2016-2017
7thGradeSummerReading
Allstudentswillread2booksthissummer,andsubmit2bookreports.Thebookreportformat
forbothbookreportsislistedbelow.
ThebookreportsaredueAugust16,2016.Youmayprintthemoutorwritethembyhand,in
ink.
AllstudentswillreadTheSeventhMostImportantThingbyShelleyPearsall.
Allstudentsshouldalsoreadabookfromthelistthatisa=ached.
BookReport
Bookreportsmusthaveacoverpagewhichwillincludethefollowing:Ftleofbook,author,your
name,andthedate.Remember,Ftlesofbooksarealwaysunderlined.
BookreportswillbewriJenina5paragraphformat.Pleasewriteincompletesentences,andusethe
followingoutlinetoorganizeyourthoughts:
I.
Introduc@on(5-7sentences)
a. Introducenovel–@tleandauthor
b. Describethe@meandse#ng(Doesittakeplaceinpresent@me?Isitsetinthefuture?
Thepast?WhatimagesdoestheseLngcreate?)
c. Thesis–whatwilltheotherparagraphsbeabout?(DONOTwrite,“Inthisbookreport,I
willbetalkingabout…)
II.
BodyParagraph(11sentences)
a. Iden@fyandexplainthepointofviewfromwhichthestoryiswri=en
b. Describetheprotagonistofthenovel-Whatisthemaincharacterlike?Howwouldyou
describethemaincharacter?
c. Iden@fytheantagonist–howdoesthischaracteropposetheprotagonist?Howwould
youdescribetheantagonist?
III.
BodyParagraph(11sentences)
a. Whatistheconflictofthenovel?Iden@fyandexplaintheexternalconflict(outside
force)ANDinternalconflict(charactervs.self).
b. Explaintheclimaxofthestory–Whydoesthisparthavethemostexcitementor
tension?Explainindetail.
c. Howisthisconflictresolved?
IV.
BodyParagraph(11sentences)
a. Iden@fyandexplainexamplesofSymbolism(anobjectthatrepresentsalargeridea)
b. Iden@fyandexplainexamplesofIrony(acharactersaysonething,butdoesthe
opposite,oryouthinkascenewillendonewaybutthecompleteoppositehappens)
c. Howdothesesymbolsandexamplesofironyaffectthenovel?Dotheymakeitmore
interes@ng?Moreexci@ng?Moreconfusing?
V.
Conclusion(3-5sentences)
a. Sumupmainpoints
b. Didyouenjoyreadingthisbook?Wouldyourecommendittoafriendorclassmate?
c. Finalthought/reflec@on
Bookreportswillbegradedusingarubric/checksheetthatwillrateeachindividualelement.Report
presentaFon,analysisofnovel,useofhighlevelvocabulary,grammar,spellingandmechanicswillalso
begradedaccordingly.
1. Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 352
Stella lives in the segregated South—in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact
about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can’t. Some folks are
right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck,
the Klan hasn’t bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should
ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see
something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of
change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As
Stella’s community—her world—is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire.
And she learns that ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.
2.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper Genre: Coming of Age Pages: 304
Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory;
she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than
most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated
classroom—the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she
cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she’s
determined to let everyone know it…somehow.
3. Scumble by Ingrid Law Genre: Fantasy Pages: 432
It's nine years after Savvy, and Mibs' cousin Ledge is on the verge of turning thirteen. More
than anything, he wants the power to run like the wind. But when his birthday comes, he
discovers that his savvy is actually making things fall apart. It starts out with small things, but
then it gets worse. To top it all off, someone outside the family has witnessed his destruction.
Now, in addition to trying to figure out how to control - or scumble - his savvy, he's got to worry
about how to protect the family secrets. Over the course of one amazing summer, Ledge
learns a lot about himself and his family, makes a new - and very unlikely - friend, and learns
to appreciate his newfound skills.
4. The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis Genre: Fantasy Pages: 256
On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to
escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible
battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.
5. Tesla’s Attic by Neal Shusterman Genre: Science Fiction Pages: 272
After their home burns down, fourteen-year-old Nick, his younger brother, and their father
move into a ramshackle Victorian house they've inherited. When Nick opens the door to his
attic room, he's hit in the head by a toaster. That's just the beginning of his weird experiences
with the old junk stored up there. After getting rid of the odd antiques in a garage sale, Nick
befriends some local kids-Mitch, Caitlin, and Vincent-and they discover that all of the objects
have extraordinary properties. What's more, Nick figures out that the attic is a strange
magnetic vortex, which attracts all sorts of trouble. It's as if the attic itself has an
intelligence . . . and a purpose.
6. The Only Game by Mike Lupica Genre: Fiction/Sports Pages: 336
Jack Callahan is the star of his baseball team and seventh grade is supposed to be his year.
Undefeated season. Records shattered. Little League World Series. The works. That is, until
he up and quits.
Jack’s best friend Gus can’t understand how Jack could leave a game that means more to
them than anything else. But Jack is done. It’s a year of change. Jack’s brother has passed
away, and though his family and friends and the whole town of Walton thinks baseball is just
the thing he needs to move on, Jack feels it’s anything but.
In comes Cassie Bennett, star softball player, and the only person who seems to think Jack
shouldn’t play if he doesn’t want to. As Jack and Cassie’s friendship deepens, their circle
expands to include Teddy, a guy who’s been bullied because of his weight.
7. Legend by Marie Lu Genre: Dystopian Pages: 352
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually
at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts,
fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military
circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his
motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's
brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate
game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge
Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really
brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
8.
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage Genre: Realistic Fiction/Mystery
Pages: 336 Newbery Honor Winner
Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where
everyone's business is fair game and no secret is sacred. She washed ashore in a hurricane
eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to
find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a
forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those
she loves with every bit of her strong will and tough attitude. So when a lawman comes to
town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to
uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known.
Prisoner B-3087 by Ruth and Jack Gruener Genre: Historical Fiction Pages:
272
9.
10 concentration camps.
10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly.
It's something no one could imagine surviving.
But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.
As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over.
Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then
Yanek himself is taken prisoner -- his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087.
He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all
around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising
glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again
seconds later.
Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will -- and, most of all, his
sense of who he really is inside?
Based on an astonishing true story.
10. The President Has Been Shot!!: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by
James L. Swanson Genre: Non-Fiction Pages: 336
In his new young-adult book on the Kennedy assassination, James Swanson will transport
readers back to one of the most shocking, sad, and terrifying events in American history. As
he did in his bestselling Scholastic YA book, CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER, Swanson will
deploy his signature "you are there" style -- a riveting, ticking-clock pace, with an
unprecedented eye for dramatic details and impeccable historical accuracy -- to tell the story
of the JFK assassination as it has never been told before.