Summer Reading for Students Entering 7 Grade

Summer Reading for Students Entering 7

th

Grade

The summer reading for incoming seventh graders includes three novels; one novel is required

for the entire class, and the second and third novels may be selected from the attached lists or

personal libraries. The required novel is a Newbery Honor book, Nothing But the Truth, by Avi.

The author describes the book this way:

“What I set out to do is to put the reader in charge – like a detective – by presenting all the evidence

pertaining to an event that happened – or did not happen – in school. It’s all fiction of course, but it reads very

realistically. What’s more, it asks the reader to decide what really happened in the story. You have to decide

for yourself. You have to read very carefully to decide what actually happened. After all, when you’re asked to

swear that you will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” everybody says they will. And

yet they do not agree about what happened. That’s what this book is all about, the complexities of truth.”

Each student is responsible for purchasing and reading the novel. Your written assignment for

this novel has five parts: to summarize, ask questions, pick passages, make connections, and

draw a picture. This assignment must be typed and double spaced.

Here are the requirements for each part:

I. Summarize

Identify the author and title and then summarize the novel. Convey the “gist” of the book – the

key points, the main highlights, the essence of the novel. (Approximately half a page)

II. Ask questions

Write 3 questions you would like to ask the author about the novel. You might ask something

about character or plot or theme, but be specific.

III. Pick passages

Find 3 passages in the novel that you believe are particularly important. Copy them, cite their

page numbers, and explain why they are important.

IV. Make connections

Find 3 connections between the book and the world. In other words, connect the reading to:

your own life, happenings at school, similar events at other times/places, stories in the news,

other people or problems, or other books or stories. For each, be sure to identify what happens

in the book and then make the connection.

V. Draw a picture

First write (type) what you believe to be the most important part of the story. Then depict it.

You may choose any art form – a collage, a pencil drawing, an abstract representation, etc. You

need not be an artist; stick figures are fine. Be sure that you use unlined paper and that you

utilize most of the paper.

Use the Roman numbers to identify the sections of your “report.” You need not put each on a

separate piece of paper.

Complete the assignment for the 2nd and 3rd novels, the ones you choose, on the forms

appearing at the end of this document. You may choose these two books from the Newbery

Award list, the Michael L. Printz Award list, or one of the following lists.

Students should bring their completed work on the first day of school.

Annotated List

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain

Tom goes from one misadventure to another as he grows up in a small town along the Mississippi River.

Black Like Me, by John Griffin

The author tells the fascinating story of how he darkened his skin in order to blend into Afro-

American society in the Deep South and of what he learned while meeting and traveling among

black Americans.

A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck.

A thirteen-year-old Shaker boy living on a farm in Vermont is the main character in this novel as he

assumes many adults responsibilities. Graphic scenes of farm life may shock city kids.

Death Be Not Proud, by John Gunther.

True story of the courageous fight for life by the author’s adolescent son who suffers from a brain

tumor.

Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

Honest account of a Jewish girl’s experiences and emotions while hiding from the Nazis in Occupied

Holland.

Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston.

This true story tells of one Japanese-American family’s attempt to survive with dignity the

humiliations of forced detention during World War II.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by JK Rowling.

The next volume in the thrilling, bestselling Harry Potter series. The series continues as Harry and

his friends in their 5th year at Hogwarts face the reality of Voltmort’s rise to power.

Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson.

Sara Louise is the heroine. Her twin sister, adolescence and the Chesapeake Bay region are the

themes of this thought-provoking novel. Newbery Medal Winner.

Kim/Kimi, by Hadley Irwin.

Kim is Irish-American on her mother’s side and Japanese-American on her father’s side. She travels

from her home in Iowa to the California Japanese-American community in order to answer some

questions about herself.

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott.

The story of the four March sisters who come of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War.

Each struggles with her own problems and talents.

My Brother Stealing Second, by Jim Naughton.

The title of this novel refers to Bobby’s favorite memory of his older brother, Billy, who died in

an accident before the story begins. The author, a sportswriter, uses numerous baseball scenes

effectively.

Sod and Stubble, by John Ise.

This classic novel tells the story of Henry and Rosie, two young Americans of German birth who

take out a homestead claim in Western Kansas in 1873. A “must-read” book for all Kansans that

is a story of inspiration.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor.

The members of Cassie’s family are determined not to surrender their independence because

they are black, but the events of one turbulent year threaten to destroy their world.

The Moves Make the Man, by Bruce Brooks.

This novel “has a basketball theme and plenty of action, but sport is merely the vehicle for

delivering a serious story of friendship and madness” between two youths, one black and one

white, in trouble. Newbery Honor book.

The Sea Wolf, by Jack London.

Wolf Larsen makes bookish Humphrey Van Weyden an unwilling crewman on the Ghost.

Humphrey begins to act as rough as the rest of the crew until shipwrecked Maud Brewster

becomes the only woman on board the ship.

The Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene.

An abusive Jewish store owner’s daughter befriends an escaped German prisoner-of-war in

Arkansas during World War II.

Tunes for Bears to Dance To, by Robert Cormier.

Henry discovers evil when his bigoted boss manipulates him into betraying his friend, an

elderly Holocaust survivor.

Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker, by Carolyn Meyer.

Discovered and forced to return to her family in 1836, twenty-four years after her capture by

Commanches, Cynthia Ann Parker is unable to adjust to life away from the tribe.

White Fang, by Jack London.

The story of an animal, part dog and part wolf, who has become vicious through cruel human abuse,

but who is transformed by the affection of one young man.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare.

When Kit is orphaned, she is forced to leave her island home in the Caribbean and move to Colonial

Connecticut to live with her aunt’s family. An independent woman unused to Puritan ways, she is

eventually accused of witchcraft. Newbery Medal Winner.

Additional Books Enjoyed by Previous Students

The Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz

The On The Run Series by Gordon Korman

The Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson

Catch by Will Leitch

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

Change Up by John Feinstein

The Big Field by Mike Lupica

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Greene

Travel Team by Mike Lupica

The Entitled by Frank Deford

My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Chris Collier

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Small Steps by Louis Sachar

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

Incantation by Alice Hoffman

Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich by Alice Childress

Shane by Jack Schaefer

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

Jump Ship to Freedom by James and Christopher Collier

Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John H. Ritter

BOOK SUMMARY SHEET

Name: __________________________

DIRECTIONS: Fill out the following for each of the additional two books you have selected

either from our suggested reading list or your own private library.

TITLE OF BOOK: _________________________________________

AUTHOR: ___________________________________

SETTING:

TIME: ___________________________

PLACE: ___________________________

MAIN CHARACTER(S): (Name and describe in 3-5 sentences) WRITE NEATLY

______________________________________________________________________________

PLOT AND CONFLICT: (A brief summary of the plot and the main problem(s) to be solved 4-

6 sentences)

______________________________________________________________________________

YOUR OPINION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE NOVEL:

______________________________________________________________________________

BOOK SUMMARY SHEET

Name: __________________________

DIRECTIONS: Fill out the following for each of the additional two books you have selected

either from our suggested reading list or your own private library.

TITLE OF BOOK: _________________________________________

AUTHOR: ________________________________________________

SETTING:

TIME: ____________________________

PLACE: ___________________________

MAIN CHARACTER(S): (Name and describe in 3-5 sentences) WRITE NEATLY

______________________________________________________________________________

PLOT AND CONFLICT: (A brief summary of the plot and the main problem(s) to be solved 4-

6 sentences)

______________________________________________________________________________

YOUR OPINION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE NOVEL:

______________________________________________________________________________