Summer 2016 Dear Rising Sixth Graders and Families, Congratulations on successfully completing your fifth grade year! We hope you have a wonderful summer. In this letter we have included the English assignment that you should complete before the first day of school. For this year’s summer reading assignment, rising sixth graders will be asked to read three books: ​
one book​
to prepare for sixth grade English and ​
one pair of books​
. Of course, students are encouraged to read more than three books, but these three are required. To prepare for sixth grade English, students will read the novel ​
Saving Zasha ​
by Randi Barrow (ISBN: ​
978­0545206334 and list price $6.99) and write a brief (approximately two pages, typed and double­spaced) response with your reactions to the novel, setting, and characters. Additionally, sixth graders will choose a​
book pair​
from the attached list. Book descriptions, along with recommended grade ranges have been provided. Pairs read over the summer will be discussed with the sponsoring teacher during the summer reading seminar scheduled for September. We encourage parents to read the books with their child and to review their child’s choices upon selection to ensure they are a good fit. On the first full day of school after registration day, please bring your writing assignment and all three books (​
Saving Zasha​
and the book pair you’ve chosen). You do not need to bring these items to registration. Best Wishes, The Sixth Grade Teachers List of Book Pairs (choose one pair): Historical Fiction/Adventure: Tr. Dan Capecchi The Bamboo Sword​
by Margi Preus ​
(Recommended for grades 5­8) Running Out of Night​
by Sharon Lovejoy ​
(Recommended for grades 4­7) The Bamboo Sword: ​
Set in 1853 in Japan, this novel follows Yoshi, a Japanese boy who dreams of someday becoming a samurai. Unfortunately, as part of the serving class, Yoshi can never become a warrior. He is taken up by Manjiro, the protagonist of Preus’s Heart of a Samurai, and becomes his servant and secret watchdog. Meanwhile, Commodore Matthew Perry and his USS Susquehanna squadron of steamships arrive in Edo Bay demanding “diplomatically” that Japan open its ports to foreign trade. Aboard the commodore’s flagship is a cabin boy, Jack, who becomes separated from his American companions while on shore. When he and Yoshi cross paths, they set out on a grand adventure to get Jack back to his ship before he is discovered by the shogun’s samurai. Running Out of Night: ​
Every day is a misery for a nameless, motherless Southern girl who is treated cruelly by her pa and brothers. Her life changes forever when a runaway slave named Zenobia turns to her for help and shelter. Longing for her own freedom, the girl decides to run away, and she and Zenobia set off on a harrowing journey. LGBTQIA pair: Tr. Fred Kogan Lily and Dunkin​
​
by Donna Gephart ​
(Recommended for grades 5 and up) George​
by Alex Gino ​
(Recommended for grades 4­6) Lily and Dunkin: ​
Author Donna Gephart crafts a compelling dual narrative about two remarkable young people: Lily, a transgender girl, and Dunkin, a boy dealing with bipolar disorder. Their powerful story will shred your heart, then stitch it back together with kindness, humor, bravery, and love. George: ​
Be who you are. When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. ​
With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte ­­ but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all. Funny/heist stories: Tr. Daniel Consiglio The Great Greene Heist ​
by Varian Johnson ​
(Recommended for grades 5­8) To Catch a Cheat​
by Varian Johnson ​
(Recommended for grades 5­9) The Great Greene Heist: ​
Jackson Greene swears he's given up scheming. Then school bully Keith Sinclair announces he's running for Student Council president, against Jackson's former friend Gaby de la Cruz. Gaby wants Jackson to stay out of it ­­ but he knows Keith has "connections" to the principal, which could win him the presidency no matter the vote count. So Jackson assembles a crack team: Hashemi Larijani, tech genius. Victor Cho, bankroll. Megan Feldman, science goddess. Charlie de la Cruz, reporter. Together they devise a plan that will take down Keith, win Gaby's respect, and make sure the election is done right. If they can pull it off, it will be remembered as the school's greatest con ever. To Catch a Cheat: ​
Jackson Greene is riding high. He is officially retired from conning, so Principal Kelsey is (mostly) off his back. His friends have great new projects of their own. And he's been hanging out a lot with Gaby de la Cruz, so he thinks maybe, just maybe, they'll soon have their first kiss. Then Jackson receives a link to a faked security video that seems to show him and the rest of Gang Greene flooding the school gym. The jerks behind the video threaten to pass it to the principal ­­ unless Jackson steals an advance copy of the school's toughest exam. Historical Fiction: Tr. Steph Demko Number the Stars​
