TMI English Department Summer Reading

Studious reading during the summer months is an essential endeavor for college-bound middle school and high school students. For each grade level, we have selected works of literature that will challenge and reward diligent readers and enrich our curriculum. All middle school and upper school students (including new students) will be tested over their assigned summer reading during the first few weeks of the fall semester. The following are the specific expectations these summer reading tests will address: • Be able to correctly recall the titles and authors’ names for each of the summer reading selections and be able to spell these correctly. • Be able to recall and spell the names of the major characters in each of the summer reading selections. • Be able to match principal characters’ names with brief descriptions of these characters. • Given key, context-laden passages from the texts, be able to correctly identify the speaker or the person being spoken about. • Be able to produce from memory a basic diagram of the plot of each of the summer reading selections. • Be able to accurately and specifically describe the setting(s) (time, place, situation) of each of the summer reading selections from memory. • Be able to write from memory at least one theme (message, moral, or meaning) for each of the summer reading selections. This theme must be stated in the form of a complete sentence with a subject and predicate. • Have prepared a written list of any specific questions your reading produced. • Have looked up and annotated in margins or on separate notes the meaning of all unfamiliar words in the summer reading selections. Students are urged to get off on the right foot next fall by diligently preparing for assessments of summer reading.

Summer Reading List

6th grade (English Mastery 1):

Freak the Mighty by Philbrick ISBN 978-0-439-28606-0

Shadow Spinner by Fletcher ISBN 978-0-689-83051-8

7th grade (English Mastery 2):

A Wind in the Door by L’Engle ISBN 978-0-312-36854-8

and one of the following:

Let the Circle be Unbroken by Taylor ISBN 978-0-140-34892-7

or

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi ISBN 978-0-545-47711-6

or

Canyons by Paulsen ISBN 978-0-385-74234-4

8th grade (English Mastery 3):

The House of the Scorpion by Farmer ISBN 978-0-689-85223-7

8th grade (English Mastery 3 Advanced):

The House of the Scorpion by Farmer ISBN 978-0-689-85223-7

Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury ISBN 978-1-451-67331-9

9th grade (English I):

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by Kamkwamba ISBN 978-0-061-73033-7

9th grade (English I Honors):

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by Kamkwamba ISBN 978-0-061-73033-7

A Separate Peace by Knowles ISBN 978-0-743-25397-0

10th grade (English II):

The Book Thief by Zuzak ISBN 978-0-375-84220-7

10th grade (English II Honors):

The Book Thief by Zuzak ISBN 978-0-375-84220-7

Cat’s Cradle by Vonnegut ISBN 978-0-385-33348-1

11th grade (English III):

The Kite Runner by Hosseini ISBN 978-1-594-63193-1

11th grade (AP Language):

The Wordy Shipmates by Vowell ISBN 978-1-594-48400-1

A Prayer for Owen Meany by Irving ISBN 978-0-062-20409-7

12th grade (English IV):

The Fishermen: A Novel by Obioma ISBN 978-0-316-33837-0

12th grade (AP Literature):

A Passage to India by Forster ISBN 978-0-156-71142-5

Atonement by McEwan ISBN 978-0-385-72179-0