MVMS Summer Reading 2011
Requirements for those entering grade 7: You need to read at least three books as described: At least one book from the Book Discussions List --you will be in a Fall discussion group. At least one science non-fiction or science biography --you will be
handing in an assignment. At least one other summer reading book (see the Recommended Books list below). You will be reporting on a book in grade 7 Language Arts. |
Requirements for those entering grade 8: You need to read at least three books as described: At least one book from the Book Discussions List -- you will be in a Fall discussion group. At least one book from the Social Studies Book List -- you will be assigned
an activity in social studies class. At least one other summer reading book (see the Recommended Books list below). You will be reporting on a book in grade 8 Language Arts.
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* Denotes ideal for reluctant reader
! a title for mature readers, edgy
Grades 7 and 8 Book Discussions List
Read at least one from the list of 8 options below for our Fall Discussion Groups.
1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Professor Aronnax goes on a thrilling and dangerous journey far below the waves to see what creatures live in the ocean’s depths. In the process, Verne imagined a vessel that had not yet been invented: the submarine. There is a rumor that this will be made into a movie this year.
2. * Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Graphic novel.
A random accident led to front tooth loss when she was 12, and over the next several years, Raina suffered through surgery, implants, headgear, false teeth, and a rearrangement of her remaining incisors. Accompanying the physical treatment came social rough spots with friends, while middle school delivered another set of curveballs with crushes, maturing bodies, and changing family expectations and judgments.
3. The Alchemyst: The Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott.
While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen year old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicolas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life. School Library Journal starred review for grades 6-9.
4. * Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury.
In 1975, eleven Boy Scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake strikes, followed by a tsunami. Booklist starred review.
5. Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
Liam is a big lad. So big that strangers mistake the 12-year-old for an adult. Even his teachers seem to conflate tall with old. So heaven forbid he should ever make a mistake. Then it’s all, “You should know better, big lad like you.” Life sure is hard for poor, burdened Liam (did I mention the Premature Facial Hair?)—until, that is, he decides to enter the Greatest Dad Ever Contest and in short order finds himself on a rocket ship that is off course and 200,000 miles above the earth. Yes, quite a few things—some of them cosmic and all of them extremely funny—do happen in between. This is not only a story about big lads, but also about dads and dadliness. Booklist starred review.
6. Matched by Ally Condie.
In Matched, the Society Officials have figured out the best outcomes for all aspects of daily life – what people should eat, what job they should have, even who they should marry - thereby removing the "burden" of choice. When Cassia's best friend is identified as her ideal marriage Match it confirms her belief that Society knows best, until she plugs in her Match microchip and a different boy’s face flashes on the screen. This improbable mistake sets Cassia on a dangerous path to the unthinkable--rebelling against the life Society has planned for her. As Society takes chilling measures to maintain the status quo, Matched reminds readers that freedom of choice is precious, and not without sacrifice.
7. ! The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by Lockhart.
On Frankie’s return to her elite boarding school, she attracts the attention of Matthew, who draws her into his circle of popular seniors. Then Frankie learns that Matthew is a member of an all-male secret society to which Frankie’s dad had once belonged. Excluded from belonging to or even discussing the society, Frankie engineers~her own~guerilla membership by assuming a false online identity. Booklist starred review, National Book Award Finalist, Printz Honor Book.
8. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson.
In the spring of 1776, Isabel, a teenage slave, and her sister, Ruth, are sold to ruthless, wealthy loyalists in Manhattan. While running errands, Isabel is approached by rebels, who promise her freedom (and help finding Ruth, who has been sent away) if she agrees to spy. Isabel finds that both patriots and loyalists support slavery. Isabel slowly realizes that if she ever wants to see her sister again, she will have to escape. Booklist starred review, Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, National Book Award finalist.
Social Studies for Grade 8
Read at least one for activity in social studies.
