Summer Reading 2013 Form II
We are excited that you are joining Form II this year as an incoming eighth grade student. We
expect you to read a minimum of six (6) books from the Summer Reading List, and we encourage
you to read more. Summer reading is important because it develops vocabulary acquisition, critical
reading, reading comprehension, and reading pace skills, and helps to stop the “summer slide,” where
your skills regress during the summer months. In addition, the required reading this summer will
establish some core texts for us to reflect on and use in our study in the coming year.
You are expected to read at least six (6) books over the summer. Two (2) books have already been
selected for you; in addition to reading these two pre-selected books, you will choose at least four (4)
more titles from the Form II list. Of these four titles, one must be from the “Classic Fiction” list and one
must be from the non-fiction list. The required titles are the following:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Read this toward the end of the summer if at all possible.)

Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry with Billy Collins, ed.
In addition, you are asked to read:



One work of Classic fiction.
One work of non-fiction (other than a graphic novel).
At least two “free-choice” books (fiction or non-fiction).
Happy reading, and have a wonderful summer!
Dr. Monica Lewis, Form II English teacher
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Assignment
You should mark important scenes in each book that you read with post-its as you go. For four
of the books that you read—not the ones that have been selected for you, but four of the books
you have chosen—you must choose your favorite scene (one to three pages) from each and
write a two-paragraph reflection about what struck you as significant about that particular
scene.

The first paragraph should briefly summarize the scene, placing it in the context of the
larger work, and pay close attention to setting, plot, and character.

The second paragraph should discuss why you found the scene significant. Ask yourself,
“Why did I like this scene best?” Think about elements such as vivid imagery, character
development, strong emotions, and important turning points.
Bring Fahrenheit 451, Poetry 180, the four books you choose to write about, and your four
written reflections to the first day of school. Be prepared to read aloud from your scenes and
to explain each scene’s significance.
You are also required to keep a running list of the books you read this summer. Please ask a
parent or guardian to read and review the following assignment with you and to write his or her
initials on your reading log. Use the attached reading log and also bring it with you on the first
day of school.
DO NOT read Animal Farm or Lord of the Flies. We will read them together later in the year.
The learning experience is more enjoyable, exciting, and meaningful when we are able to
discover books together as a reading community.
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Finally, read the following poems from Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry. Choose one poem
in particular that you would like to write about during the first week of school. You may be
asked to tell what attracted you to the poem, to identify specific words or lines that evoked
certain emotions, to describe what you notice about the use of language, etc.
Poem #
Poem
012
“Numbers”
017
“The Hand”
045
“The Man Into Whose Yard You Should Not Hit Your Ball”
062
“Cartoon Physics, Part I”
92
“Lesson”
93
“Football”
108
“Nuclear Winter”
113
“For Mohammed Zeid, Age 15”
130
“The Poem of Chalk”
131
“My Father’s Hats”
136
“Ballplayer”
144
“The Grammar Lesson”
It is strongly suggested that you read/review these poems in the last weeks of summer
vacation so that they are fresh in your mind when you arrive at school. The same is true for
Fahrenheit 451, which we will work with closely as the year begins.
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Quick-reference - categories with titles and authors
Required
Fahrenheit 451(Bradbury)
Poetry : 180: A Turning Back to Poetry (Collins)
Classic fiction
(All versions should be unabridged.)
The Moonstone* (Collins)
Treasure Island* (Stevenson)
The Hound of the Baskervilles*(Doyle)
The Hobbit* (Tolkein)
The Count of Monte Cristo* (Dumas)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
A Bell for Adano* (Hersey)
Sea*(Verne)
The Nine Tailors* (Sayers)
Non-fiction
(All versions should be unabridged.)
