REQUIRED SUMMER READING BY MIDDLE SCHOOL 2013
6TH GRADE:
CAMPUS
Baines Middle School
Bowie Middle School
REGULAR ELA
RECOMMEND reading two books:
 The Wednesday Wars by Gary D.
Schmidt AND
 One book of choice from the
district summer reading list
ALL incoming 6th graders are required
to read ONE book from the district
novel list.
Crockett Middle
School
Dulles Middle School
First Colony Middle
School
Fort Settlement
Middle School
Garcia Middle School
Hodges Bend Middle
School
ALL incoming sixth grade students
must read two books:
 Who Moved My Cheese? for
Teens by Spencer Johnson AND
one of these two books:
 Middle School – The Worst Years
of My Life by James Patterson
 Football Genius by Tim Green
Students must choose ONE book
from the district summer reading list.
PRE-AP/GT ELA
REQUIRE reading two books:
 The Wednesday Wars by Gary D.
Schmidt AND
 One book of choice from the
district summer reading list
ALL 6TH grade PreAP/GT students are
required to read TWO books from the
district novel list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
GT/PreAP students must ALSO
choose one of these two books:
 The Story of My Life by Helen
Keller
 The Merry Adventures of Robin
Hood by Howard Pyle
(GT/PreAP students will read three
books total.)
All PreAP/GT students must choose 1
contemporary:
 Heaven by Angela Johnson OR
 The Wednesday Wars by Gary D.
Schmidt
AND
Choose 1 classic:
 221 B Baker Street by Conan
Doyle OR
 Around the World in 80 Days by
Jules Verne
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
TWO of the following:
The Conch Bearer by Chitra Divakaruni
 Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam
Munoz Ryan
 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
 The Wednesday Wars by Gary D.
Schmidt
Lake Olympia Middle
School
McAuliffe Middle
School
Missouri City Middle
School
Quail Valley Middle
School (Students
zoned to QVMS—GT
Academy students
must contact the
campus for their
reading list.)
ALL Incoming 6th grade students must
read:
 Get Organized Without Losing It
by Janet Fox
Sartartia Middle
School
ALL SMS 6th grade students must
choose ONE of the following pairs:
 F—Flygirl by Sherri Smith
 NF—Amelia Lost: The Life and
Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by
Candace Fleming OR Almost
Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared
to Dream by Tanya Stone
All PreAP/GT students must read
 Wednesday Wars by Gary D.
Schmidt
 Phineas Gage by John Fleishman
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
Pre-AP 6th grade students must ALSO
choose ONE of the following:
 The Conch Bearer by Chitra
Divakaruni
 The Dream Bearer by Walter Dean
Myers
 Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam
Munoz Ryan
In addition to the selected pair, 6th
grade GT students must ALSO read:

