Name: _________________________ 7th and 8th Grade Summer Reading Requirements
Students will be required to read one fiction and one nonfiction book this summer. When they return to school,
they will be required to complete a book report regarding each of the books they read.
All books are available for purchase through amazon.com. Most books are available through the Kindle app. Also,
many of these books are available to borrow from New Haven Public Libraries.
Pick One Fiction Book to Read this Summer:
Title, Author, Lexile
Absolutely Normal
Chaos
By: Sharon Creech
Lexile: 900
Attack of the Mutant
Underwear
By: Tom Birdseye
Lexile: 770
Forged by Fire
By: Sharon M Draper
Lexile: 780
Angus, Thongs, and Full
Frontal Snogging
By: Louise Rennison
Lexile: 700
The Contender
By: Robert Lipsyte
Lexile: 760
The Dare
By: RL Stine
Lexile: 490
Don’t Look Behind You
By: Lois Duncan
Lexile: 1020
Description
“A summer journal? I don’t know what a journal is! This is going to be boring.” That’s
what Mary Lou Finney thinks, anyway. As it turns out, her summer is full of excitement.
It all begins when she learns that her weird cousin Carl Ray is coming to live with her.
As if she doesn’t have enough chaos in her home already! But a sudden death in the
neighborhood, a mysterious ring, a boy-crazy best friend, and Mary Lou’s first kiss come
together to make this a completely amazing summer after all.
Have you ever had anything embarrassing happen to you in front of your friends or
other kids at school? Well, imagine that this happens to you all of the time. Cody is so
excited because his family has moved to a new town where he doesn’t know anyone.
This is his chance to start over-to be a good student and to be popular. Unfortunately,
not everything goes as he plans.
Can you imagine living with a drug-addicted mother? Imagine what you would do if
your mother left you alone to fend for yourself. This is exactly the situation Gerald finds
himself in when at age 3 his mother leaves him alone in their apartment. The resulting
fire is just the beginning of the troubles he must overcome. Gerald finally finds stability
with his loving Aunt Queen. But when she dies unexpectedly, he is plunged back into a
dark world filled with abuse.
It is not easy being a teenage girl. Shoot, it’s not easy being a teenager, period! There
all these issues to deal with like finding a bra that fits or avoiding your annoying parents.
Then, of course, you have to deal with smelly baby sisters, first kisses, mistakenly
shaving off your eyebrows, and hitting your headmistress with a tennis racket.
Welcome to the life of Georgia Nicolson, a witty, boy-stalking teenager who always
seems to turn a disaster into an adventure!
Have you ever felt like your options are few, and life is hitting you with too many
challenges? Have you ever felt like you were down for the count? What if your parents
are dead, you’re losing your best friend, and your best option makes your stomach feel
like ice? The Contender tells the story of Alfred Brooks, a teenage boy from Harlem
faced with some incredibly difficult choices. When Alfred steps into the boxing ring, he
faces his fears, meets his challengers, and strives to be a contender in life.
Let’s talk about love. How far would you go to get the girl or guy of your dreams?
Would you murder someone for it? Believe it or not, some people would. In The Dare,
Johanna is a high school student who would do almost anything to be loved and to be
part of her school’s rich, popular crowd. How far will she go to get what she wants?
Could you give up your name, your friends and everything else you’d ever known?
Imagine missing your first prom or your boyfriend’s graduation. Could you walk away
and never come back? April Corrigan feels like her life is ruined when, because of her
father’s testimony in a drug trial, the family must go into hiding. With changed
identities, appearances, and a new house, the Corrigans feel secure in the Federal
Witness Security Program – but are they?
The Outsiders
By: SE Hinton
Lexile: 750
Tears of a Tiger
By: Sharon M Draper
Lexile: 700
Tunnels
By: Roderick Gordon
and Brian Williams
Lexile: NA
Under the Blood Red
Sun
By: Graham Salisbury
Lexile: 640
Over the Wall
By: John H Ritter
Lexile: 590
Pretties
By: Scott Westerfeld
Lexile: 860
Slam
By: Walter Dean Myers
Lexile: 750
The Year Without
Michael
By: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Lexile: 670
Let the Circle be
Unbroken
By: Mildred D Taylor
The leather jacket, the worn-out jeans, the fight in his eyes, and the “forget the world”
attitude-we see this guy on the news. We avoid eye contact with him on the streets
and whisper things behind his back. We all know this guy. Or do we? Let me introduce
you to Ponyboy Curtis, a guy from the wrong side of the tracks who strives to see things
in the right way. In The Outsiders Ponyboy takes us through the tough world of the
Greasers and teaches us that people are more than they appear on the surface.
