SUMMER  READING  2012  

Public  Schools  of  Brookline,  Massachuse5s  

Entering  7-­‐8  

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students, Creating a school-wide culture of reading has always been a priority for the teachers, librarians, and literacy specialists in the Brookline Public Schools. In each school that culture is built and nurtured in myriad ways—through the study of literary elements, read-alouds, book talks, literature circles, genre studies, author visits, evening parent/child book events, independent reading projects, participation in Massachusetts Book Awards and summer reading. Summer is a perfect time to find books to read for pleasure. This list is a starting point to help you select books that match your interests and includes a variety of titles across many genres, levels, and lengths. Students are encouraged to read at least 5 or 6 books. Our goal is to develop readers who not only can read, but who choose to read for enjoyment. Summer reading is also a great opportunity to hone your reading skills and maintain your fluency. According to a recent report from John Hopkins University’s Center for Summer Learning children who do not read over the summer actually lose ground in reading proficiency. The report concludes that the effect of reading four or five books during the summer is large enough to prevent a decline in reading scores from spring to fall. In addition to this list, Brookline’s public libraries and bookstores offer a wealth of titles and suggestions to help you find just the right book for your enjoyment. Explore. Read. Enjoy, Brookline K-8 School Librarians Deb Abner, Lincoln School Rusty Browder, Lawrence School Colleen Carney, Heath School Paula Ewenstein, Baker School Teresa Gallo-Toth, Runkle School Amanda Kretschmar, Pierce School Christine McDonnell, Devotion School Amy Neale, Driscoll School Scott Moore, Director of Educational Technology and Libraries.

Downloadable copies of the list are available at http://brooklinesummerreading.weebly.com/

The Public Schools of Brookline, Massachusetts

Educational Technology and Library Department

Scott Moore, Director

Cover Graphic: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / mkoudis!

Entering 7 – 8 Hot Off the Presses: New and Noteworthy Bowers, Richard. Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the ** Bowers presents a group of interconnected stories that come together in the 1947 collision of the Superman Radio Show and the Ku Klux Klan, following the two Cleveland teenagers who invented Superman as a defender of the powerless, the people who made Superman a media sensation, and the club that spread fear and hate. Frost, Helen. Hidden * When fourteen-year-olds Wren and Darra meet at a Michigan summer camp, both are overwhelmed by memories from six years earlier when Darra's father stole a car, unaware that Wren was hiding in the back. Mccall, Guadalupe Garcia. Under the Mesquite ** In this young adult novel in verse, Lupita, a budding actor and poet, learns Mami has cancer. She is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican-American family. Suddenly, being a high school student, starring in a play, and dealing with friends who don't always understand, become less important than doing whatever she can to save Mami's life. Schmidt, Gary. Okay for Now ** As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has everything stacked against him. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer. In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Schmatz, Pat. Bluefish ** Thirteen-year-old Travis, living in cramped quarters with his alcoholic grandfather, longs for his old life in the country, and struggles in school to hide the fact that he cannot read, but a persistent teacher and a special girl open his eyes to a new world. Schanzer, Rosalyn. Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem. ** The riveting, true story of the victims, accused witches, crooked officials, and mass hysteria that turned a mysterious illness affecting two children into a witch hunt that took over a dozen people’s lives and ruined hundreds more unfolds in chilling detail in this young adult book by award-winning author and illustrator Rosalyn Schanzer. Sheinkin, Steve. Notorious Benedict Arnold *** Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America’s first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. This accessible biography introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale.

