GLMS Summer 2009 Reading List

For upcoming eighth graders

Each student must read one of these books during the summer of 2009.

Homecoming by Cynthia Voight
This story is about a group of kids that were abandoned in a car by their own mother. Their father had left them a long time ago so they didn't have anybody to go back to. Now Dicey, the eldest child in the Tillerman family, is charged with leading her brothers, James and Sammy and her sister, Maybeth back to their Aunt Cilla's estate. Along the way she has to figure out ways to make money so they can buy food and supplies they will need for their journey, and she'll meet with a few people that help them through major gaps in their road to having a responsible parent with them again—even if they don't know it!
Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz
They look like they're supposed to. They talk like they're supposed to. But they sure don't act like they're supposed to. Sixteen boys, children of some of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the world, juvenile delinquents, all: drugs, shoplifting, vandalism. Yet suddenly they're perfect, well-behaved and studious. Identical in every way… or almost every way. Something is wrong. And only fourteen-year-old secret agent Alex Rider can save these boys from themselves. Should he fail, one man's sinister plan to conquer the world will become reality. Full of heart-pounding adventure, technological wizardry, and a James Bond-like spirit.

For upcoming seventh graders

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Rivalry between rich and poor gangs in 1960s Oklahoma leads to the deaths of three teenagers and intense soul-searching for one of the kids involved, a sensitive fourteen-year-old writer named Ponyboy.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.
Important instructions for seventh graders
  • General Instructions/Evaluations:
    • You will complete several assignments on both books:
      • Compose a piece of writing
      • Give a presentation
    • These assessments will be assigned during the first week of school.
    • You might find it helpful to do one of the following tasks while reading:
      • Make note cards about the novel, including character descriptions, setting, important events, and theme
      • Write summaries of each chapter
      • And/or keep a reading journal
  • A Rationale for Summer Reading:
    • To generate interest and pleasure in reading that enriches the literary experience.
    • To use time not available during the school year to read classics that expand cultural literacy.
    • To prepare for thoughtful discussion and writing beginning the first day of class.
    • To encourage a lifelong love of reading.

For upcoming sixth graders

Each student must read Island of the Blue Dolphins. The rest of the books are extra reading. They are not mandatory.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
A young Native American girl is stranded on an island off the coast of California in the late 1600's. She is befriended by a wild dog and other animals on the island. She survives with the skills she learned from her father.
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Leigh Botts starts to write to Mr. Henshaw, an author, when he is in the second grade. Four years later he is still writing to Mr. Henshaw and telling him many of inner feelings.
Woodsong by Gary Paulsen
An autobiographical book that gives through spare but vivid language a look at a man who thought, because he was a hunter and a trapper, that he knew about the outdoors. Instead, he discovered he knew very little until he opened himself to the realities of predators and prey, and to the lessons taught to him by the animals he encountered and the sled dogs he trained and raced.
Young George Washington by John Rosenberg
This is a great book to discover the early years of one of the greatest Americans that ever lived and the Father of our Nation.
Greek Myths: Gods, Heroes, and Monsters by Ellen Switzer
Meet Zeus, Hercules, and Cyclops in a very entertaining book about ancient Greek gods and the stories that surround them.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
If you like sci-fi, this is the book for you. Adventure back in time to the prehistoric period with dinosaurs and then plunge headlong into the future through atomic bombs, which causes the world to change.