Grade 7 Summer Reading 2019
All incoming 7th graders will choose one of the books listed below to read over the summer. STUDENTS: Please be sure to sign up for the book of your choice, using the link below. ORRJHS STAFF: Sign up HERE.
SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO READ A BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY OF EACH BOOK. Note: Summaries are provided by the publishers and/or based on the Library of Congress CIP data.
SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO READ A BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY OF EACH BOOK. Note: Summaries are provided by the publishers and/or based on the Library of Congress CIP data.
Crossover by Kwame Alexander (sports; novels in verse)
Twelve-year-old Josh Bell and his twin brother, Jordan, are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood. He's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse in this fast and furious novel of family and brotherhood.
The Enemy by Charlie Higson (zombies; action & adventure)
In the wake of a devastating disease, everyone sixteen and older is either dead or a decomposing, brainless creature with a ravenous appetite for flesh. A group of kids fights to survive the roaming packs of zombie-like adults.
Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes by Mary E. Lambert (family; secrets; obsessive-compulsive disorder)
Annabelle has a secret . . . a secret so big she won't allow friends within five miles of her home. Her mom collects things. Their house is overflowing with stuff. It gives Annabelle's sister nightmares, her brother spends as much time as he can at friends' houses, and her dad buries himself in his work. So when a stack of newspapers falls on Annabelle's sister, it sparks a catastrophic fight between their parents--one that might tear them all apart--and Annabelle starts to think that things at home finally need to change.
Is it possible for her to clean up the family's mess? Or are they really, truly broken?
Annabelle has a secret . . . a secret so big she won't allow friends within five miles of her home. Her mom collects things. Their house is overflowing with stuff. It gives Annabelle's sister nightmares, her brother spends as much time as he can at friends' houses, and her dad buries himself in his work. So when a stack of newspapers falls on Annabelle's sister, it sparks a catastrophic fight between their parents--one that might tear them all apart--and Annabelle starts to think that things at home finally need to change.
Is it possible for her to clean up the family's mess? Or are they really, truly broken?
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (fantasy; time travel)
From modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend, sixteen-year-old Nix has swept across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father's ship. Now her father wants to go back to before Nix was born to save her mother from dying in childbirth, but Nix fears her own life will be lost as a result.
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (mystery; Holocaust)
Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days procuring and delivering black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the Germans invaded. On a routine delivery, a client asks Hanneke for help. Expecting to hear that Mrs. Janssen wants meat or kerosene, Hanneke is shocked by the older woman's frantic plea to find a person--a Jewish teenager Mrs. Janssen had been hiding, who has vanished without a trace from a secret room. Hanneke initially wants nothing to do with such dangerous work, but is ultimately drawn into a web of mysteries and stunning revelations that lead her into the heart of the resistance, open her eyes to the horrors of the Nazi war machine, and compel her to take desperate action.
Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days procuring and delivering black market goods to paying customers, her nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the Germans invaded. On a routine delivery, a client asks Hanneke for help. Expecting to hear that Mrs. Janssen wants meat or kerosene, Hanneke is shocked by the older woman's frantic plea to find a person--a Jewish teenager Mrs. Janssen had been hiding, who has vanished without a trace from a secret room. Hanneke initially wants nothing to do with such dangerous work, but is ultimately drawn into a web of mysteries and stunning revelations that lead her into the heart of the resistance, open her eyes to the horrors of the Nazi war machine, and compel her to take desperate action.
Ghost (Track, Book 1) by Jason Reynolds (track & field; friendship; coaches)
Ghost has a crazy natural talent, but no formal training. If he can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all starting with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who blew his own shot at success by using drugs, and who is determined to keep other kids from blowing their shots at life.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (science fiction)
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he soon realizes escape offers his only chance at survival.
The Red Bandanna (Young Readers' Adaptation) by Tom Rinaldi (narrative nonfiction; heroes; September 11 terrorist attacks)
Welles Crowther didn't see himself as a hero. He was just an ordinary kid who played sports, volunteered for the fire department in his town, and eventually headed off to college and then to Wall Street to start a career. Throughout it all, he always kept a red bandanna in his pocket, a gift from his father when he was little.
On September 11, 2001, Welles was at his job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers were attacked. What he did next would alter the course of many lives.
Welles Crowther didn't see himself as a hero. He was just an ordinary kid who played sports, volunteered for the fire department in his town, and eventually headed off to college and then to Wall Street to start a career. Throughout it all, he always kept a red bandanna in his pocket, a gift from his father when he was little.
On September 11, 2001, Welles was at his job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers were attacked. What he did next would alter the course of many lives.
Refugee by Alan Gratz (action & adventure; survival stories; immigrants)
JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .
ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .
MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe . . .
All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers, but there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.
JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .
ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .
MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe . . .
All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers, but there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.
York: The Shadow Cipher (York, Book 1) by Laura Ruby (mystery; code & cipher stories; adventure)
In an alternate-history New York City, three seventh-graders join forces to try to solve the Old York Cipher, a puzzle and treasure hunt laid into the very streets and buildings of New York City, as the only means of saving their homes from the wrecking ball.