Lovinggood Middle School

Summer Reading Assignment; 2012 - 2013

Dear Students, Parents/Guardians:

Reading is the most important lifelong skill that we can help our children to learn and to practice. Unfortunately during the summer months, students often choose activities that do not include picking up a good book. One of the primary goals of Summer Reading is to ensure that students are practicing this important skill in order to maintain reading levels. Additionally the goal of parallel and summer readings for Cobb County are to improve literacy and to promote lifelong reading. As students grow and mature, they need to continually practice their reading skills. While early reading skills are basic, when students grow older, they need selections that stimulate their imaginations, improve their thinking skills, and enhance their vocabulary development. Middle school students have moved beyond the “learning to read” phase and into the “reading to learn” phase of their reading development. The lists are based on recommendations from classroom teachers, librarians, and students, and support the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards for English/Language Arts. We encourage parents to be actively involved in their child’s reading selections. Our teachers have read or researched the recommended books and believe they are appropriate for the indicated grade levels. However, reading ability, personal interest, emotional maturity, and family values are all factors that will influence your child’s book selection. Please note that we offer a wide range of suggested choices to accommodate preferences. Additionally, be aware that some of these books may contain adult content. Also, please consider the Lexile level of selections as well. A student’s Lexile level can be found on the student’s CRCT report.

How much reading is required?

6th Grade: Students are encouraged to read 2 BOOKS OR 200 – 350 PAGES over the summer. It is recommended that they read one fiction and one nonfiction book of their choice. Please see below for specific information on these recommendations.

7th Grade: Students are encouraged to read 2 BOOKS OR 300 - 450 PAGES over the summer. It is recommended that they read one fiction and one nonfiction book of their choice. Please see below for specific information on these recommendations.

8th Grade: Students are encouraged to read 2 BOOKS OR 350 – 550 PAGES over the summer. It is recommended that they read one fiction and one nonfiction book of their choice. Please see below for specific information on these recommendations.

All ALP students should refer to the ALP Summer reading list (below) for their choices. They are encouraged to complete the reading in order to be prepared for assignments that will be given upon return to school.

Will a project or book report be required for each book?

There is no assignment to complete over the summer for the reading, however there will be assignments given upon return to school.

For questions or concerns, please contact Cheri Thornton, [email protected], Reading/Language Arts Department Chair for Lovinggood Middle School. Lovinggood Middle School 2012-2013 School Year

Rising 6th Grade Summer Reading Choice s:

Middle School:The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson and Chris Tebbets The Chronicles of Narnia (any one of the series which starts with the Magician’s Nephew) by C.S. Lewis Any of the Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer The Underdogs, Hero, or Heat by Mike Lupica A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata Belle Prater’s Boy by Ruth White Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli Walk Two Moons or Heartbeat by Sharon Creech A View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg Firegirl by Tony Abbot Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer

Rising 7th Grade Summer Reading Choice s:

The Entertainer and the Dybbuk (Fleischman) Homecoming (Voigt) Thief Lord (Funke) Miracle’s Boys (Woodson) Stormbreaker (Horowitz) Wanted (Cooney) Among the Hidden (Haddix) Good-bye, Vietnam (Whelan) The Red Necklace (Gardner) Dewey:The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. (Myron) The Cay (Taylor) The Mysterious Benedict Society (Stewart) On the Way Home (Wilder) The Big Field (Lupica) Guts (Paulsen) Marley & Me (Grogan) Caught By the Sea (Paulsen) Left for Dead (Nelson) We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League (Nelson) For 6th & 7th Grade, if you do not see anything from the above list that interests you, you might try reading something by the following is a list of suggested authors: Avi D’Lacey, Chris Myers. Walter Dean Balliett, Blue Draper, Sharon Naylor, Phyllis R. Bauer, Joan duPrau, Jeanne Nixon, Joan Lowery Billingsley, ReShonda Farmer, Nancy Patterson, James Bloor, Edward Flake, Sharon Paulsen, Gary Blume, Judy Fleischman, Paul Peacock, Shane Brashares, Ann Funke, Cornelia Peck, Richard Bruchac, Joseph Green, Tim Philbrick, Rodman Bunting, Eve Grimes, Nikki Prose, Francine Carter, Ally Haddix, Margaret Peterson Reiss, Kathryn Choldenko, Gennifer Hesse, Karen Riordan, Rick Cisneros, Sandra Hiaasen, Carl Ryan, Pam Munoz Clements, Andrew Hobbs, Will Sacher, Louis Colfer, Eoin Horowitz, Anthony Shan, Darren Collins, Suzanne Kinney, Jeff Sonneblick, Jordan Cooney, Caroline B. Korman, Gordon Smith, Roland Creech, Sharon Lasky, Kathryn Soto, Gary Curtis, Christopher Paul Lowry, Lois Spinelli, Jerry Dashner, James Lupica, Mike Stroud, Jonathan Deaver, Julie McDonald, Janet Woodson, Jacqueline Deuker, Carl McNair, Wendy Raven* Yee, Lisa DiCamillo, Kate *(series available from Amazon) Yolen, Jane

