Reading List, Middle School

Grade 6 GOR List

Avi: The Blue Heron, The Man Who Was Poe, Nothing But the Truth, Crispin, Cross of Lead, and others. Note: We will read The True Confessions of Charlo3e Doyle in Grade 6, so please DO NOT read this one on your own.

Lloyd Alexander: The Chronicles of Prydain (series) and others

Joan Aiken: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, and others

Laurie Anderson: Chains

Natalie BabbiA: Tuck EverlasHng

Blue Balliet: Chasing Vermeer

Joan Bauer: Hope Was Here, and others

Gary Blackwood: The Shakespeare Stealer

Betsy Byers: Summer of the Swans, The Midnight Fox and others

Gennifer Choldenko: Al Capone Does My Shirts

Andrew Clements: Frindle, Things Not Seen

Susan Cooper: The Dark is Rising (series)

Padriac Collum: The Golden Fleece

Zizou Corder: Lion Boy

Sharon Creech: Walk Two Moons, Bloomability, The Wanderer, and others, but not her shorter stories

Christopher Paul CurLs: Bud, Not Buddy, The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Karen Cushman: Catherine Called Birdie, The Midwife’s ApprenHce

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, MaHlda, and others

Kate DiCamillo: The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising

Kathryn Erskine: Mockingbird

Paula Fox: Slave Dancer, One-Eyed Cat, Monkey Island

Cornelia Funke: The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, Inkheart, Inkspell

Jack Gantos: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, and sequels

Jean Craighead George: My Side of the Mountain, and sequels

Patricia Reilly Giff: Pictures of Hollis Woods, Lily’s Crossing

BeAe Greene: Summer of My German Soldier

Margaret Peterson Haddix: Among The Hidden

Karen Hesse: Out of the Dust, The Music of Dolphins, Stowaway, and others

Polly Horvath: Everything on a Waffle

Eva IboAson: The Secret of PlaWorm 13, and sequels

E.L. Konigsburg: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The View from Saturday, Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, and others

Joseph Krumgold: Onion John, And Now Miguel

Cynthia Kadohata: Kira-Kira

Stephen Lawhead: The Dragon King Saga (series)

Madeleine L’Engle: A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A SwiZly TilHng Planet, Meet the AusHns, and many more.

Gail Carson Levine: Ella Enchanted, Dave at Night (not her shorter fairy tales)

KrisLn Levine: The Best Bad Luck I Have Ever Had

Lois Lenski: Indian CapHve

C.S. Lewis: Note: You will be required to read The Magician’s Nephew during the summer before Grade 6 as part of the summer reading program. (If you would like to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or any of the other books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, these would be excellent choices for GOR.)

Lois Lowry: The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, Number the Stars, The Willoughbys, and others

Michelle Magorian: Goodnight Mr. Tom

Walter Dean Myers: Somewhere in the Darkness, and others ScoA O’Dell: Island of the Blue Dolphins

Linda Sue Park: A Single Shard, My Name Is Keoko, and others  Katherine Paterson: Bridge to Terabithia, Lyddie, Jip, and others

Gary Paulson: Hatchet, Dogsong, Brian’s Winter, and others

Richard Peck: A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Under

Rodman Philbrick: Freak the Mighty

Wilson Rawls: Where the Red Fern Grows, Summer of the Monkeys

Louis Sachar: Holes

Zilpha Snyder: The Bronze Pen

Elizabeth George Speare: The Witch of Blackbird Pond and others. Note: We will read The Bronze Bow together in Grade 6, so please DO NOT read this one on your own.

Armstrong Sperry: Call it Courage

Jerry Spinelli: Maniac Magee, Wringer, and others

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (series)

Yoshiko Uchida: Jar of Dreams

Cynthia Voight: Homecoming, Dicey’s Song, Jackaroo, and others

Virginia Euer Wolff: True Believer

Lawrence Yep: Dragonwings, The Star Fisher, and others

Jane Yolen: The Devil’s ArithmeHc and others

• There are many other wonderful authors to choose from, but any addiLons to this list must be approved by one of your English teachers in order to count for independent reading. One guideline is to first check if a book that you would like to read has won any significant awards.
• Not all books are appropriate for every sixth grader; a book’s appropriateness may depend on one’s level of maturity, understanding of the topic, and familiarity with English. If you have a quesLon about whether or not a book is appropriate for you, please check with one of your English teachers, with one of the CAJ librarians, or with your parents.

Grade 7

Required Reading:	Task:	Reviewed by:
1 book from the GOR list	Book Recommendation Poster	English Teacher
	Google Drive Survey
1 book from content area list (Bible, Math, Science, or Social Studies)	2 Minute Presentation	Content Area Teacher
	Google Drive Survey
1 free choice (must be on grade level)	Google Drive Survey	Homeroom Teacher

• Additional books read should also be recorded on the Google Drive Survey, in order to count toward the class goal.

• Book list & instructions will be posted on the CAJ website.

• Today we will practice using the google drive survey!

TASK #1 - GOR BOOK POSTER

You are going to design a Book Recommendation Poster that will persuade others to read the book.

