Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Grade Summer Reading List
Students Entering Sixth, Seventh or Eighth Grade
All students Entering Sixth, Seventh, or Eighth Grade must read Chains (or Forged if they have already read Chains) by Laurie Halse Anderson. In addition, three other books should be chosen from the list below. Fill out a book card or email your review to the language arts teacher: nrupke@mustardseedschool.org (entering 6th), rsprague@mustardseedschool.org (entering 7th or 8th). Your review will be posted on the class blog for other classmates to enjoy!
As always, parents are encouraged to read and talk about these books with their child. Please note that an asterisk indicates that, due to either the content, theme, or reading difficulty you may want to exercise parental discretion or read the book with your child.
Note: This page was updated on June 10, 2011
Historical Fiction
| Fever 1793 | (7.5) | by Laurie Halse Anderson |
| The Fighting Ground | (6.5) | by Avi |
| Sarah Bishop | (7.0) | by Scott O’Dell |
| Shades of Gray | (5.5) | by Carolyn Reeder |
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing | (8.2)* | by M. T. Anderso |
The Water Seeker | (8.0)* | by Kimberly Willis Holt |
| Woods Runner | (7.0) | by Gary Paulsen |
| Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood | (5.7) | by Jame Richards |
| Elijah of Buxton | (6.0) | by Christopher Paul Curtis |
| The Surrender Tree | (5.2) | by Margarita Engle |
| Moonshiner’s Gold | (5.0) | by John Erickson |
| Kira Kira | (6.0) | by Cynthia Kadohata |
| Lizzie Bright and Buckminster Boy | (7.0) | by Gary Schmidt |
| Jip | (5.5) | by Katherine Patterson |
| Turtle in Paradise | (4.0) | by Jennifer L. Holm |
| One Crazy Summer | (4.6) | by Rita Williams-Garcia |
Other Kinds of Battles
| Box Out | (3.1) | by John Coy |
| Nothing But the Truth | (8.0) | by Avi |
| Trouble | (7.0) | by Gary Schmidt |
| The Skin I’m In | (9.0)* | by Sharon Flake |
| Snow in August | (8.5)* | by Pete Hamill |
| Stepping on the Cracks | (6.5) | by Mary Downing Hahn |
| Monkey Island | (6.5)* | by Paula Fox |
| Ask Me No Questions | (5.4) | by Marina Budhos |
| Samurai Shortstop | (4.5) | by Alan Gratz |
| Project Mulberry | (3.7) | by Linda Sue Park |
| When My Name Was Keoko | (5.1) | by Linda Sue Park |
| The Kite Fighters | (6.3) | by Linda Sue Park |
Informational Books:
| An American Plague | (8.5)* | by Jim Murphy |
| Around the World in 100 Years | (6.0) | by Jean Fritz |
| Black Hands, White Sails | (9.0)* | by Patricia McKissack |
| Freedom Riders | (6.5) | by Ann Bausum |
| Freedom Walkers | (6.5) | by Russell Freedman |
| Give Me Liberty | (7.5) | by Russell Freedman |
| The Great Fire | (7.0) | by Jim Murphy |
| Journeys for Freedom | (6.0) | by S. Buckley & E. Leacock |
| Remember | (6.0) | by Toni Morrison |
| We Were There Too! | (7.0) | by Phillip Hoose |
| The Century for Young People | by Peter Jennings |
Classic Fiction
| Across Five Aprils | (8.0) * | by Irene Hunt |
| The Call of the Wild | (8.0)* | by Jack London |
| Gulliver’s Travel’s | (8.8)* | by Jonathan Swift |
| Huck Finn | (9.0)* | by Mark Twain |
| Little Women | (7.0) | by Louisa May Alcott |
| White Fang | (7.0) | by Jack London |
| Lord of the Flies | (9.0)* | by William Golding |
| Old Yeller | (6.0) | by Fred Gipson |
| Red Badge of Courage | (8.0)* | by Stephen Crane |
| The Secret Garden | (7.0) | by Frances Burnett |
| Tom Sawyer | (7.0) | by Mark Twain |
| Where the Red Fern Grows | (6.5) | by Wilson Rawls |
| Witch of Blackbird Pond | (7.5) | by Elizabeth George Speare |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | (9.0) | by Harper Lee |
Memoir/Biography
| Before We Were Free | (7.5) * | by Julia Alvarez |
| Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir | (6.0) | by Eloise Greenfield |
| El Bronx Remembered | (8.0)* | by Nicholasa Mohr |
| When I Was Puerto Rican | (8.0)* | by Esmeralda Santiago |
| How Angel Paterson Got His Name | (7.0) | by Gary Paulsen |
| Knots in My Yo-Yo String | (5.5) | by Jerry Spinelli |
| Landed | (6.5) | by Milly Lee |
| My Dog Skip | (7.0) | by Willie Morris |
| Out of the Darkness | (7.0) | by Walter Dean Meyers |
| Woodsong | (7.0) | by Gary Paulsen |
| Does My Head Look Big in This | (8.5)* | by Randel Abdeh-Fattah |
| Abraham Lincoln | (6.5) | by Russell Freedman |
| Eleanor Roosevelt | (8.5)* | by Russell Freedman |
| Ben Franklin’s Almanac | (7.0) | by Candace Fleming |
| The Life and Death of Crazy Horse | (7.0) | by Russell Freedman |
| Through My Eyes | (7.0) | by Ruby Bridges |
| My Thirteenth Winter | (7.0) | by Samantha Abeel |
| Tomboy of the Air | (7.5) | by Julie Cummins |
| October Sky | (6.5) | by Henry Hickman |
| A Voice that Challenged a Nation | (7.5) | by Russell Freedman |
| House on Mango Street | (4.5) | by Sanra Cisneros |
| Freedom Writers | (7.5) | by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers |
| Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl | (6.6) | by Anne Frank |
| Zlata's Diary | (5.1) | by Zlata's Diar |
Walking in Another’s Footsteps . . .
| Feathers | (6.0) | by Jacqueline Woodson |
| The Dispossessed | (7.0) | by Ursula LeGuin |
| The Star Fisher | (6.0) | by Lawrence Yep |
| Ask Me No Questions | (7.0) | by Marina Budhos |
| The Shwa Was Here | (7.0) | by Neil Shusterman |
| Pictures of Hollis Woods | (6.5) | by Patricia Reilly Giff |
| Hope Was Here | (5.7) | by Joan Bauer |
| Stand Tall | (5.7) | by Joan Bauer |
| Best Foot Farward | (5.7) | by Joan Bauer |
| Close to Famous | (6.5) | by Joan Bauer |
| Don’t Call Me Ishmael | (8.0) | by Michael Bauer |
| Wild Things | (8.0) | by Clay Carmichael |
| Walk Two Moons | (4.9) | by Sharon Creech |
| A Long Walk to Water | (7.5) | by Linda Sue Park |
| The Same Stuff as Stars | (6.4) | by Katherine Patterson |
| Small Steps | (5.7) | by Louis Sachar |