The Real Revolution: The Global Story of
The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy
American Independence (Aronson)
(Giblin)
Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of
All Creatures Great and Small* (Herriot)
Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and
Seabiscuit: an American Legend*(Hillenbrand)
Rescue (Atwood)
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems*(Hughes)
Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of
the Emmett Till Case (Crowe)
You Come Too: Favorite Poems For Readers of
All Ages*(Frost)
Inherit the Wind*(Lawrence)
In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of
Varian Fry (McClafferty)
Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and
Hitler’s Olympics*(Schaap)
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Free choice fiction
(All versions should be unabridged.)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* (Adams)
The Carbon Diaries 2015* (Lloyd)
A Time of Miracles* (Bondoux)
Private Peaceful*(Morpurgo)
The Great Train Robbery*(Crichton)
Sunrise Over Fallujah*(Myers)
Whale Talk* (Crutcher)
Nation*(Pratchett)
Whirligig* (Fleischman)
The Berlin Boxing Club* (Sharenow)
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary
Poppins, and Fenway Park* (Kluger)
House of Stairs*(Sleator)
Hood * (Lawhead)
Marcelo In the Real World*(Stork)
Miracle’s Boys*(Woodson)
Required
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451*
Guy Montag is a fireman who has loved his job for ten years, especially the midnight runs and
the joy of watching books burn. Then he meets two people who change his views and his life.
Collins, Billy. Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry*
Former poet laureate Billy Collins has assembled this anthology of contemporary poems for the
pure enjoyment through the 180 days of school.
Classic fiction
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone*
A younger contemporary of Charles Dickens, Collins weaves a first-rate suspense story through
the accounts of several narrators. Hinging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally
stolen from an Indian shrine, this riveting novel features the innovative Sergeant Cuff, the
hilarious house steward Gabriel Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid, and a mysterious band of
Indian jugglers.
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Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles* (or another Sherlock Holmes adventure)
Holmes and Watson investigate the Baskerville estate and the demon dog that haunts and kills
those who wander through the moors.
Dumas, Alexandre and translated by Robin Buss. The Count of Monte Cristo*
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes hears of a vast fortune
hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo. He vows not only to escape but also to find and use the
treasure to take his revenge on the men responsible for his incarceration. Inspired by a real case
and first serialized in the 1840s, this is one of the best tales of betrayal, adventure, and
retribution ever written.
Hersey, John. A Bell for Adano*
Set in a small Sicilian village during World War II, this novel tells the story of an American major
who earns the love and respect of the local people as he attempts to replace the 700-year-old
town bell that the Fascists had taken and melted down to make bullets. 1945 Pulitzer Prize
Winner
Sayers, Dorothy L. The Nine Tailors*
Nine strokes from an old country church in an idyllic English village toll out the death of an
unknown man and call sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey to one of his most baffling cases. Murder,
stolen gems, and betrayal all combine to make this one of the best mysteries ever written.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island*
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress
of an inn and her son find a treasure map that leads to a pirate fortune as well as to great
danger.
Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea*
In this classic nineteenth-century science fiction tale by the French author, a professor and his
companions, trapped aboard a fantastic submarine with a mad sea captain named Nemo, come
face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights hidden from the world above.
Non-fiction (biography, graphic novel, history, poetry, science, short story)
Aronson, Marc. The Real Revolution: The Global Story of American Independence
Based on his well-documented research about the American Revolution, the author describes
events in England and India and the fate of the East India Company, which all played a part in
preparing the people of the colonies to fight for independence.
Atwood, Kathryn J. Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance,
and Rescue
Short accounts of mostly unknown women who, with their cunning and brilliance, risked and
lost their lives in order to help other escape the brutality and persecution in Germany during the
war.
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Crichton, Michael. The Great Train Robbery*
Based upon true events, the author recreates an exciting tale of gold bullion stolen by a
mastermind thief and his accomplices in England in 1963. Rivals any American western!
Crowe, Chris. Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case
The author describes the long-ignored murder and trial that helped forge the Civil Rights
Movement and influenced Harper Lee's decision to write To Kill a Mockingbird.
Giblin, James Cross. The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy
McCarthy was the infamous and powerful U.S. Senator who served during the height of the Cold
War and used fear to fight the threat of Communism. His actions resulted in the “blacklisting”
and violation of First Amendment rights of many U.S. citizens.
Herriot, James. All Creatures Great and Small* (or another in the series)
In this memoir, we meet the young Herriot as he begins his career and discovers that the
realities of veterinary practice in Yorkshire, England, are very different from the sterile setting of
veterinary school. With humor and compassion, he details his experiences and those of his
fellow villagers during the pre-World War II era.
Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: an American Legend*
During the late 1930’s while the world was on the verge of world war, this racehorse became
the focus of newspapers and magazines and stole the hearts of all Americans.
McClafferty, Carla Killough. In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry
An American magazine editor risks his life repeatedly to save refugees fleeing Hitler’s
persecution in this thrilling, true account from the early 1940s.
Schaap, Jeremy. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics*
Schaap presents a comprehensive analysis of the 1936 Olympic Games hosted by Germany,
America's threat to boycott the games, and the four Olympic gold medals won by AfricanAmerican athlete Jesse Owens, whose performance crushed Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy.
Free choice fiction
Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* (or a sequel)
In this hilarious science fiction spoof, Arthur Dent and his friend, Ford Prefect, escape from earth
seconds before it is demolished and travel to a variety of galactic civilizations while gathering
information from a hitchhiker’s guide.
Bondoux, Anne-Laure and translated by Y. Maudet. A Time of Miracles
When Blaise turns seven years old, the Soviet Union collapses and Gloria, the woman who saved
him as a baby, decides that they must flee the political troubles and civil unrest in Georgia. The
two make their way westward on foot, heading toward France, where they hope to find safety.
2011 Batchelder Award Winner
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Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk*
This high-school teen comes from a tough background, yet manages to find himself and a group
of misfit friends as they rally around creating a swim team in this riveting urban fiction novel.
Fleischman, Paul. Whirligig*
When sixteen-year-old Brent Bishop accidentally causes the death of a young woman, his life is
transformed while fulfilling an unusual request by the dead girl’s mother.
Kluger, Steve. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park*
This bizarre title introduces readers to a funny and poignant story about a group of the most
unlikely high school friends, as they navigate the trials of school, love, and the importance of
relationships.
Lawhead, Stephen R. Hood * (or another in the series)
The author tells the story of an alternative Robin Hood, a rebel in the deep forests of Wales in
1093. Son of a king, Bran finds himself homeless after his father is killed and the kingdom of
Elfael becomes a pawn to Norman factions. Following his time in the wilderness, Bran fulfills his
destiny to lead a band of archers against the usurpers.
Lloyd, Saci. The Carbon Diaries 2015* (or the sequel)
When the United Kingdom becomes the first nation to introduce "carbon rationing" in a drastic
bid to combat climate change, sixteen-year-old Laura documents the first year of rationing as
her family spirals out of control.
Morpurgo, Michael. Private Peaceful*
This is an intense story of the affection between two English brothers and the paths that lead
them both to enlist in World War I. The horrors of that war, both in the trenches and in the
ranks, are powerfully portrayed.
Myers, Walter Dean. Sunrise Over Fallujah*
Army recruit Robin Perry is sent to Iraq in 2003, but the main character in this book is really the
Iraq War and the confusion, fear, loneliness, and uncertainty it creates in the young soldiers who
serve there.
Pratchett, Terry. Nation*
After a devastating tsunami destroys all that they have ever known, Mau, an island boy, and
Daphne, an aristocratic English girl, together with a small band of refugees, set about rebuilding
their community and all the things that are important in their lives.
Sharenow, Robert. The Berlin Boxing Club*
Nazism and anti-Semitism are beginning to gain ground in Germany witnessed by a young teen,
Karl Stern, a secular Jew. As the bullying quickly escalates into violence, he is forced to face his
own identity and that of his boxing mentor, Max Schmeling. 2012 Sydney Taylor Book Award
winner
Sleator, William. House of Stairs*
Five teenage orphans unwittingly become the subjects of a psychological experiment in this
gripping science fiction thriller.
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Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo In the Real World*
Seventeen-year-old Marcelo Sandoval, who functions differently in the world, faces new
challenges when he agrees to work in the mailroom of his father's corporate law firm.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Miracle’s Boys*
Three young men are not only dealing with the deaths of both parents and trying to cope with
this emotional trauma, but also working hard to stay together as a family despite their tough
circumstances. 2001 Coretta Scott King Award winner
Notes for the reader:
*Asterisks denote paperback or e-book formats available. Descriptions are based on previous STA reading
lists, the STA online catalog, and STA librarian’s reviews.
TH 3/10/2016 1:39 AM
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