St Michael's Academy Grade 7 Springfield MA 2011 Summer Reading List

Entering Grade 7 Summer Reading List

Mandatory Book - The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

All students are required to read at least two other books besides the one mandatory book listed above. Please select two from the list below.

Crispin - The Cross of Lead by Avi

Squashed by Joan Bauer

The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake

Hoot by Carl Hiassen

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey

The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

The View from Saturday by E.L. Koenigsburg

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Bull Rider by Marilyn Halvorson

Slam by Walter Dean Myers

Redwall by Brian Jacques

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Money Hungry by Sharon Flake

Begging for Change by Sharon Flake

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron

Jazmin's Notebook by Nikki Grimes

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

Free the Children by Craig Kielburger

The City of Ember by Jeanne DePrau

Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa

The Schwa Was Here by Neal Schusterman

The Pinballs by Betsy Byars

The House on Mango Street by Sarah Cisneros

ASSIGNMENT:

After reading your two choices, write a letter about the book and bring these 2 letters with you on the first day of school. Address the letter: Dear Mrs. Berg (Grade 7), and be sure to sign your complete name!

In each letter, make it obvious that you have read the book carefully. Remember that your letter is NOT a summary of the plot. Each of your letters should be appoximately one and a half handwritten, or one page typed. If handwritten, write legibly and use a blue or black in pen.

Here are five suggestions, three of which are to be included in each letter.

1. Offer your opinion on what the speaker (narrator) or another character says or does.

2. Describe how you felt (saddened, angry, hopeful, relieved, etc.) while or after reading.

3. Explain what you liked or disliked about the book.

4. Finish the sentence..."I love (hate) the way the character, _____________, acted or spoke."

5. Imagine that you are the author and describe a character years after the end of the story.

Response to your teacher selected mandatory read story will be addressed in some form during the first week of school. You may want to take notes while reading this book so you can review them before school starts in the fall.

7/11

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