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Eckstein Library
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Summer Reading Suggestions at Eckstein!
Participate in Book Bingo available through Seattle Public Library / Seattle Arts and Lectures and you can get a prize from Eckstein as well! Make a copy or take a picture of your completed book bingo and bring it to Ms. Sterling in September for a prize! Ms. Sterling created a bunch of suggestions for many of the relevant book bingo squares if you look at the links below the picture!
Check out the list on the library catalog here!
- Nancy Drew
- Mary Poppins
- Esperanza Rising
- Strider
- The One and Only Ivan
- The Wind in the Willows
- The Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Matilda
- The BFG
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
- Magic Treehouse
- The Little Prince
- The Lightning Thief
- The Phantom Tollbooth
- The Fairy-Tale Princess
- The Graveyard Book
- The Secret Garden
- Redwall
- Narnia
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Number the Stars
- The Giver
- Harriet the Spy
- The Hobbit
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Babymouse
- The Wizard of Oz
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
- Merci Suarez Changes Gears
- Melissa’s Story
- Charlotte’s Web
- Anne of Green Gables
- Front Desk
- Aru Shah and the End of Time
Check out the list on the library catalog here!
- Baby Monkey, Private Eye
- A Big Mooncake for Little Star
- The Day You Begin
- Dreamers
- Hello Lighthouse
- Islandborn
- Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
- Those Darn Squirrels!
- Sandy’s Circus: A Story about Alexander Calder
- A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11
- Duck! Rabbit!
- The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimpanzees
- I Want My Hat Back
- Giant Steps to Change the World
- My Father’s Arms are a Boat
- Creepy Carrots!
- When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky
- What Do You Do with an Idea?
- A Splash of Red
- Nelson Mandela
- Parrots Over Puerto Rico
- Journey
- How the Meteorite Got to the Museum
- Henri’s Scissors
- Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
- The Boy Who Loved Math
- The Art of Clean Up
- You are (Not) Small
- A Boy and a Jaguar
- Aviary Wonders
- Last Stop on Market Street
- Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead
- Enormous Smallness: A Story of e.e. cummings
- Emanuel’s Dream
- Giant Squid
- Cry, Heart, But Never Break
- The Stuff of Stars
- The Rough Patch
- The Rabbit Listened
- Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop
- Julian is a Mermaid
- I am Enough
- Hidden Figures
- Don’t Touch My Hair!
- The Day You Begin
- Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse
- The Undefeated
- Lubna and Pebble
- The Little Green Girl
- How to Read a Book
- Because
- Stranger Planet
- My Rainbow
- Ohana Means Family
- Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots
- Wishes
- What Will You Be?
- What I Am
- What Do You Know?
- We are One: How the World Adds Up
- Something Good
- Born on the Water
- Accountable (nonfiction, YA)
- Across So Many Seas (historical fiction, sad)
- Alebrijes (sci-fi)
- And Then…Boom! (realistic, sad)
- Buzzing (graphic novel, neurodiverse, realistic)
- Check & Mate (romance, YA)
- Cursed Moon, The (horror, fantasy)
- Dear Mothman (realistic, LGBTQ+, sad)
- Delicious in Dungeon (manga, fantasy)
- Didn’t See That Coming (romance, YA)
- Eagle Drums (adventure)
- Ellie Engle Saves Herself (realistic, fantasy, funny)
- Forever is Now (realistic, neurodiverse, LGBTQ+)
- Gabe in the After (sci-fi, sad)
- Getaway List, The (romance, happy, YA)
- Ghost Book (graphic novel, fantasy)
- Gone Wolf (sci-fi, sad, YA)
- Good Different (realistic, neurodiverse)
- Grace of Wild Things, The (fantasy)
- Gwen and Art Are Not in Love (romance, LGBTQ+, YA, happy)
- Haben (nonfiction, biography)
- It Found Us (horror)
- Labors of Hercules Beal, The (realistic, sad)
- Lake House, The (horror, YA)
- Last Bloodcarver, The (fantasy, YA)
- Lunar New Year Love Story (graphic novel, romance, YA)
- Max in the House of Spies (historical)
- Medusa (fantasy)
- Mexikid (graphic novel, funny, memoir)
- Misfits, The (realistic, funny)
- Mona Lisa Vanishes, The (nonfiction)
- Northranger (graphic novel, LGBTQ+, romance, YA)
- Olivetti (mystery)
- Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, The (romance, LGBTQ+, graphic novel, happy)
- Reappearance of Rachel Price, The (mystery, YA)
- Rez Ball (realistic, sad, sports)
- Slugfest (sports, funny)
- Snowglobe (sci-fi, YA)
- Something Like Home (realistic, poetry, sad)
- Spirit Glass, The (fantasy)
- Star Splitter (sci-fi)
- Swifts, The (mystery)
- Their Vicious Games (mystery, YA)
- Thieves’ Gambit (adventure, YA)
- Thin Air (mystery, YA)
- This Time It’s Real (romance, happy, YA)
- Two Truths and a Lie (mystery, YA)
- Unstuck (realistic)
- World Made of Glass (historical, sad)
- Year My Life Went Down the Toilet, The (realistic)
Check out the list about books that take place in the past or future in the library catalog here!
