Summer Reading

Our Focus. . . We will discuss the required PAP/GT summer novels and activities.

I will browse the novels and select 2, I am considering to read this summer.

Something to Think About. . .

What will you take into consideration when selecting a novel?

What steps will you need to take to complete the required reading and notes over the summer?

Summer Reading Activities

Summer Before Reading: Choose a book from the summer reading list and preview the following activities.

While Reading: Take notes that will help you complete the activities.

Back to School After Reading: Be prepared to discuss the book and complete three of the activities to make a tic-tac-toe within the first three weeks of school.

How do I take notes?

Point of View Sensory Language Figurative Language Favorite lines Interesting words Connections Personalities of characters Lesson learned Problem in the story

Make notes to record your thinking as you read. This will help you when it’s time to complete the activities. You might want to use sticky notes or notecards.

Tic-Tac-Toe Activity

Book Selections

The Lions of Little Rock

By: Kristin Levine

As twelve-year-old Marlee starts middle school in 1958 Little Rock, it feels like her whole world is falling apart. Until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is everything Marlee wishes she could be: she's brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was caught passing for white. Marlee decides that doesn't matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.

Historical Fiction

The Boy on the Wooden Box

By: Leon Leyson

Leon Leyson loved playing on the Krakow streetcars with his friends and tagging along after his older brothers. . . Then, suddenly, German soldiers were: In his country. In his city. In his home. Seemingly overnight, the life he knew vanished. The third Reich wanted him, and every other Jew in Europe, dead.

Memoir

The False Prince

By: Jennifer A. Nielsen

In a faraway land, civil war is brewing. To unify his kingdom’s divided people, a nobleman named Conner devises a cunning plan to place an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son on the throne. Four orphans are forced to compete for the role, including a defiant and clever boy name Sage. Sage knows Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point – he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Connor’s sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of duplicity and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

Action/Adventure

Belly Up By: Stuart Gibbs

Twelve-year-old Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt Fitzroy has murder on his hands and trouble on his tail. He believes that Henry, the hippopotamus at the brand-new FunJungle, has been murdered. The zoo’s top brass claim the hippo went belly up the natural way, but Teddy and his feisty friend Summer McCraken have other ideas. Could the culprit be FunJungle’s animal-hating head of operations? Or is it FunJungle’s owner—Summer’s dad—a man who is much more concerned about money than animal welfare? The deeper Teddy and Summer dig, the more danger they’re in—because when it comes to hippo homicide, the truth can’t be caged!

Mystery/Adventure

Counting By 7s

By: Holly Goldberg Sloan

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn't kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now. 

Realistic Fiction

How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won A Bubba-Sized Trophy

By: Crystal Allen

Thirteen-year-old Lamar Washington is the maddest, baddest, most spectacular bowler at Striker's Bowling Paradise. But while Lamar's a whiz at rolling strikes, he always strikes out with girls. And Lamar's brother is no help—Xavier earns trophy after trophy on the basketball court and soaks up Dad's attention, leaving no room for Lamar's problems. Then bad boy Billy Jenks convinces Lamar that hustling at the alley will help him win his dream girl, plus earn him enough money to buy an expensive pro ball and impress celebrity bowler Bubba Sanders. But when Billy's scheme goes awry, Lamar ends up ruining his brother's shot at college and damaging every relationship in his life. Can Lamar figure out how to mend his broken ties, no matter what the cost?

Happy Reading!