Shirley Jackson had an excellent story “The Lottery,” qhich I rememebr reading around that time.It was about a special lottery in which everyone in town participated. The story has a real twist ending.
A good novel was The Westing Game, I don’t recall the author, but I read it before I allowed my then Middle-Schooler read it, as I was unfamiliar with it. It is like an Agatha Christie mystery for younger students, but as an adult I also enjoyed it.