Rising 8 th Grade Summer Reading Choices: Read a book from any of the list of authors below along with an on-line article that corresponds to one of the themes from your selected novel. For instance, if you read Ben Mikelsen’s Touching Spirit Bear, then you might read something about juvenile justice or Native American culture. You may want to print your article and keep it for your assignment in the fall.

ular Authors Taken from NCTE

Gary Paulsen Robert Cormier Walter Dean Myers Jerry Spinelli Chris Crutcher Katherine Paterson S.E. Hinton Madeline L’engle Mildred Taylor Phillip Pullman Paul Zindel Sharon Creech J.K. Rowling Cynthia Voigt PPopChristopher Paul Curtis Lois Lowry Virginia Hamilton Louis Sachar Karen Hesse Lois Duncan Jane Yolen Virginia Euwer Wolff Richard Peck Judy Blume Brian Jacques

Or check out one of our Georgia Authors like Terry Kay, Pat Conroy, Newt Gingrich, Jimmy Carter, Flannery O’Connor, Margaret Mitchell, Erskine Caldwell James Dickey, Alice Walker, Carson McCullers and many more. Parents – please make sure that you help select your student with any GA author selection. Many of these GA author books contain some adult content and/or language. 6 th , 7 th 8 th Grade ALP English/Language Arts

While it is not required that you read over the summer, it is encouraged. Assignments will be given based on these readings, and if not read over the summer, you will need to read these while you are also reading other selections in your content area classes. Take notes as you read so that you’ll remember the content for the assignments that will be given after the start of school.

Rising 6th Grade ALP Students Only Required for LA- It is recommended that you take notes or annotate in your book as you read. This novel will be the basis for your first project. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie Peter and the Star Catchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson In addition to reading one of the novels above, read all three of the articles below and take notes on them. These will be used on an early assignment. ← “Classic Story Flies in Many Forms (A Peter Pan Timeline)” (Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today, 9/1/2004) “ Peter Pan’s Early Years” (Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today, 9/1/2004) “ Prequel to Peter Pan Fills in the Blanks with Fun” (Sue Corbett, Miami Herald) Assignments will be given the first weeks of school based on these selections.

Rising 7th Grade ALP Students Only Required for LA- It is recommended that you create a mystery graphic organizer for both book selections. Your graphic organizer should include items such as: the detective, the setting, the crime, the victims, the suspects, the clues, the weapons, the capture, and the solution. Required: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin In addition to The Westing Game, Choose One of the Agatha Christie Novels below or you may select any other Christie novel. Assignment for this novel selection will be made the first week of school, resulting in the first 9 week project. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie Assignments will be given the first weeks of school based on these selections Rising 8th Grade ALP Students Only

Required for LA- Read a classic literature piece from the list of author’s below. You should annotate and take notes as you read. You should focus on characterization, theme and symbolism more so than the basic plot. Assignment for this novel selection will be made the first week of school, resulting in the first nine- week project. Parents should help in the selection of the novel, as some may contain themes unsuitable for your child. Shakespeare, William Austen, Jane Kipling, Rudyard Stoker, Bram Wells, H. G. Bronte, Charlotte Shelley, Mary Homer Defoe, Daniel Bronte, Emily Carroll, Lewis Stowe, Harriet Beecher Dickens, Charles (not Christmas Carol) Cooper, James Fennimore Stevenson, Robert Lewis Forbes, Esther Marlowe, Christopher Milton, John Hawthorne, Nathaniel Crane, Steven Wilde, Oscar Verne, Jules Sinclair, Upton Alcott, Louisa Mae Harris, Joel Chandler Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Swift, Jonathan Fitzgerald, F. Scott Twain, Mark (not Tom Sawyer) Sewell, Anna Longfellow, Henry W. (novel not poem) Scott, Sir Walter London, Jack Tolkien, J. R. R. Lewis, C. S. Melville, Herman Irving, Washington Dumas, Alexandre Hugo, Victor Montgomery, Lucy Maud Dostoyevsty, Fyodor Hemingway, Ernest Faulkner, William Tolstoy, Leo Bellamy, Edward Cather, Willa Lee, Harper McCullers, Carson Plath, Sylvia Salinger, J. D. Cervantes, Migel de O’Connor, Flannery Orwell, George Ellison, Ralph Heller, Joseph Golding, William ← In addition to your selected novel, you should also read The Wave by Todd Strasser and three articles from the list below. These assignments will be used within the first nine weeks. You should annotate, highlight and take notes as you read. The Wave by Todd Strasser Hitler http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/index.html Hitler http://www2.dsu.nodak.edu/users/dmeier/Holocaust/hitler.html Hitler http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/Prelude03.html Nazi http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/TIMELINE/nazirise.HTM Nazi http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/party.htm Nazi http://www.sagehistory.net/worldwar2/topics/germany.html Nazi http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/TIMELINE/nazifica.htm General http://www.ushmm.org General http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/holo.html General http://www.holocaust-history.org General http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST Assignments will be given the first weeks of school based on these selections.

If you have any questions about Summer Reading, please contact [email protected]

Have a good summer & happy reading!