by Lois Lowry ​
(Recommended for grades 4­7) A Night Divided ​
by Jennifer Nielsen ​
(Recommended for grades 5­8) Number the Stars: ​
As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family. Through the eyes of ten­year­old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war. A Night Divided: ​
With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve­year­old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city. Funny Middle School: Tr. Maureen Haurin The Last Boy at St. Edith’s​
by Lee Malone ​
(Recommended for grades 4­7) My Seventh Grade Life in Tights​
by Brooks Benjamin ​
(Recommended for grades 4­7) The Last Boy at St. Edith’s: ​
Seventh grader Jeremy Miner has a girl problem. Or, more accurately, a girls problem. 475 of them to be exact. That’s how many girls attend his school, St. Edith’s Academy. Jeremy is the only boy left after the school’s brief experiment in co­education. And he needs to get out. But his mother—a teacher at the school—won’t let him transfer, so Jeremy takes matters into his own hands: he’s going to get expelled. Together with his best friend Claudia, Jeremy unleashes a series of hilarious pranks in hopes that he’ll get kicked out with minimal damage to his permanent record. But when his stunts start to backfire, Jeremy has to decide how far he’s willing to go and whom he’s willing to knock down to get out the door. My Seventh Grade Life in Tights: ​
All Dillon wants is to be a real dancer. And if he wins a summer scholarship at Dance­Splosion, he’s on his way. The problem? His dad wants him to play football. And Dillon’s freestyle crew, the Dizzee Freekz, says that dance studios are for sellouts. His friends want Dillon to kill it at the audition—so he can turn around and tell the studio just how wrong their rules and creativity­strangling ways are. Historical fiction & nonfiction WWII: Tr. Chris Jefferson The War That Saved My Life​
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley ​
(Recommended for grades 4­6) The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Adaptation): The True Story of an American Team's Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics ​
by Daniel James Brown ​
(Recommended for grades 4­7) The War That Saved My Life: ​
Nine­year­old Ada has never left her one­room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother? The Boys in the Boat: ​
Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working­class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant. With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight­oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler. Middle Grade family and friend stories: Tr. Laurie Morrison Where You’ll Find Me ​
by Natasha Friend ​
(Recommended for grades 6­9) Blackbird Fly ​
by Erin Entrada Kelly ​
(Recommended for grades 5­8) Where You’ll Find Me: ​
The first month of school, thirteen­year­old Anna Collette finds herself... DUMPED by her best friend Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade "hanging out with different people." DESERTED by her mom, who's in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. TRAPPED in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride. STUCK at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with. But what if all isn't lost? What if Anna's mom didn't exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna's stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn't such a bad fit after all? With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl­band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay. Blackbird Fly: ​
A​
pple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming “too American.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything about her life starts to seem weird and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. If she can just save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, maybe she can change herself. It might be the music that saves her . . . or it might be her two new friends, who show her how special she really is. Overcoming adversity, youth in war­torn areas: Tr. Anne Wentling Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War ​
(CitizenKid) by Michel Chikwanine (Recommended for grades 6 and up) I am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World ​
(Young Readers Edition) by Malala Yousafzai ​
(Recommended for grades 6 and up) Child Soldier:​
Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his schoolyard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a soldier for a brutal rebel militia. Against the odds, Michel managed to escape and find his way back to his family, but he was never the same again. After immigrating to Canada, Michel was encouraged by a teacher to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world, and this book is part of that effort. I am Malala: ​
Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school. Raised in a once­peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: She was shot point­blank while riding the bus on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. Verse Novels: Tr. Amanda ​
