female kind.
         
629.13 L578c   Levi, Steven C.   Cowboys of the Sky: The Story of Alaska's Bush Pilots
They've flown with felons handcuffed to the seat, corpses strapped to the wing, and a drugged polar bear in the cargo hold!
         
796.4 R835k   Krull, Kathleen   Wilma Unlimited
The triumphant story of a girl with polio who becomes the fastest woman in the world, Wilma Rudolph.
         
808.81 In1d   Steptoe, Javaka (Illis.)   In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: An African-American Celebration of Fathers
Deeply felt and humorous poems accompanied by knockout art create memorable images of fathers.
         

919.89 Sh11a2

  Armstrong, Jennifer   Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance
In 1914, this Antarctic exploration went deadly wrong. The crew's survival is a grand triumph over tragedy.
         
920 B7639at   Bridges, Ruby   Through My Eyes: The Autobiography of Ruby Bridges

At six years old, Ruby Bridges gained national attention in the integration of the New Orleans public schools.

         
920 C711h   Hart, Philip S.   Up in the Air: The Story of Bessie Coleman
In 1920, Bessie Coleman traveled to France to become the first African-American woman to earn a pilot's license.
         
920 K261as   Kehret, Peg   Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

The author was 13 when she came down with three different kinds of polio.

         
920 L64d2   Denenberg, Barry   An American Hero: The True Story of Charles A. Lindbergh
Most Americans know the myth of Charles Lindbergh; the real story is both fascinating and disturbing.
         
920 Og7b   O'Grady, Scott   Basher Five-Two
After U.S. Air Force pilot Scott O'Grady was shot down over Bosnia, he had to evade capture and survive alone in enemy territory with little water and no food.
         
940.5315 M496r   Meltzer, Milton   Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust
People of many backgrounds fought bravely to save Jews from Nazi extermination.
         
940.54 M217r   McKissack, Patricia and Frederick   Red Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airman of World War II
The first African-Americans to fly for the U.S. Air Force brought home 150 military awards, yet they were part of an experiment that many people expected to fail.
         
942.01 An29q   Andronik, Catherine   Quest for a King: The Search for King Arthur
What do we know about this hero? Could he have really lived?

 

Want to get your hands on one of these books! Check the Berkeley Public Library catalog to see where you can get a copy!