Silvey, Craig. Jasper Jones *** Charlie Bucktin, a bookish thirteen year old, is startled one summer night when Jasper Jones, an outcast in their small Australian mining town, comes to ask for Charlie's help. Charlie follows him into the night where Charlie witnesses Jasper's horrible discovery. In the simmering summer where everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart. Sonnenblick, Jordan. Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip ** Meet Peter Friedman, high school freshman, yalented photographer, and former baseball star. When a freakish injury ends his pitching career, Peter has some major things to figure out. Is there life after sports? Volponi, Paul. Final Four ** Four players at the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament struggle with the pressures of tournament play and the expectations of society at large. Take a Look: Picture Books for Older Readers Brosgol, Vera. Anya's Ghost * Anya, embarrassed by her Russian immigrant family and self-conscious about her body, has given up on fitting in at school but falling down a well and making friends with the ghost there just may be worse. Hicks, Faith Erin. Friends with Boys * After an idyllic childhood of homeschooling with her mother and three older brothers, Maggie enrolls in public high school, where interacting with her peers is complicated by the melancholy ghost that has followed her throughout her entire life. Hinds, Gareth. Odyssey *** In graphic novel format, Homer's epic tale of Odysseus is retold, the ancient Greek hero who encounters witches and other obstacles on his journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. Tennapel, Doug. Ghostopolis * Garth Hale, accidentally zapped into the ghost world by ghost wrangler Frank Gallows, teams up with Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, in an effort to save him from the evil ruler of Ghostopolis and get him back home again. Too Good To Miss: Classics Picture Books for Older Readers Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ** Young Francie Nolan, having inherited both her father's romantic and her mother's practical nature, struggles to survive and thrive growing up in the slums of Brooklyn in the early twentieth century.

Entering 7 – 8 Austen, Jane. Emma *** A novel of Regency England that centers upon a self-assured young lady who is determined to arrange her life and the lives of those around her into a pattern dictated by her romantic fancy. Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers (series) *** The journal of a Jewish girl in her early teens describing both the joys and torments of daily life, as well as typical adolescent thoughts, throughout two years spent in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Frank, Anne. Diary of a Young Girl *** In 1942, in Nazi-occupied Holland, thirteen-year-old Anne and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding to avoid being captured. For the next two years, they lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. Herbert, Frank. Dune *** Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream. Martel, Yann. The Life of Pi *** Pi Patel, a young man from India, tells how he was shipwrecked and stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 227 days. This outlandish story is only the core of a deceptively complex three-part novel about, ultimately, memory as a narrative and about how we choose truths. Taylor, Mildred. The Land (series) ** The prequel to Newbery Medal winner, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, begins the saga of the Logan family and depicts the cruel racism in the Deep South during and after the Civil War. Get Real: Nonfiction Bragg, Georgia. How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous * This fascinating collection of remarkable deaths relays all the gory details of how 19 world figures gave up the ghost, including King Tut, Julius Caesar, George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry VIII. Kettlewell, Caroline. Electric Dreams *** This book recounts the true story of a group of rural North Carolina high school students who entered a high-tech contest and, against all odds, build an award-winning electric car. Meserole, Mike. The Great Escape ** Spring, 1943; Stalag Luft III, Germany: every prisoner in the Nazi camps had one thought in mind—to get out.

Nelson, Pete. Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the U.S.S. Indianapolis ** This story explains how the research of 11-year-old Hunter Scott uncovered the truth behind a historic WWII naval disaster aboard the USS Indianapolis which led to the reversal of the wrongful court martial of the ship's captain. Preston, Richard. Hot Zone *** This is the dramatic, hair-raising, and chilling story of an Ebola virus outbreak in a suburban Washington, D.C. laboratory, with descriptions of frightening historical epidemics of rare and lethal viruses. Paulson, Gary. Guts * Paulsen relates the nature lore and autobiographical incidents behind the wilderness survival scenario of Hatchet and many of his other popular books. Simpson, Joe. Touching the Void *** Joe Simpson shares the story of his miraculous survival after he was injured while climbing in the Andes in 1985 and left for dead by his partner. Stone, Tanya Lee. Almost Astronauts ** “Space gals. Astronettes. Astrodolls...Who do these women think they are?” The media mocked them. Male astronauts did not want them, and neither did then vice-president Lyndon Johnson. Nearly 20 years before the U.S. officially admitted women into the astronaut program, 13 women, known as the Mercury 13, fought for the right to soar into space. This photo-essay tells their story. It Could Happen: Realistic Fiction Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous * Foster has a big secret; she can't read. With the help of a retried movie star, she overcomes her struggles and wins over hearts with her exceptional baked goods. Berk, Josh. The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin ** Having left a school for the deaf, Will survives at his first public school with a lot of lip-reading, texting, and the friendship of another social outcast, Devon Smiley. Together, the two students investigate the mystery surrounding the death of a classmate while on a field trip. Budhos, Marina. Tell Us We're Home ** Three immigrant girls from different parts of the world meet and become close friends in a small New Jersey town where their mothers have found domestic work, but their relationships are tested when one girl's mother is accused of stealing a precious heirloom. Cofer, Judith Ortiz. Call Me Maria * Fifteen-year-old Maria leaves her mother and their Puerto Rican home to live in the barrio of New York with her father, feeling torn between the two cultures in which she has been raised.

