Dear Parents,
This year KnottyOakMiddle School staff and parents collaborated on the summer reading list. Summer reading should be an enjoyable experience designed to help your child become a lifelong reader. It is our hope that reading during the summer encourages students to read for enjoyment. To this end, we hope that you assist your child in choosing novels that are at their independent level. However, should your child want to read a text at a more difficult level consider using an audio tape to accompany his/her silent reading of the text. Audio tapes make literature that otherwise would be difficult more accessible to readers.
Books with mature themes and content are listed in the back of the booklet in order to provide parents an opportunity to review such titles prior to their child selecting them for summer reading.
LexileRange / Approximate Grade Level Equivalent440-670 / Third grade
620-800 / Fourth grade
780-930 / Fifth grade
880-1000 / Sixth grade
950-1030 / Seventh grade
1000-1100 / Eighth grade
1030-1120 / Ninth grade
1100-1190 / Tenth grade
1120-1210 / Eleventh grade
1210-1300 / Twelfth grade
Requirements
- Read two books totaling at least 250 pages
OR
- Read three or more books totaling at least 250 pages
- Select and complete one response for each book
Contact Mrs. Mary Lou Bettez at for any questions or concerns.
Responses are due by the Friday, (August 31st ) following the opening of school. Students shall begin presenting their summer reading work to their class during the following week .
Response to Literature Options
Graphic organizers and samples of each type of response can be found on
- Illustrate every two chapters of your text.
- Make a model of the climax. (Be prepared to explain your model.)
- Illustrate a Life Map of the main character.
- Create a mobile about the book. Include setting, characters, important events, climax, and resolution.
- Write a conversation between two characters (same text).
- Write an internet chat between two characters.
- Write a news article.
- Write a song or poem (containing at least 4 stanzas).
- Write a letter to the author.
- Write two bio-poems about two characters in book.
- Make bookmarks for every two chapters (making connections and identifying difficult vocabulary).
- Write a literary letter.
- Write an additional chapter that explores what happens to the character after the story ends.
- Write a summary, or book review.
- Draw an illustration of your favorite event and include a paragraph explaining the importance of the event .
- Create a new book cover and include a brief description.
- Make a body map of your character.
- Make a plot diagram or flow chart.
- Draw an illustration depicting what happens to the character after the story ends. Write a one-paragraph description of your illustration.
- Make a picture book of your story that includes captions.
- Re-tell the story through comic strip.
- Make a postcard: on one side illustrate an appropriate photo on the other side compose a message from one character to another character.
Social Studies Related Readings
Dear America Series
Choose any related to the Civil War or Western Expansion.
980L Grade 6 Social Studies related reading
Man Who Was Poe Avi
In Providence, RI, in 1848, Edgar Allen Poe reluctantly investigates the problems of eleven-year-old Edmund, whose family has mysteriously disappeared and whose story suggest a new Poe tale with a ghastly final twist. 600L Grade 6 Social Studies related reading
My Brother Sam is Dead Collier, James Lincoln and Christopher Collier
Story recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral in a Tory town. 770L Grade 6 Social Studies related reading
Walking the Road to Freedom Ferris, Jeri
This is the important and inspiring story of a woman who called herself Sojourner Truth. Using only the power of her voice, she spoke out against slavery throughout New England and the Midwest. 820L Grade 6 Social Studies related reading
Mara, Daughter of the Nile McGraw, Eloise
The adventures of an ingenious Egyptian slave girl who undertakes a dangerous assignment as a spy in the royal palace of Thebes, in the days when Queen Hatshepsut ruled. 910L Grade 7 & 8 Social Studies related reading
My Name is Not Angelica O'Dell, Scott
A historical novel set in the Virgin Islands of 1733. Taisha escapes from her Dutch “owners” in time to witness the mass suicide of her fellow slaves, who prefer death to recapture. 750L Grade 6 Social Studies related reading
Soldier's Heart Paulsen, Gary
he nightmare of the Civil War comes to the pages in this novel from Paulsen . . . based on the real-life experiences of a young enlistee. 1000L Grade 6 Social Studies related reading
The Lightning Thief Riordan, Rick
Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. Living with ADHD, he finds meaning behind his difficulties at last—he’s really a half-blood offspring to Poseidon. It’s not long before he’s sent on a quest to retrieve Zeus’s thunderbolt from Hades (located naturally in L.A.) The book is packed with humorous allusions to Greek mythology and clever updates of the old stories, along with rip-snorting action sequences.
