2016 Middle School Summer Pre-Ap Reading list

Revised April, 2016

Connally Middle School

Summer Reading List

English Language Arts Pre-AP

Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles

Recommended for grade 7

The Earthmen came by the handful, then the hundreds, then the millions. They swept

aside the majestic, dying Martian civilization to build their homes, shopping malls, and

cities. Mars began as a place of boundless hopes and dreams, a planet to replace an Earth

sinking into waste and war. It became a canvas for mankind's follies and darkest desires.

Ultimately, the Earthmen who came to conquer the red-gold planet awoke to discover

themselves conquered by Mars. Lulled by its ancient enchantments, the Earthmen

learned, at terrible cost, to overcome their own humanity.

Condi, Ally. Matched.


Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read,

what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching

ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees

Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells

her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's

destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they

slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an

impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path

that no one else has dared to follow.

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner


Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable

to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre

place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a

jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out.

Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners --

venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an

attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out.

And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the

maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.

Revised April, 2016

DePrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember.


The novel takes place in the dark city of Ember, a decaying place with no natural light

surrounded by the vast Unknown. Although ancestors had arranged a plan for leaving

Ember after the inhabitants have spent 200 years there, a corrupt mayor lost the

information many years before the novel begins. Two hundred and forty-one years later,

Ember's electrical lighting frequently fails, supplies are dwindling, and the populace is

growing increasingly frightened. Twelve-year-old Doon and his acquaintance Lina are

intent on finding a way to save Ember.

family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time,

less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through

time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Hobbs, Will. River Thundered.


Jessie, Troy, and the rest of the crew from Downriver have returned to the Grand Canyon

for adventure down the Colorado River. In the year since they last were together, each

has changed; each feels more mature. But how will they interact now that they are facing

new challenges—challenges greater than anything they've had to deal with at home?

For Troy, it is a chance to prove he can be a team player, someone worthy of friendship

and love. For Jessie, the river is the ultimate test. Does she have what it takes to row

down the mighty Colorado? The only way to find out is to get into the raft and set off to

face the thundering rapids and the powerful emotions that the river unleashes.

Despite some reservations, sixteen-year-old Jessie joins her companions from the

previous year's adventure on the Colorado River for a legal rafting trip through the Grand

Canyon.

Lewis, C.S. The Magician’s Nephew.


Digory’s Uncle Andrew is a magician, but Digory and his friend Polly don’t know this

until Polly puts on one of Andrew’s magic rings and disappears. When Digory follows

her, their adventures take them to Narnia.

Patterson, James. Angel Experiment Maximum Ride.


This volume contains the complete story of the series' launch title, The Angel

Experiment. Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's

like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"—Fang, Iggy, Nudge,

Gasman and Angel—are just like ordinary kids, only they have wings and can fly. It may

seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at

any time—like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken

Revised April, 2016

back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of sinister

scientists.

Peters, Julie Ann. Define Normal.

Recommended for grades 7

This story is about two girls--a "punk" and a "priss"--who find themselves facing each

other in a peer-counseling program and discover that they have some surprising things in

common. At each session something about each girl is revealed. Jazz's appearance is

only something on the outside; her life isn't so bad, to Antonia anyway. And Antonia's

seemingly great life is only a farce. Things aren't so peachy on the inside.

These two totally different girls start to realize that they have things in common and can

help each other if they just tried.

Spinelli, Jerry. Crash.


Ever since first grade "Crash" Coogan has been tormenting “dweeby” Penn Ward, a

skinny vegetarian Quaker boy who lives in a tiny former garage with his aged parents.

Now that they're in seventh grade, Penn becomes an even better target: not only does

Penn still wear outdated used clothes, he joins the cheerleading squad. But even though

Crash becomes the school's star football player and wears the most expensive togs from

the mall, he still can't get what Penn has—his parents' attention and the admiration of the

most gorgeous girl in school. And when his beloved grandfather Scooter is severely

disabled by a stroke, Crash no longer sees the fun in playing brutal pranks and begins to

realize that there are more important things in life than wearing new sneaks and being a

sports star.

Yolen, Jane. Devil’ Arithmatic


Hannah is tired of holiday gatherings−all her family ever talks about is the past. In fact, it

seems to her that's what they do every Jewish holiday. But this year's Passover Seder will

be different−Hannah will be mysteriously transported into the past . . . and only she

knows the unspeakable horrors that await.

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2016 Middle School Summer Pre-Ap Reading list