Summer Reading

Mrs. Allen

One of the values I try to teach is the love of reading.  It is my hope that students will enjoy reading over the summer.  Read anything!  Read National Geographic or the Sports page.  I have compiled a book list for students past and present to help them choose a book that they will enjoy reading.  My students in 7th grade will have the opportunity to earn extra credit for the reading that they do outside of class.  During the first two weeks of school, I teach my students how to write a book review, and they may choose to write up a book of their choice to receive an extra quiz grade in English class.  Students will have the opportunity to earn extra credit every quarter, so keep up the good work!

Young Adult Fiction
London Calling, Edward Bloor
Silent to the Bone, E. L. Konigsburg
Zipped, Laura and Tom McNeal
A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy, Libba Bray
City of Bones trilogy, Cassandra Clare
Homecoming series, Cynthia Voight
Harry Potter novels, K Rowling
Spud, John van de Ruit
Al Capone Does my Shirts, Gennifer Cheldenko
Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin
The Giver trilogy, Lois Lowery

For science fiction fans:
I really enjoyed Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and the sequels and companion novels that follow.

Many students have read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.  Those looking for a science fiction novel from this author may wish to read her novel Host.

A classic sci-fi novel is Frank Herbert’s Dune.

Printz Award Winners  and Printz Honor Books are usually a good bet for a (mature) teen reader.  Some of these novels may have content that parents of middle school students may find objectionable. I have read and recommend the following Printz novels for mature students:

Looking for Alaska by John Greene
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
An Abundance of Katherines by John Greene
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Chanda’s Secrets by Alan Stratton
True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolf
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Novels about World Cultures or that relate to Social Studies

Under the Blood Red Sun, Graham Salisbury
The Good Earth, Pearl Buck
Forbidden City, William E Bell
Red Scarf Girl, Ji-Li Jiang
Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Facing the Lion, Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton
The Song of Be, Lesley Beak
The Other Side of Truth, Beverly Naidoo
My Forbidden Face (nonfiction!), Latifa
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind, Suzanne Fisher Staples
The Road From Home, David Kherdian
Across Five Aprils, Irene Hunt
My Brother Sam is Dead, James Lincoln Collier