Summer Reading List

 Year Down Yonder, Peck
Alice in Wonderland, L. Carroll
Anne of Green Gables, Montgomery
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Robinson
Big Red, Kjelgaard
Black Stallion, Farley
Blue Willow, Gates
A Book of Aesop's Fables
A Book of Tall Tales
The Box Car Children Series, Warner
Call it Courage, A. Sperry
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, Danziger
Catherine, Called Birdy, Cushman
Charlotte's Web, E.B. White
Come Sing, Jimmy Jo, Paterson
Courage of Sarah Noble, A. Dalgliesh
The Cricket in Times Square, Selden
*Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Avi
Dicey's Song, Voigt
Dogsong, Paulsen
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Konigsburg
The Great Gilly Hopkins, Paulsen
Miss Hickory, C. Baily
*Holes, Sachar
Homecoming, Voigt
Homer Price, R. McCloskey
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Field
Incredible Journey, Burnford
James and the Giant Peach, R. Dahl
Just So Stories, Kipling
Little House on the Prairie Series, L. Wilder
Misty of Chincoteague, Henry
The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Cleary
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, O'Brien
Mr. Popper's Penguins, C. Baily
My Side of the Mountain, George
Phantom Tollboth, Juster
Pippi Longstocking, Lindgren
The Secret Garden, Burnett
Shiloh, Naylor
Sing Down the Moon, O'Dell
The Single Shard, Park
Sounder, Armstrong
Strawberry Girl, Lenski
Stuart Little, E.B. White
Taran Wanderer, Alexander
*The View from Saturday, Konigsburg
The Watsons Go to Bimingham, Curtis
Where the Red Fern Grows, W. Rawls
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Speare
Wonderful Wizard of Oz, F. Baum
A Wrinkle in Time, L'Engle

JEAN CHILDS YOUNG MIDDLE SCHOOL

Rising 7th Graders
*Challenging Reading

The summer reading list includes a variety of books and some challenging reading. Read at least two new selections from the list.

A Day No Pigs Would Die, Peck
*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Smith
Anne of Green Gables Series, Montgomery
*Around the World in 80 Days, Verne
Bells on Their Toes, Gilbreth
Born Free, Adamson
Cheaper by the Dozen, Gilbreth
Dragonsong, McCaffrey
Holes, Sachar
Iceberg Hermit, Roth
The Incredible Journey, Burnford
Island of the Blue Dolphins, O'Dell
Julie of the Wolves, George
Little House on the Prairie Series, Wilder
*Little Women, Alcott
Mossflower, Jacques
My Side of the Mountain, George
Narnia Series, Lewis
Over Sea, Under Stone, Cooper
The Secret Garden, Burnett
The Slave Dancer, Fox
The Story of My Life, Keller
Summer of My German Soldier, Greene
*Swiss Family Robinson, Wyss
Walk Two Moons, Creech
The Westing Game, Raskin
Where the Red Fern Grows, Rawls
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Speare
The Wizard of Oz Series, Baum
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Aiken
Writers' Lives, Krull & Hewitt

The following activities are also suggested:

• read a biography of someone you are interested in
• read some Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• read a book by one of these authors:

Lloyd Alexander
Agatha Christie
Lois Duncan
James Herriot
Madeline L'Engle
David Macauley
Jules Verne
Ann Rinaldi
Virginia Hamilton

JEAN CHILDS YOUNG MIDDLE SCHOOL

Rising 8th Graders

The books on this list are all excellent examples of exceptional writing. Not only have these titles proven to be enjoyable to generations of readers, but most of these books offer one a chance to reflect on life and its possibilities. These books are not necessarily easy to read, but they are worth the effort.

Make sure you know the plot and main characters for each book, and be ready to state how the book affected you.

Cormier, Robert - I am the Cheese
Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe
Griffin, John – Black Like Me
Hansberry, Lorraine - A Raisin in the Sun
Jacques, Brian - Redwall
Orwell, George - 1984
Parks, Gordon - The Learning Tree
Paulsen, Gary – Soldier's Heart
Steinbeck, John - The Red Pony
Twain, Mark - The Prince and the Pauper
Verne, Jules - A Journey to the Center of the Earth
Voigt, Cynthia - The Runner
White, Ryan – Ryan White: My Own Story