- Alebrijes
- Anatomy : a love story
- As long as the lemon trees grow
- At the end of everything
- Bea and the new deal horse
- Brother’s keeper
- Different : a story of the Spanish Civil War
- Freewater
- Ground zero
- Heroes
- How to find what you’re not looking for
- I must betray you
- Iceberg
- My own lightning
- Naked ’76
- Rust in the root
- Skyhunter
- Soul lanterns
- Star splitter
- The bluest sky
- The electric kingdom
- The Enigma game
- The last cuentista
- The lion of Mars
- The prisoner and the writer
- We were the fire : Birmingham 1963
- Winterkill
Check out the supernatural list in the library catalog here!
- All the lovely bad ones : a ghost story graphi
- Amari and the night brothers
- Archimancy
- Aru Shah and the end of time : the graphic novel
- Black Sand Beach. 1, Are you afraid of the light?
- Dark waters
- Delicious monsters
- Doña Quixote. Rise of the knight
- Fly by night
- Ghost girl
- Ghost Squad
- Hellaween
- Ichiro
- Life of Melody
- Lobizona
- Misfit mansion
- Omega Morales and the legend of La Lechuza
- Paola Santiago and the river of tears
- Paranorthern and the chaos bunny a-hop-calypse
- Ravenfall
- Root magic
- Rowley Jefferson’s awesome friendly spooky stories
- Rules for vampires
- Serwa Boateng’s guide to vampire hunting
- Temple alley summer
- The artifact hunters
- The Narrow
- The okay witch
- The price guide to the occult
- Thirteens
- Unfamiliar. 1
- When the angels left the old country
- When the sky fell on Splendor
Check out the BIPOC Fantasy and Sci-Fi list on the library catalog here!
- A comb of wishes
- A magic steeped in poison
- A river of royal blood
- A snake falls to Earth
- Alebrijes
- Amari and the night brothers
- Bitter
- Black sun
- Brooms
- ChupaCarter
- Cinderella is dead
- City of the plague god
- Codex Black. 1, A fire among clouds
- Daughter of the moon goddess : a novel
- Daughters of Oduma
- Doña Quixote. Rise of the knight
- Dragon Pearl
- Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation
- Healer of the water monster
- Infinity son
- Jade fire gold
- Last gate of the Emperor
- Lotería
- Mapmaker
- Meesh the bad demon. 1
- Mihi ever after
- Nayra and the djinn
- Pahua and the soul stealer
- Riot baby
- Rust in the root
- Saving Chupie
- Shinji Takahashi and the mark of the coatl
- Six crimson cranes
- Skin of the sea
- Spice Road
- Survive the Dome
- Temple alley summer
- The Belles
- The Black God’s Drums
- The dragon’s promise
- The Infinity courts
- The last fallen star
- The lords of night : a shadow bruja novel
- The Manifestor prophecy
- The ones we’re meant to find
- The pearl hunter
- This poison heart
- Valentina Salazar is not a monster hunter
- Wildseed witch
- Winston Chu vs. the whimsies
- Witchlings
Check out the list of fairytales, myths, and legends retold in the library catalog!
- A tale dark & Grimm
- Across the rainbow bridge : stories of Norse gods and humans
- Antigoddess
- Ash
- Beauty : a retelling of the story of Beauty & the beast
- Blood red Snow White
- Children of Ragnarok
- City of the plague god
- Daughter of smoke & bone
- Elatsoe
- Endlessly ever after : pick your path to countless fairy tale endings!
