Grade 7 Summer Reading - 2018
All incoming 7th graders will choose one of the books listed below to read over the summer. Please be sure to sign up for the book of your choice, using the link below. Note: Sign-ups start the week of June 18.
SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO READ A BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY OF EACH BOOK.
SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO READ A BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY OF EACH BOOK.
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose - At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. The young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage and infuriated the Germans, who were determined to track down the boys. (History/Narrative Nonfiction)
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan - Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after she loses her parents in a car accident. (Realistic Fiction)
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander - 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. (Sports/Novels in Verse)
The Enemy by Charlie Higson - 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. (Zombies/Action & Adventure)
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig - From modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawai 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 life will be lost as a result. (Adventure/Time Travel Fiction)
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer - 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. (Science Fiction)
My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights by Brooks Benjamin - All Dillon wants is to be a real dancer. And if he wins a summer scholarship at the local studio Dance-Splosion, he's on his way. The problem? His dad wants him to play football. And Dillon's freestyle crew, the Dizzee Freekz, says that dance studios are for sell-outs. (Realistic Fiction)
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - It happens at the start of every November on the remote island of Thisby: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their wild water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. This year nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick and Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to compete, are rivals who have more than just their lives at stake should they lose. (Fantasy Fiction)
York: The Shadow Cipher (Book 1 in York series) by Laura Ruby - 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. (Mystery; Code and Cipher Stories; Adventure)
INCOMING 7th GRADERS: Sign up for the book of your choice HERE.
STAFF/TEACHERS ONLY: Staff can sign up for the book of their choice HERE.
*Summaries are provided by the publishers and/or based on the Library of Congress CIP data.
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan - Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after she loses her parents in a car accident. (Realistic Fiction)
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander - 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. (Sports/Novels in Verse)
The Enemy by Charlie Higson - 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. (Zombies/Action & Adventure)
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig - From modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawai 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 life will be lost as a result. (Adventure/Time Travel Fiction)
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer - 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. (Science Fiction)
My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights by Brooks Benjamin - All Dillon wants is to be a real dancer. And if he wins a summer scholarship at the local studio Dance-Splosion, he's on his way. The problem? His dad wants him to play football. And Dillon's freestyle crew, the Dizzee Freekz, says that dance studios are for sell-outs. (Realistic Fiction)
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - It happens at the start of every November on the remote island of Thisby: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their wild water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. This year nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick and Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to compete, are rivals who have more than just their lives at stake should they lose. (Fantasy Fiction)
York: The Shadow Cipher (Book 1 in York series) by Laura Ruby - 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. (Mystery; Code and Cipher Stories; Adventure)
INCOMING 7th GRADERS: Sign up for the book of your choice HERE.
STAFF/TEACHERS ONLY: Staff can sign up for the book of their choice HERE.
*Summaries are provided by the publishers and/or based on the Library of Congress CIP data.