Imagine being responsible for your best friend’s death. Could you live with yourself?
That’s the situation Andy faces when-after drinking-he chooses to drive his friends
home.
What would you do if you saw an usual opening in the Earth? Would you walk through
the tunnel? Would you walk away? If you ask Chester, Will’s best mate, he would
probably tell you to walk away-no need to go looking for trouble. But, if you ask Will, or
even his father Dr. Burrows, then they would tell you that doors were meant to be
opened, and openings were paths meant to be explored. In fact, it is this sense of
fearless curiosity that leads the characters on an adventure you don’t want to miss.
Bombs, smoke, red sky-picture it happening to you. One day your life is relatively
normal-and the next, it’s changed forever. In this story, Tomi is a boy who lives on the
picturesque island of Hawaii. What happens there to Tomi and his family, however, is
far from picturesque. Tomi encounters bombs, discrimination, harassment, death and
loss of family.
And now, approaching the batter’s box is Tyler Waltern. Tyler hails from California but
is joining a summer league in New York City, where he stays with his cousin Louie. Will
Tyler’s temper get him thrown out of the league?
Can you be perfect looking? What about beyond perfect? Sixteen-year old Tally is
pretty-beautiful actually. Her body has been sculpted, stitched, and suctioned, making
her a new Pretty in Pretties. Pretties party all night and have fun all day, but the world
is not all that it seems. Is pretty all there is? Follow Tally as she discovers what lies
beneath this perfect made-up world as she must choose between being “pretty” and
simply being who she is.
At times we all feel invincible. Greg Harris aka Slam is a 17-year-old Boy Wonder when
it comes to hoops. Basketball is his game, and Slam is his name. But off the court,
Slam’s superhero status has been interrupted. To save him from the streets of Harlem,
Slam’s mother enrolls his in a prestigious uptown school. Now he has to regroup and
learn how to fit in. But low grades and a lack of academic drive threat to take him out
of the game.
Have you ever argued with a brother or sister? What if those words were the last you
shared? Imagine if a family member disappeared. Who would you turn to? How would
you feel? How would you survive? Do you think you could ever give up the search?
The Year Without Michael explores the disappearance of Michael Chapman, a 14-yearold boy soon to a high school freshman. Jody, his 17-year-old sister, travels from hope
to heartbreak and back again as she struggles to find her missing brother.
Have you ever wondered what life was like in the segregated South? Do you enjoy
sharing stories with your family? If so, join Cassie Logan and her family on their
Depression-era farm in Mississippi as they struggle to get along with both the blacks and
whites of Strawberry. They must endure insults and racial tensions as they struggle to
make enough money to cover their land taxes. When a half-white cousin Suzelle comes
to visit, and Aunt Lee Annie decides to register to vote, tensions mount.
Pick One Nonfiction Book to Read this Summer:
Title, Author, Lexile
2gether 4ever
By: Dene Larson
Lexile: NA
The Adventures of
Penrose the
Mathematical Cat
By: Theoni Pappas
Lexile: NA
Horrible Science: Blood,
Bones and Body Bits
By: Nick Arnold
Lexile: 890
Brainstorm! The Stories
of Twenty American Kid
Inventors
By: Tom Tucker
Lexile: 1070
Chicken Soup for the
Teenage Soul
By: Jack Canfield, Mark
Victor Hansen, and
Kimberly Kirberger
Lexile: 1050
Do Fish Drink Water?
By: Bill McLain
Lexile: NA
Escape! The Story of
the Great Houdini
By: Sid Fleischman
Lexile: 940
Extreme Sports: The
Illustrated Guide to
Maximum Adrenalin
Thrills
By: Joe Tomlinson
Lexile: NA
Description
Girls aren’t the only people who love to write notes. Boys do too, as they try to figure
out what girls are all about. What about talking to girls face to face? No way! So what’s
a boy to do? Ask his friend to talk to the girl for him, of course! Note passing is
definitely an art, especially in English class, where a boy doesn’t want to get caught
sending his girlfriend-of-the-moment a note about his feelings for her. The notes,
actual ones from Dene Larson’s junior high school years, follow the ups and downs of
his friendships and crushes.
How do you feel about computers, dragons, or invisible worlds? If you are interested in
any of these things, this book is for you. You will be introduced to 25 of the most
interesting math-related topics you have seen. You can learn how to fold a square piece
of paper into the shape of an animal, find the math in wildflowers, solve math puzzles,
or draw a dragon using only straight lines. The pictures and examples make each topic
easy to understand.
How would you like it if your doctor made you a research subject? No big deal, you say?