740 Grade 7&8 Social Studies related reading
Bury the Dead: Corpses, Skeletons, Mummies, Tombs Sloan, Christopher and Bruno Frohlich
Examines the customs and practices related to burial that have existed from ancient times to the present. Grade 7 & 8 Social Studies related reading
The Egypt GameSnyder, Zilpha
Two girls get involved in an elaborate "Egypt game," a fantasy game that soon leads to strange, unexplainable happenings. PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY called the characters in Snyder's Newbery Honor winner "true originals." 1010L Grade 7 & 8 Social Studies related reading
Detectives in Togas Winterfield, Henry
In an effort to save a boy wrongly accused, a group of young friends living in ancient Rome search for the culprit who scrawled graffiti on the temple wall.
700L Grade 7 & 8 Social Studies related reading
Jason and the Gorgon's Blood Yolen, Jane
In another thrilling adventure that imagines Greek heroes as young men and women, Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris explore the early years of Jason, before he led the Argonauts on one of the most famous quests in Greek mythology. Grade 7 & 8 Social Studies related reading
Other Summer Reading Texts
Autobiography/Biography/Nonfiction
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World Armstrong, Jennifer
One of the most extraordinary adventure stories in history. Armstrong narrates this story with vigor, an eye for detail and an appreciation of the leadership that brought each of Shakelton’s men back alive. 1090L
Robotics Beyer, Mark
Takes a look at the current state and future of the field of robotics, emphasizing that robotics are already playing an important role in making our lives easier. 900L
Flags of Our Fathers Bradley, James and Ron Powers
Presents an account of the Marines who came together during the battle of Iwo Jima to raise the American flag in a moment that has been immortalized in one of the most famous photographs of World War II. 950L
Jim Thorpe’s Bright Plan Bruchac, Joseph
Native American Jim Thorpe survived a tragic childhood to become one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.
Woolly Mammoth: Life, Death, and Rediscovery Chorlton, Windsor
Recreates the life of the now extinct woolly mammoth describing where it lived, what it looked like, and how it spent its time. 1130L
Shake, Rattle, and Roll: The World’s Most Amazing Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Other Forces Christian Spencer and Antonio Felix
Examines the powerful forces found in the Earth, with an emphasis on earthquakes and volcanoes.
Boy: Tales of Childhood Dahl, Roald
Read about the boyhood antics of this world famous and best-selling author. Dahl provides a glimpse into where he got some of the plot ideas and inspirations for his most popular books. Dahl's upbringing was, by any standard, eccentric. In Boy (FS&G, 1984), the first of his two autobiographical titles (the second is Going Solo), he details many of his more unusual boyhood adventures, such as almost losing his nose in a car accident, the "Great Mouse Plot" of 1924, and boarding school antics in prose that will leave listeners laughing out loud. 1080L
Going Solo Dahl, Roald
Sequel to Boy: Tales of Childhood 1080L
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story Fleischman, John
Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived and became a textbook case in brain science. 1030L
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board Hamilton, Bethany
On one ordinary day, Bethany and her friends went surfing. That day she lost her arm and foot, but was lucky to be alive. This is her comeback story. 960L
With Love: Ten Heartwarming Stories of Chimpanzees in the Wild Goodall, Jane
A collection of stories based on the author's experiences with family structures and bonds among chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania over a period of almost forty years. 990L
Hero Dogs Jackson, Donna
Would you like to give tribute so some real heroes? These true stories from September 11th, along with other historical facts and photos will make you shed tears of joy and sadness for these amazing canines. 1090L
The Red Scarf Girl Jiang, Ji-Li
This is a rare personal glimpse of the upheaval China suffered during the 1960s, and twelve-year-old Ji-li's point of view is firmly maintained-the point of self-dramatization.
780L
Who Moved My Cheese? For Teens an Amazing Way to Change and Win
Johnson, Spencer
Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party Lavender, David Sievert
Relates the ordeals faced by a group of pioneers on their journey from Illinois to California in 1846. 890L
American Plague Murphy, Jim
Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy recreates the fear and panic of the yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation’s capital more than 200 ears ago, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. 1130L
Bad Boy: A Memoir Myers, Walter Dean
Myers paints a picture of his childhood growing up in Harlem in the 1940's. While the facts make his life seem a tale of hoodlum turned writer, the truth is that the writer was there all along--and his fists struck out to protect him. 970L
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali Myers, Walter Dean
Author presents the amazing story of Muhammad Ali’s childhood, his rise as a champion, his politics, and his battles against Parkinson’s disease. 1030L
Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis
Nelson, Pete
Recalls the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis at the end of World War II, the navy cover-up and unfair court martial of the ship's captain, and how a young boy helped the survivors set the record straight fifty-five years later. 1260L
My Life in Dog YearsPaulsen, Gary
An autobiographical account of the author's relationships to his dogs over his lifetime. 1150L
Within Reach: My Everest Story Pfetzer, Mark and Jack Galvin
Suspenseful first-person narrative, sixteen-year-old Mark Pfetzer relates his experiences as the youngest climber to attempt Everest. 970L
Dolphin Man: Exploring the World of Dolphins Pringle, Laurence P.
