20137th Grade Summer Reading Books-Total 2 Books

Students in enriched classes are required to read 1 of the 2 following books, plus 1book from the choice list.

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston

This is the true story of one spirited Japanese American family’s attempt to survive the indignities of forced detention and of a native-born American child who discovered what it was like to grow up behind barbed wire in the United Sates.

The Art of Keeping Cool by Janet Taylor Lisle

In the spring of 1942, Robert, his mother, and sister are living out the war in Rhode Island where Nazi submarines are torpedoing U.S. ships. When violence breaks out in his paternal grandparents’ home, Robert is afraid he and his family may not survive the war.

Students in regular and small group instruction classes read any 2 books from the following choice list.

CHOICE LIST

Anything but Typicalby Nora Raleigh Baskin

Jason is a boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He loves to write short stories but finds connecting with people in person to be much more difficult. Jason meets a girl, a “neurotypical,” online, through a storyboarding site who gives him positive feedback on his short stories. When Jason finds out, however, that she will be at the same storyboarding conference as him, he wonders if she will be able to accept him for who he really is.

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

Eleven-year-old Primrose, who lives in a small fishing village in British Columbia, has lost her parents at sea, but is convinced they are on an island waiting to be rescued. The only two people who do not try to take that belief away are her Uncle Jack, and the owner and chef of the local restaurant.

All But My Lifeby Gerda Weissman Klein

This is a true story about a young woman’s fight for survival during the Holocaust. The Nazi’s have taken her family, home, and friends. She must now fight for her life.

Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

The author returns to her roots to paint an authentic portrait of 20th century Chinaand to tell the story of her painful childhood as an unwanted daughter.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

In this historical fiction work, two young African American sisters, who were promised their freedom, are sold to a Tory couple living in New York City. It takes place during 1776 right in the middle of the Revolutionary War.

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

In this sequel to Chains, Anderson shifts perspective from Isabel to Curzon and shows what it takes for runaway slaves to forge their own paths in a world of obstacles during the American Revolution.

All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg

Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is filled with the loss of everything he left behind. Now he must learn to understand and accept his caring adoptive home in the United States. New experiences and events will force him to choose between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom.
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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The story is about a boy named Nobody Owens who is raised and educated by ghosts of a graveyard. He has lived in a graveyard all his life and he cannot leave the graveyard he calls home. However, after doing some investigating, he learns how he ended up in his graveyard, and he discovers a secret society.

Note this book contains images that can be viewed as explicit in nature.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in flint Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father-the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway, of Grand Rapids.

Racing the Past by Sis Deans

Eleven-year-old Ricky stops taking the school bus home, to avoid fights with the school bully. He gradually begins to increase his running speed, and tries to beat the bus home.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Catherine’s brother, David, is autistic, and their family life revolves around his needs. Catherine loves her brother, but when a girl moves in next door, she fears David will ruin the relationship. She also develops a friendship with a mute paraplegic boy which makes things even more complicated.

Al Capone Does My Shirt Gennifer Choldenko

This is a fictional book which takes place in 1935 on Alcatraz Island. It is about a twelve year old boy with an autistic sister. In moving to Alcatraz, Moose leaves all of his friends and his winning baseball team to start a new life.

Heat by Mike Lupica

Michael Arroyo grows up close to Yankee Stadium and dreams of one day playing there himself. He plays Little League and is an amazing pitcher. The problem is that he is too good. Other players and coaches can’t believe that he’s really only twelve years old. With no parents and his birth certificate back in his native country of Cuba, he has no way to prove his age. If you love baseball, you’ll love the many descriptions of the game in this novel, and you’ll be rooting for Michael Arroyo to make it big in the game.

Hush by Jacqueline Woodson

Toswiah Green. Evie Thomas. One girl. Two names. Two lives. When her police officer father witnesses two white cops killing a black boy, he makes the heart-wrenching decision to testify against his former friends. Overnight, thanks to the witness protection program, Toswiah becomes Evie, and she and her family leave their idyllic Denver, Colorado, life far behind. Toswiah's previously happy, lighthearted mother abruptly turns to religion, her big sister makes secret plans to escape the family, and her proud father collapses inward to a depressed, almost catatonic state. Adolescent Toswiah--now Evie--copes as best she can, taking up track and field in school, and trying to fathom who she is, and who she is becoming.

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Knots in My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli

This early autobiography recalls Spinelli’s experiences in the 1940s and 50s. It is entertaining and fast-paced and is a highly readable memoir.