Name:
Grade 7 Language Arts
Summer Reading
Dear 7th graders,
This summer you will be required to read at least two books—one fiction and one nonfiction
text from the list below—and answer questions about your reading. The more you read this
summer, the better prepared you will be for seventh grade. Make sure that you choose books
that not only challenge you as a reader but also ones that you are interested in.
If you need help with the assignment or have questions about your books over the summer,
feel free to email me. The assignment will be due on the first day of school on Monday,
August 24.
Have a wonderful summer of reading! I am looking forward to meeting all of you in August! 
Miss Stenftennagel
rachel_stenftennagel@dpsk12.org
Fiction Titles:
 Out of My Mind – Sharon Draper
 The Hobbit –J.R.R. Tolkien
 The Giver – Lois Lowry
 Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie –Jordan Sonnenblick
 Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli
 Tangerine – Edward Bloore
 Okay for Now – Gary D. Schmidt
 Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
 Inkheart – Cornelia Funke
 Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt
 Old Yeller – Fred Gipson
 The Devil’s Arithmetic – Jane Yolen
 Moon Over Manifest – Clare Vanderpool
 Chains – Laurie Halse Anderson
 Weedflower – Cynthia Kadohata
 Counting by 7’s – Holly Sloan
 Among the Hidden – Margaret Peterson Haddix
 The Hunger Games Series– Suzanne Collins
 Million Dollar Throw – Mike Lupica
 A Single Shard – Linda Sue Park
Nonfiction Titles:
 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer – James L. Swanson
 Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon –
Steve Sheinkin
 Eruption! Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives – Elizabeth Rush
 Emi and the Rhino Scientist – Mary Kay Carson
 I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World
(Young Readers Edition) – Malala Yousafzai
 We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March – Cynthia Levinson
 Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust –
Doreen Rappaport
 No Summit Out of Sight: The True Story of the Youngest Person to Climb the
Seven Summits – Jordan Romero
 Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion – Loree
Griffin Burns
 Breaker Boys: How a Photograph Helped End Child Labor – Michael Burgan
 Through my Eyes- Ruby Bridges
 Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy – Albert Marrin
 Gorilla Scientists: Saving Endangered Great Apes – Pamela S. Turner
*Note for parents/guardians: Some of the texts may contain mature elements.
Please preview the text your student selects if you have concerns about content.
____________________________________________________
Fiction Response:
Directions – Please write or type your responses to the following questions:
1. Title, author, number of pages, genre
2. Summary: Provide a summary of the story. Include the major events, conflicts,
and how the conflicts are resolved.
3. Setting: Describe the setting of the story in detail. Describe how the setting
impacts the plot.
4. Point of view: What point of view (first, second, or third) is the story told from?
How does this impact the story?
5. Main character: Identify and describe the main character. What are their character
traits? How do you know? Use specific evidence and examples from the text in your
response.
6. Secondary character: Identify and describe one secondary or minor character
that is important in the novel. What are their character traits? How do you know?
Use specific evidence and examples from the text in your response. Why is this
character important to the story?
7. Theme: What is one of the central themes in the book? Give two specific examples
from the book that support the theme you chose. Why is this theme an important
one to learn?
8. Review: What did you think about the book? What were your likes and/or dislikes?
Would you read another book by this author or in this genre? Why or why not?
Nonfiction Response:
Directions – Please write or type your responses to the following questions:
Before Reading:
1. What do you already know about this topic or person? If you don’t know anything
about the topic or person yet, what do you predict that you will learn about?
During Reading:
2. Track the new information that you are learning by taking notes while you read.
Include only the most important information that you are learning from the text. This
can be done in bullet-point form.
After Reading:
3. What was the most interesting or surprising information that you learned? Why did
this stand out to you?
4. What are you still wondering about this topic? Write three questions you still have.
5. How do you feel about some of the issues or topics presented in the book?