Photo essay of a field biologist who studies dolphins in SarasotaBay.
The Upstairs Room Reiss, Johanna
A Dutch Jewish girl describes the two-and-one-half years she spent in hiding in the upstairs bedroom of a farmer's house during World War II. 380L
Are We Alone Skurzynski, Gloria
This nonfiction account describes the efforts of scientists around the world to answer the question,” Are we alone?” By showing the interconnectedness of the many scientific disciplines that have come together in the search for life beyond our world, the author makes a case for extraterrestrial study and creates an interesting and visually inviting book. This book provides a glimpse into the lives of committed scientists filled with superhuman amounts of tenacity, patience, hope, and vision—all required qualities for such a far-reaching and intriguing search . 1170L
A Summer Life Soto, Gary
A collection of essays and short stories that detail Soto's boyhood mischief and silly sense of humor.990L
Knots in my Yo-Yo String Spinelli, Jerry
Spinelli’s memoirs of growing up in the 1950’s. 980L
Joan of Arc Stanley, Diane
A biography of the fifteenth century peasant girl who led a French army to victory against the English and was burned at the stake for witchcraft. 980L
Martin Luther King Patterson, Lillie890L
My Season with Penguins: An Antarctic Journal Webb, Sophie 1040L
Through watercolor sketches and journal entries, Webb tells the story of her summer expedition.
Classics, Adventure and Fantasy
Little WomenAlcott, Louisa May
In picturesque nineteenth-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy come of age while their father is off to war. 1210L
Watership DownAdams, Richard
A remarkable tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership...the epic novel of a group of adventurers who desert their doomed city, and venture forth against all odds on a quest for a new home and a sturdier future. 880L
Ereth's BirthdayAvi
Feeling neglected on his birthday, Ereth, the cantankerous old porcupine, sets out looking for his favorite treat and instead finds himself acting as "mother" to three young fox kits. 610L
The SecretGardenBurnett, Frances Hodgson
Classic about a ten-year-old girl named Mary, orphaned by a cholera outbreak, who comes to live at a lonely house on the Yorkshire Moors and discovers Colin, her invalid cousin, and the mysteries of a locked garden. 820L
Ender’s Game Card, Orson Scott
Ender, who is the result of genetic experimentation, may be the military genius Earth needs in its war against an alien enemy. 780L
Artemis Fowl Series Colfer, Eoin
Artemis Fowl is one of the greatest criminal minds the world has ever seen. He is heir to the Fowl family empire—a centuries old clan of international underworld figures and con artists. He is arguably the most cunning Fowl of all. He is also twelve years old. 600L
Tale of Despereaux Di Camillo, Kate
A novel that explores the “powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous” nature of love, hope and forgiveness. This is an old-fashioned story and dark story, narrated “Dear Reader” style. The protagonist of the story is a mouse, a somewhat different mouse from all other mice. 670L
The Fire Within,Icefire, Fire Star D’Lacey, Chris
David lives in a house filled with clay dragons. But can these dragons really come to life—and help him solve a mystery? Scholastic Book Clubs 630L
The City of Ember, The People of Sparks & Prophet of Yonwood DuPrau, Jeanne
The city of Ember has no natural light, and the blackouts of its antiquated electrical grid are coming more and more frequently. So thinks Doon and his spirited schoolmate Lina who are determined to save the city. 680L
Ear, The Eye and the Arm Farmer, Nancy
In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them. 660L
House of the Scorpion Farmer, Nancy
Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself. 660L
Inkheart or Inkspell Funke, Cornelia
Yet another amazing novel by Cornelia Funke! Join Meggie as she survives in a world of untold secrets, deception, and mystery. You yourself will want to be there with her every step of the way and encounter the same difficulties she must overcome on her journey. (Soleil R. 7th grade) 780L
Dragon Rider Funke, Cornelia
Aimed at slightly younger readers than her previous novels, despite its massive five hundred pages, Dragon Rider is about a brave young dragon called Firedrake who embarks upon a dangerous journey to the Rim of Heaven in the Himalayas--a magical place where silver dragons can rest easy, free from the threat of destruction by mankind and their only hope of sanctuary. 710L