In My Hands by Irene Gut Opdyke
From School Library Journal: When WWII began, Irene Gut was 17, a Polish Patriot, and a good Catholic. Forced to work for the German Army, her blond hair, blue eyes, and youth brought her the relatively safe job of waitress in the officer's dining room. She used this Aryan mask to pick up conversations and pass the information to the Jews in the ghetto, along with food and blankets. She smuggled people from the work camp into the forest. When she was made the housekeeper of a Nazi major, she hid 12 Jews in the basement of his home until the Germans' defeat.
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
School Library Journal: Starred Review. Grade 8 Up–This action-packed, multifaceted, character-rich story describes the shocking realities of the slave trade and plantation life while portraying the perseverance, resourcefulness, and triumph of the human spirit. Amari is a 15-year-old Ashanti girl who is happily anticipating her marriage to Besa. Then, slavers arrive in her village, slaughter her family, and shatter her world. Shackled, frightened, and despondent, she is led to the Cape Coast where she is branded and forced onto a boat of death for the infamous Middle Passage to the Carolinas. There, Percival Derby buys her as a gift for his son's 16th birthday. Cruel white stereotypes abound except for the plantation's mistress, whose love is colorblind; the doctor who provides the ruse for the girls' escape; and the Irish woman who gives
the fugitives a horse and wagon. As readers embrace Amari and Polly, they will better understand the impact of human exploitation and suffering throughout history. In addition, they will gain a deeper knowledge of slavery, indentured servitude, and 18th-century sanctuaries for runaway slaves.
*Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis
From School Library Journal: Grade 7-9–This collection of accounts from young people between the ages of 8 and 18 portrays the sapping toll of war on their lives. Instead of looking toward their futures, these kids are watching their backs. Instead of playing games of pick-up ball in the street, they're lobbing rocks at soldier's and dodging tear gas and bullets. Israeli students are pressed into military service. In Palestine, the scanty settlements are overcrowded and unsafe. Each narrative is prefaced with a short historical or personal background description providing a point of reference for the sentiments expressed. Ellis effectively remains absent, serving as chronicler for these ordinary kids in traumatic circumstances who are tinged by varying degrees of anger and despair. An excellent presentation of a confusing historic struggle,
told within a palpable, perceptive and empathetic format.
* The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Starred Review. Grade 7–10—Exploring Indian identity, both self and tribal, Alexie's first young adult novel is a semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian from Wellpinit, WA. The bright 14-year-old was born with water on the brain, is regularly the target of bullies, and loves to draw. He says, "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. Meeting his old classmates on the court, Junior grapples with questions about what constitutes one's community, identity, and tribe. Forney's simple pencil cartoons fit perfectly within
the story and reflect the burgeoning artist within Junior. Reluctant readers can even skim the pictures and construct their own story based exclusively on Forney's illustrations. The teen's determination to both improve himself and overcome poverty, despite the handicaps of birth, circumstances, and race, delivers a positive message in a low-key manner.
The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz
In the days before microphones and TV interviews, getting people to listen to you was not an easy task. But James Madison used his quiet eloquence, intelligence and passion for unified colonies to help shape the Constitution, steer America through the turmoil of two wars, and ensure that our government, and nation, remained intact. uAn excellent, fascinating, indispensable resource. --Kirkus Reviews, pointer review The book is rich in the sort of detail that illuminates the man, but is not limited to personal information; a great deal of government history is woven into the biography. --Horn Book, starred review Fritz has given a vivid picture of the man and an equally vivid picture of the problems that faced the leaders of the new nation in the formative years. --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred
review Young readers will feel like they know the Great Little Madison' very well. --School Library Journal
Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat
Starred Review. Grade 7 Up–This moving memoir of a Palestinian woman's childhood experiences during the Six-Day War and its aftermath is presented in beautifully crafted vignettes. Barakat, now living and working in the United States, frames the story of her life between 1967 and 1970 with a pair of letters from herself as a high school student in 1981. Detained by soldiers during an ordinary bus trip, she was prompted to try to recall her shattered childhood and share her experiences with others around the world. She begins with a description of her three-year-old self, temporarily separated from her family in their first frantic flight from their Ramallah home as the war began. The author's love for the countryside and her culture shines through her bittersweet recollections. Careful choice of episodes and details brings to life a
Palestinian world that may be unfamiliar to American readers, but which they will come to know and appreciate. Readers will be charmed by the writer-to-be as she falls in love with chalk, the Arabic alphabet, and the first-grade teacher who recognizes her abilities.
*Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
From School Library Journal: Grade 6-10-The sights, sounds, and smells of Philadelphia when it was still the nation's capital are vividly re-created in this well-told tale of a girl's coming-of-age, hastened by the outbreak of yellow fever. As this novel opens, Matilda Cook, 14, wakes up grudgingly to face another hot August day filled with the chores appropriate to the daughter of a coffeehouse owner. Ambitious, resentful of the ordinary tedium of her life, and romantically imaginative, Matilda is a believable teenager, so immersed in her own problems that she can describe the freed and widowed slave who works for her family as the "luckiest" person she knows. Ironically, it is Mattie who is lucky in the loyalty of Eliza. The woman finds medical help when Mattie's mother falls ill, takes charge while the girl is sent away to the
countryside, and works with the Free African Society. She takes Mattie in after her grandfather dies, and helps her reestablish the coffeehouse. Eliza's story is part of an important chapter in African-American history, but it is just one of many facets of this story of an epidemic.There are numerous eyewitness accounts of the devastation by Dr. Benjamin Rush and other prominent Philadelphians of the day. Readers will be drawn in by the characters and will emerge with a sharp and graphic picture of another world.
Once by Morris Gleitzman
From School Library Journal: Grade 6–9—Felix lives in Poland in 1942, and reading is his survival mechanism. Now almost 10, he was sent to a Catholic orphanage three years and eight months earlier by his Jewish bookstore-owning parents, and he's convinced himself that the sole reason he remains in hiding is because Nazis hate books. He's a natural storyteller, and when he finds a full carrot in what is typically a woefully thin bowl of soup, he fantasizes that it's a sign from his parents that they're finally on their way to take him home. When the orphanage is visited by surly Nazis instead of joyous parents, Felix escapes with only his cherished notebook full of his stories into the nearby countryside, still hoping for a family reunion. He soon discovers a burning home with two slain adults in the yard and their young daughter bruised but
still alive. He takes Zelda on his journey, shielding her from the reality of her parents' deaths in much the same way he's been comforting himself, by inventing alternative realities. But, as he encounters the escalating ugliness of the death marches that are emptying his old neighborhood, now a ghetto, Felix becomes increasingly conflicted about the need to imagine a hopeful order and the need to confront brutal reality head-on.
* Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage: The Graphic Novel adapted by Wayne Vansant
From School Library Journal: Black and white illustrations provide a rich visual framework for Crane’s classic novel. The paneled drawings capture emotional nuances and chaotic battle scenes with equal effectiveness. Crane’s original words are retained for most narration and dialogue, giving readers a sense of the power of the novel’s language.
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
From School Library Journal: Starred Review. Grade 5-9–In thoughtful, vividly descriptive, almost poetic prose, Roy retells the true story of her Aunt Syvia's experiences in the Lodz Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland. The slightly fictionalized story, re-created from her aunt's taped narrative, is related by Syvia herself as a series of titled vignettes that cover the period from fall, 1939, when she is four years old, until January 1945–each one recounting a particular detail-filled memory in the child's life (a happy-colored yellow star sewn on her favorite orange coat; a hole in the cemetery where she hides overnight with her Papa). The book is divided into five chronological sections–each with a short factual introduction to the period covered. An appended author's note tells what happened to Syvia's family after the
war. A time line of World War II, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, is also included. This gripping and very readable narrative, filled with the astute observations of a young child, brings to life the Jewish ghetto experience in a unique and memorable way. This book is a standout in the genre of Holocaust literature
* The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
From School Library Journal: Grade 5–8—When his older brother gets conscripted into the Union Army, Homer runs away from his uncle, "the meanest man in the entire state of Maine." He sets out after Harold but has multiple misadventures along the way. He survives thanks to courage, luck, and his talent for telling lies when needed, since "old Truth ain't nearly as useful as a fib sometimes." Homer relates his own adventures in colorful language as he crosses paths with con men, rogues, and scoundrels of various types. The comic tone is reflected in character names, such as Stink and Smelt, the cold-blooded slave catchers, and the kind but shifty Professor Fleabottom. Things take a more somber tone when Homer sees the horrors of the battlefield up close. The final reunion of the brothers during the Battle of Gettysburg is
bittersweet. Homer's escapades introduce some interesting features of the year 1863, including the Underground Railroad, a traveling medicine show, Civil War spies, and an early version of the hydrogen balloon. Homer runs into plenty of danger, but there's more comedy than suspense in most episodes. He also deals with some moral dilemmas as he tries to make sense of the wide world and find people and ideas to believe in.
