# Looking for non-depressing book for 6th graders **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954 "2015-07-23T14:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/1 "2015-07-23T14:14:07Z")
Let’s say I’m a teacher…(I am) and I’m tired of all the tragic literature out there for young adults. What books can I use for a unit that are not tragic? Are there ANY happy literary works out there for kids that can be taught in school? Suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/2 "2015-07-23T14:24:36Z")
Define depressing. I mean, there are books that are going to have conflicts, but ultimately probably end well. I don’t know what you mean by literature either. Yeah I know that sounds dumb, but are you talking something real and significant like Tom Sawyer or Oliver Twist? Or something that’s just in the age group like Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, or A Series of Unfortunate Events? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/3 "2015-07-23T14:31:10Z")
How about Watership Down? ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/4 "2015-07-23T14:33:33Z")
Long long time ago, when I was in 6th grade, we read “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.” Loved it. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/5 "2015-07-23T14:44:44Z")
One Crazy Summer and its sequel PS Be Eleven, by Rita Williams-Garcia. Most of Christopher Paul Curtis’ books would fit the bill as well. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/6 "2015-07-23T14:45:24Z")
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Butterfly\_s\_Ghost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_butterfly_s_ghost/32/3462_2.png) [@The\_Butterfly\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Butterfly_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/7 "2015-07-23T14:52:11Z")
The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett. The first in the series is “[The Wee Free Men](http://www.amazon.com/The-Wee-Free-Tiffany-Aching/dp/0060012382)”. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/8 "2015-07-23T15:07:44Z")
Tiffany Aching books are great. There’s some VERY mild risque humor in them, of the “looking up kilts” variety (and oblique references to a teenage girl not wanting lots of male fairies watch her bathe)–I don’t mind recommending them to students, but I wouldn’t do them as read-alouds or book studies. Bud, Not Buddy sounds really freaking depressing. It’s about a black kid in 1930s Flint, Michigan who watched his mother die when he was six and is now ten and bouncing between orphanages and abusive foster families. Given that slit-your-wrists-already setup, it’s a minor miracle how funny and non-depressing the book turns out to be. I read it to my students every year (third graders), and they love it. You can teach a lot of history through the book, too. Holes is also fantastic. Because of the age I teach, it’s possible these books are a little young for your students; but they might not be. They’re high-end childrens books instead of low-end young adult books. Sixth graders are kind of on that cusp, right? Are there particular concepts you’d like to teach through your units? ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/9 "2015-07-23T15:11:54Z")
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. There’s definitely some dark stuff in it, but it has an overall light tone. It’s an epic fantasy coming-of age series. The first book is _The Book of Three_, which I read in sixth grade and enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/10 "2015-07-23T15:15:20Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. There’s definitely some dark stuff in it, but it has an overall light tone. It’s an epic fantasy coming-of age series. The first book is _The Book of Three_, which I read in sixth grade and enjoyed. I will second the Prydain Chronicles, which were my favorite books in the sixth grade (although I didn’t read them for school). I’ll also recommend [The Wind in the Willows](http://www.scholastic.com/browse/book.jsp?id=1119), which is wonderful and timeless. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/11 "2015-07-23T15:31:53Z")
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I mean something significant, but not necessarily involving intense tragedy. We are doing “The Giver” for our first unit, but, holy cow, every other book we’ve been brainstorming involves some horrible incident. I was just wondering that if there are any “legitimate” literature books for young adults that were lighthearted. Maybe to ‘cleanse the palate’ for these kids once in a while after a steady diet of the Holocaust or friends dying or being oppressed… ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/12 "2015-07-23T15:41:19Z")
Then I will second Watership Down It is easy to read, has good characters, even has little mythology breaks! There is fighting and death, but really it ends well ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/13 "2015-07-23T15:52:12Z")
_The Westing Game_, by Ellen Raskin? I loved it when I was around that age. I haven’t re-read in years. Same for From the Mixed-Up Files… loved it so much at that age. I recently read _The Witch of Blackbird Pond_, by Elizabeth George Speare. It could lead to good discussion about the religious aspects, problems of evidence, the way the book doesn’t seem to address slavery at all, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TexCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texcat/32/9041_2.png) [@TexCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexCat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/14 "2015-07-23T16:04:29Z")
_The Princess Bride_? I agree with peedin, I loved the Mixed-up Files, but it might be a little young for 6th graders? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/15 "2015-07-23T16:14:27Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Thanks for the suggestions so far. I mean something significant, but not necessarily involving intense tragedy. We are doing “The Giver” for our first unit, but, holy cow, every other book we’ve been brainstorming involves some horrible incident. I was just wondering that if there are any “legitimate” literature books for young adults that were lighthearted. Maybe to ‘cleanse the palate’ for these kids once in a while after a steady diet of the Holocaust or friends dying or being oppressed… Look into Alan Dean Foster’s Glory Lane. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/16 "2015-07-23T16:37:25Z")
Born to Trot, by Marguerite Henry The Four-Story Mistake, by Elizabeth Enright Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle The above have been around for decades, but I think they are still in print. And a Newbery award winner that I actually enjoyed and is only a year or two old: Flora and Ulysses, by Kate Di Camillo ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/17 "2015-07-23T16:45:20Z")
What IS up with all these horrifically depressing children’s books? My daughter is in fourth and their summer reading book was Island of the Blue Dolphins. Depressing, lonely, and not really at all inspiring. It was an okay story, but my daughter had no interest in it. In her words, “I guess it’s supposed to be an adventure but it was just sad and the ending sucks.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/18 "2015-07-23T16:55:17Z")
Really? Island of the Blue Dolphins was, hands down, one of my favorite books as a kid. I’m not inspirational was what it was going for, but a wonderful look at a life so completely different from my own. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/19 "2015-07-23T17:03:15Z")
The Hobbit ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954/20 "2015-07-23T17:06:29Z")
How about James Herriot’s All Creatures stories? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-non-depressing-book-for-6th-graders/725954.md?page=2)