CranfordBurnsMiddle School – Rising 6th Grade Summer (2011)Reading List
{Students entering the sixth grade must read two books prior to the start of school.}
**6th grade REQUIRED reading – How to Steal a Dogby Barbara O’Connor
{Students will be tested on this book in August.}
How to Steal a Dog – Barbara O’Connor
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina is desperate to improve the family’s situation. She persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
***Students need to choose one additional book from the following list:
{An assessment for the book of choice will be assigned in August.}
The Summer of the Swans- Betsy Byars
A teenage girl gains new insight into herself and her family when her mentally challenged brother gets lost.
Bud, Not Buddy- Christopher Paul Curtis
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
The Janitor’s Boy- Andrew Clements
Fifth grader Jack finds himself the target of ridicule at school when it becomes known that his father is one of the janitors, and he turns his anger onto his father.
Niagara Falls, or Does It- Henry Winkler
or any other book in the series “Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever”
Fourth-graders Hank, Ashley, and Frankie are excitedly preparing for a magic show at the Rock 'N Bowl when Hank's creative alternative to an English essay lands him in detention and grounded the week of the show.
Can You Get an F in Lunch?- Nancy Krulik
or any other book in the series "How I Survived Middle School"
Jenny McAfee feels totally prepared to start sixth grade until her best friend Addie Wilson decides to hang out with The Pops--the coolest seventh graders in the school.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi
In 1832 thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle boards the Seahawk for the voyage from England to America where she will be reunited with her parents. Believing that she will be traveling with two other families, Charlotte arrives at the dock to discover that she will be the only passenger—and the only female—on the long journey. Evil, danger, mutiny, and, ultimately, courage await Charlotte in this tale of adventure and self-discovery.
***Students entering sixth grade with a valid IEP may choose to read How to Steal a Dogand one other bookor Freckle Juice by Judy Blume and one other book by the same author.