O. HENRY MIDDLE SCHOOL
2610 WEST 10TH STREET • AUSTIN, TX • 78703
Phone: (512) 414-3229 • Fax: (512) 477-7428
May 10, 2013
Dear Parents(s)/Guardian(s) and Students:
The purpose of the summer reading program is to provide students the opportunity to select
works of literary merit from lists compiled by the O. Henry English Department and the campus
librarian. The teachers and librarian have made every effort to choose titles that are enjoyable
and worthwhile. We hope to encourage reading for pleasure as well as reading to develop
critical thinking skills. Rather than an inclusive list of titles, the list should be thought of as a
starting point for summer reading.
The titles are diverse in content and reading level; they represent a variety of genres and a
balance of classical and contemporary literature, and provide a range of books in terms of
reading ability within each age appropriate level. Please assist your child with making book
selections that are suitable for his/her emotional and ability level.
Please check out the O. Henry Library website: http://www.ohenrylibrary.com for summer
reading book trailers, lists, ideas, and fun links. Also, Book People (6th and Lamar) has a summer
reading program. For more details, go to: http://www.bookpeople.com/grades-6-7-8
Happy reading,
Sara Stevenson
O. Henry Librarian
The O. Henry English Department
O. HENRY MIDDLE SCHOOL
SUMMER READING LIST 2013
Instructions: Students who are enrolled in Pre-AP courses next year should select at least THREE of the
titles from the list below. Students who are enrolled in Regular English next year should select at least
TWO of the titles.
Please feel free to select titles from any of the levels! The secret to summer reading is that you enjoy it!
READ!
ENTERING SIXTH GRADE
A Tale Dark and Grimm, In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Al Capone Does My Shirts/Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3, The Calder Game by Blue Balliet
City of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau
Taking Sides by Gary Soto
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
Dork Diaries series by Rachel Russell
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
The Fourth Stall series by Chris Rylander
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Hoot, Flush, Scat, Chomp by Carl Hiassen
How Not to Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Joey Pigza series by Jack Gantos
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life series by James Patterson
No More Dead Dogs, Schooled, Framed, School of Rock, etc. by Gordon Korman
Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (2013 Newberry winner)
Roar, Whisper by Emma Clayton
Story of My Life by Helen Keller
The Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Kane Chronicles (Red Pyramid) series by Rick Riordan
The Lightning Thief series by Rick Riordan
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodson Burnett
Slob by Ellen Potter
Take Me to tThe River by Will Hobbs
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Wonder by R. J. Palacio (O. Henry schoolwide read selection)
Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
ENTERING SEVENTH GRADE
A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg
The Alchemyst series by Michael Scott
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Bluford High series by Anne Schraff and Paul Langan
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Champions by Bill Littlefield (Nonfiction)
Cinder by Melissa Meyer
Cirque du Freak (any of twelve books in series) by Darren Shan
The Compound, The Gardener,The Raft by S. A. Bodeen
Crash or Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today’s Youth by Rosa Parks (Nonfiction)
Drive By by Lynne Ewing
Ella Enchanted, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
The False Prince,The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielson
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Firelight, Vanish, Hidden by Sophie Jordan
Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman
Everlost /Everwild, Everfound series by Neal Shusterman
Found, Sent, Sabotage by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Half Brother, This Dark Endeavor, and other books by Ken Oppel
Hawksong series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Heat, Summer Ball, The Big Field, Travel Team by Mike Lupica
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
I am Number Four, The Power of Six series by Pittacus Lore
La Linea by Ann Jaramillo
Legend, Prodigy by Marie Lu
Life as We Knew It/The Dead and The Gone/ This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
Matched, Crossed, Reached by Ally Condie
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
A Monster Calls: A Novel by Patrick Ness
Morpheus Road series by D.J. MacHale
The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
Okay for Now or Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
Old Yeller by Fred Gibson
Paranormalcy, Supernaturally, Endlessly by Kiersten White
Persepolis 1 and 2 by Marjane Satrapi
Planet Tad by Ted Carvell
Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Scorpions, Slam, etc. by Walter Dean Meyers
Shatterglass, Trickster’s Choice and other books by Tamora Pierce
Shadow and Bone + sequel by Leigh Bardugo
Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Sounder by William Howard Armstrong
Stuck on Earth by David Klass
The Summer I Turned Pretty series or Shug by Jenny Han
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan
The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
The Supernaturalist or Wishlist by Eoin Colfer
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Trapped by Michael Northrup
Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
What My Mother Doesn't Know, What My Best Friend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Wonder by R. J. Palacio (O. Henry schoolwide read selection)
ENTERING EIGHTH GRADE
During the school year, O. Henry 8th grade Pre-AP ELA students are required to choose one book from
the Challenge (AP) Book list and one book from the O. Henry Recommended Book list. If students
wish to get a head start on this required reading, please go to the O. Henry Library website for these lists,
book trailers, and student book reviews for suggestions: http://www.ohenrylibrary.com.
13 Reasons Why, The Future of Us by Jay Asher
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
A Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Across the Universe, A Million Sun, Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Ana’s Story by Jenna Bush
Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Black and White , The Final Four, Rooftop and other books by Paul Volponi
Blood Red Road, Dustlands by Moira Young
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
Born to Rock, Schooled, or The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman
Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
Bucking the Sarge or Elijah of Buxton or Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Chains /Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (recommended by 8th grade Social Studies teachers)
Cinder, Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
Crackback or Box Out by John Coy
Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Double Helix or Rules of Survival or Impossible or Extraordinary by Nancy Werelin
Dracula by Bram Stoker
East by Edith Pattou
Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card
Every Day by David Levithan
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The First Part Last, A Certain October by Angela Johnson
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Graceling /Fire/Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Grave Mercy, A Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
Heist Societ, I’d Tell You I love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You series by Ally Carter
High Heat or Gym Candy or Payback Time by Carl Deuker
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
If I Stay, Where She Went, Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Into Thin Air or Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (Nonfiction)
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Leviathan, Behemoth, Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Lord Loss series by Darren Shan
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass (Nonfiction)
Notes of a Midnight Driver, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie (+ other books) by Jordan Sonnenblick
Num8ers, Chaos by Rachel Ward
Perfect Chemistry and other books by Simone Elkeles
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Rot and Ruin, Death and Decay by Jonathan Maberry
Runaway, The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
Shattering Glass, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters, or What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Shipbreaker, The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
Shiver series by Maggie Steifvater
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater
Sunrise Over Fallujah or Game by Walter Dean Myers
Sold, Purple Heart, Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
Speak or Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Swim the Fly, Beat the Band, Call the Shots by Don Calame
Tears of a Tiger series by Sharon Draper
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Alexie Sherman
The Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend
The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
The Truth about Forever, Just Listen, or Lock and Key, Along for the Ride, etc. by Sarah Dessen
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Unwind and Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
Wee Free Men series, Dodger, Nation by Terry Pratchett
What I Saw and How I Lied or Strings Attached by Judy Blundell
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wonder by R. J. Palacio (O. Henry schoolwide read selection)
Zom-B series by Darren Shan
Additional Resources
Texas Library Association Reading Lists:
Lone Star Reading List (Middle School)
http://www.txla.org/groups/lone-star
TAYSHAS Reading List (High School)
http://www.txla.org/groups/tayshas
Don’t forget the Austin Public Library and its many branches!
http://library.austintexas.gov/
Summer Reading assignment for incoming 9th graders to Austin High School:
http://archive.austinisd.org/schools/website.phtml?id=014
READ! READ! READ! READ! READ! READ!