Littleton Middle School Summer Reading Requirement Grades 6-8
Over the summer we would like to encourage you to read as many books as you have time and
interest to read. Reading is a wonderful way to escape a hot, humid summer afternoon and to travel
anywhere a good author can take you.
Included in this packet are the three grade-level summer reading lists and the “Summer Reading
Literature Response Ideas” list.
Required Reading Assignment:
1. You are required to read AT LEAST TWO BOOKS from your grade level reading list.
2. A total of two different responses are required. You must choose and write one literature
response for each book from the “Summer Reading Literature Response Ideas” list. Do not
choose the same responses for each book. These assignments will be graded.
You may access the summer reading book and response lists by visiting www.littletonps.org.
Remember to learn more about each book title: visit www.lmslibrary.org, click on “What Do I Read
Next?”on the left menu, then click on the Books & Authors icon. Type the title in the search bar and
read the summary. :)
When you return in September, your literature responses will be collected and evaluated. We look
forward to you sharing your summer reading experiences.
6th Grade Summer Reading List - 2015
To learn more about each book title: visit www.lmslibrary.org, click on “What Do I Read Next?” on the left menu, then
click on the Books & Authors icon. Type the title in the search bar and read the summary. :)
Fiction
Series
Alexander, Kwame- The Crossover (Sports/Fiction
in Verse)
Colfer, Eoin- Artemis Fowl Series (Fantasy)
DuPrau, Jeanne- City of Ember Series (Fantasy)
Applet, Kathi- The Underneath (Fantasy/Adventure)
Haddix, Margaret- The Shadow Children Series (Mystery)
Auxler, Jonathan- Peter Nimble and His Fantastic
Eyes (Adventure/Fantasy)
Horowitz, Anthony- Alex Rider Series (Adventure/Mystery)
Burdsall, Anne- The Penderwicks (Realistic Fiction)
Jacques, Brian- Redwall Series (Fantasy)
Buyea, Rob- Because of Mr. Terupt (Realistic
Fiction)
Riordan, Rick- Percy Jackson Series (Fantasy)
Rowling, J.K.- Harry Potter Series (Fantasy)
Clements, Andrew- Room One (Mystery)
Draper, Sharon- Out of My Mind (Realistic Fiction)
Non-fiction
Funke, Cornelia- The Thief Lord or Inkheart
(Fantasy/Adventure)
Bell, Cece- El Deafo
Blumenthal, Karen- Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
Goldblatt, Mark- Twerp (Realistic Fiction)
Colman, Penny- Rosie the Riveter
Hiaasen, Carl- Chomp (Realistic Fiction)
Fleischman, Sid- Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini
House, Silas, and Neela Vaswani- Same Sun Here
(Realistic Fiction)
Flowers, Pam- Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman’s Epic Journey by Dog
Team
Korman, Gordon- No More Dead Dogs (Humor)
Freedman, Russell- Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass
Levine, Gail- Ella Enchanted (Fantasy)
Helfer, Ralph- Mosey: the Remarkable Friendship of a Boy and his Elephant
Lloyd, Natalie- A Snicker of Magic (Fantasy)
Kidd, C.- Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design
Lord, Cynthia- Rules (Realistic Fiction)
Murphy, Jim- Blizzard!
Lupica, Mike- Summer Ball (Sports Fiction)
Niemark, Anne- Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkein
O’Connor, Barbara- How to Steal a Dog (Realistic
Fiction)
Woodson, Jacqueline- Brown Girl Dreaming
Senzai, N.H.- Shooting Kabul (Historical/Realistic
Fiction)
Yousafzai, Malala- I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and
Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
Stead, Rebecca- Liar and Spy (Mystery)
Williams-Garcia, Rita- One Crazy Summer
(Historical/Realistic Fiction)
7th Grade Summer Reading List - 2015
To learn more about each book title: visit www.lmslibrary.org, click on “What Do I Read Next?” on the left menu, then
click on the Books & Authors icon. Type the title in the search bar and read the summary. :)
Fiction
Series
Alexander, Kwame- The Crossover (Sports/Fiction in
Verse)
Colfer, Eoin- Artemis Fowl Series (Fantasy)
Collins, Suzanne- The Hunger Games Series (Science Fiction)
Avi- The Man Who Was Poe (Mystery)
DuPrau, Jeanne- City of Ember Series (Fantasy)
Bauer, Joan- Hope Was Here (Realistic Fiction)
Haddix, Margaret- The Missing Collection (Mystery)
Bauer, Joan- Squashed (Realistic Fiction)
Paolini, Christopher- Eragaon Series (Fantasy)
Farmer, Nancy- A Girl Named Disaster
(Adventure/Fiction)
Scott, Michael- Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series
(Fantasy)
Funke, Cornelia- The Thief Lord or Inkheart
(Fantasy/Adventure)
Non-fiction
Green, Tim- Baseball Great (Sports Fiction)
Bell, Cece- El Deafo
Hesse, Karen- Out of the Dust (Historical Fiction)
Blumenthal, Karen- Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
Hobbs, Will- Leaving Protection (Suspense/Adventure)
Colman, Penny- Rosie the Riveter
Howe, James- Misfits (Realistic Fiction)
Filipovic, Zlata- Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo
Lupica, Mike- Travel Team (Sports Fiction)
Fleischman, Sid- Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini
McCughrean, Geraldine- The Kite Rider (Historical
Fiction)
Freedman, Russell- Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass
Kidd, Chip- Go:A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design
Myers, Walter Dean- Slam! (Sports Fiction)
Myers, Walter Dean- The Greatest: Muhammed Ali
Rinaldi, Ann- A Break with Charity: A Story About the
Salem Witch Trials (Historical Fiction)
Schmidt, Gary- Wednesday Wars (Realistic Fiction)
Niemark, Anne- Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkein
Paulsen, Gary- How Angel Patterson Got His Name and Other
Outrageous Tales About Extreme Sports
Sleator, William- Duplicate (Science Fiction)
Woodson, Jacqueline- Brown Girl Dreaming
Sleator, William- Interstellar Pig (Science Fiction)
