Saint Paul School
2010 Summer Reading Suggestions and Requirements
Attached please find a recommended list of books for your middle school
student. Summer reading may not be at the top of your son’s or daughter’s
list, but it can be with your help. Although these are only a few suggestions
there are hundreds of books for middle school students to choose from.
Along with helpful hints to get your child started you can check the internet;
a good start is education.com. Please note those books intended for middle
school are level (M).
In addition to these suggestions for summer reading, students entering or
returning to middle school will be required to read at least two books, on
which they will be assessed upon their return to school. One of the books
will be required for social studies and the second for literature. School
begins on Wednesday, September 1, 2010; the assessments will be given
some time during this first week of school, and will be your child’s first test
grade for the year in both literature and social studies.
Sixth Grade required reading
1. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Donna
Diamond (literature)
2. How to Steal a Dog, by Barbara O’Connor (social studies)
Seventh Grade required reading
1. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (literature)
2. On the Winds of Heroes, by Richard Peck (social studies)
Eighth Grade required reading
1. The Chosen, by Chaim Potok (literature)
2. Fire From the Rock, by Sharon M. Draper (social studies)
“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it
distracts, it excites, and it gives you knowledge of the world and experience
of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.”
Elizabeth Hardwick
Here are three tips to help you choose stories:
1. Ask librarians and teachers for recommendations. If your child
doesn’t already have a library card, sign them up!
2. Find books that expand your child’s interests (animal, history, sports,
etc…).
3. Pick stories for both information and enjoyment. If they’re not
interesting for them, they’ll never read it.
Have a safe and enjoyable summer!
Suggested reading:
Grade 6
 Absolutely Normal Chaos, by Sharon Creech
 Belle Prater’s Boy, by Ruth White
 Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
 Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
 The Complete Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
 The Egypt Game, by Ailpha Keatley Snyder
 The Giver, by Lois Lowry
 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling
 I Heard the Owl Call my Name, by Margaret Craven
 The Island, by Gary Paulsen
 Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli
 Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
 The Wish Giver, Three Tales of Coven Tree by Bill Britain
 Words of Stone, by Kevin Henkes
 Wringer, by Jerry Spinelli
 Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
 The Phantom Toll Booth, by Norton Juster
 The River, by Gary Paulsen
 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
 Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
Grade 7
 Beyond the Burning Time, by Kathryn Lasky
 Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, 101 Stories of Life, Love and
Learning, by Jack Canfield (ed.), Mark Victor Hansen (ed.), Kimberly
Kirberger (ed.)
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Crazy Lady!, by Jane Leslie Conly
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Homecoming, by Cynthia Voight
Journey of the Sparrows, Fran Leeper Buss
The Man Who Was Poe, by Avi
The Maze, by Will Hobbs
Myst, The Book of Atrus, by Rand Miller, Robyn Miller, David
Wingrove
Night, by Elie Wiesel
Nothing but the Truth, A Documentary Novel, by Avi
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Z for Zachariah, by Robert C. O’Brien
Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse
Redwall, by Brian Jacques
River Thunder, by Will Hobbs
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind, by Suzanne Fisher Staples
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Where the Lilies Bloom, by Vera Cleaver, Bill Cleaver
Grade 8
 The Cay, by Theodore Taylor
 Children of the River by Linda Crew
 The Chosen, by Chaim Potok
 Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, by Fannie Flagg
 Ironman, by Chris Crutcher
 Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes
 The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
 Lone Wolf, by Kristine L. Franklin
 Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
 Midget by Tim Bowler
 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi
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