I READ I WIN
Seventh Grade Summer Reading List
Theme: Self determination
*Almond, David. Skellig. What would you do if you found a man living in the dilapidated garage behind your new house? What if he had wings and ate bugs? Who is this crotchety old guy who wants to be left alone among the cobwebs and mice? These are the questions that Michael faces. Michael’s parents are preoccupied with his baby sister’s He illness, so he must deal with his fears about his sister’s health and the move to a new neighborhood by himself until he meets Myna, the unusual girl next door, and Skellig.
Q: What are some of the issues that Michael struggles with? How does he change?
How does Myna help him?
*Avi, Crispin. What would you do if you were a nameless 13 year-old orphan with a price on your head? Crispin is alone, penniless, and accused of a crime he did not commit. His only possession is a lead cross that had been his mother’s. On the run, he meets up with a jester, named Bear, but can they survive when everywhere they go they are hunted men?
Q: Crispin didn’t know who he was, much less what he could do at the beginning of the story, but he does discover his own hidden strengths. What are your hidden strengths? How might you develop them?
*Beatty, Patricia. Charlie Skedaddle. Charlie has lived a rough life, so running away to join the union army seems just right to him. His experience of war, however, is far from good, and he becomes a deserter, giving himself the nickname “skedaddle.”
Q: Charlie has to sort out what it means to be a hero or a coward, honorable or dishonorable. These are big questions for him. What are the differences between hero or coward, honor or dishonor?
*Bloor, Edward. Tangerine. Thirteen-year-old Paul has a lot to cope with: being legally blind, a truly evil older brother, a father who tries to live his own dreams through his children, and being the new kid in a rough school in a very strange town. He also has a very strong sense of self-worth, and this see him through the rough times.
Q: Paul demonstrates a lot of perseverance and courage in this story as he struggles to become the person he wants to be. What kind of person do you want to be? How will you become that person?
*Calabro, Marian. The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party. When the Donner party set out from Illinois in the spring of 1846, they were looking forward to a new life in California. When they were trapped in the snowy Sierra Nevada for the winter, they had some difficult choices to make. The many journal entries from the children on the journey make this a riveting read.
Q: The Donner party was faced with an extremely difficult decision. Do you think they made the right one? How did this influence the rest of their lives?
*Casanova, Mary. Wolf Shadows. Seth is intrigued by the wolves that have been reintroduced in the northern Minnesota woods, but his best friend, Matt, hates them. When Matt commits a senseless act of violence, Seth is forced to choose between what is easy and what is right.
Q: If one of your friends did something that you felt was really wrong, what would you do? Why? How would this be like or unlike what Seth does?
*Clements, Andrew. (2002). Things Not Seen. What would you do if you woke up one day and discovered you were invisible? It may sound exciting, but Bobby Phillips desperately wants to know why he’s now invisible and how to become visible again. With the help of Alicia, a blind girl Bobby meets while he’s invisible, he discovers how to be seen.
Q: Being invisible is only one of the challenges that Paul faces. What are some of the others? What challenges does Alicia face? How do they both become the people they want to be?
*Cormier, Robert. The Rag and Bone Shop. When Jason is accused of the brutal murder of a young neighbor, he is interrogated by Trent, a detective known for eliciting confessions when no one else could get them. What happens to them both raises profound questions about guilt and innocence.
Q: Have you ever been in a situation when you have felt guilty for something that you did not do? How did you handle that? Do you think that Trent was right in what he did?
*Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy. Catherine hates cooking and sewing. She thinks her father is a toad. She fights against her planned marriage to an old man. She wants the freedom to choose her own path in life. Can you relate? What is particularly interesting about Catherine is that her story takes place in the late thirteenth century, but still rings true today.
Q: How has being a teenaged girl changed between Catherine’s time and yours? How is it the same? Do you struggle to become your own person as Catherine does?
*Farmer, Nancy. House of the Scorpion. Matteo, born a clone, struggles to find his place in the world of Opium. His decisions are difficult, he sometimes falters, but he ultimately chooses well in spite of the odds stacked against him.
Q: What does it mean to be a human being? Is Matteo a human being or an animal? What does he do that makes you think so?
*Fox, Paula. Monkey Island. Clay’s father loses his job, disappears, and the family loses their middle-class existence. When Clay’s mother also disappears, he moves to the streets of New York, homeless and alone except for two men who befriend him. Will his old life disappear entirely?
Q: Clay comes close to despair, yet hangs on to a thread of hope. What are the things in your life that give you hope?
*Franco, Betsy. You Hear Me? Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys. More than 50 pieces of writing by adolescent boys speak to their dreams and hopes.
Q: What would you write to include in this collection?
*Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods. Hollis was abandoned at birth and has run through a series of unsatisfactory foster homes when she goes to live with a family for a summer. The possibility of becoming a part of this family is dashed, she thinks, by an action on her part, and she runs away, only to be put in another foster home that offers some hope, until the foster mother becomes incapacitated with memory loss. What will become of Hollis?
Q: Hollis expresses her emotions and her essential self through her art. How do you express yourself? If you could write, paint, sing, dance, play music to express who you are, what would it be?
*Haddix, Margaret Peterson, Running Out of Time. Jessie knows some things for sure. She lives in a town called Clifton. It is 1840, and the town has been struck with a killer disease called diphtheria. When Jessie’s sister contracts the disease, her mother turns to her for help, telling Jessie a secret that shatters her universe: It is not 1840, it is 1996 and the world outside of Clifton has a cure for diphtheria. Jessie must escape Clifton and get help. But how can she help when she has never seen the modern world?