- Fairy tale comics
- Guardian of the dead
- His Royal Whiskers : a furry-tailed fairy tale
- Inu-Yasha : a feudal fairy tale. Vol. 2
- Jack : the true story of Jack & the beanstalk
- Lei and the fire goddess
- Loki’s wolves
- Malice
- Mighty Jack and the Goblin King
- Mihi ever after
- Mythology of the world
- Olympians. 3, Hera, the goddess and her glory
- Omega Morales and the legend of La Lechuza
- Other Ever Afters
- Poisoned apples : poems for you, my pretty
- Rags & bones : new twists on timeless tales
- Rump : the true story of Rumpelstiltskin
- The epic crush of Genie Lo
- The fairy-tale detectives
- The fairy-tale princess : seven classic stories
- The flame of Olympus
- The Hazel Wood : a novel
- The labors of Hercules Beal
- The lords of night : a shadow bruja novel
- The wishing spell
- Treasury of Egyptian mythology : classic stories of gods, goddesses, monsters & mortals
- Valkyrie
- What-the-Dickens : the story of a rogue tooth fairy
Check out the list of people to read about and admire in the library catalog here!
- A face for Picasso : coming of age with Crouzon syndrome
- A hope more powerful than the sea : one refugee’s incredible story of love, loss, and survival
- A mind like mine : 21 famous people and their mental health
- Amelia lost : the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart
- Americanized : rebel without a green card
- Becoming : adapted for young readers
- Bee fearless : dream like a kid
- Between two kingdoms : a memoir of a life interrupted
- Binge
- Chasing space
- Dust Bowl girls : the inspiring story of the team that barnstormed its way to basketball glory
- Frida Kahlo : a biography
- From here : a memoir
- Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
- Higher, steeper, faster : the daredevils who conquered the skies
- I am Malala : how one girl stood up for education and changed the world
- I have something to tell you : a memoir : for young adults
- I’m glad my mom died
- Inaugural ballers : the true story of the first US women’s Olympic basketball team
- Infinite hope : a black artist’s journey from World War II to peace
- It’s Trevor Noah : born a crime : stories from a South African childhood : adapted for young readers
- Just don’t fall : a hilariously true story of childhood cancer and Olympic greatness
- Kid artists : true tales of childhood from creative legends
- My corner of the ring : a memoir from a champ
- My family divided : one girl’s journey of home, loss, and hope
- Nice Jewish girls
- Notes from a young Black chef
- Positive : surviving my bullies, finding hope, and living to change the world
- Rising above : inspiring women in sports
- Sally Ride : life on a mission
- Shoe dog : a memoir by the creator of Nike
- Strong inside : the true story of how Perry Wallace broke college basketball’s color line
- Taking flight : from war orphan to star ballerina
- The audacity of hope : thoughts on reclaiming the American dream
- The beautiful struggle : a memoir
- The boy who harnessed the wind : creating currents of electricity and hope
- The code breaker : Jennifer Doudna and the race to understand our gentic code
- The greatest : Muhammad Ali
- The impossible first : an explorer’s race across Antarctica
- The reason I jump : the inner voice of a thirteen-year-old boy with autism
- The rise and fall of Charles Lindbergh
- Things that make white people uncomfortable : adapted for young adults
- This kid can fly : it’s about ability (not disability)
- This star won’t go out : the life and words of Esther Grace Earl
- Undefeated : Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football team
- Under a red sky : memoirs of a childhood in Communist Romania
- Women in science : 50 fearless pioneers who changed the world
- Yes please
- You can’t touch my hair and other things I still have to explain
Try these books if you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid (goofy funny books)
Try these books if you liked Stand Up, Yumi Chung (heartwarming funny books)
DOWK readalikes:
- Awesome Dog 5000
- Awesome Dog 5000 vs. Mayor Bossypants
- Best nerds forever
- Canned
- Charlie Joe Jackson’s guide to not reading
- Cheesie Mack is cool in a duel
- Death by toilet paper
- Doctor Proctor’s fart powder
- Dog Squad
- Dog’s best friend
- Fake mustache, or, How Jodie O’Rodeo and her wonder horse (and some nerdy kid) saved the U.S. Presidential election from a mad genius criminal mastermind
- Field trip fiasco
- Herbert’s wormhole
- How to train your dad
- Locker hero
- My big fat zombie goldfish
- Ratpunzel
- Sanitized for your protection
- Sorry you’re lost
- Stick Dog : a really good story with kind of bad drawings
- The 13-story treehouse
- The adventures of Beanboy
- The book you’re not supposed to have
- The great hamster massacre
- The great rabbit rescue
- The loser list
- The strange case of Origami Yoda
- The Terrible Two go wild
