2009 Summer Reading List

Rising 1st and 2nd Graders:

The primary teachers do not require a specific book or books to be read over the summer BUT THEY DO REQUIRE THAT EVERY CHILD READ REGULARLY.

Rising 3rd Graders are required to read one book by Beverly Cleary in which Ramona Quimby and/or Henry Huggins appear as central character(s).

Rising 4th Graders are required to read The Black Stallion by Walter Farley.

Rising 5th Graders are required to read: Hoot by Carl Hiassen and Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. Once the books have been read, students are required to see the movies, think about the similarities and differences between the two and be prepared to discuss and write about them when they return to school.

Rising Sixth Graders are required to read The Blood Red Horse by K.M. Grant and The Children’s Homer by Padriac Colum.

Rising Seventh Graders are required to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest by Ann McGovern, and either The Dead and the Gone or Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. (These two tell the same story from two different children’s point of view. I guarantee once you read one you’ll want to read the other!)

Rising Eighth Graders are required to read If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by S. Covey.

All students rising into the Lower school (3rd grade) and above are required to read at least one more book “at level”. 

Each student should develop an index card for every book he/she reads.  Included on each card must be: title, author, copyright date, number of pages, their name, the month and year in which they finished the book and a comment about the book (favorite character, scene, liked/disliked etc.).

Additional suggestions:

BOOK CRUSH by Nancy Pearl which contains lists of books for children of all ages.

• Several audio books are available in a variety of formats from your public library or services like Audible.com, iBook at the iTunes Store, and Amazon.
• Please keep in mind, a child’s listening level is higher than his/her reading level.
• The following titles would make wonderful FAMILY listening on a long car ride and are suitable for Lower and Middle School students:
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland narrated by Jim Dale
•  Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz.
• Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson
• Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman