Please read (at least) two books of your choice this summer.This list is a collection of recommendations from seventh graders and the school librarian.

See the back of last page for the rest ofyour Summer Reading assignment

24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling To get a stolen dirt bike back, 13 year old Rossi insists that her friend has to search for gold in the dangerous Dead Frenchman Mine. Along with a small, disjointed band of peers, they spend the next twenty-four hours bonding over shared turmoil in Nowhere and realizing this quest might be their ticket out. Mission Unstoppable* by Dan Gutman On a cross-country vacation with their parents, twins Coke and Pepsi, soon to be thirteen, fend off strange assassins as they try to come to terms with their being part of a top-secret government organization known as The Genius Files. North of Benjamin by Alan Cumyn Eleven-year-old Edgar and his mother move to Dawson, a town in Yukon, Canada, for a new start, but when Edgar fears his mother's destructive behavior will force them to leave, he turns to a dog named Benjamin to help him stop the worst from happening. Spy School* by Stuart Gibbs Twelve-year-old Ben Ripley leaves his public middle school to attend the CIA's highly secretive Espionage Academy, which everyone is told is an elite science school. Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall When the Garza sisters find the body of a dead man near the Rio Grande, they discover he is a native of Mexico and take it upon themselves to return his body to his family. They become the target of supernatural forces both good and bad, causing obstacles that test their resolve and their commitment to their journey.

Children of Blood and Bone* by Tomi Adeyemi Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy. The Merchant of Death* by D.J. MacHale After fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon discovers that life is quite different from what he anticipated, he is taken quite quickly to a dimension known as Denduron where peculiar beings exist, where a magical despot rules, and where the territory faces a dangerous revolution. School for Good and Evil* by Soman Chainani Beautiful Sophie and ugly Agatha, best friends, are taken by the School Master to the School for Good and Evil, where children are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. But when Sophie is sent to the School for evil, and Agatha to princess classes, the shocked girls think it's a mistake and try to switch. Skulduggery Pleasant* by Derek Landy Set on Ireland's coast, 12-year-old Stephanie Edgley meets Skulduggery Pleasant, a fire-throwing skeleton of a man. Skulduggery is back from the dead in hopes of avenging his family's murder, and Stephanie has a genetic predisposition to sorcery. Together they embark on a quest to defeat the villain. Wildwood by Colin Meloy When 12-year-old Prue's baby brother is abducted by crows, she is prompted to enter the Impassable Wilderness to get him back. With her classmate Curtis at her side, Prue ventures into the Wilderness but the two become separated amidst a war between bureaucrats, bandit separatists, militant birds, and the evil Dowager Governess.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys In 1941, during WWII and Joseph Stalin's reign, Soviet officers send 15-year-old Lina and her family to a Siberian work camp. Lina and her fellow prisoners must endure many difficulties. Lina documents her experiences through drawings and passes them along to other deportees, hoping they'll reach her father in his Soviet prison. The Blackthorn Key* by Kevin Sands Christopher Rowe is a 14-year-old apprentice to Master Benedict Blackthorn, the greatest apothecary in 1665 London. Blackthorn, intelligent and kind, forgives Christopher's mistakes. Then Blackthorn is killed and Christopher must go on the run with only a hastily written, coded message from his master. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak In 1939, on her way to a foster home in Germany, Liesel steals a book from a graveyard. From that moment on, her life revolves around books. Death is the narrator and tells the story of this young orphan girl. The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas quiet Marlee becomes friends with bold Liz, the new girl at school. Liz helps Marlee overcome her fears, but when Liz suddenly disappears from school under a rumor that she was a Negro "passing" as a white, Marlee feels confused and hurt. The two girls try to stay friends causing as much harm as good. Twerp by Matt Goldblatt Sixth-grader Julian Twerski doesn't believe he's a bully--he just made a mistake when he participated in bullying the school's designated twerp. After his suspension is up, Julian is given the option by his English teacher of writing a year-long journal, in the hopes that Julian will see that he actually is a bully and needs to change.

®Refers to Young Reader edition *Part of a series

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie When ten strangers, each with a wicked past, are invited to a private island for the weekend, they are murdered one-by-one. Clarity by Kim Harrington Born with the ability to touch an object and view its past, Clarity often sees too much. When a tourist is killed and her brother is a suspect, she teams up with the police detective's son to solve the mystery. She must depend on her gift – but will it fail her now when she needs it the most? Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer* by John Grisham Hoping to one day become a lawyer, thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone has his desire to enter the courtroom granted a bit early when he is called in to testify against a suspected murderer. The man is about to be set free, but only Theo knows the truth -- a truth that could put his life at risk. Truly Devious* by Maureen Johnson Ellingham Academy is full of riddles, twisting pathways, and winding gardens. Shortly after it opens in 1936, tragedy strikes. Years later, true-crime buff Stevie Bell enters the Academy with a goal to solve the cold case. Then Truly Devious makes a surprising return, and another death rocks the school. Winterhouse by Ben Guterson Elizabeth, 11, spends Christmas break at Winterhouse Hotel under strange circumstances, where she discovers that she has magic, and her love of puzzles helps her solve a mystery.

