7TH GRADE SUMMER READING

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1 7TH GRADE SUMMER READING Assignment #1 Historical Fiction / Nonfiction! Choose one of the books listed on the following page (front and back) to read this summer. Most, if not all, are available at one of the Buffalo and Erie County libraries. A brief description of each book has been provided to help you make a choice, as well as the Lexile level (Lexile is a reading level. Typically, 6 th graders are in the range by the end of the school year). Contact me at susan@tapestryschool.org if you run into problems locating a book. Once you have chosen a book, decide which type of project you would like to do. There are 4 projects to choose from Giant Post Card, Fancy Folder, Character Resume, and Write a Song. Details as to what is expected from you are on the pages that follow.!! Assignment #2 Student Choice Book Review Choose to read a book that interests you any genre, any topic. Then write and submit a 1-2 paragraph book review using the requirements listed below to guide you. BOOK REVIEW REQUIREMENTS 1. Type or handwrite neatly. Be sure to put your name at the top of the paper. 2. Write a summary of what you read (at least 4-6 sentences), which includes the title and author of the book. 3. Write (in at least 2-3 sentences) why you recommend or don t recommend the book. 4. Write (in at least 2-3 sentences) why another person might not like the book, even though you do OR why another person might like the book, even though you don t. EXTRA CREDIT BOOK REVIEW If you read another book this summer that you absolutely loved, share it with your fellow middle school students! For extra credit, write a book review, following the format above. We ll be sure to post it so that other students can enjoy the book.!! THE$SUMMER$READING$ASSIGNMENTS$ARE$DUE$NO$LATER$THAN$FRIDAY,$SEPT.$16 TH$

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3 HISTORICAL FICTION / NONFICTION READING LIST (you must read one of these!) THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives from Barbados onto the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticut in Just when she feels she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit. But Kit s friendship with Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch, proves more taboo than she could have imagined and ultimately forces Kit to choose between her hear and her duty. Lexile Level Fiction THE PRINTER S APPRENTICE by Stephen Krensky To ten-year-old Gus Croft, the city of New York in 1734 is an exciting place to be. The sensational trial of Peter Zenger, printer and publisher of The New York Weekly Journal, will take place soon. As a printer s apprentice, Gus watches every development closely. As the trial nears, Gus begins to question the government. Shouldn t someone be watching to see that the colonists are treated fairly? Lexile Level Fiction GEORGE WASHINGTON, SPYMASTER by Thomas B. Allen This fascinating book takes readers into the secret world behind the Revolutionary War in which they can follow the escapades of spies and intelligence agents of the time and learn about the methods used in wartime espionage. Lexile Level Nonfiction FEVER 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson During the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook gains new strengths. In a mixed atmosphere of mistrust, fear, and caring, Matilda learns to cope with the loss of business, friends and family. She also learns to deal with the illness herself. Lexile Level Fiction AN AMERICAN PLAGUE by Jim Murphy 1793, Philadelphia. The nation's capital and the largest city in North America is devastated by an apparently incurable disease, cause unknown... In a powerful, dramatic narrative, author Jim Murphy describes the illness known as yellow fever and the toll it took on the city's residents, relating the epidemic to the major social and political events of the day and to 18th-century medical beliefs and practices. Lexile Level Nonfiction

4 TRUE NORTH: A NOVEL OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Kathryn Lasky In the years before the Civil War, the paths of two adolescent girls one a Boston socialite, the other a runaway slave from Virginia converge, and together they embark on a treacherous journey to the Canadian border. Lexile Level Fiction CHASING LINCOLN S KILLER: THE SEARCH FOR JOHN WILKES BOOTH by James L. Swanson Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters, this is a fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia. Lexile Level Nonfiction THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE by Louise Erdrich An Ojibwa girl named Omakayas grows into an impressive young woman struggling to survive as a Native American in the 1800s. In the first of a cycle of novels partly based on her own family history, Erdrich offers a compelling and original saga, told from the point of view of a young Ojibwa girl on an island in Lake Superior in Lexile Level Fiction FORTY ACRES AND MAYBE A MULE by Harriette Gillem Robinet Like other ex-slaves, Paschal and his brother, Gideon, have been promised 40 acres and maybe a mule. But the notorious night riders have plans to take it away, threatening to tear the beautiful freedom that the two boys are enjoying for the first time in their young lives. Lexile Level Fiction ROOTS by Alex Haley One of the most important books and television series ever to appear (and reappear on the History Channel this year), Roots, galvanized the nation, and created an extraordinary political, racial, social and cultural dialogue that hadn't been seen since the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The book sold over one million copies in the first year, and won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. At 912 pages and 120 chapters (7-8 pages per chapter), this is a long book but well worth it! Lexile Level Nonfiction

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