Well, what if you had accidentally blown a huge hole in your stomach, and your doctor
decided to leave the hole open so he could run experiments? What if one of the
experiments was drinking some of the juices in your stomach? That’s a different story,
isn’t it? In this book you can learn about this experiment, and many others doctors have
done over time. Not only that, but you’ll learn about the human body in a way that’s far
more entertaining than a science textbook…because it leaves in all the disgusting bits!
Have you ever heard yourself saying, “I wish I had invented that!”? Well, stop wishing
and get to work. Kids invent things all the time; we just don’t hear about it. If you’re
wondering what kinds of things young inventors come up with, then this book is for
you! It features amazing young inventors, some who kept inventing as adults and
became famous. From the glo-sheet (a clipboard you can write on in the dark) to the
television, their inventions will inspire you to create your own big ideas.
Okay teens, you know you’ve got issues. From boyfriends and girlfriends to living with
the consequences of your actions, life is one big lesson after the other. The good news
is that no matter what you are going through, you don’t have to feel alone. Everyone
needs a little nurturing, reassurance, and advice now and then, and this book is just
what the doctor ordered. So if you want the next best thing to Mom, grab this book
and let the wisdom and experiences of teens just like you feed your soul.
Everyone has some nagging questions that they just can’t answer. For example: Where
did the idea for underwear come from? How much gold does the United States store in
Fort Knox? Why are gasoline prices listed to three decimal places, such as $2.899 per
gallon? What brilliant person determined the sticky difference between jelly, jam,
preserves and marmalades? This book is a sea of questions, answers, factoids, did-youknow sections, and resources.
David Copperfield. Penn and Teller. Siegfried and Roy. Lance Burton. Criss Angel
Mindfreak. All these magicians owe some of their fame to Harry Houdini. This
biography will help you uncover this secrets kept by the Great Houdini. From his
impoverished childhood to this worldwide fame, Harry Houdini is one magician who will
never be stuffed into a magic hat.
Imagine free falling thousands of feet in formation with other jumpers, scaling a vertical
rock formation, or racing a yacht around the world. These are just a few of the thrilling
activities featured in this book. It will take you from air to land to sea on a wild ride of
amazing sports adventures. An athlete himself, author Joe Tomlinson describes athletes
who are “surfing, flipping, gliding and bouncing through the air in defiance of gravity.”
How do they do that? Find out in this book!
Freedom Riders: John
Lewis and Jim Zwerg on
the Front Lines of the
Civil Rights Movement
By: Ann Bausum
Lexile: 1090
The Lost Boy: A Foster
Child’s Search for the
Love of a Family
By: Dave Pelzer
Lexile: 720
Uncle John’s Top
Secret! Bathroom
Reader for Kids Only!
By: The Bathroom
Readers’ Institute
Lexile: NA
The Worst-Case
Scenario Survival
Handbook: Travel
By: Joshua Priven and
David Borgenicht
Lexile: 960
When you think of being a college student, what do you imagine? Classes? Late-night
studying? Parties? Do you ever imagine fighting for other people’s rights? What if you
were attacked by a mob, beaten, or jailed? Well, this is the story of two normal college
students-one black, one white-who took a bus ride that changed history. John Lewis,
Jim Zwerg and the rest of the Freedom Riders joined the Civil Rights Movement and
made a lasting impact.
“Alone in my dreams I found myself standing at the end of a long, dark hallway. As
shadowy figure emerged at the opposite end. The figure transformed into The Mother.
She began to march toward me. For some reason, I stood still. I couldn’t move; I didn’t
even try. The closer The Mother came, the more her red face, filled with hatred, came
into focus. The Mother held a shiny knife above her, poised and ready to strike me
down.” These are the words of a lost boy describing one of his dreams about the
mother who abused him. The boy is lost because he spends his adolescence trying to
understand what went wrong. From foster home to foster home, he searches for
answers – the answers that will help him find himself.
What causes an ice cream headache? Why do your eyes sometimes look demon-red in
photographs? Is there really a job where you get to sit around tasting ice cream flavors
all day? Find all the answers to these questions and more in this book. Learn all about a
miraculous golfing sheep in Wales, discover how people and animals have come back
from the dead, and read about where the ideas for some of your favorite TV shows
come from. You will be amazed!
We live in an exciting, fast-paced world where you never know what dangers you might
face. What would you do if you ran into trouble? Imagine if you were lost in the
wilderness with no compass, or you were tied up and needed to escape. What would
you do? This book will help you prepare for dangerous situations that may arise while
you are traveling. You never know when you might need your airplane night need to
crash-land in the water, or you might need to remove a leech from some part of your
body. The information in this book could save your life!