Summer Reading Books
Summer Reading Books
SummaryThe One and Only Ivan
By Katherine Applegate
/ Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.
Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home – and his own art – through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.
The Lemonade War
By Jacqueline Davies
/ Fourth-grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent.
Summer Reading Books
Book / SummaryBrown Girl Dreaming
By Jacqueline Woodson / Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.
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.
Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it isnota tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief.
The Fourteenth Goldfish
By Jennifer L. Holm
/ Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He’s bossy. He’s cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie’s grandfather, a scientist who’s always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this pimply boy really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth?
Mockingbird
By Kathryn Erskine / Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon was killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure--and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be so black and white after all.
Out of My Mind
By Sharon M. Draper
/ Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom—the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow.
Small as an Elephant
By Jennifer Richard Jacobson
/ Jack’s mom is gone, leaving him all alone on a campsite in Maine. Can he find his way back to Boston before the authorities realize what happened?
Ever since Jack can remember, his mom has been unpredictable, sometimes loving and fun, other times caught in a whirlwind of energy and "spinning" wildly until it’s over. But Jack never thought his mom would take off during the night and leave him at a campground in Acadia National Park, with no way to reach her and barely enough money for food. Any other kid would report his mom gone, but Jack knows by now that he needs to figure things out for himself - starting with how to get from the backwoods of Maine to his home in Boston before DSS catches on. With nothing but a small toy elephant to keep him company, Jack begins the long journey south, a journey that will test his wits and his loyalties - and his trust that he may be part of a larger herd after all.
Spirit Animals:
Wild Born
By Brandon Mull / Four children separated by vast distances all undergo the same ritual, watched by cloaked strangers. Four flashes of light erupt, and from them emerge the unmistakable shapes of incredible beasts - a wolf, a leopard, a panda, a falcon. Suddenly the paths of these children - and the world - have been changed forever.
Enter the world of Erdas, where every child who comes of age must discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. A dark force has risen from distant and long-forgotten lands, and has begun an onslaught that will ravage the world. Now the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers.
Summer Reading
for
6th Grade English Language Arts
Summarizing Your Book
When you tell someone about your day, you include the important people, places, and events but leave out the little details. Similarly, a summary of a story is a brief retelling. It includes only the main characters, setting, conflict, and important events.
When reading a story, you might have personal opinions, or feelings, about it. You might also make judgments about the story – whether it’s believable, well-written, and so on. Although it’s fine to have opinions and make judgments, don’t include them in a summary. A summary is supposed to be objective, or tell only the facts.
Directions: Complete the graphic organizer as you read your book. If you are familiar with the five stages of plot, you can use them, or you can use the beginning, middle, and end column to guide your work.
Plot / NotesBeginning / Exposition
- Introduces the setting and the characters
- Sets up or hints at the conflict (problem)
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Middle / Rising Action
- Shows how the conflict becomes more difficult
- Builds suspense
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Climax
- Is the most exciting part and a turning point
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Falling Action
- Eases the tension
- Shows how the main character resolves the conflict
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End / Resolution
- Reveals how everything turns out
- Sometimes ends with a surprise twist
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Main Character
What makes the characters in a story seem real? It’s all in the details. Authors can describe the characters’ attitudes, or how they think, act, and feel. They can also describe the characters’ motivations, or the reasons for their actions.
Often, a character’s attitude and motivation change during a story. As the story unfolds, readers learn more about a character based on how that person responds to events.
Directions: Complete the graphic organizer as you read to show how your character changes throughout the book.
Beginning of Book
What the Main Character Does / Why He/She Does It / What This Shows About Him/HerExample: Benny takes an ice cream cone from Lisa. / Example: He might think it is funny. / Example: He is not always kind; he likes to play jokes.
Middle of Book
What the Main Character Does / Why He/She Does It / What This Shows About Him/HerEnd of Book
What the Main Character Does / Why He/She Does It / What This Shows About Him/HerDetermining Theme
“Winning isn’t everything.” “Follow your heart.” You’ve probably learned lessons like these at one time or another. Your own experience is usually the best teacher, but literature can also communicate important truths, or themes. A theme is a message about life or human nature that a writer wants readers to understand.
To determine a theme in your book, you must first decide on a topic. A topic is one or two words that sum up what the book is about.
Directions: Circle the topics that are related to your book.
Common Topics Found in Books
Directions: Select two topics from the box and name a theme that relates to each. If you choose the topic of friendship, for example, you might use the theme, “Treat others as you wish to be treated.” Using specific details from the text, explain how your book teaches these themes.
Topic / Theme / Details From Book______/ ______
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Paragraph #1
Be sure to
- include the title and author
- use details from the graphic organizer, Summarize Your Book
- use any relevant details from your book
- include at least 10 sentences
Paragraph #2
Be sure to
- include the name of the main character
- provide details from the beginning, middle, and end of the book
- use details from the graphic organizer, Main Character
- include at least 10 sentences
Paragraph #3
Be sure to
- name the theme
- explain how the book teaches this theme
- use details from the graphic organizer, Determining Theme
- use any relevant details from your book
- include at least 10 sentences