2011
Summer Reading
Middle School
Wheeler REQUIRED Reading
Rising
6th Grade (Wheeler) two free choice
books; choose from the Rhode Island
Teen Book Award Nominees (Middle
School Selections) or suggested titles
list or other resources.
http://www.yourlibrary.ws/ya_webp
age/ritba/ritba12/ritba12.htm
7th Grade English (Wheeler), please
read three books this summer,
making your selections either from
the Prescott Library suggested reading
list or from other resources. You can
choose any genre, any title, and any
author. (Of course, you may read
more than three!) Please be ready to
talk and write about your choices in
September.
7th Grade History (Wheeler), Blood on
the River by, Elisa Carbone
8th Grade English (Wheeler) Mrs. von
Reinhart requires rising 8th graders
to read two novels of choice but
encourages all students to read
more. For ideas, consult the library's
reading recommendations for middle
and upper school students, on the
summer reading page.
Cranston, RI 02905
8th Grade History (Wheeler), Hamlet’s
Blackberry, By William Powers
Hamilton REQUIRED Reading
6th Grade, two free choice books; you
may choose from the Rhode Island
Teen Book Award Nominees, the
suggested summer list or other
resources.
7th Grade,
June reading-Sounder by William
Armstrong (ISBN either 13:978-0-06440020-6 or 10:0-06-440020)
1. Activity- Write a one
paragraph that summarizes
the book and one
paragraph about whether
or not you liked the book
and why.
2. Send the two paragraphs in
an envelope post marked
no later than June 30th to
Mrs. Harris
16 Rosewood Avenue
Compiled by Christine M Smith, Middle School Librarian
christinesmith@wheelerschool.org
Reviews, School Library Journal, VOYA, AASL Recommended Books, CLC Best Books for Teens
July reading- free choice
1. Make a poster of your favorite
book. It must be 14” by 22”
and include the title and
author of the book, your
name, and a colored
illustration.
2. Be prepared to show your
poster and share the major
story elements of the book the
first day of school.
August reading- What Are You Afraid
Of? Stories about Phobias edited by
Donald R. Gallo

We will be discussing this book
and writing phobia stories
during the first few weeks of
school
8th Grade, Long Journey Home, by
Julius Lester
2011
Summer Reading
Middle School
May we also suggest…….
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth, by
Lynn Rae Perkins
On his way to summer camp, Ry steps off the
train for just a minute and finds himself
stranded in the middle of nowhere. At exactly
the same time, every member of his family is
rendered unreachable by similar twists of fate.
Left with only $83, an unreliable cell phone,
and a pocketknife, Ry strikes out on a crosscountry journey that takes him both far away
from and close to the home he seeks.
The Cardturner, by Louis Sachar
The only thing Alton Richards knows about his
great-uncle Lester is that he is very old, very
rich, and very sick. Uncle Lester's diabetes has
robbed him of his sight, and Alton has been
offered a summer job by his enterprising
parents as Uncle Lester's cardturner at bridge.
In that capacity, Alton learns a little about the
game, more about his family, and a lot about
his uncle, one of the best bridge players in the
country, if not the world.
A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen
Turner
Teenaged Sophos is his uncle's heir, but his
love of poetry and lack of interest in ruling
have caused his father to send him to a remote
villa. When it is attacked by the king's enemies,
Sophos is sold into slavery, where he begins to
mature and develop both physically, from the
hard manual labor, and emotionally. He makes
the decision to escape slavery and try to
resume his place as heir and eventually king of
Sounis.
prologue, Meg Cabot describes her desire for a
Barbie and her mother's reluctance to
purchase one, basically summing up the
conflict surrounding the doll since its
introduction in 1959.
Countdown, by Deborah Wiles
The first-ever wisecracking, troll-fighting,
Orthodox Jewish heroine, Mirka is a spunky,
strong-willed 11-year-old girl who wants to go
out and fight dragons. This charming graphic
novel is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" meets Isaac
Bashevis Singer.
