Summer Reading
Assignments for Students Entering Grade 6
Over the summer, you must read three required books: The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth
George Speare, Travels with Gannon & Wyatt: Egypt by Patti Wheeler and Keith Hemstreet, and
Far North by Will Hobbs.
In addition to the required reading, you must complete two different projects. Each
project must be about a different book. When you finish an assignment, place it in your
summer reading folder for safekeeping. I will collect your work when you return in the
fall.
Reading Projects: (Pick one project for each of the two books you’ve chosen for projects.
Remember, you still need to read all three books.)
1. Choose two main characters from your book and describe them in detail.
2. Write a diary entry that the main character in your book might have kept during
part of the story.
3. Write a different ending for your book.
4. Write a letter to the author of the book.
5. Write a book review.
The assignments should be approximately one page in length. You may type your
assignments or write them in cursive.
I encourage you to read more than three books. I have enclosed a reading list if you need
some book suggestions. When you complete a book, record the information on the
Literature Log in your folder.
The first day of school is Thursday, September 4. On the second day of school, Friday,
September 5, the Lower School and Grades 5 and 6 will go on a field trip to Fiver Rivers
Environmental Education Center, where different grades will be participating in various
programs.
Have a wonderful summer!
Summer Reading List – Grade 6
In addition to the required books, students are encouraged to read more books over the
summer
Tuck Everlasting
Babbitt, Natalie
Overprotected Winnie Foster stumbles on the Tuck family secret: a fountain of youth.
The Name of This Book is Secret
Pseudonymous Bosch
Cass and Max Ernst are two friendless eleven-year-olds who come together to solve a
mystery surrounding a dead magician and the clues he left behind. Along the way, they
must solve puzzles and word games and face incredible danger to answer the questions.
Artemis Fowl
Colfer, Eoin
Twelve-year-old Artemis is a millionaire, a genius, and a criminal mastermind. But
Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short
of the LEPrecon Unit.
Julie of the Wolves
George, Jean Craighead
A thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl rebels against tradition and runs away toward San
Francisco, toward her pan pal who calls her Julie. Soon she is lost in the Alaskan
wilderness and must learn to survive.
Eleven
Giff, Patricia Reilly
When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his
eleventh birthday, it brings forth memories from his past, and, with the help of a new
friend and the castle they are building at school, his questions are eventually answered.
The Watson’s Go to Birmingham
Curtis, Christopher Paul
Laugh aloud with the weird and wonderful Watsons of Flint, Michigan, as they take a
summer trip to Birmingham during the tempestuous Civil Rights uprisings of the 1960s.
The Witches
Dahl, Roald
A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother together foil the witches’ plot to destroy
the world’s children and turn them into mice.
The Thief Lord
Funke, Cornelia
Brothers Prosper and Bo are orphans who run away from their cruel aunt and hide in
Venice where they meet the Thief Lord.
Old Yeller
Gipson, Fred
In the late 1860s in the Texas Hill country, a big yellow dog and a fourteen-year-old boy
form a close relationship.
The View from Saturday
Konigsburg, E.L.
Four students develop a special bond, and they represent their sixth-grade class in the
Academic Bowl competition.
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian learns how to survive in the wilderness with
only a hatchet.
The River Between Us
Peck, Richard
During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young
ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.
The Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine
The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a
girl who has just moved to the neighborhood. Together, they create an imaginary land
and learn some tough lessons about friendship.
Glory Be
Scattergood, Augusta
It’s the summer of 1964 in Mississippi, and Gloriana Hemphill is excited to turn twelve
on the Fourth of July. Yet town officials are ruining her summer with plans to shut down
the segregated pool. They claim it’s for repairs, but Glory isn’t convinced.
Peppermints in the Parlor
Wallace, Barbara Brooks
Orphaned Emily Luccock arrives at her aunt and uncle’s once-happy San Francisco
mansion only to find unimaginable horrors. Emily is desperate to uncover the truth. Time
is running out, and she must find a way to save the people and home she cares so much
about.
The Vandemark Mummy
Voight, Cynthia
When the mummy disappears, twelve-year-old Phineas and his older sister Althea try to
find out why a collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts is the target of thieves.