Requirements for the poster:

• Title and Author (spelled correctly) must stand out clearly

• A summary in your own words – Write 5-7 sentences that sum up the main action or conflict going on in the book. Don't say "This book is about . . ." Get us right into the action!

• Your Personal Recommendation – Write 2-3 sentences telling your classmates why you recommend this book. Be specific!

• 2 Adjectives (Example: ACTION-PACKED!) describing the book must stand out clearly on the page.

• Visuals: Add pictures, graphics, etc. that relate to the book

• Size: B5 (250 x 176 mm or 9.84 x 6.93 inches) or half of a construction paper

• Due: the first day of class (to your English teacher)

TASK #2 - CONTENT AREA PRESENTATION

You are going to give a short presentation in a content area class to explain to your classmates what you learned about a particular topic.

Requirements for the presentation:

• Tell the title and author name

• Give a brief summary

• Explain the most interesting thing that you learned from reading the book

• Script or notecards written for the presentation

• Due: the first day of class (to your content area teacher)

Requirements:

• 1 book from the Guided Outside Reading (GOR) list
  • Task: book recommendation
  • Reviewed by: English Teacher
• 1 book from a content area (Bible, Math, Science, or Social Studies )
  • Task: 2 minute presentation - Title and Author
    • Brief summary
    • What you learned
  • Reviewed by: Content Area Teacher
• 1 free choice (must be on grade level but does not have to be on one of the reading list)

Guided Outside Reading List

English 7 Guided Outside Reading (GOR) List

Alcott, Louisa M. Alvarez, Julia Avi Balliett, Blue Bauer, Joan Birdsall, Jeanne Chabon, Michael Creech, Sharon Curtis, Christopher Paul Cushman, Karen DiCamillo, Kate Dickens, Charles Farmer, Nancy Little Women Before we were Free Nothing but the Truth The Secret School Don’t you know there’s a War on? Crispin: Cross of Lead Chasing Vermeer The Wright 3 Hope was Here The Penderwicks Summerland Walk Two Moons Chasing Redbird The Wanderer Ruby Holler Heartbeat Replay Bud, Not Buddy Elijah of Buxton Catherine called Birdy Midwife’s Apprentice Matilda Bone The Ballad of Lucy Whipple The Tale of Despereaux A Christmas Carol The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Frederick, Heather Vogel Funke, Cornelia Gantos, Jack Griff, Patricia R. Grisham, John Haddix, Margaret P. A Girl Named Disaster The House of the Scorpion The Sea of Trolls The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed The Thief Lord Inkheart The Dragon Rider Inkspell Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key Joey Pigza Loses Control What would Joey Do? Pictures of Hollis Woods Skipping Christmas Running Out of Time Among the Hidden Among the Barons Among the Betrayed Among the Imposters Escape from Memory Among the Brave Among the Enemy The House on the Gulf Double Identity Among the Free The Mystery of Drear House Ida B. Hoot Out of the Dust Stowaway Everything on a Waffle The Vacation Mattimeo Mossflower Pearls of Lutra Redwall Taggerung The Bellmaker Breaking Through Kira-Kira Weedflower You don’t know Me The Outcasts ot 19 Schulyer Place Everest Series (I: Contest, II: Climb, III: Summit) Island Series (I: Shipwreck, II: Survival, III: Escape) various titles A Ring of Endless Light Hamilton, Virginia Hannigan, Katherine Hiassen, Carl Hesse, Karen Horvath, Polly Jacques, Brian Jimenez, Francisco Kadohata, Cynthia Klass, David Konigsburg, E.L. Korman, Gordon Lawhead, Stephen L’engle, Madeleine Lewis, C.S. Lisle, Janet Taylor Lobel, Anita Lowry, Lois A Wind in the Door Many Waters An Acceptable Time The Voyage of the Dawn Treader The Art of Keeping Cool No Pretty Pictures The Giver Gathering Blue Silent Boy Messenger Myers, Walter Dean The Glory Field Napoli, Donna Jo Park, Linda Sue Paterson, Katherine Paulsen, Gary Peck, Richard Sachar, Louis Schmidt, Gary Smith, Roland Spinelli, Jerry Staples, Suzanne Fisher St. John, Patricia M. Taylor, Mildred D. Daughter of Venice Stones into Water Sirena Three Days North Bound A Single Shard When my Name was Keoko Jip Preacher’s Boy The Same Stuff as Stars Dogsong Hatchet Brian’s Winter Brian’s Return The Transall Saga Guts A Long Way from Chicago A Year Down Yonder Fair Weather The River Between Us Small Steps Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy Peak Stargirl Loser Crash The Library Card Milkweed Shabanu Haveli Shiva’s Fire Twice Freed Let the Circle be Unbroken Tolan, Stephanie S. Ullman, James Ramsey Voigt, Cynthia Weeks, Sarah Wolff, Virginia Euwer Yolen, Jane The Road to Memphis The Land Surviving the Applewhites Banner in the Sky Dicey’s Song Homecoming The Runner So B. It Make Lemonade True Believer Armageddon Summer “Dear America” Book series “Heroes of the Faith” Book series (Biography) “Christian Heroes” Then & Now” (Biography) Trailblazer books “Reel Kids Adventures” Book series