20,000 Leagues under the Sea by
Jules Verne
 F—The Heart of a Samurai by Margi
Preus
 NF—Shipwrecked! The True
Adventures of a Japanese Boy by
Rhoda Blumberg
 F—War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
 NF—The War to End All Wars:
World War I by Russell Freedman
Sugar Land Middle
School
ALL of SLMS students must choose
ONE CONTEMPORARY novel from
the district summer reading list for
their 2013-2014 school year and be
prepared to complete an
assessment/assignment within the
first two weeks of school.
GT/PreAP students will read the
following and be prepared
to complete
assessments/assignments within the
first two weeks of school:
 Classic: Wizard of Oz by L. Frank
Baum
 Contemporary: Heaven by Angela
Johnson OR Iqbal by Francesco
D’Adamo
District Summer Reading List 2013
Sixth Grade
(Please check campus lists for specific instructions)
Contemporary
Becoming Naomi Leon
Pam Munoz Ryan
Contemporary
Heaven
Angela Johnson
Contemporary
The Conch Bearer
Chitra Divakaruni
Classic
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle
When Naomi's absent mother
resurfaces to claim her,
Naomi runs away to Mexico
with her great-grandmother
and younger brother in search
of her father.
Fourteen-year-old Marley's
seemingly perfect life in the
small town of Heaven is
disrupted when she
discovers that her father
and mother are not her real
parents.
In India, a healer invites
twelve year – old Anad to
join him on a quest to return
a magical conch to its safe
and rightful home, high in
the Himalahyan mountains.
Meg and Charles Wallace set
out with their friend Calvin in
a search for their father. His
top secret job as a physicist
for the government has taken
him away and the children
search through time and
space to find him.
La Linea
Ann Jaramillo
Iqbal
Francesco D’Adamo
The Dream Bearer
Walter Dean Myers
The Wizard of Oz
(Puffin Classics version)
L. Frank Baum
When fifteen-year-old
Miguel's time finally comes to
leave his poor Mexican village,
cross the border illegally, and
join his parents in California,
his younger sister's
determination to join him
soon imperils them both.
A fictionalized account of
the Pakistani child who
escaped from bondage in a
carpet factory and went on
to help liberate other
children like him before
being gunned down at the
age of thirteen.
During a summer in Harlem,
an old man helps David
come to terms with his
father's outbursts and
unstable behavior.
Hatchet
Gary Paulsen
*Phineas Gage
John Fleischman
The Wednesday Wars
Gary D. Schmidt
After a plane crash, thirteenyear-old Brian spends fiftyfour days in the wilderness,
learning to survive initially
with only the aid of a hatchet
given him by his mother, and
learning also to survive his
parents' divorce.
The true story of Phineas
Gage, whose brain had
been pierced by an iron rod
in 1848, and who survived
and became a case study in
how the brain functions.
Seventh grader Holling
Hoodhood has a tough year
ahead of him. But things are
changing, and while reciting
his favorite curses from
Shakespeare’s plays, Holling
might just find the true
meaning of his own story.
Dorothy and her dog Toto are
befriended by a scarecrow, a
tin man, and a lion, who
accompany her on a journey
to find a wizard who can help
her return home to Kansas.
Students are required to
read two selections from this
list before entering sixth
grade GT classes. They will
be assessed on summer
reading within the first six
weeks of school. These
selections are recommended
for all students.
* denotes nonfiction
To find a synopsis of these texts, see the FBISD online catalog and EBSCO – NoveList.
REQUIRED SUMMER READING BY MIDDLE SCHOOL 2013
7TH GRADE:
Baines Middle School
Bowie Middle School
Recommend reading two books from
the district summer reading list; one of
the two books should be Everlost
ALL incoming 7th graders are required
to read ONE book from the district
novel list.
Crockett Middle
School
Dulles Middle School
First Colony Middle
School
ALL incoming 7th grade students
must read ONE of the following
books:
 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James
Swanson
 Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
by Jordan Sonnenblick
 Day of Tears by Julius Lester
 Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo
 La Linea by Ann Jaramillo
 The Laura Line by Crystal Allen
 Steve Jobs: The Man Who
Thought Different by Karen
Blumenthal
 The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
Fort Settlement
Middle School
Student must choose ONE of the
following:
 Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan
Williams
 Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert
Murdoch
Garcia Middle School
Hodges Bend Middle
School
Require reading two books from the
district summer reading list; one of
the two books must be Everlost
ALL 7TH grade PreAP/GT students are
required to read TWO books from the
district novel list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
All GT/PreAP incoming 7th grade
students must read TWO of the
following:
 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James
Swanson
 Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
by Jordan Sonnenblick
 Day of Tears by Julius Lester
 Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo
 La Linea by Ann Jaramillo
 The Laura Line by Crystal Allen
 Steve Jobs: The Man Who
Thought Different by Feiwel and
Friends
 The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
Incoming 7th grade PreAP/GT
students must read:
 The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
AND choose either
 Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert
Murdoch
 OR Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan
Williams
All PreAP/GT students must read:
 Wonder by R. J. Palacio
 The Running Dream by Wendelin
Van Draanen
All PreAP/GT students must read
 Everlost by Neal Shusterman
 ONE additional novel from the
district summer reading list
Lake Olympia Middle
School
McAuliffe Middle
School
Missouri City Middle
School
Quail Valley Middle
School (Students
zoned to QVMS—GT
Academy students
must contact the
campus for their
reading list.)
Sartartia Middle
School
ALL Incoming 7th grade students will
read:
 The Other Side of the Sky by Farah
Ahmedi & Timim Ansary
ALL SMS 7th grade students choose
ONE of the following pairs:
 F—Slam! by Walter Dean Myers
 NF—Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson
Story by Ben Carson
Incoming 7th grade PreAP/GT
students must read:
 Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan
Williams AND
 Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larsen
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
All PreAP/GT students must choose
two books from the district summer
reading list.
Pre-AP 7th grade students must ALSO
choose ONE of the following:
 Day of Tears by Julius Lester
 Shadow of the Dragon by Sherry
Garland
In addition to the selected pair, 7th
grade GT students must ALSO read:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
 F—Shabanu: Daugher of the Wind
by Suzanne Fisher Staples
 NF—The Other Side of the Sky: A
Memoir by Farah Ahmedi
Sugar Land Middle
School
 F—Hatchet by Gary Paulson
 NF—Guts: The True Stories behind
Hatchet and the Brian Books by
Gary Paulson
ALL of SLMS students will choose ONE
CONTEMPORARY novel from the
district Summer Reading list for their
2013-2014 school year and be
prepared to complete an
assessment/assignment within the
first two weeks of school.
GT/PreAP students will read the
following titles and be prepared
to complete
assessments/assignments within the
first two weeks of school:
 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by
Jules Verne
 Day of Tears by Julius Lester
FBISD Summer Reading List 2011
Seventh Grade
(Please check campus lists for specific instructions)
Contemporary
Contemporary
Contemporary
Classic
*A Life in the Wild
Pamela S. Turner
Bull Rider
Suzanne Morgan Williams
Good Enough
Paula Yoo
The Secret Garden
(Puffin Classics Version)
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Presents a story of wildlife
conservation through the
research and efforts of George
Schaller.
Cam’s older brother returns
from the Iraq War partially
paralyzed. Cam stops
skateboarding to enter a
bull – riding contest, with
the expectation of winning
to lift his brother’s spirits.
A Korean American
teenager tries to please her
parents by getting into an
Ivy League college, but a
new guy in school and her
love of the violin tempt her
in new directions.
*Almost Astronauts
Tanya Lee Stone
Day of Tears
Julius Lester
*Isaac’s Storm
Erik Larson
Profiles thirteen women who
challenged social norms and
government policies to prove
they could be exceptional
astronauts.
When gambling debts and
greed enter into the Butler
household, Pierce Butler
decides to host the biggest
slave auction in American
history and breaks a
promise by selling Emma,
his most-valued slave and
caretaker of his children--a
decision that brings about
unthinkable consequences.
A Step From Heaven
An Na
Everlost
Neal Shusterman
Tells the story of Isaac Cline,
a weather scientist in
Galveston, Texas in 1900,
discussing his belief and
assertion that nothing in
the way of weather could
destroy the coastal city; and
looks at how Cline dealt
with the aftermath of the
hurricane that hit Galveston
on September 8, claiming
the lives of thousands of
people.
Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
A young girl and her family find
it difficult to learn English and
adjust to life in America.
When Nick and Allie are
killed in a car crash, they
end up in Everlost, or limbo
for lost souls, where
although Nick is satisfied,
Allie will stop at nothing to
break free.
After learning that he is the
son of a mortal woman and
Poseidon, god of the sea,
twelve-year-old Percy is
sent to a summer camp for
demigods like himself.
Percy joins his new friends
on a quest to prevent a war
between the gods.
A young orphan moves in with
her uncle and cousin and
discovers a secret garden.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(Puffin Classics version)
Jules Verne
A French professor and his
team sail the ocean for an
adventure under the reigns of
Captain Nemo.
Students are required to read
two selections from this list
before entering seventh
grade PreAP or GT classes.
They will be assessed on
summer reading within the
first six weeks of school.
These selections are
recommended for all
students.
* denotes nonfiction
To find a synopsis of these texts, see the FBISD online catalog and EBSCO – NoveList.
REQUIRED SUMMER READING BY MIDDLE SCHOOL 2013
8TH GRADE:
Baines Middle School
Recommend ALL incoming 8th graders Require ALL incoming 8th grade
read:
PreAP/GT students read:

Bowie Middle School

The Glory Field by Walter Dean
Myers
The Glory Field by Walter Dean
Myers
AND one of the following titles:
AND one of the following titles:
 The Other Side of the Sky by Farah
Ahmedi
 King Arthur by Roger Lancelyn Green
 Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward
Justice by Phillip Hoose
 Three Cups of Tea, The Young
Reader’s Edition by Greg Mortenson
and David Relin
 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by
Mark Twain
 Gifted Hands, The Ben Carson Story
by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphy
 Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by
Suzanne Fisher Staples
 The Other Side of the Sky by Farah
Ahmedi
 King Arthur by Roger Lancelyn Green
 Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
by Phillip Hoose
 Three Cups of Tea, The Young Reader’s
Edition by Greg Mortenson and David
Relin
 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by
Mark Twain
 Gifted Hands, The Ben Carson Story by
Ben Carson and Cecil Murphy
 Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by
Suzanne Fisher Staples


PreAP/GT students are required to read
The Other Side of the Sky
by Farah Ahmedi
 The Other Side of the Sky
by Farah Ahmedi
 One additional selection from the
district summer reading list.
Crockett Middle
School
Dulles Middle School
All PreAP/GT students must choose two
books from the district summer reading
list.
ALL incoming 8th graders are required
to read:
PreAP/GT students are required to
read:


Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer
Wolff
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer
Wolff
AND

The Giver by Lois Lowry
First Colony Middle
School
Here are the books we recommend
for ALL students:
(PreAP/GT must read one from this
list and one from the second list )
PreAP/GT must choose one additional
book from this list:










Anne of Green Gables by L.M.
Montgomery
Buried Onions by Gary Soto
Romiette and Julio by Sharon
Draper
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
The Call of the Wild by Jack
London
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson
Story by Ben Carson and Cecil
Murphy


*The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne
Frank
*Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayers
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
*We Are Witnesses: 5 Diaries of
Teenagers Who Died in the
Holocaust by Jacob Boas
Summer of my German Soldier by
Bette Greene
*denotes a biographical selection
Incoming 8th grade PreAP/GT students
must read:
 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel
Keyes
AND
 Gifted Hands, The Ben Carson Story
by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphy
Fort Settlement
Middle School
Students must choose ONE book
from the district summer reading list.
Garcia Middle School
All incoming 8th grade student must
PreAP/GT students must ALSO read one
read:
additional book of their choice from the
district summer reading list.
 King Arthur and His Knights of the Round
Table (Puffin Classics Version) by Roger
Lancelyn Green
Hodges Bend Middle
School
Incoming 8th grade PreAP/GT students
must read:
 Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper
AND
 The Other Side of the Sky by Farah
Ahmedi and TImim Ansary
Lake Olympia Middle
School
Incoming 8th grade PreAP/GT students
must read:
 Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper
AND
 The Other Side of the Sky by Farah
Ahmedi and TImim Ansary
McAuliffe Middle
School
All PreAP/GT students must choose two
books from the district summer reading
list.
Missouri City Middle
School
Quail Valley Middle
School (Students
zoned to QVMS—GT
Academy students
must contact the
campus for their
reading list.)
ALL Incoming 8th grade students will
read:
 The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective Teens by Sean Covey
Sartartia Middle
School
ALL SMS 8th grade students read the
following pair:


