June 2016 A Message to Pingry Families, Fostering a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. The Lower School Library Summer Reading Lists have been developed to encourage reading and to guide our students with their book choices during the summer. Reading for pleasure during this time will continue the development of reading skills and instill a love of reading that will last a lifetime. We recommend that students read a variety of books from their reading list. Many different books, from chal- lenging to easier titles, are listed. While specific book titles are suggested, students may read any title by the authors listed. The books are divided into fiction, nonfiction, poetry, folktales, and biographies and the titles are annotated to help in the selection process. We hope every child will find something on the list which will spark their inter- est in reading. The following information and resources can be found in this booklet: Postcards to the Library Program – Students send picture postcards to the Library letting us know the books they are reading and how they are enjoying their summer vacation. See directions for partici- pation on the next page. Reading Log – Set a reading goal, and record the books read during the summer. Lower School Library Website – Check out the website for Summer Reading Lists and subscription databases for research and fun activities. Tumblebooks – An online collection of e-books, offering streaming read-aloud picture books, chapter books, and nonfiction, with related games and activities. eBooks – Check out and read eBooks from the collection, on your computer or mobile device. Have a Wonderful Summer and Happy Reading! Sincerely, Mrs. D’Innocenzo Lower School Librarian Send Postcards to the Library Dear Mrs. D’Innocenzo, I am having a wonderful time at camp in Vermont. I play sports, go swimming, and have time to read every night The Pingry School before dinner. 50 Country Day Drive I have just finished reading Short Hills, NJ 07078 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. It was a great book and I loved it! How to Participate in Postcards to the Library: During the summer send picture postcards to the Library at the above address. A picture postcard can be sent from anywhere – even from your own hometown or from Grandma’s house. Send one postcard for each book read. The more books read, the more postcards can be sent. Include the book title, author’s name, and your first and last name. Write a short description of what you liked about the book and how you are enjoying the summer vacation. Each postcard becomes an entry for a drawing to be held the first week of school in September. Prizes of gift cards for Barnes & Noble bookstore will be awarded at that time. All postcards will be displayed in the hallway at Back-to-School Night and later placed in an album available in the library. Have a wonderful summer! Happy Reading! The Pingry Lower School Library 2016 Summer Reading List Students Entering Grades 4 and 5 Fiction The titles are presented by GENRE in alphabetical order. Fiction – Adventure/Action Appelt, Kathi. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp. Atheneum Books, 2013. Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man is an honor, and also a big responsibility. Best Book of 2013 and Notable Children’s Books 2013. Barry, Dave and Ridley Pearson. Peter and the Starcatchers. Hyperion, 2004. Peter, an orphan boy, and his friend Molly fight off thieves and pirates in order to keep the secret safe from the Black Stache and his evil associate Mister Grin. Also read the sequels, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secrets of Rundoon, and Peter and the Sword of Mercy. Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks. Random House, 2005. While vacationing with their father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters share adventures with a local boy, much to the dis- may of his snobbish mother. Also read the sequels: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, and The Penderwicks in Spring. Burg, Ann. Serafina’s Promise. Scholastic, 2013. In a poor village outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Serafina works hard to help her family, but dreams of becoming a doctor – then the earth- quake hits and Serafina must summon all her courage to find her father and still get medicine for her sick baby brother as she promised. Carman, Patrick. Floors. Scholastic, 2011. Leo, the son of the maintenance man of the Whippet Hotel, opens a series of cryptic boxes which reveals hidden floors, strange puzzles, and un- expected alliances that lead him on an adventure to save the building. Read the sequel, 3 Below (2013) DiCamillo, Kate. Flora and Ulysses. Candlewick, 2013. After Flora saves a squirrel named Ulysses from a run-in with a vacuum cleaner, they team up to use Ulysses’ superpowers to conquer villains and protect the weak. Newbery Winner 2014. The Pingry Lower School Library 2016 Summer Reading List 1 DuBois, William Pene. The Twenty-One Balloons. Viking, 1975. After setting out from San Francisco in a hot-air balloon bound across the Pacific, Professor Sherman is picked up in the Atlantic clinging to wreckage. Grabenstein, Chris. Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. Random House, 2013. Twelve-year-old Kyle and his friends get to stay overnight in the new town library, designed by his hero the famous gamemaker Luigi Lemoncello, but they find that come morning they must work together to solve puzzles in order to escape. Gutman, Dan. Mission Unstoppable (Genius Files Series). Harper, 2011. On a cross-country vacation with their parents, twins Coke and Pepsi, try to come to terms with being part of a top-secret government organization known as The Genius Files. Includes Google Maps coordinates to follow along. Read sequels: Never Say Genius (2012), You On- ly Die Twice (2013), From Texas With Love (2014) and License to Thrill (2015). Hanel, Rachael. Can You Survive an Earthquake: An Interactive Survival Adventure. Capstone 2014. Readers can choose how the story ends in different adventures about survival during an earthquake. Read any book in the Can You Survive? Series, a collection of interactive adventures in which the reader chooses from alternate action plans. Jenson, Marion. Almost Super. Harper Collins, 2014. Two brothers in a family of superheroes are forced to reexamine everything they knew about being super when the powers they receive are total duds and their enemy is revealed to be just like they are. Johnson-Shelton, Nils. The Invisible Tower. Harper, 2012. A twelve-year-old boy learns that he is actually King Arthur brought back to life in the twenty- first century – and that the fate of the universe rests in his hands. Korman, Gordon. Everest Trilogy: The Climb; The Contest; The Summit. Scholastic, 2012. The climbing contest to see who will be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest turns into a life-or-death rescue mission. Lowry, Lois. The Willoughbys. Houghton Mifflin, 2008. A tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes, in which the four Willoughby children set out to be- come “deserving orphans” after their neglectful parents embark on an around-the-world ad- venture, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny. Messner, Kate. Rescue on the Oregon Trail. Scholastic, 2015. Ranger, a golden retriever, could have been a great search-and-rescue dog. One day he un- covers a mysterious box and finds himself transported back to the year 1850, where his ser- vice is needed by a family traveling west along the Oregon Trail. The Pingry Lower School Library 2016 Summer Reading List 2 Peck, Richard. The Mouse With the Question Mark Tail. Dial, 2013. Mouse Minor, an undersized orphan with a question mark-shaped tail, is uncertain of his heritage. He attends a prestigious school but is bullied by his classmates. He flees beyond familiar territory and ends up in the palace. All the while, he is unaware that spies are tracking his every move. Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. Atheneum Books, 1987. After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends 54 days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only a hatchet. Selznick, Brian. Wonderstruck. Scholastic, 2011. Stories of twelve-year-old Ben, who loses his mother and his hearing and decides to leave his home in 1977 to seek the father he has never known in New York City; and Rose, who lives with her father but searches for what is missing in her life. Ben’s story is told in words; Rose’s in pictures. Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Wendy Lamb Books. 2009. As her mother prepares to compete on the 1980s television game show, "$20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source. Newbery Award 2010. Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society. Little, Brown, 2007. After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. Read the sequels. S Tarshis, Lauren. I Survived True Stories: Five Epic Disasters. Scholastic, 2014. Children's blizzard, 1888 -- Titanic disaster, 1912 -- Great Boston Molasses Flood, 1919 -- Japanese Tsunami, 2011 -- Henryville Tornado, 2012. Presents five true stories of survival, featuring real kids in the midst of disasters. Vanderpool, Clare. Navigating Early. Delacorte Press, 2013.