! The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
From Library Journal: The late Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (1974) concerns the battle of Gettysburg and was the basis for the 1993 film Gettysburg. The events immediately before and during the battle are seen through the eyes of Confederate Generals Lee, Longstreet, and Armistead and Federal General Buford, Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, and a host of others. The author's ability to convey the thoughts of men in war as well as their confusion-the so-called "fog of battle"-is outstanding. This unabridged version is read clearly by award-winning actor George Hearn, who gives each character a different voice and effectively conveys their personalities; chapters and beginnings and ends of sides are announced. Music from the movie version adds to the drama. All this comes in a beautiful package with a battle map.
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Incoming 7th grade students: Science (need to read one)
A Life in the Wild: George Schaller’s Struggle to Save the Last Great Beast by Pamela S. Turner
Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France by Lorraine Jean Hopping
Mutants, Clones, and Killer Corn: Unlocking the Secrets of Biotechnology by Samantha Seiple
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
Blizzard! The Storm that Changed America by Jim Murphy
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David
Oh, Rats! By Albert Martin
Mummies, Bones, and Bony Parts by Charlotte Wilcox
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
The Omnivores’ Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan
* My Life with Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall
* Where Else in the Wild? More Camouflaged Creatures Concealed … and Revealed by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy
Whaling Season: A Year in the Life of an Arctic Whale Scientist by Peter Lourie
Recommended Fabulous Summer Reading Grades 7 and 8
Choose from this list or other library recommended book list and be prepared to write about a book in Language Arts classes.
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Not of This World: Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Supernatural Bartimaeus Trilogy (series) by Jonathon Stroud ^Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale Cirque du Freak (series) by Darren Shan City of Ember (series) by Jeanne DePrau Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Epic by Conor Kostick Gone by Michael Grant ^*The Luxe by Ann Godbersen Lost Years of Merlin by T. A. Barron Maximum Ride (series) James Patterson Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman Pendragon (series) by D. J. McHale Rash by Pete Hautman Trickster’s Choice by (series) Tamora Pierce *Vampire High by Douglas Rees Wee Free Men (series) by Terry Pratchett In this World: Realistic and Historical Fiction Battle of Jericho by Sharon Flake Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith General Winston's Daughter by Sharon Shinn I Am the Wallpaper Mark Peter Hughes *Invisible by Pete Hautman *The Juvie Three by Gordan Korman *Keesha’s House by Helen Frost *Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson Middle School Is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year Told through Stuff by Jennifer L. Holm Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes *Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings *Runner
by Carl Deuker Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman The Pigman by Paul Zindel *Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson Mystery, Espionage, Sports, and Adventure Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz Blue Is for Nightmare (series) by Laurie Faria Stolarz *Cherub series by Robert Muchamore Cover-Up by John Feinstein Double Identity by Margaret Haddix Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abramson Operation Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll Summer Ball by Mike Lupica Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson Non-Fiction and Poetry Escape: the Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman Guys Write for Guys Read. Edited by Jon Scieska Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walkter Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball By Kadir Nelson *^The Year We Disappeared: A Father Daughter Memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby
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