Recommended Summer Reading
List
Marlboro Middle School
June 2004
Life of a 12
yr. old girl under dictator General Trujillo in the Dominican
Republic in
the early 1960’s.
Armstrong, William N.
Babbit, Natalie
Ten-year-old Winfred Foster and a malicious stranger both accidentally
discover
the Tuck family and their secret, a hidden spring whose
water
prevents one from ever growing older.
Catling, Patrick
The Chocolate Touch
A boy acquires a magical gift: everything he touches turns to
chocolate!
Collins, Mary
Airborne: A
Photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright.
The brothers are beautifully individualized in this solidly
researched,
lively record of their accomplishments, which also provides exceptionally
clear explanations of the technical challenges they faced.
Cooper, Susan
The Boggart
After returning from a trip to Scotland, two school children find
out they’ve
brought something extra home with them.
Creech, Sharon
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup
As 12-year-old Rosie makes zuppa with her grandmother, she
struggles with
her feelings about her best friend, Bailey, who is blind. Rosie, a bossy, loving
child, comes to see the error of her ways and the possibilities
for the future.
Curtis, Christopher Paul
The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963
In the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a family travels to
Alabama and
experiences racial injustice first-hand, surviving through love
and humor.
A Coretta Scott King Honor book.
Cushman, Karen
Rodzina
The hero of this lively historical novel is tough, needy
12-year-old Rodzina,
whose first-person account of the westward journey on an orphan
train in
1881 shows
the uproar, the loneliness, and the fear of being forced to find a
home among strangers.
Dahl, Roald
Magic crystals lead James on a magical adventure.
DiCamillo, Kate
A mouse
wants to become a knight in shining armor for his human princess,
but
this unmouselike behavior gets him
banished to a dungeon teeming with
rats. A classic
fairy tale, rich and satisfying.
Divakaruni,
Chitra Banerjee
In modern-day India, a boy is charged with finding a magical couch
shell. His
fantasy-adventure makes enticing reading.
Fleischman, Paul
Bull Run
Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and
worried
sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the
disillusionment of the
first battle of the Civil War.
George, Jean Craighead
A gripping adventure about 13 year-old Julie and the wolf pack
that adopts
her in the Alaskan tundra.
A Newbery Winner.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson
When a
diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840s village, thirteen-year-old Jessie
discovers
it is actually a 1995 tourist site under unseen observation by
the lives of the dying children.
Hamilton, Virginia
The House of Dies Drear
Thomas Small discovers a secret in his family’s home, which was
once a stop
on the
Underground Railroad.
Henkes, Kevin
Olive’s Ocean
The death of a classmate, Olive, is only the beginning of a summer
of change
For 12year-old Martha, who discovers a new self in this quiet,
reassuring
novel that
demonstrates the same understanding of childhood emotions as
Henkes’ excellent picture books.
(Top of the List winner—Youth Fiction)
Henry, Marguerite
Misty of Chincoteague
A brother and sister are determined to own one of the ponies their
father
helps to round up on Chincoteague Island.
Hesse, Karen
Sable
Tate has always wanted a dog, and when Sable shows up, her dream
comes
true. Will problems with
the neighbors keep Tate and Sable apart?
Konigsburg, E.L.
The View From Saturday
An academic competition brings four students together, and each
tells the
unlikely story of how they got there.
Lasky, Kathryn
The Man Who Made Time Travel
Richly colored, atmospheric paintings are a fine backdrop for this
humorous
yet dramatic story of the eighteenth-century clock maker who
solved the
technical puzzle of longitude.
Equally fine for reading aloud or reading alone.
L’Engle, Madeleine
A Wrinkle in Time
Classic adventure in space and time.
Lewis, CS
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
This classic fantasy takes readers on a journey to a wonderful new
world of
talking animals, fierce battles, and young heroes and heroines to
love.
Mead, Alice
Junebug
Living in the projects, Junebug must somehow withstand the daily
pressures
of drugs and gangs while still holding onto his dream of sailing.
Cuba 15: Delacorte
2003
The story of Violet Paz getting ready for her quinceanero
celebration.
Patterson, Katherine
While everyone adores and admires her twin sister, Sara Louise
overcomes
her jealousy and finds her
own identity and inner strength.
Raskin, Ellen
A millionaire’s mysterious death, a fortune to inherit, and an
unlikely
assortment of heirs—can you figure out the mystery?
Rawls, Wilson
Where the Red Fern Grows
Having purchased two dogs for fifty dollars, young Billy is
determined to
create the valley’s best hunting team. Follows the friendship of a boy and his
two dogs and their adventures along the dark hills and river
bottoms of
Cherokee country.
Rowling, J. K.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
This jam-packed fifth installment has all the familiar elements,
but Rowling
really shows her skill in her characterization of Harry—once
downtrodden yet
hopeful, now sometimes sullen, rude, and contemptuous of adult
hypocrisy.
Silverstein, Shel
Where the Sidewalk ends.
This most popular of children’s poets will have the whole family
laughing!
Spinelli, Jerry
Maniac Magee
Jeffrey Lionel “Maniac” Magee, a twelve-year-old homeless boy,
could hit a
ball better and faster than anyone in Two Mills. Even more remarkable, he
dares to cross the line that divides the white West End and the
black East
End, confronting prejudice and racism head on.
Stanley, Jerry
Cowboys and Longhorns: A Portrait of the Long Drive.
Confronting the popular mythologies of cattle drives and cowboys
with gritty
reality, Stanley delivers a fascinating portrait of a little-known
part of
American history.
Taylor, Mildred
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
A black family in Depression Era Mississippi struggles with
hardships of
poverty and racial strife in this gripping family novel. A Newbery Award Winner.
Wojciechowska, Maia
Shadow of a Bull
Manolo Olivar demonstrates true courage as he faces his bull and
makes his
decision.