Something Upstairs by Avi

Have you ever lived in a haunted house? Have you ever met a ghost? Do you want to change what has already happened? Well, if your answer is yes, read the book Something Upstairs. This book is about a boy named Kenny Huldorf and a mysterious kid named Caleb. Kenny moved to a very old town and a really old house. When he gets to his room he finds a big red stain and ever since weird things have been happening to Kenny. Read this book to find out what's going on with Kenny's life.

The White Fox Chronicles by Gary Paulsen

The White Fox Chronicles is about Earth in 2057, and it is torn apart by war. Americans are being enslaved by the CCR, The Confederation of Consolidated Republics, and someone has to do something. The person to do something is Cody Pierce. Cody is captured by the CCR and has to escape. This is a book that will get you hooked and keep you that way until the very last page.

How to be Popular by Meg Cabot

Schooled by Gordon Korman

Cap Anderson has never been to school. He’s never eaten pizza and he’s never watched TV or seen a cell phone. Cap and his hippie grandmother live in a 1960s-style commune where he is home schooled. But everything is about to change. Suddenly Cap is sent to public school, where the kids are really mean to anyone they think is a nerd or a dweeb or a social reject. The first thing the kids do to Cap is to elect him 8th grade president. Of course, Cap doesn’t know what a class president does and he doesn’t know that they’ve done it as a joke. But Cap is a special person and in spite of everyone’s spitballs and practical jokes he becomes the best class president the school has ever seen. Read Schooled by Gordon Korman to find out how Cap lives in the “real world.” This is a funny book by the same author who wrote No More Dead Dogs and the Island trilogy.

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

Syvvia was a Jewish girl living in Poland during World War II. She was four when her family was forced into a ghetto and almost 10 years old when her family regained their freedom. All of her childhood memories are of that ghetto where they suffered from hunger, cruelty, and overwhelming fear of being sent to death camps. The Nazis murdered all the children in the ghetto, but Syvia survived because her father dug a grave for her to hide in in the cemetery. After the children were killed Syvia had to be in hiding from everyone. The book is very easy to read. It's told in verse form that is almost like poetry, but more like the thoughts and experiences of a young girl. Yellow Star is a fiction book, but it is based entirely on the author's aunt's experiences in the Lodz Ghetto during World War II. This book is recommended for readers of all ages.

Case Closed by Gosho Aoyama

This series of Japanese manga mysteries was recommended to OMS by mystery writer Michael Dahl. The detective, Jimmy Kudo, is a brilliant high school student who is transformed into a little boy. While trying to get his body back to normal, he takes on the name Conan Edagawa and tags along with his best friend and secret crush, Rachel Moore. But he can’t tell Rachel who he really is. Rachel’s father is an inept private investigator, and Conan solves cases for him while making him think he's solving them. Middle school readers who like a mystery will really like this series.