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SHERMAN SCHOOL SUMMER READING FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE SEVENTH GRADE
A NOTE TO PARENTS:
Summer reading is meant to be a fun, relaxing way for students to practice their reading skills
over the summer vacation. The list is fifteen books in length, of which two are to be read and
written about. The reading this summer is being directed to the topics that will be explored
through the literature in Language Arts class. These topics are friendship, responsibility, and
individuality. For example, James Howe’s The Misfits deals with the topics of friendship and
identity, as does S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, which will be read in class during the 7 th grade
year.
The intent here is to keep the summer reading not only meaningful in and of itself but to make it
all the more relevant by building bridges from a summer of reading to a school year of reading.
Reading should be enjoyable, so the intent is also for students to become excited about the
upcoming year in Language Arts class. Writing for each book is expected to be done over the
summer and handed in during the first week of school.
Thank you,
Michelle Baird
Seventh Grade Language Arts Teacher
SHERMAN SCHOOL SUMMER READING FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE SEVENTH GRADE
Over the summer, you are to read two (2) of the fifteen books listed below. Each of these books relates to one or more of the topics we will be focused on exploring in seventh grade Language Arts class. These topics are friendship, responsibility, and individuality. The books we will be reading in class are Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, one of two Shakespearean books (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare or The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood), and one of two utopian novels (The Giver, by Lois Lowry or Running out of Time, by Margaret Peterson Haddix).
Here are the summer reading titles to choose from with brief descriptions (taken from amazon.com) for each title:
A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck Joey and his sister, Mary Alice, visit their Grandma Dowdel every year during their summer vacation. They live in the big city of Chicago, while Grandma lives in a small Illinois town. We learn about smalltown life during the Depression. There are seven short stories for the years 1929 through 1942. Grandma's life is different to say the least! Her town has many interesting characters. The story is told by Joe as an adult as he reminisces about those summer trips. Grandma's life makes for fun adventures.
Z for Zachariah, by Robert O’Brien Ann Burden is sixteen years old and completely alone. The world as she once knew it is gone, ravaged by a nuclear war that has taken everyone from her. For the past year, she has lived in a remote valley with no evidence of any other survivors. But the smoke from a distant campfire shatters Ann's solitude. Someone else is still alive and making his way toward the valley. Who is this man? What does he want? Can he be trusted? Both excited and terrified, Ann soon realizes there may be worse things than being the last person on Earth.
Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli The first day Leo Borlock sees Stargirl he is filled with disbelief. She's the new girl who showed up to her first day in an antique, offwhite gown that could have been a wedding dress. Then at lunch time she did the unthinkable, she took her ukulele off her back and sang "I'm looking for a four leaf clover." You just don't do things like that if you want to fit in. Things continue like this, getting more outrageous as the book continues, until the students rebel and the shunning begins. Leo and Stargirl try to go about their lives, and pretend that the others don't matter. But life is difficult enough when you're in high school and ten times worse if you don't "fit in". Desperately in love, Leo tries to change Stargirl to be more "normal", but in the end manages to destroy the very thing that made her special to begin with." (This review was taken from allreaders.com).
The Misfits, by James Howe What do a 12yearold student who moonlights as a tie salesman, a tall, outspoken girl, a gay middle schooler and a kid branded as a hooligan have in common? Best friends for years, they've all been the target of cruel namecalling and now that they're in seventh grade, they're not about to take it any more.
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphireblue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.
SHERMAN SCHOOL SUMMER READING FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE SEVENTH GRADE
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasureseeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment of hoverboarding and risky pranks. But Shay also disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to defect with her to the Smoke, a distant settlement of simpleliving conscientious objectors. Tally declines, yet when Shay is found missing by the authorities, Tally is coerced by the cruel Dr. Cable to find her and her compatriots– or remain forever "ugly." Tally's adventuresome spirit helps her locate Shay and the Smoke. Ethical concerns will provide a good source of discussion as honesty, justice, and free will are all oppressed in this wellconceived dystopia.
The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan The escapades of the Greek gods and heroes get a fresh spin in the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, about a contemporary 12yearold New Yorker who learns he's a demigod. Perseus, aka Percy Jackson, thinks he has big problems. His father left before he was born, he's been kicked out of six schools in six years, he's dyslexic, and he has ADHD. What a surprise when he finds out that that's only the tip of the iceberg: he vaporizes his pre algebra teacher, learns his best friend is a satyr, and is almost killed by a minotaur before his mother manages to get him to the safety of Camp HalfBloodwhere he discovers that Poseidon is his father. But that's a problem, too. Poseidon has been accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt, and unless Percy can return the bolt, humankind is doomed.
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer When Bella Swan moves from sunny Phoenix to Forks, Washington, a damp and dreary town known for the most rainfall in the United States, to live with her dad, she isn’t expecting to like it. But the level of hostility displayed by her standoffish high school biology lab partner, Edward Cullen, surprises her. After several strange interactions, his preternatural beauty, strength, and speed have her intrigued. Edward is just as fascinated with Bella, and their attraction to one another grows. As Bella discovers more about Edwards nature and his family, she is thrown headlong into a dangerous adventure that has her making a desperate sacrifice to save her one true love.