Yumi Chung Readalikes
- 13 gifts
- All you knead is love
- Amina’s song
- Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging : confessions of Georgia Nicolson
- Beauty queens
- Crying laughing
- Dara Palmer’s major drama
- Dead end in Norvelt
- Dream on, Amber
- Geek girl
- Indian shoes
- Merci Suárez can’t dance
- Picture perfect
- Pie in the Sky
- Sputnik’s guide to life on earth
- Sunny Song will never be famous
- The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian
- The doughnut fix
- The family Fletcher takes Rock Island
- The fingertips of Duncan Dorfman
- The first rule of punk
- Wink : surviving middle school with one eye open
- A Cuban girl’s guide to tea and tomorrow
- Amazon adventure : how tiny fish are saving the world’s largest rainforest
- Ancient China : beyond the Great Wall
- Ancient Egypt
- Around the world : [three remarkable journeys]
- Ay, Mija! : my bilingual summer in Mexico
- Black Light Express
- Black Panther : the young prince
- Cleopatra in space. Book one, Target practice
- Cool Japan guide : fun in the land of manga, lucky cats, and ramen
- Egypt’s fire
- Escape to Australia
- Furia
- Ikenga
- In a sunburned country
- Jackaby
- Last gate of the Emperor
- Lotería
- Love & other detours
- Mummies, tombs, and treasure : secrets of Ancient Egypt
- My lady Jane
- Naked ’76
- Neither here nor there : travels in Europe
- Off to be the wizard
- Pride and prejudice
- Renegade magic
- Ruby red
- Someday we will fly
- The city & the city
- The dolphins of Shark Bay
- The emperor’s riddle
- The impossible first : an explorer’s race across Antarctica
- The last mapmaker
- The magical reality of Nadia
- The Marvels
- The summer prince
- Time traveling with a hamster
- To Timbuktu : nine countries, two people, one true story
- Travel team
- Twin cities
- Wild girl
Check out this list of short story collections at the library!
- 145th Street : short stories
- 18 best stories by Edgar Allan Poe
- A phoenix first must burn : sixteen stories of black girl magic, resistance, and hope
- Ab(solutely) normal : short stories that smash mental health stereotypes
- All out : the no-longer-secret stories of queer teens throughout the ages
- Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids
- Aphrodite’s blessings : love stories from the Greek myths
- Black boy joy
- Black enough : stories of being young & Black in America
- Come on in : 15 stories about immigration and finding home
- Different : a story of the Spanish Civil War
- Different for boys
- Every body shines : sixteen stories about living fabulously fat
- Explorer : the mystery boxes : seven graphic stories
- Falling short
- Gleanings : stories from the Arc of a Scythe
- Hauntings : and other tales of danger, love, and sometimes loss
- Hide and don’t seek : and other very scary stories
- Look both ways : a tale told in ten blocks
- Love and longing : a collection of classic poetry and prose
- Miss Marple : the complete short stories
- Noisy outlaws, unfriendly blobs, and some other things that aren’t as scary : maybe, depending on how you feel about lost lands, stray cellphones, creatures from the sky, parents who disappear in Peru, a man named Lars Farf, and one other story we couldn’t quite finish, so maybe you could help us out
- Once upon an Eid : stories of hope and joy by 15 Muslim voices
- One more thing : stories and other stories
- Other ever afters : stories
- Out now : queer we go again
- Pick-up game : a full day of full court
- Rags & bones : new twists on timeless tales
- Rookie on love : 45 voices on romance, friendship, and self-care
- Rural voices : 15 authors challenge assumptions about small-town America
- Spies and traitors : stories of masters of deception
- Steampunk! : an anthology of fantastically rich and strange stories
- Stories for young people. Edgar Allan Poe
- Take the mic : fictional stories of everyday resistance
- Tales from outer suburbia
- Tales from the Hinterland
- Tales to keep you up at night
- The chronicles of Harris Burdick : 14 amazing authors tell the tales
- The cursed carnival and other calamities : new stories about mythic heroes
- The ice cream machine
- This family is driving me crazy : ten stories about surviving your family
- This is our rainbow : 16 stories of her, him, them, and us
- Trickster : Native American tales : a graphic collection
- True stories of the Second World War
- Unbroken : 13 stories starring disabled teens
- Us, in progress : short stories about young Latinos
- Vampires never get old : tales with fresh bite
- Vampires never get old : tales with fresh bite
- Whodunits : the armchair detective book of whodunits
Did you know the Eckstein Library has a MakerSpace where you can work with crafts of all sorts? There is a also a section of the library called Make It with how to resources. Check out some of the recommended How To books here!
