Summer Reading 2007        

Students are required to choose 3 books to read for summer reading. We encourage you to read as many as you like, but you will need to read at least three. We suggest that parents be involved in helping their children select books according to children’s interest and age level. Please do not hesitate to ask the librarians at the public library. Many of them will have read several titles from the list.

Students should complete a separate Summer Reading Contract.doc for each of the 3 books they choose to read.

Summer Reading Contract.pdf

1) Choose at least 1 from the following list of 12 titles realted to the theme of survival. You may choose all 3 of your titles from this short list, but you must choose at least 1.

• Before you read, look over the list, read the brief summaries, and decide which one you think will interest you most.
• As you read, think about survival and how your chosen book relates to the theme.
• After you read, complete a Summer Reading Contract. Be sure to have it signed by a parent/guardian. Make sure you complete a separate Summer Reading Contract for each of 3 books that you choose. If you choose to read more than 3 books, you do not have to complete more than 3 contracts.

Bruchac, Joseph – The Winter People
14-year-old Saxso, an Abenaki Indian in 1759, confronts the harsh elements of winter and the cold, hard truths about life, as he pushes himself to rescue his family.

Fama, Elizabeth – Overboard
14-year-old Emily is “sort of” running away – at least, she plans to take the ferry to see her uncle on a neighboring island – but soon finds herself fighting for survival when the ferry sinks and she is plunged into the water. Will her strong will to live conquer the overwhelming fear and exhaustion she experiences during the struggle of a lifetime?

Farmer, Nancy – A Girl Named Disaster
11-year-old Nhamo faces the horrifying realities of the African wilderness and her own demons as she searches for family and acceptance.

Hamilton, Bethany – Soul Surfer:  A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board
Bethany Hamilton shares the story of her lifelong love of surfing, and tells how she was able to recover and return to competition with the help of her family, friends, and faith, after losing her arm in a shark attack at the age of thirteen.

Hobbs, William – Far North
Two boys struggle to survive the perils of the Canadian Northwest after their plane crashes.

Lansing, Alfred - Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
A true story of courage, teamwork, and strong beliefs. The amazing account of one man’s commitment to the survival of his crew.

Lubar, David – Sleeping Freshman Never Lie
This may not be a tale of wilderness survival, or even much about physical survival, but it is the story of Scott’s often humorous attempts to survive his freshman year – a year in which he seems to be losing touch with his middle school friends, has difficulty figuring out where he fits in, and worries about being bullied by the scary-looking guy who wants to relieve him of his lunch money. And to top it off, his parents announce that he will soon have a new sibling!

Paterson, Katherine – Bread and Roses, Too
Twelve-year-old Rosa and thirteen-year-old Jake form an unlikely friendship as they try to survive and understand the 1912 Bread and Roses strike of mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Philbrick, Nathaniel - Revenge of the Whale:  the True Story of the Whaleship Essex
Adapted for young people from In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick. Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship "Essex" by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds.

Rallison, Janette – Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws
Josie and Cami are best friends during freshman year in high school, despite the fact that they are competing against each other to win an important basketball award. But will they – and their friendship – survive the fact that they both like the same boy? And how will they survive without each other to talk to about their very unusual science-project partners?

Riordan, Rick – The Lightning Thief   (Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series)
12-year-old Percy has attended 6 schools in 6 years and just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. But can it be his fault when his math teacher turns into a horrible hag with bat wings and tries to kill him on a class trip one day? Whether or not it is his fault, this incident starts Percy on an adventure unlike any he could have dreamed up, complete with battling Greek gods. Will Percy survive his quest to bring back Zeus’s lightning bolt in order to avoid a huge war among the Greek gods?

Sewell, Anna – Black Beauty
A classic story of man and animal, filled with inspiration and a strong message of kindness.

*Some annotations taken from Follett’s Titlewave.

2) Choose 2 from the following lists of titles. Or, you may choose all 3 of your books from the "survival" list above.

Explore More Survival Stories:

Bunting, Eve - Blackwater
DeFelice, Cynthia – The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker
George, Jean Craighead – The Talking Earth
Heyerdahl, Thor – Kon Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft
Hobbs, William – Bearstone; Ghost Canoe; Jackie’s Wild Seattle
Horowitz, Anthony – Alex Rider Series
Korman, Gordon – The Island Trilogy
Meyer, Stephenie –  Twilight; New Moon (and Eclipse when it comes out in August)
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds – The Fear Place
Shahan, Sherry – Death Mountain
Smelcer, John – The Trap
Taylor, Theodore – The Cay
Voigt, Cynthia – Homecoming

Laugh Out Loud – Funny Books:

Avi – Never Mind! A Twin Novel; Romeo and Juliet together (and alive!) at last
Jacobsen, Anders – In Ned’s Head
Paulsen, Gary - The Amazing Life of Birds: (The 20-Day Puberty Journal of Duane Homer Leech)
Rallison, Janette – It’s a Mall World After All

