th
Croft 7 Grade Summer
Reading List
7th Grade Cambridge
No Better Friend: Young Reader’s Edition: A Man, A Dog, and Their Incredible True
Story of Friendship and Survival in World War II by Robert Weintraub
No Better Friend tells the incredible true story of Frank Williams, a radarman in Britain's Royal Air
Force, and Judy, a purebred pointer, who met as prisoners of war during World War II. Judy, who became
the war's only official canine POW, was a fiercely loyal dog who sensed danger-warning her fellow
prisoners of imminent attacks and, later, protecting them from brutal beatings. Frank and Judy's
friendship, an unbreakable bond forged in the worst circumstances, is one of the great recently uncovered
stories of World War II.
Treasure Island by Robert Luis Stevenson
Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island is a tale noted for its atmosphere,
characters and action, and also as a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality – as seen in Long
John Silver – unusual for children's literature. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels.
The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including such elements
as treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen
bearing parrots on their shoulders.
Laugh with the Moon by Shana Burg
Thirteen-year-old Clare Silver is stuck. Stuck in denial about her mother’s recent death. Stuck in the African
jungle for sixty-four days without phone reception. Stuck with her father, a doctor who seems able to heal
everyone but Clare. Clare feels like a fish out of water at Mzanga Full Primary School, where she must learn
a new language.
When Clare’s new friends take her on an outing to see the country, the trip goes horribly wrong, and Clare
must face another heartbreak head-on. Only an orphan named Memory, who knows about love and loss,
can teach Clare how to laugh with the moon.
Finding Perfect by Elly Swartz
To twelve-year-old Molly Nathans, perfect is:
―The number four
―The tip of a newly sharpened No. 2 pencil
―A crisp white pad of paper
―Her neatly aligned glass animal figurines
What’s not perfect is Molly’s mother leaving the family to
take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year.
Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so she
hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the
Lakeville Middle School Poetry Slam Contest. The winner
is honored at a fancy banquet with white tablecloths.
Molly is sure her mother would never miss that. Right…?
Redwall by Brian Jacques
As the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey bask in the glorious Summer of the Late Rose, all is quiet and
peaceful. But things are not as they seem. Cluny the Scourge--the evil one-eyed rat warlord, is ell-bent on
destroying the tranquility as he prepares to fight a bloody battle for the ownership of Redwall. This dazzling
story in the Redwall series is packed with all the wit, wisdom, humor, and blood-curdling adventure of the other
books in the collection, but has the added bonus of taking the reader right back to the heart and soul of
Redwall Abbey and the characters who live there.