Sugar Land Middle
School
Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
Blood on the River: James Town
1607 by Elisa Carbone
ALL of SLMS students will choose ONE
CONTEMPORARY novel from the
district summer reading list for their
2013-2014 school year and be
prepared to complete an
assessment/assignment within the
first two weeks of school.
All PreAP/GT students must choose two
books from the district summer reading
list.
PreAP 8th grade students must ALSO
choose ONE of the following:
 Gifted Hands, The Ben Carson Story
by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphy
 King Arthur and His Knights of the Round
Table (Puffin Classics Version) by Roger
Lancelyn Green
 Buried Onions by Gary Soto
 Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward
Justice by Phillip Hoose
In addition to the selected pair, 8th
grade PreAP/GT students must ALSO
read:
 The Mayflower and the Pilgrim’s
New World by Nathaniel Philbrick
GT/PreAP students will read the
following titles and be prepared
to complete assessments/assignments
within the first two weeks of school:
 Classic – The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer; AND
 Contemporary--Three Cups of Tea:
The Young Reader’s Edition by Greg
Mortenson and David Relin OR
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by
Suzanne Fisher Staples
FBISD Summer Reading List 2011
Eighth Grade
(Please check campus lists for specific instructions)
Contemporary
Buried Onions
Contemporary
Hunger Games
Contemporary
*The Other Side of the Sky
Gary Soto
Suzanne Collins
Farah Ahmedi and
Timim Ansary
When nineteen-year-old
Eddie drops out of college,
he struggles to find a place
for himself as a MexicanAmerican living in a violence-infested neighborhood of
Fresno, California.
Katniss's skills are put
to the test when she
voluntarily takes her
younger sister's place
in an annual televised
survival competition
pitting young people
against one another;.
*Claudette Colvin:
Twice Toward Justice
Romiette and Julio
Sharon Draper
Phillip Hoose
Presents an account of 15
year old Claudette Colvin, an
African-American girl who
refused to give up her seat
to a white woman on a
segregated bus in
Montgomery, Alabama, nine
months before Rosa Parks,
and covers her role in a
crucial civil rights case.
An African-American
girl and a Latino boy
fall in love after
meeting on the
Internet, but a gang
who objects to their
interracial dating
harasses them.
*Gifted Hands:
The Ben Carson Story
Shabanu:Daughter of
the Wind
Ben Carson and Cecil Murphy
Suzanne Fisher Staples
Captures Dr. Ben Carson's
fight to beat the odds, the
secret behind his
accomplishments as a
pediatric neurosurgeon, and
what drives him to take
risks.
In a year that brings a
sandstorm, a feud with
a rich landowner, and
other disasters, the
daughter of a nomad
in the Pakistan desert,
becomes a victim of
her people's views of
gender roles and
marriage.
Classic
King Arthur and His Knights
of the
Round Table
Roger Lancelyn Green
The victim of a land mine
tells about her childhood in
Afghanistan and discusses
the challenges she has
faced as a result of losing
her leg, and in trying to
adapt to living in the
United States.
*Three Cups of Tea
The Young Reader’s Edition
Greg Mortenson and
David Relin
One man's journey to
change the world-- one
child at a time.
Retells the stories of Sir
Gawain and the Green
Knight, the quest for the
Holy Grail, and Morgana le
Fay
The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer
Mark Twain
The adventures and pranks
of a mischievous boy
growing up in a 19thcentury Mississippi River
town as he plays hooky on
an island, witnesses a
crime, hunts for pirate's
treasure, and becomes lost
in a cave.
Touching Spirit Bear
Ben Mikaelsen
In order to avoid going to
prison Cole agrees to
participate in a sentencing
alternative based on the
Native American Circle
Justice, and he is sent to a
remote Alaskan Island
where an encounter with a
bear changes him.
Students are required to
read two selections from
this list before entering
eighth grade PreAP or GT
classes. They will be
assessed on summer
reading within the first six
weeks of school. These
selections are
recommended for all
students.
* denotes nonfiction
To find a synopsis of these texts, see the FBISD online catalog and EBSCO – NoveList.