Covenant Day Middle School--Summer Reading 2014
Required Reading:
Sixth Grade: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan; Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone
Seventh Grade: The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Eighth Grade: Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
Students must re-read the required reading if they have previously read it.
Seventh and Eighth Graders are also required to read one other book from the list below that they have not
previously read or has not been read to them:
20,000 Leagues under the Sea
Jules Verne
Across Five Aprils
Irene Hunt
A Break with Charity
Ann Rinaldi
All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Remarque
*Anne of Green Gables
Lucy M. Montgomery
*Artemis Fowl
Eoin Colfer
Bud, Not Buddy
Christopher Curtis
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch
Jean Lathan
Eagle of the Ninth
Rosemary Sutcliff
Emma
Jane Austen
Esperanza Rising
Pam Ryan
Hangman’s Curse
Frank Peretti
Heaven’s Wager
Ted Dekker
Holes
Louis Sachar
Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift
Jacob Have I Loved
Katherine Paterson
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
Joni
Joni Eareckson-Tada
Julie of the Wolves
Jean George
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Gary Schmidt
Milkweed
Jerry Spinelli
Number the Stars
Lois Lowry
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens
*On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
Andrew Peterson
* *Out of the Silent Planet
C.S. Lewis
Peter and the Starcatchers
Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Running Out of Time
Margaret Haddick
Silas Marner
George Elliot
Summer of the Monkeys
Wilson Rawls
Summer of My German Soldier
Bette Greene
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain
The Bronze Bow
Elizabeth Speare
The Cay
Theodore Taylor
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank
The Devil’s Arithmetic
Jane Nolan
The Killer Angels
Michael Shaara
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R Tolkein
The Shakespeare Stealer
Gary Blackwood
The Thieves of Ostia
Caroline Lawrence
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Avi
Okay for Now
Gary Schmidt
Under the Blood Red Sun
Graham Salisbury
Watership Down
Richard Adams
White Fang
Jack London
May 2014
Dear Parents of Rising Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Graders,
It is unbelievable that another summer is right around the corner. We know that your middle
schooler looks forward to the summer for so many reasons, and for most, summer reading is not
high on the list of reasons (if it even makes the list). We hope the summer reading assignments
will require them to engage with some literature while not imposing requirements that are
burdensome for them or you.
Students are to read two books. Sixth grade has two required books while seventh and eighth
grades have one required book and one personal selection from a given list. Generally, books are
not rated for a certain grade but more so for “middle grades.” Within the personal choice list, you
will find more and less challenging books. It would be advantageous to spend a little time looking
at your child’s options (considering the subject and reading level). Make the optional book
selection early in the summer so that when your child is ready to begin reading, he/she is not
overwhelmed with choices or frustrated because one was selected arbitrarily and it isn’t of interest
to him/her.
Complete any one of the described projects for the following books:
6th—Blood on the River
7th—The Wednesday Wars
8th—Safely Home
Write a journal/diary/blog
post that one of the story’s
main characters might have
kept before, during or after
the book’s events. The
character’s thoughts and
feelings are central in this type
of response not a summary.
You should create eight (8)
entries around 40 words each.
Create a soundtrack with eight
(8) songs. Write the song
titles and the lyrics for each
song. Write an explanation
paragraph for why you chose
each song and how it connects
to the events or characters
and/or why it is significant to
the novel. Paragraphs should
be 30-35 words.
Create a double entry reading response journal.
On the top half of each page, write an excerpt
directly from the book and note the page number.
Write a personal response to that passage on the
bottom half of the page. The student’s response
can be any of the following:
A—explain how the selected passage makes
him/her feel,
B—tell how the passage relates to an event in the
reader's life,
C— explain the significance of the passage as it
relates to the whole novel,
D—predict how the passage relates to the
remainder of the novel.
Complete 8 entries with personal responses (not
the quoted text) around 40 words each.
Another project or writing assignment will be completed in class for the second book. If you
have any questions, feel free to email Mrs. Embry at membry@covenantday.org.
Wishing you a summer of refreshment,
The CDS Middle School Language Arts Department
Mr. Davis, Mrs. Embry, Mrs. Smith