Q: Jessie has to grow up and discover her strengths quickly, as she is whisked from one reality to another. What characteristics enable her to do so? What might you do if something like this happened to you?
*Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. Roy is the new kid, just trying to make it through the day and not get beaten up by the school bully, when he sees a young, barefoot boy running away from the bus. Roy decides he wants to find out who this kid is, and then gets caught up in a struggle to save endangered birds. What kind of trouble has Roy gotten himself into?
Q: Roy has no intention of being a hero, but he finds himself making choices that show him the kind of person he can become. What kinds of choices do you have?
*Jacobs, Thomas. They Broke the Law, You Be the Judge: True Cases of Teen Crime. The judge in 21 real-life cases, Thomas Jacobs, presents the background of each case to you, the readers, and you areasked to make decisions about guilt, innocence, punishment, rehabilitation. These decisions are never easy.
Q: Do you feel that the teens in these cases are bad people? Why or why not? What might have pushed them into the bad decisions that landed them in a courtroom?
*McGhee, Alison. Snap. Eleven-year-old Eddie makes lists to keep herself organized, and even wears an array of different-colored rubber bands on her wrist to help her remember important things. But none of this helps her as her best friend pulls away from her and Eddie encounters grief for the first time.
Q: Eddie tries to control things in her life, but it is not always possible. What are the things in your life that you can and cannot control? How can you manage that which you cannot control?
*Myers, Walter Dean. Bad Boy: A Memoir. Famed author Walter Dean Myers was both a truant and a troublemaker when he was in school, but he was saved by the books that he loved to read, and his own inner strength. This memoir is an up-close look at how one man determined his own future.
Q: Myers had many things working against him, but he was resilient due to come characteristics that he possessed. What made him resilient? What makes you resilient?
*Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Shiloh. Marty knows that it’s wrong to keep the abused stray that follows him home one afternoon, but he also knows that it’s wrong to take the dog back to the man who is abusing it. After making a series of bad decisions, he understands that it is up to him to stand up for himself, and the dog he loves.
Q: What decisions does Marty make that get him into trouble? What does he do to acknowledge his responsibility? Have you ever been in a situation like this when you need to stand up for what you think is right, regardless of the consequences?
*Perkins, Lynne Rae. All Alone in the Universe. Middle school is difficult enough, and when Debbie’s best friend discovers a new, better best friend, she’s lonely in a way she’s never been before. As she thinks about what is happening around her, she realizes just how good her life is.
Q: Debbie learns to grapple with and overcome her sorrow and loneliness. What issues have you faced that pushed you to think about taking control of your own life rather than being controlled by it?
*Schmidt, Gary. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. Being the son of the minister is not an easy role, especially when you’ve just moved to a small town in Maine that is full of rules that you keep breaking. But when Turner breaks the biggest rule of all and openly demonstrates his close friendship with Lizzie, an African American girl, he learns that standing on his principles can cost him dearly.
Q: The decisions that Turner has to make are not easy decisions, yet he is determined to do what he knows is right. What situations have you encountered that made it necessary for you to stand up for your own values in spite of those around you?
*Shusterman, Neal. Dark Fusion (series). This series of modern takes on classic tales is “a little scary and a lot creepy,” according to one young reader. In all, the hero has to stand up for himself, making difficult decisions.
Q: Why is it so difficult to resist those who want to lure us into the easy way out?
*Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Cassie and the Logan family have a strength and pride that is frequently tested in the Jim Crow culture in Mississippi during the depression. When Cassie has racism and hatred thrust at her she has to learn how to survive while also keeping her pride intact.
Q: Learning to be proud of yourself is not easy, and is made more difficult by a society that is unjust and repressive. What are some of the things about yourself that you are proud of ? How do your family, friends, and community help or hinder you as you develop these characteristics?
*Taylor, Mildred. The Well. The Logan family prizes it’s land and the independence that owning land gives them, especially since most African-American families are sharecroppers rather than land owners. This brief story recounts one incident in the life of the family that demonstrates how strong they need to be in order to survive.
Q: How do you define bravery? How do the Logans demonstrate that quality? Do you have that quality?
*Whelan, Gloria. Homeless Bird. Young Koly must fight against poverty, illiteracy, and society’s treatment of widowhood in rural India as she struggles to craft a rich and meaningful life for herself.
Q: How does Koly come to realize what she needs in life? Where does she find the strength to reach for it? Do you think that you would be that strong? What are you determined to do?
*Woods, Brenda. Emako Blue. Sixteen-year-old Monterey has never known anyone quite like Emako Blue, a very talented girl from a gritty part of Los Angeles. As their friendship develops, gang issues, financial problems, tensions between friends, and new romantic relationships are part of the events that come to a violent climax.
Q: What are the decisions that Monterey has to make in this story? What would you have done if you were in her shoes?
*Yee, Lisa. Millicent Min, Girl Genius. Millicent really is a genius at academics, but she’s not so good at her social life, and she’s finally decided that she just might want to be a bit more ‘normal.’ But it’s much easier said than done.
Q: Do you think that it is a good idea to pretend to be someone that you are not? What might happen if you tried to do that?
Eighth Grade Reading List
Theme: Coming of Age
*Ashanti. Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love
These poems and love songs were written by Ashanti when she was a teenager.
Q:
*Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road
Jenna’s summer job selling shoes at Gladstone’s turns much more exciting – and complicated – when the boss asks her to be her chauffeur for a summer trip around the country.
*Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate