Long Branch Public Schools
“Where Children Matter Most”
Long Branch Middle School
Summer Reading List & Assignment
Students Entering Grades 6-8
School Year 2015-2016
http://www.longbranch.k12.nj.us
Summer reading is an excellent opportunity for students to stay connected to literature
and enhance the reading skills they developed during the school year. The research is
clear that children who do not read during the summer can lose up to three months of
reading progress and that loss has a cumulative, long-term effect on achievement. This
summer, all LBMS students will be responsible for reading one fiction and one nonfiction book and completing an activity for each. Please encourage your child to
complete this assignment.
Below are the Long Branch Middle School’s recommended fiction and non-fiction
choices. Should a student want to select another title other than what is listed, please
have him or her refer to their Recommended Reading Report given to them by their
reading teacher.
Grade 6 Recommended Fiction Choices
Title
Author
Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl
Kristin Levine
The Lions of Little Rock
Middle School: The Worst James Patterson
Years of My Life
The Books of Elsewhere, Book Jacqueline West
#1: The Shadows
Lauren Tarshis
I Survived the Titanic
Betsy Byars
Summer of Swans
Grade 6 Recommended Non-Fiction Choice
Title
Soul Surfer
What To Do About Alice?
Breaking Through
Author
Bethany Hamilton
Barbara Kerley
Francisco Jiminez
Grade 7 Recommended Fiction Choices
Title
Hoot
Esperanza Rising
Author
Carl Hiaason
Pam Munoz Ryan
Drums, Girls and Dangerous
Pie
Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn
The Westing Game
Jordan Sonnenblick
The Lions of Little Rock
Kristin Levine
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe
Al Capone Does My Shirts
C.S. Lewis
Mark Twain
Ellen Raskin
Gennifer Choldenko
Grade 7 Recommended Non-Fiction Choices
Title
Through My Eyes: A
Quarterback’s Journey
Stealing Home: The Story of
Jackie Robinson
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
Author
Tim Tebow
Barry Denenberg
Walter Dean Myers
Grade 8 Recommended Fiction Choices
Title
Life As We Knew It
Wonder
Code Name Verify
Radiance
Author
Susan Beth Pfeffer
RJ Palacio
Elizabeth E. Wein
Alyson Noel
Grade 8 Recommended Non-Fiction Choices
Title
Titanic: Voices from the
Disaster
Dogs on Duty: Soldiers’
Best Friends on the
Battlefield and Beyond
Steve Jobs and Steve
Wozniak “Geek Heroes
Who Put the Personal in
Computers”
Nelson Mandela” No Easy
Walk to Freedom”
Woman’s Right to Vote
You Want Woman to Vote,
Lizzie Santon?
Throw Like a Girl: How to
Dream Big & Believe in
Yourself”
Author
Deborah Hopkinson
Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Mike Venezia
Barry Deneberg
Elaine Landau
Jean Fritz
Jennie Finch
Summer Reading Assignment:
Select one assignment from the list below, according to the genre of literature chosen. In
a typed, well-written 3-5 paragraph essay be sure to include:
 Title, author, genre
 Text based evidence
 Grade appropriate vocabulary
 Proper grammar and punctuation
Fiction
1. How does the setting of the story influence the plot? If the setting was somewhere else,
how would it change the story?
2. What are some examples of conflict or tension in the story and how does it affect the
characters?
3. Choose a theme from a story you read and analyze its development throughout the
novel.
Nonfiction
1. Find a source that relates to the book and write an essay that compares and contrasts
each author's point of view and purpose.
2. Research the time period when you book takes place and explain how historical events
influenced the culture and/or people in your book.
3. (Memoir or Biography) Explain a turning point in the main character's life. How did
that turning point influence the character? Can you relate to that event or can you think of
a character from another book that can relate?