Adults can learn a lot from kids and teen books! Check out these award winning books that adults should read!
The Odyssey Award is given for audiobooks and you can also find bestsellers on Libro.fm or Audible! Check out a list of books that are award-winners or bestsellers here! They make good readalouds as well with your family or friends! Note: some of these titles are young adult titles which can sometimes have more mature themes or language. A good rule of thumb: if the character’s age is in middle school (or younger), they are usually considered middle grade and might work well to start with as a readaloud.
Did you know that all students have access to Libby audiobooks through the Seattle Public Library as part of the Library Link program with Seattle Public Schools? Their digital library card number is 990000 followed by their student ID and their pin is their birthdate in MMDD format. Contact Ms. Sterling at emsterling@seattleschools.org or a public librarian for more information on the Library Link program!
How to get book suggestions, search for books, and put them on hold from the Eckstein Library!
Log into Follett Destiny Discover from the Clever Portal and search for books. Click hold to put them on hold and a TA will deliver them to you or you can stop by to pick them up!
Reading Suggestions
A note about reading at the middle school level:
Middle school is a wonderful age to be a reader. Children’s and young adult publishing is at the highest it’s ever been and the quality is superb.
There is literally a great book for everyone!
Books published as children’s literature or middle grade literature tend to be books I could recommend to kids in elementary school and up, which does not mean that there is not a wide variation within that category or that they are written at a much lower level but rather that the content is accessible for all. Books published as young adult literature sometimes have more mature content and situations, such as language, romantic/sexual relationships, violence, or difficult issues facing teens. Every student and every family is different. Contact the librarian Erin Sterling at emsterling@seattleschools.org if you want help choosing the right book for you!
Scroll through to find a book for you based on what you love.
- Realistic fiction about tough issues like The Hate You Give
- Heartwarming realistic fiction like Wonder
- Mystery thrillers like One of Us is Lying
- Mystery adventures like Stuart Gibbs’s Spy School series
- Horror books if you like Stephen King
- Funny books if you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Funny lighthearted books if you like Stand Up, Yumi Chung
- Funny Sci-Fi books if you like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- History nonfiction if you like Unbroken
- Historical middle grade fiction if you like The War That Saved My Life
- Historical young adult fiction if you like Last Night at the Telegraph Club
- LGBTQ2IA+ books if you liked Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
- Tearjerkers if you like They Both Die at the End
- Survival stories if you like Hatchet
- Graphic novels if you like Smile
- Graphic novels if you like Amulet
- Historical graphic novels if you like Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales
- Memoir graphic novels if you like Almost American Girl
- Sports books if you like Ghost
- Novels in verse if you like Other Words for Home
- Lighthearted fantasy if you like Keeper of the Lost Cities
- Mythological fantasy if you like Rick Riordan’s books
- Fantasy romance if you like Throne of Glass.
- Manga at Eckstein
- Eckstein students’ favorite books of 2021-2022
Donations!
Drop off at main office with Eckstein Library noted on the box or email Ms. Sterling at emsterling@seattleschools.org.
Eagles Read
Eagles Read are 50 book titles in a diverse range of interests selected by Ms. Sterling! Earn a button for every book you read, be entered in random drawings for prizes, and participate in discussions with students and staff through the year.
- 2024-2025 Eagles Read List
- 2023-2024 Eagles Read List
When you’ve read an Eagles Read book, fill out the form
Library Link
Visit the Seattle Public Library’s Online Resources via the LINK program!
- Your library barcode: 990000 + Student ID #
- found on the Source
- Your library pin: birthday (mmdd)
- example January 2 = 0102
Take a look at:
Eckstein Social Media Accounts
- Library: @ecksteinlibrary
- TikTok: @ecksteinlibrary
- ASB/Leadership: @insideeckstein
- Yearbook: @ecksteinyearbook
Library Purpose Statement
The Eckstein library‘s mission is to create a sophisticated 21st century learning environment that offers a full range of print and electronic resources that provide equal learning opportunities to all students. The library is a place of opportunity that offers students access to a collection of classic and contemporary print and electronic resources, as well as the chance to explore technology that they can integrate into their learning.