Stead, Rebecca- When You Reach Me (Fantasy)
Spinelli, Jerry- Crash (Realistic Fiction)
Van Draanen, Wendelin- Flipped (Realistic Fiction)
Voight, Cynthia- Homecoming (Realistic Fiction)
Yousafzai, Malala- I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for
Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
8th Grade Summer Reading List - 2015
To learn more about each book title: visit www.lmslibrary.org, click on “What Do I Read Next?” on the left menu, then
click on the Books & Authors icon. Type the title in the search bar and read the summary. :)
Fiction
Series
Alexander, Kwame- The Crossover (Sports/Fiction in
Verse)
Dashner, James- The Maze Runner Trilogy (Science Fiction)
Lowry, Lois- The Giver Quartet (except The Giver) (Fantasy)
Campbell, Susan- The Boy Who Dared (Historical
Fiction)
Cormier, Robert- The Chocolate War (Realistic
Fiction)
Pullman, Philip- His Dark Materials Series (Fantasy)
Roth, Veronica- Divergent Series (Sci. Fiction)
Scott, Michael- Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series (Fantasy)
Crutcher, Chris- Whale Talk (Realistic Fiction)
Non-fiction
Farmer, Nancy- The House of the Scorpion (Science
Fiction)
Aronson, Marc- Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery,
Freedom and Science
Feinstein, John- The Walk On (Sports Fiction)
Barakat, Ibtisam- Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
Gratz, Alan- Samurai Shortstop (Historical Fiction)
Bartoletti, Susan- Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow
Lasky, Kathryn- True North (Historical Fiction)
Bell, Cece- El Deafo
Lupica, Mike- Heat (Sports Fiction)
Blumenthal, Karen- Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
Mackel, Catherine- Boost (Sports Fiction)
Maguire, Gregory- Egg & Spoon (Fantasy)
Hillenbrand, Laura- Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian’s
Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive
McMann, Lisa- The Unwanteds (Fantasy)
Levine, Karen- Hana’s Suitcase: A True Story
Murdoch, Catherine- Dairy Queen (Realistic Fiction)
Murphy, Jim- An American Plague
Mussi, Sarah- The Door of No Return (Historical
Fiction)
Myers, Walter D- The Greatest: Muhammed Ali
Niemark, Anne- Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkein
Napoli, Donna Jo- Bound (Historical Fiction)
Van Wagenen, Maya- Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
Park, Linda Sue- A Long Walk to Water (Realistic
Fiction)
Perkins, Mitali- The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of
Sunita Sen (Realistic Fiction)
Schmidt, Gary- Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
(Historical Fiction)
White, T.H.- The Once and Future King (Fantasy)
Zusak, Markus- The Book Thief (Historical Fiction)
Yousafzai, Malala- I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and
Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
Summer Reading Literature Response Ideas Grades 6-8
The Book and I: Sometimes a book makes you remember a time when something happened to you in the
same way it happened to a character you’re reading about. Select a character that has had a problem
similar to one you have had. In one paragraph, explain the problem and tell how the character solved it. In a
second paragraph, restate the problem and then tell how you solved it. Be sure to add details that tell who,
what, when, where, how, and why.
Characters: Select one character that intrigues you and think of three adjectives (traits/qualities) that
reveal his or her personality. For each of these qualities write a paragraph using evidence/examples that
support your points.
Feelings: Sometimes a book may be funny, sad, scary, serious, exciting, etc. Choose a feeling or emotion
you experienced when you were reading the book. Then in a paragraph for each, tell about at least three
places in the book where the author made you feel that emotion. (Be sure to include the page number
where each of these occurred.) Explain what was happening and why the event affected you emotionally.
Support your response with a quote from the text. (Remember: use quotation marks around the text you are
using as evidence.)
Compare/Contrast: A reader can tell how two things are alike and/or different. Some ideas to compare or
contrast are: two characters, two books, yourself and a character, a book and a movie, a character from
one book and a character from another book. Give at least three examples of any two things that share
similarities and differences. Be sure to cite the book by using direct quotes and corresponding page
numbers.
Everyone’s a Critic: Having read a book, readers will often be critical of some part and wish the author had
written it differently. Select a part/section of a book you read and tell what the author wrote, explain why
you felt it should be changed, and then share how you would have written it. (Be sure to cite the title and
author and to use quotes from the book to prove your point.
Suspense: Authors create suspense so readers will keep turning the pages to find out what will happen next.
Give at least three examples, using direct quotations with corresponding page numbers, of three suspenseful
parts of the book and explain why it was suspenseful.
Book Jacket: Create a book jacket with the title, author, your name, and an illustration on the front, and
an ORIGINAL, intriguing synopsis (summary) of the book on the inside back cover. The summary should be at
least eight sentences. On the inside front cover, put a quotation from the book meant to spark interest and
rate the book using stars*** and explained in one sentence.
Live Reporting: Be a TV reporter and give an oral report of a scene from the book as if it was happening
live. Write a two-paragraph script and have someone record you reporting the news. You may get your
friends involved in the video.