Selected Betty Award Winners chosen by HRMS Students:

Collier, J. and C. – My Brother Sam is Dead (best writing style)
Gutman, Dan – Jackie & Me; A Baseball Card Adventure (best characters)
Haddix, M. P. – Among the Betrayed (best writing style)
Lowry, Lois – The Giver (best theme)
Rowling, J K. – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (best plot)

Meet New Friends – Realistic Fiction:

Bauer, Joan – Rules of the Road
Birdsall, Jeanne – The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters,Two  Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Brouwer, Sigmund – Wired
Cabot, Meg – The Princess Diaries Series; All–American Girl
Creech, Sharon – Bloomability; Love That Dog; Walk Two Moons
Cummings, Priscilla – Red Kayak
Deuker, Carl - Runner
Giff, Patricia Reilly – Pictures of Hollis Woods
Holt, Kimberly Willis – When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
Horvath, Polly– Everything On a Waffle
Johnson, Maureen – Devilish
Lipsyte, Robert – The Brave; The Chief: The Contender
Lord, Cynthia - Rules
Lupica, Mike – Heat; Travel Team; Miracle on 49th Street
Martin, Ann M. – A Corner of the Universe
Myers, Walter Dean –  Handbook for Boys: A Novel
Paterson, Katherine – The Same Stuff As Stars
Perkins, Lynne Rae– All Alone in the Universe; Criss Cross
Philbrick, Rodman – Freak the Mighty; Max the Mighty
Ritter, John – Choosing Up Sides
Tashjian, Janet – The Gospel According To Larry; Vote for Larry
Withers, Pam – Camp Wild

Read About Real People and Events – Non-Fiction:

Armstrong, Thomas – You’re Smarter Than You Think: A Kid's Guide to Multiple Intelligences
Blais, Madeleine – In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle
Crowe, Chris - Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case
Frank, Anne – Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Giblin, James – Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth
Freedman, Russell – The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights
Gore, Al – An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming (YA version)
Hama, Larry – The Battle of Iwo Jima (graphic novel)
Kurlansky, Mark – The Cod’s Tale  OR  The Story of Salt
Montgomery, Sy – Scientists in the Field Series including (among others): The Tarantula Scientist; Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam and The Science of Ocean Motion (Burns)
Myers, Walter Dean – The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
Murphy, Jim – The Great Fire
Paulsen, Gary – Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books
Roy, Travis – Eleven Seconds: A Story of Tragedy, Courage, nad Triumph
Spinelli, Jerry – Knots in My Yo-Yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid

Visit the Past – Historical Fiction:

Blackwood, Gary– Second Sight; Year of the Hangman
Bruchac, Joseph – The Arrow Over the Door; Hidden Roots
Choldenko, Gennifer – Al Capone Does My Shirts
Collier, Christopher and James – War Comes to Willy Freeman; Jump Ship to Freedom; Who is Carrie?
Crowe, Chris – Mississippi Trial, 1955
Ghent, Natalie – No Small Thing
Holm, Jennifer – Penny From Heaven
Koller, Jackie French – Nothing To Fear
Larson, Kirby – Hattie Big Sky
Martin, Ann M. – Here Today
Myers, Walter Dean– Fallen Angels
Park, Linda Sue – The Kite Fighters; A Single Shard
Taylor, Mildred – The Land; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Visit the Future – Science Fiction:

Clements, Andrew– Things Not Seen
Farmer, Nancy– The Ear, The Eye and The Arm; The House of the Scorpion
Lowry, Lois– The Giver; Gathering Blue; Messenger
Lubar, David - Flip
Nix, Garth -Sabriel; Lirael; Abhorsen
Westerfeld, Scott – Uglies; Pretties; Specials

Visit the World of Make-Believe – Fantasy:

Alexander, Lloyd – The Chronicles of Prydain Series: The Book of Three; The Black Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; The High King
Avi – Crispin: The Cross of Lead; Crispin: At the Edge of the World
Chabon, Michael – Summerland
Farmer, Nancy – The Sea of Trolls
Funke, Cornelia– Dragon Rider; Inkheart; Inkspell; The Thief Lord
Gaiman, Neil – Coraline
Haddix, Margaret Peterson– Just Ella
Jacques, Brian – The Redwall Series
Lewis, C.S. – The Chronicles of Narnia
Mourlevat, Jean-Claude – The Pull of the Ocean
Nimmo, Jenny – Midnight for Charlie Bone -  and any others in the Children of the Red King Series
Paolini, Christopher – Eragon; Eldest (and book 3 in the Inheritance series when it is published)
Riordan, Rick –The Sea of Monsters; The Curse of the Titans (book one, The Lightning Thief,  is in the “survival” list at the beginning of the summer reading list)
Rowling, J.K. – The Harry Potter Series
Sleator, William – Rewind
Ursu, Anne – The Shadow Thieves (book one of the Chronos Chronicles