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Good readers must read consistently. In order to promote consistent reading, the students at
Loftis Middle School are required to read at least TWO books over the summer. The students will choose one book from a non-fiction list and have a required title from a fiction list.
Students are encouraged to read additional books, but the required books MUST come from the list provided by Loftis.
The books must be “new reads,” or books that have not been previously read by the student.
In the first few weeks of school all students will be assessed on both books through the Language
Arts classes.
Along with the reading list, the Language Arts teachers have included a fiction graphic organizer and non-fiction graphic organizer to help students with the reading process. The students should use these organizers to take notes as they read. The notes will help the students complete assignments when they return to school.
PARENTS: As always, we ask that you monitor your child's book selection. All of the books are middle school appropriate, but we ask that parents use discretion when selecting books.
The Truth about Truman School
Butler, Dori Hillestad
BL: 4.4 - AR Pts: 6.0
Tired of being told what to write by the school newspaper's advisor, Zibby and her friend Amr start an underground newspaper online where everyone is free to post anything, but things spiral out of control when a cyber bully starts using the site to harass one popular girl.
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Jiang, Ji-li
BL: 5.0 - AR Pts: 8.0
This book is an engrossing memoir of a Chinese girl, her family, and how their lives became a nightmare during Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s.
CONTINUED ON BACK…

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
Murphy, Jim
BL: 9.0 - AR Pts: 6.0
This book provides an account of the yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia in
1793, discussing the chaos that erupted when people began evacuating in droves, leaving the city without government, goods, or services.
The Great Fire
Murphy, Jim
BL: 7.6 - AR Pts: 4.0
Within the thirty-one hours of terror, over 100,000 people were forced to flee the flames of the
Great Chicago Fire. Eyewitness accounts and newspaper articles tell the story of some of the people affected by this calamity.
Chasing Lincoln's Killer
Swanson, James L.
BL: 7.5 - AR Pts: 6.0
Based on James Swanson's bestselling adult book MANHUNT: THE 12-DAY CHASE FOR
LINCOLN'S KILLER, this young adult version is an accessible look at the assassination of a president and describes Abraham Lincoln, the man, the father, and the husband.
Battle Heroes: Voices from Afghanistan
Zullo, Allan
BL: 7.9 - AR Pts: 7.0
The heroes spotlighted in this book represent the many American troops who, with steadfast boldness, have been battling a ruthless enemy in knee-deep snow, scorching temperatures, and deadly close combat of militant-occupied villages.
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini
Fleischman, Sid
BL: 6.6 - AR Pts: 5.0
This book is a biography of the magician, ghost chaser, aviator, and king of escape artists whose amazing feats are remembered long after his death in 1926.
Witnesses to War
Leapman, Michael
BL: 7.3 - AR Pts: 6.0
This book tells the stories of children from different countries and cultural backgrounds who were persecuted because of their race or religion during the Second World War.
Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps
Warren, Andrea
BL: 6.1 - AR Pts: 4.0
Caught up in Hitler's Final Solution to annihilate Europe's Jews, fifteen-year-old Jack is torn from his family and thrown into the world of the concentration camps.