Bement Upper School
Summer Reading 2014
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A
soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an
attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside
and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even
willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers. He knows that
he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his
friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. And
when it comes to the Socs—a vicious gang of rich kids who enjoy beating up on
"greasers" like him and his friends—he knows that he can count on them for trouble.
Until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under
Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels
the same whether a soc or a greaser. (All ages)
Counting By 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan
An intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and
discovering the true meaning of family. Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius,
obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count
by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive
parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life... until now. (All ages)
The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stievater
As November nears, the fierce water horses surge out of the sea onto the beach at Thisby.
Tourists flock to the island as the locals try to capture and train the dangerous capaill
uisce (water horses) for the Scorpio Races. Four-time champion Sean Kendrick lives to
ride his stallion and knows well how deadly the races are, but this year he has even more
than his life at stake. Puck Connolly lost her parents to the capaill uisce a year earlier.
Afraid of losing her older brother to the mainland and her family home to the lender, she
signs up to race on her own mare. As the first woman ever to enter, she’s met with
hostility -- until she forges an unlikely friendship with her rival, Sean. (All ages)
Painting the Rainbow, by Amy Gordon
Holly and her cousin Ivy discover family secrets no one has spoken of since
World War II involving a terrifying accident, their Uncle Jesse’s death in a Japanese
Internment camp, and an almost ghost-like boy named Kiyo. (All ages)
Hidden Voices, by Pat Lowery Collins
Eighteenth century composer Antonio Vivaldi not only composed beautiful music (such
as “The Four Seasons”), but he also worked in an orphanage in Venice giving young girls
a music education. Hidden Voices is a fictional story based on true events about three
girls living in the Ospedale dell Pieta. Luisa is known for her voice, but she’s always
looking for the mother who abandoned her. Rosalba is the adventurous one who wants a
life outside of the Ospedale walls and dreams of romance. Anetta is the one who takes
care of everyone and feels especially protective of Luisa. Together, these girls grow up
and help each other through the various obstacles life presents them. (Grades 8 & 9)
Boxers and Saints (graphic novels--the box set), by Gene Luen Yang
In two volumes, Boxers & Saints tells two parallel stories. The first is of Little Bao, a
Chinese peasant boy whose village is abused and plundered by Westerners claiming the
role of missionaries. Little Bao, joins a violent uprising against the Western interlopers.
Against all odds, their grass-roots rebellion is successful. In the second volume, Yang
lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is
taken in by Christian missionaries and finds a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion
gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to
commit herself fully to Christianity. Boxers & Saints offers insight into not only one of
the most controversial episodes of modern Chinese history, but into the very core of our
human nature. (All ages)
Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills
Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that
she accidentally brought her mother's lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she
immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved
principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing
the school's ironclad no weapons policy. While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a
boy who's known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he's not the person she assumed
he would be--and that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as she once thought.
(Grades 6 & 7)
Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean
and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.
Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, Louis
Zamperini, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself
aboard. In boyhood, he'd been a delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing
his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running,
discovering a talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the
four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking
on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. Ahead
of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft,
thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. (Grades 8 &9)
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
Although she is the daughter of Damar's king, Aerin has never been accepted as full
royalty. Both in and out of the royal court, people whisper the story of her mother, the
witchwoman, who was said to have enspelled the king into marrying her to get an heir to
rule Damar-then died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a
son. But none of them, not even Aerin herself, can predict her future-for she is to be the
true hero who will wield the power of the Blue Sword...Aerin, with the guidance of the
wizard Luthe and the help of the Blue Sword, wins the birthright due her as the daughter
of the Damarian king and a witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.
(Grades 6 & 7)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Liesel Meminger is a foster
girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by
stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. With the help of her
accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her
neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
(Grades 8 & 9)
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
...for 13 years, Ben was an only child, but all that changes when his mother brings home
Zan, an 8-day-old chimpanzee. Ben's parents tell him to treat Zan like a little brother and
it isn't long before Ben is Zan's favorite and Ben starts to see Zan as more than a science
experiment. Ultimately, Ben must make a critical choice between what he is told to
believe and what he knows to be true. (All ages)
The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks
Jerome Foxworthy-- the Jayfox-- can handle anything, even being the first black student
to integrate the biggest white school in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Jayfox can
really play basketball. He has all the moves, and he knows that the moves make the man,
on the court and in real life. Then he meets the moody and mysterious Bix Rivers, the
sharpest white athlete the Jayfox has ever seen. Jerome can teach Bix basketball, but Bix
refuses to learn to fake. Bix wants a game where truth is the winner-- faking is a lie. Can
the Jayfox convince Bix he'll never win at hoops, or anything else in his life, if he doesn't
learn the moves? Are the moves just faking it, or are they another kind of truth?
(All ages)