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins This is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death. Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances.
The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan Carter, 14, and Sadie, 12, have grown up apart. Carter has traveled all over the world with his Egyptologist father, Dr. Julius Kane, while Sadie has lived in London with her grandparents. Their mother passed away under mysterious circumstances, so when their father arrives in London and wants to take them both on a private tour of the British Museum, all is not necessarily what it seems. The evening ends with the apparent destruction of the Rosetta Stone, the disappearance of Dr. Kane, and the kidnapping of Carter and Sadie. More insidiously, it leads to the release of five Egyptian gods, including Set, who is their mortal enemy. Carter and Sadie discover the secrets of their family heritage and their ability to work magic as they realize that their task will be to save humanity from Set, who is building a destructive red pyramid inside Camelback Mountain in Phoenix.
SHERMAN SCHOOL SUMMER READING FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE SEVENTH GRADE
Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix Born third at a time when having more than two children per family is illegal and subject to seizure and punishment by the Population Police, Luke has spent all of his 12 years in hiding. His parents disobeyed once by having him and are determined not to do anything unlawful again. At first the woods around his family's farm are thick enough to conceal him when he plays and works outdoors, but when the government develops some of that land for housing, his world narrows to just the attic. Gazing through an air vent at new homes, he spies a child's face at a window after the family of four has already left for the day. Is it possible that he is not the only hidden child? Answering this question brings Luke greater danger than he has ever faced before, but also greater possibilities for some kind of life outside of the attic.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney Middle school student Greg Heffley takes readers through an academic year's worth of drama. Greg's mother forces him to keep a diary ("I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I specifically told her to get one that didn't say 'diary' on it"), and in it he loosely recounts each day's events, interspersed with his comic illustrations.
Holes, by Louis Sachar "If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas" is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character. Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and illfated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build characterthat in fact the warden is seeking something specificthe plot gets as thick as the irony.
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson he story starts out simply enough: Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the fifth gradehe wants it so bad he can taste it. He's been practicing all summer, running in the fields around his farmhouse until he collapses in a sweat. Then a tomboy named Leslie Burke moves into the farmhouse next door and changes his life forever. Despite their superficial differences, it's clear that Jess and Leslie are soul mates. The two create a secret kingdom in the woods named Terabithia, where the only way to get into the castle is by swinging out over a gully on an enchanted rope. Here they reign as king and queen, fighting off imaginary giants and the walking dead, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against the schoolmates who tease them.
A Mango Shaped Space, by Wendy Mass Mia, 13, has always seen colors in sounds, numbers, and letters, a fact she has kept secret since the day she discovered that other people don't have this ability. Then she discovers that she has a rare condition called synesthesia, which means that the visual cortex in her brain is activated when she hears something. From then on, she leads a kind of double lifeshe eagerly attends research gatherings with other synesthetes and devours information about the condition, but continues to struggle at school, where her inadvertent pairing of particular colors with numbers and words makes math and French almost impossible to figure out. Her gradual abandonment of her frustrating school life in favor of the compelling world of fellow synesthetes and the unique things only they can experience seems quite logical, although readers may feel like shaking some sense into her. Finally, and rather abruptly, her extreme guilt at her beloved cat Mango's illness brings her back down to earth and she begins to work on some of the relationships she let crumble.
CHOOSE TWO BOOKS FROM THE ABOVE LIST THAT YOU HAVE NOT READ BEFORE TO READ OVER THE SUMMER.
GO ON THE BACK FOR WRITIG DIRECTIVESà
SHERMAN SCHOOL SUMMER READING FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE SEVENTH GRADE
The following is the GRADING RUBRIC FOR SUMMER READING REQUIREMENTS
1. Your name (first and last) must be on every page – 1 point 2. The complete title of the book and the complete name of the author must be at the top of
the first page – 4 points 3. Your responses to the five directives will earn from 0 to 5 points (from low to high)
depending on how well they are written – 25 points possible 4. Your paper, typed or handwritten, must be neat – 5 points
Total possible points – 35
3335 points = A 2832 points = B 2427 points = C 2123 points = D 20 points and below = F
This is your first Language Arts grade of the first marking period. Your writing will be collected for grading the first Friday after we return to school.
THE WRITING ASSIGNMENT: For each of the two books you read, you are to
1. Write a brief (35 sentences) paragraph summarizing the plot of the book.
2. Using information from the book, tell in a brief (35 sentences) paragraph how two characters or events are alike and different.
3. Choose what you consider to be the most important scene in the story and tell about it, using details from the story to support your choice. Again, limit your paragraph to 3 to 5 sentences.
4. Predict, in a brief (still 35 sentences) paragraph, what will happen after the end of the book, supporting your prediction with information from the book.
5. Explain in a brief (35 sentences) paragraph the lesson that the book teaches you about one of the following topics: friendship, responsibility, or individuality. Give a specific example from the book that demonstrates this lesson.
ENJOY THE READING AND WRITE WELL!
Mrs. Baird ☺