It's 1962 and it seems that everyone is living in
fear. Eleven-year-old Franny Chapman lives
with her family in Washington, DC, and can
feel the fear of the nation in the days
surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. Amid the
pervading threat of nuclear war, Franny must
face the tension between herself and her
younger brother, figure out where she fits into
her family, and learn to look beyond outward
appearance.
The Dreamer, by Pam Munoz Ryan
Readers enter the creative, sensitive mind of
Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, in
this beautifully written fictional biography.
Ryan artfully meshes factual details with an
absorbing story of a shy Chilean boy whose
spirit develops and thrives despite his father's
relentless negativity.
The Good, the Bad and the Barbie, by Tanya
Lee Stone
Explores how Barbie has influenced
generations of girls, discussing criticisms of the
doll, her role in fashion, and her surprising
popularity during her first fifty years. In the
Compiled by Christine M Smith, Middle School Librarian
christinesmith@wheelerschool.org
Reviews, School Library Journal, VOYA, AASL Recommended Books, CLC Best Books for Teens
Hereville: How Merka Got Her Sword
Keeper, by Kathi Appelt
Ten-year-old Keeper believes in wishes and
magic, and why shouldn't she? Her mother,
gone for the last seven years, is a mermaid,
after all! So on the day of the Blue Moon,
when everything she does has a disastrous
result, Keeper knows her only option is to row
out past the sandbar to the treacherous open
water of the Gulf of Mexico, accompanied by
BD (Best Dog) and Captain the seagull, and
hope her mermaid mama can tell her how to
fix things.
The Odyssey: a graphic novel, by Gareth Hinds
Odysseus tries to get home after the Trojan
War, but many obstacles are thrown in his
way, and many people, creatures, and gods try
to stop him. Hinds's beautiful watercolors
skillfully capture the rosy-fingered dawn, the
wine-dark sea and the land of the dead
2011
Summer Reading
Middle School
One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia
In the summer of 1968, after traveling from
Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a
month with the mother they barely know,
eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger
sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they
discover that their mother, a dedicated poet
and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of
their visit and wants them to attend a nearby
Black Panther summer camp (Coretta Scott
King Award Winner 2011, National Book Award
Finalist, Newbery Honor Book)
Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool
After a life of riding the rails with her father,
12-year-old Abilene can't understand why he
has sent her away to stay with Pastor Shady
Howard in Manifest, Missouri, a town he left
years earlier; but over the summer she pieces
together his story. In 1936, Manifest is a town
worn down by sadness, drought, and the
Depression, but it is more welcoming to
newcomers than it was in 1918, when it was a
conglomeration of coal-mining immigrants
who were kept apart by habit, company
practice, and prejudice. (Newbery Award
Winner, 2011)
The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud
Bartimaeus, everyone's favorite (wisecracking) djinni, is back in book four of this
best--selling series. As alluded to in the
footnotes throughout the series, Bartimaeus
has served hundreds of magicians during his
5,010 year career. Now, for the first time, fans
will go back in time with the djinni, to
Jerusalem and the court of King Solomon in
950s BC.
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz
Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story
and into eight more tales, encountering such
wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly
strangers and other helpful folk.
Trash, by Andy Mulligan
"Dumpsite boy" Raphael has never found
anything valuable in the trash mounds he has
combed over since age three; at least not until
he unearths a leather bag containing a map,
wallet, and key. Keeping his discovery secret
from the police, who quickly come looking for
the bag, Raphael goes in search of the key's
locker, with two friends in tow. Soon they are
in the middle of a suspenseful mission
involving a secret code, a corrupt politician,
and a search for six million stolen dollars.
Toads and Diamonds, by Heather Tomlinson
A retelling of the Perrault fairy tale set in precolonial India, in which two stepsisters receive
gifts from a goddess and each walks her own
path to find her gift's purpose, discovering
romance along the way
Compiled by Christine M Smith, Middle School Librarian
christinesmith@wheelerschool.org
Reviews, School Library Journal, VOYA, AASL Recommended Books, CLC Best Books for Teens
REQUIRED AND Suggested titles for
Summer Reading
Middle School (12 and Up)
2011
The Prescott Library
The Wheeler School