57 Bus by Dashka Slater Explores the true stories of Sasha and Richard, two teens from Oakland, California, who never would have met if not for the 57 Bus which they both were taking home one day. Richard had a lighter; Sasha wore a skirt. A dare changed both their lives forever. Shoe Dog® by Phil Knight Phil Knight, cofounder of the Nike corporation, offers a memoir adapted for young people describing the many early obstacles to building his brand, and the luck, faith, relationships, and determination that helped him rise to fame and fortune. Unsinkable by Jessica Long The author, a record-setting Paralympic swimmer, shares the story of how she overcame the struggles that naturally accompanied being an orphaned, double amputee and her miraculous journey to accepting who she is and being the best version of herself. When Plague Strikes by James Giblin Tells the stories of three of the most serious and damaging diseases: the Black Death, smallpox, and AIDS. All three have had disastrous impacts on the affected populations, leaving lasting social, economic, and political consequences in their wake.

Why We Fight by Niki Walker Why do we feel the need to attack and destroy one another? This book explores this timeless, ever-important question, spotlighting various violent events over the centuries and discussing why they occurred.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Madeline has severe combined immunodeficiency, an extremely rare condition that makes her allergic to the world. Her only human contact is her mother and her nurse Carla. When Olly and his family move in next door, Madeline is drawn to Olly immediately, but how can she ever get to know him if going outside could kill her? Is Olly worth the risk? Ghost* by Jason Reynolds If they can get their acts together, Ghost, Lu, Patina, and Sunny could potentially become their middle school track team's elite squad. Ghost has outstanding natural talent, but no formal training, and his discipline is lacking. He will have to do everything he can to stay on track, physically and figuratively, to be the best sprinter in the city. Holes by Louis Sachar As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart Lily is a young transgender girl, in the body of a boy, who is in the eighth grade. Dunkin is a young boy in her class with bipolar disorder. Both know what it is like to be different, but for Dunkin, who has just moved to Lily's school, things are a extra painful because he harbors deep secrets that even he can't face. Still a Work in Progress by Jo Knowles Noah was hoping for a normal seventh-grade year, but no such luck. Girls confuse him, his friends annoy him, and his sister, Emma, seems to follow ever-stricter food rules and regulations. When Emma's condition takes a turn for the worse, Noah must find a way to help himself, and those he loves, in the crisis.

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee Thirteen-year-old Min stows away on a space battle cruiser as an impersonated cadet in the Thousand World Space Force in order to discover what happened to her older brother. As a girl with fox-magic, she could use a charm or her shape-shifting ability, but to keep her family's secret safe, Min's mother insists she appear human at all times. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card In order to win a war against a hostile alien race, the government is breeding child geniuses and training them to become soldiers but some of the soldiers, such as Andrew "Ender" Wiggins, are leery of the harsh environment they are growing up in.

Legend* by Marie Lu As wealthy, intelligent June trains for the Republic's military and earns a perfect score in the Trials, Day, a street thug, becomes the Republic's most wanted criminal. Their worlds drastically collide when June's brother is murdered, and Day stands accused of the crime. Life As We Knew It* by Susan Beth Pfeffer When a meteor hits the moon and knocks it closer to Earth, Miranda and the rest of her small town must struggle to survive as tsunamis, earthquakes, disease and volcanic eruptions disrupt life on the planet. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson When Jenna Fox wakes from a coma she doesn't remember anything. She watches videos of her childhood, but nothing seems familiar. Little by little, Jenna pieces together clues from her mental flashbacks to discover the truth about her horrible accident and how her father's career in biotechnology fits in.

YOUR SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT: & Read at least two

books of your choice. & Fill out the “Entering

Seventh Grade Summer Reading” sheet on the next page.

& Print the sheet and bring it with you on the first day of school.

Entering Seventh Grade Summer Reading Please complete this sheet and bring it with you on the first day of school. Name ____________________________________________________________

Homeroom __________________________________

What was the best book you read this summer? ______________________________ What was your favorite line or quotation from that book (please give a direct quotation with page numbers)? _________________________________________________________________________________________

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Who do you think would enjoy reading this book? _________________________________________________________________________________________

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_________________________________________________________________________________________ What other books did you read this summer? Rate them 1-5 (1= did not enjoy it and 5=loved it!) 1. _______________________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5

2. _______________________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5

3. _______________________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5

4. _______________________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5

5. ________________________________________________ 1 2 3 4 5

Parent Signature ________________________________________________________