2016 Shepaug Summer Reading
GRADES 6 - 8
Requirements
Where can I find these books?
Breakaway
Memoir
Discussion Leaders:
Mrs. Ermini
Get inspired to be your best in sports and in life with this uplifting memoir from star soccer player and Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan. From her beginnings with the American Youth Soccer Organization to her key role in the 2015 Women's World Cup, Alex shares the details that made her who she is today: a fantastic role model and athlete who proudly rocks a pink headband.
Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive
Narrative Nonfiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. DeBrito
Hillenbrand tells the gripping true story of a U.S. airman who was the soul surviver when his bomber crashed into the sea during World War II. Lt. Louis Zamperini had to face thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and capture by the Japanese.
Mockingbird: (mok'ing-burd)
Realistic Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Ms. Bookis
Caitlin has Asperger's. After her older brother, Devon, is killed in a school shooting, Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure--and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be so black and white after all.
Orbiting Jupiter
Realistic Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Weik
Jack, 12, tells the gripping story of Joseph, 14, who joins his family as a foster child. Damaged in prison, Joseph wants nothing more than to find his baby daughter, Jupiter, whom he has never seen. When Joseph has begun to believe he’ll have a future, he is confronted by demons from his past that force a tragic sacrifice.
The Thing About Jellyfish
Ali Benjamin
Realistic Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Barksdale
Twelve-year-old Suzy Swanson wades through her intense grief over the loss of her best friend by investigating the rare jellyfish she is convinced was responsible for her friend's death. Suzy's journey explores life, death, and the astonishing wonder of the universe.
More info.Under a Painted Sky
Stacey Lee
Historical FictionDiscussion Leader:
Mrs. Carnes
In 1845 Missouri, Sammy, a Chinese girl, and Annamae, a runaway slave girl, disguise themselves as boys and travel on the Oregon Trail to California, facing countless dangers together and forging an unforgettable bond of friendship.
The Blackthorn Key
Mystery
Discussion Leader:
Ms. Holst-Grubbe
In 1665 London, fourteen-year-old Christopher Rowe, apprentice to an apothecary, and his best friend, Tom, try to uncover the truth behind a mysterious cult, following a trail of puzzles, codes, pranks, and danger toward an unearthly secret with the power to tear the world apart.
Goodbye Stranger
Rebecca Stead
Realistic FictionDiscussion Leader:
Ms. Shea
The Hired Girl
Historical Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Carignan
Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself.
Echo
Pam Munoz Ryan
Historical Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Hurley
Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny in the darkest days of the twentieth century, struggling to keep their families intact, and tied together by the music of the same harmonica.
The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Adaptation): Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Daniel James Brown
NonfictionDiscussion Leader:
Mr. McManus
Here is the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West 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 eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams at the 1936 Olympics, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler.
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1: The Sword of Summer
Fantasy
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Youngblood
Living on the streets of Boston after the death of his mother, Magnus is told by a mysterious stranger that he is the son of a Norse god and must track down a lost ancient sword to stop a war being waged by mythical monsters.
Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading
Humor
Discussion Leader:
Charlie Joe Jackson may be the most reluctant reader ever born. And so far, he's managed to get through life without ever reading an entire book from cover to cover. But now that he's in middle school, avoiding reading isn't as easy as it used to be.
How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous
Nonfiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Schuck
"The most reluctant of readers will find it difficult to resist this consistently disgusting chronicle of the gruesome deaths of 19 famous people." ―BCCB
The War that Saved My Life
Historical Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Nicholas and Mrs. Erickson
Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room 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.
Fast Break
Sports Fiction
Discussion Leader:
Mr. Scarola
Since his mother's death, Jayson, twelve, has focused on basketball and surviving but he is found out and placed with an affluent foster family of a different race, and must learn to accept many changes, including facing his former teammates in a championship game.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Illustrated Novel
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Shugrue
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy.
Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat
Humor
Discussion Leader:
Mrs. Dougherty
It seemed like a normal school day, until a horrible storm forced the very cautious school administration to make everyone hole up in a safe place. Six students find themselves stuck in a tiny, questionably smelly space—a school bathroom—with a stuffed cat for entertainment. Hijinks ensue and the unexpected happens. They enter as strangers…and leave as friends.
Shepaug Valley School Library
Email: templej@region-12.org
Website: svslibrary.region-12.org
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