7th Grade Summer Reading Selections
7th Grade Summer Reading
Selections
Write a concise summary in paragraph form for each
of the two books that you have read.
You will hand in this Report Form
for a grade the first day of school.
Don't forget to get it signed by your parent/guardian.
*Indicates a more challenging choice
REAL LIFE AND HISTORICAL FICTION
*Bruchac, Joseph – Code
Talker: a Novel About the Navajo Marines of WWII
After being taught in boarding school that Navajo is a useless language, Ned and
other Navajo men are recruited by the marines to send messages, in code, in
their native tongue.
*Lockhart, E. -
The
Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
In the summer between her
freshman and sophomore years, Frankie Landau-Banks transforms from “a scrawny,
awkward child” with frizzy hair to a curvy beauty.
Lord, Cynthia – Rules
Frustrated with her life with an autistic brother, 12 year old Catherine longs
for a normal existence but her life is further complicated by her friendship
with a paraplegic.
Lupica, Mike – Travel
Team
After he is cut from the travel basketball team, 12 year old Danny forms his own
team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.
McKay, Hilary – Saffy’s
Angel
After learning that she was adopted, 13 year old Saffron’s relationship with her
eccentric family changes. They help her go back to Italy, where she was born,
to find a special memento of her past.
*Park, L.-
When My
Name Was Keoko
A brother and
sister face the oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II,
which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.
*Staples, S.-
Shiva's Fire
A talented
dancer in India, sacrifices friends and family for her art.
Tolan, Stephanie –
Surviving the Applewhites
Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent home to be home-schooled at the
arts, eccentric Applewhite’s Creative Academy where he discovers talents and
interests he never knew he had.
Weeks, Sarah – So B. It
After spending her life with a mentally retarded mother, 12 year old Heidi sets
out for New York to find out who she is.
White, R-
Deathwatch
Young Ben
thinks his career in leading hunters in search of bighorn sheep is over when a
crazed hunter attacks and leaves him to die in the desert.
Woodson, Jacquline –
Hush
Twelve year old Toswiah finds her life is changed when her family enters the
witness protection program.
back to top
*Abrahams, P.-
Down
the Rabbit Hole
Like her idol
Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a
murder case in her home town of Echo Falls.
Broach, Elise –
Shakespeare’s Secret
Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit 6th grader Hero
becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable
diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the
unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.
Gaiman, Neil - The Graveyard Book
The sole survivor of the attack--an
18-month-old baby--escapes his crib and his house, and toddles to a nearby
graveyard. Quickly recognizing that the baby is orphaned, the graveyard's
ghostly residents adopt him, name him Nobody ("Bod"), and allow him to live in
their tomb.
Hoobler, Dorthy – The
Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
While attempting to find the mystery of a stolen jewel, Seikei, a merchant’s son
who longs to be a Samurai, joins a group of Kabuki actors in 18th
century Japan.
Horowitz, A. -
The Alex Rider Series
Stories of a teen-age spy who is called into service to save the world,
James Bond style, from various perils.
Horowitz, A. –
Three of Diamonds
Adventures of the Diamond brothers in which Tim and Nick bungle their way
through a search for a missing philanthropist.
Blacker, Terence.- The
Angel Factory
Spurred on by his best friend, 12 year old Thomas uncovers two major secrets: he
was adopted and that his perfect-seeming family is part of an other-worldly
organization.
*Brooks, T.-
The
Elf Queen of Shannara
Because the
enchantment has left the Four Lands, Wren is sent to find the Elves. Wren’s
journey is filled with adventure as he travels across the Blue Divide and
through a terror-filled jungle.
Cooper, Susan-
King of Shadows
A richly descriptive story mingling fantasy and historical fiction, about a
contemporary American boy who suddenly awakens to find himself on Shakespeare’s
stage in 1599.
*Eddings, D.-
Pawn of Prophecy
This is an immense epic which fills five books and covers a history of 7,000
years. Garon, a young farm boy, becomes involved with the dangerous struggles of
gods and kings in faraway lands.
Haddix, Margaret.-
Shadow Children Series (Among the Hidden, Among the Imposters, Among the Barons,
Among the Brave, Among the Betrayed)
In a society that allows families to have only two children, a group of third-borns
tries to save themselves and others like them.
Jacques, Brian-
Redwall Series
There’s
non-stop action in the form of battles, sieges and violent villainy along with a
triumphant ending that’s never in real doubt but is nevertheless involving.
McCaffrey, A.-
Dragonsong
When Menolly is forbidden by her father to continue with her music, she runs
away to be with dragons.
*Poe, E.A.-
Short Stories
Poe paints a
world of horror and imagination in these famous short stories.
Riordan, Rick.- Percy
Jackson and the Olympians Series
Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable to control his temper, learns
the truth from his mother that his father is the god Poseidon.
Waugh, Cynthia. - Earth
Born (Book 2 of The Ormingat Trilogy)
Having learned that her parents are researchers from another planet and they
must leave home whether or not they want to, 12 year old Nesta decides to stay
in their York, England home.
back to top
NON-FICTION
Allen, Thomas -
George Washington, Spymaster How the Americans Out Spied the British and
Won the Revolutionary War
Victory in the spy war. Examines how George Washington used espionage during
the American Revolutionary War, discussing the Culper Ring, the Sons of Liberty,
codes, ciphers, and more.
Bankston,
John.- Stephen Hawking: Breaking the Boundaries of Time and Space
A biography of physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who in spite of his
affliction with Lou Gehrig’s disease, continues to be an influence in the world
of science with his theories about black holes and gravity.
Goldsmith, Connie –
Influenza: The Next Pandemic?
A comprehensive examination of influenza that explains how it presents itself,
how it spreads, and how it’s treated and prevented.
Herriot, J.-
All Creatures Great and Small
A young, country veterinarian practices in an English town and learns how to
handle these animals and people, birth to death.
Jurmain, Suzanne - The
Forbidden Schoolhouse : The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her
Students
Chronicles the life and struggles of Prudence Crandall who, in the 1830s
closed her all-white boarding school for girls in Canterbury, Connecticut, and
began admitting African-American students; and describes the intense opposition
from the townspeople.
*Murphy, J.- A
Young Patriot : The American Revolution
as Experienced By One Boy
Presents the memoirs of Joseph Plumb Martin, a fifteen-year-old boy who enlisted
in the revolutionary army in 1776, fighting under Washington, wintering at
Valley Forge, and staying in the fight until the end of the war in 1783.
Murphy, J. -
The Great
Fire
An
action-packed account of the catastrophe that destroyed much of Chicago in 1871,
forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes.
Thomson, Sarah -
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the
World... One Child at a Time (young readers addition)
In 1993, while climbing one of the world's
most difficult peaks, Mortenson became lost and ill, and eventually found aid in
the tiny Pakistani village of Korphe. He vowed to repay his generous hosts by
building a school; his efforts have grown into the Central Asia Institute, which
has since provided education for 25,000 children.
Moss, Marissa - Amelia's Notebook (and series)
The feisty, make-believe girl takes on a life
of her own as she writes and draws her feelings about moving, starting a new
school, and making new friends.
Scieszka, Jon - Tall Tales and Almost True Stories
of Growing Up Scieszka
Scieszka, who grew up as the second of six
sons, has written an autobiography about boys, for boys and anyone else
interested in baseball, fire, and peeing on stuff.
*Indicates a more challenging choice
awp 05/09