Entering 7 – 8 Dessen, Sarah. Keeping the Moon ** Fifteen-year-old Colie, a former fat girl, spends the summer working as a waitress in a beachside restaurant, staying with her overweight and eccentric Aunt Mira, and trying to explore her sense of self. Hinton, S.E. Outsiders ** Ponyboy can count on his brothers and his friends, but not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids who get away with everything, including beating up greasers like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect--until the night someone takes things too far. Kent, Rose. Kimchi and Calamari * After getting caught lying on a school project about who his grandfather was, fourteen-year-old Joseph Calderno is forced to redo the assignment and learns more about his adopted Italian-American family and Korean heritage than he ever thought possible. Mass, Wendy. Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall ** When high school junior Tessa Reynolds falls into a coma after getting hit in the head during gym class, she experiences heaven as the mall where her parents work, and she revisits key events from her life, causing her to reevaluate herself and how she wants to live. Mass, Wendy. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life ** Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless locked box--set aside by his father before his death five years earlier--that purportedly contains the meaning of life. McCormick, Patricia. Purple Heart ** While recuperating in a Baghdad hospital from a traumatic brain injury sustained during the Iraq War, eighteen-year-old soldier Matt Duffy struggles to recall what happened to him and how it relates to his ten-year-old friend, Ali. Mulligan, Andy. Trash ** Fourteen-year-olds Raphael and Gardo team up with a younger boy, Rat, to figure out the mysteries surrounding a bag Raphael finds during their daily life of sorting through trash in a third-world country's dump. Silberberg, Alan. Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze * Loveable thirteen-year-old geek Milo Cruikshank finds reasons for frustration at every turn, from the annoying habits of his neighbors to his futile efforts to get Summer Goodman to realize his existence. The truth is, ever since Milo’s mother died, nothing has gone right. Sonnenblink, Jordan. After Ever After * This sequel to Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie focuses on Jeffrey’s year in eighth grade and his determination to adjust to a learning disability and a physical handicap, as well as changes in his family structure. Sonnes, Sonya. Stop Pretending * In a story based on real events, and told in poems, Sonnes explores what happened and how she reacted when her adored older sister suddenly began screaming and hearing voices in her head, and was ultimately hospitalized.

Life Stories: Biography Bernstein, Richard. A Girl Named Faithful Plum: The True Story of a Dancer from China and How She Achieved Her Dream ** This book tells the true story of Zhongmei Lei, an eleven-year-old girl in 1977 who won one of twelve spots at the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy, and whose determination to remain in the school impressed teachers and students alike. Busby, Maya. The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir *** Father and daughter, Cylin and John Busby, share their memories of the challenges they faced after their family was forced to go into hiding in order to protect themselves from a killer who had already shot John, a police officer, once and was determined to finish the job. Engle, Margarita. The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano ** Juan Francisco Manzano was born in 1797 into the household of wealthy slave-owners in Cuba. He spent his early years at the side of his owner's wife, entertaining her friends. His poetry was his outlet, reflecting the beauty and cruelty of his world. Herriot, James. All Creatures Great and Small *** Take an unforgettable journey through the English countryside and into the homes of its inhabitants--four-legged and otherwise--with the world's best-loved animal doctor. Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin:Twice Toward Justice ** This book presents an account of fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin, an African-American girl who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks, and covers her role in a crucial civil rights case. Kamkwamba, William. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind ** Forced to drop out of school when famine hits his village, which has no electricity or running water, a Malawi boy tinkers with scrap metal and builds a windmill that lights a few bulbs and catches the world's attention. Paulsen, Gary. How Angel Peterson Got His Name * When you grow up in a small town in the north woods, you have to make your own excitement. High spirits, idiocy, and showing off for the girls inspire Gary Paulsen and his friends to attempt a number of wreckless stunts. Out of This World: Fantasy & Science Fiction Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series) ** Seconds before Earth is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway, an earthman is saved by his friend. Together they journey through the galaxy.