Brandon Booked​
by Kwame Alexander ​
(Recommended for grades 6­10) Out of the Dust​
Karen Hesse ​
(Recommended for grades 5­7) Booked:​
​
Soccer, family, love, and friendship, take center stage as twelve­year­old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes teammate Coby, and The Mac, a rapping librarian who gives Nick inspiring books to read. Out of the Dust:​
This gripping story, written in sparse first­person, free­verse poems, is the compelling tale of Billie Jo's struggle to survive during the dust bowl years of the Depression. With stoic courage, she learns to cope with the loss of her mother and her grieving father's slow deterioration. There is hope at the end when Billie Jo's badly burned hands are healed, and she is able to play her beloved piano again. Fantasy/Adventure/SciFi: Tr. Herb Kerns Walk on Earth a Stranger​
by Rae Carson ​
(Recommended for grade 6 and up) Seven Wonders Book 1: The Colossus Rises​
by Peter Lerangis ​
(Recommended for grades 5­9) Walk on Earth a Stranger:​
​
Lee Westfall has a secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her. Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home—until everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else could such a magical girl find herself, find safety? The Colossus Rises:​
​
Percy Jackson meets Indiana Jones in the New York Times bestselling epic adventure Seven Wonders!The Colossus Rises is the first book in a seven­book series. This first installment chronicles the story of Jack McKinley, an ordinary kid with an extraordinary problem. In a few months, he’s going to die—unless he finds seven magic Loculi that have been hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Fantasy: Tr. Heather Gosse The Broken Lands​
by Kate Milford ​
(Recommended for grades 8 and up) The Boneshaker​
by Kate Milford ​
(Recommended for grades 6­8) The Broken Lands:​
​
A crossroads can be a place of great power. So begins this deliciously spine­tingling prequel to Kate Milford’s The Boneshaker, set in the colorful world of nineteenth­century Coney Island and New York City. Few crossroads compare to the one being formed by the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River, and as the bridge’s construction progresses, forces of unimaginable evil seek to bend that power to their advantage. Only two orphans with unusual skills stand in their way. Can the teenagers Sam, a card sharp, and Jin, a fireworks expert, stop them before it’s too late? Here is a richly textured, slow­burning thriller about friendship, courage, and the age­old fight between good and evil. The Boneshaker: ​
Thirteen­year­old Natalie Minks loves machines, particularly automata—self­operating mechanical devices, usually powered by clockwork. When Jake Limberleg and his traveling medicine show arrive in her small Missouri town with a mysterious vehicle under a tarp and an uncanny ability to make Natalie’s half­built automaton move, she feels in her gut that something about this caravan of healers is a bit off. Her uneasiness leads her to investigate the intricate maze of the medicine show, where she discovers a horrible truth and realizes that only she has the power to set things right. Set in 1914, ​
The Boneshaker ​
is a gripping, richly textured novel about family, community, courage, and looking evil directly in the face in order to conquer it. Middle Grade family and friend stories: Tr. Laurie Morrison Where You’ll Find Me ​
by Natasha Friend ​
(Recommended for grades 6­9) Blackbird Fly ​
by Erin Entrada Kelly ​
(Recommended for grades 5­8) Where You’ll Find Me: ​
The first month of school, thirteen­year­old Anna Collette finds herself... DUMPED by her best friend Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade "hanging out with different people." DESERTED by her mom, who's in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. TRAPPED in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride. STUCK at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with. But what if all isn't lost? What if Anna's mom didn't exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna's stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn't such a bad fit after all? With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl­band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay. Blackbird Fly: ​
A​
pple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming “too American.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything about her life starts to seem weird and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. If she can just save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, maybe she can change herself. It might be the music that saves her . . . or it might be her two new friends, who show her how special she really is. *Book descriptions are from the internet and book jackets; specific attributions are not noted.