Entering 7 – 8 Christopher, John. The White Mountains (series) ** Young Will Parker and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling Tripods, who capture mature human beings and make them docile, obedient servants. Clayton, Emma. The Roar (series) ** In an overpopulated world where all signs of nature have been obliterated and a wall has been erected to keep out plague-ridden animals, twelve-year-old Mika refuses to believe that his twin sister was killed after being abducted, and continues to search for her in spite of the dangers he faces in doing so. Condie, Ally. Matched (series) ** Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her, so when Xander appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate--until Ky Markham's face appears for an instant before the screen fades to black. Croggon, Alison. The Naming: the First Book of Pellinor (series) *** A manuscript from a lost civilization tells the story of sixteen-year-old Maerad, a girl with a growing gift for magic, as she escapes slavery and, with the help of Cadvan, a mysterious traveler, embarks on a dangerous journey to save her world. Dashner, James. The Maze Runner (series) ** Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape. Farmer, Nancy. Sea of Trolls (series) ** After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls. Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron (series) *** Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood but is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Escape seems impossible until Finn meets Claudia, the daughter of the Warden. Hautman, Pete. Rash ** When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat. Nix, Garth. Sabriel (series) *** Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead. Falls, Kat. Dark Life (series) ** Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea. When outlaws attack his homestead, he finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a

girl from Topside, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life. Secrets that threaten to destroy everything. Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life As We Knew It (series) *** Through journal entries, sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Walden, Mark. H.I.V.E. (Higher Institute of Villainous Education) * When they are swept away to a hidden academy for training evil geniuses, Otto, a brilliant orphan; Wing, a sensitive warrior; Laura, a shy computer specialist; and Shelby, an infamous jewel thief, plot to beat the odds and escape. Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies (series) ** Just before their sixteenth birthdays in a futuristic society, when they will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in or never become pretty at all. Wrede, Patricia. Sorcery and Cecelia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot ** In 1817 in England, two young cousins, Cecilia living in the country and Kate in London, write letters to keep each other informed of their exploits, which take a sinister turn when they find themselves confronted by evil wizards. (series) Page-turners: Mystery & Adventure Abrahams, Peter. Down the Rabbit Hole (series) ** Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her home town of Echo Falls. Bedford, Martyn. Flip *** A teenager wakes up inside another boy's body and faces a life-or-death quest to return to his true self or be trapped forever in the wrong existence. Bradley, Alan. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie ** Flavia, an 11-year-old with a chemistry lab, finds a corpse in a cucumber patch and applies the detective skills she learned plotting against her older sisters. Carey, Benedict. The Island of the Unknowns: A Mystery ** When people start vanishing from a godforsaken trailer park next to the Folsom Energy Plant, two eleven-year-olds investigate using mathematical clues that were hastily planted by their friend Mrs. Clarke before she disappeared. Cummings, Priscilla. Red Kayak * Tragedy strikes when a kayak turns over in the Chesapeake Bay. Thirteen year old Brady who is on the rescue team, investigates the cause of the accident and he doesn't like what he finds out.

Entering 7 – 8 Hoobler, Dorothy. The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn (series) * Fourteen-year-old Seikei, a tea merchant's son, dreams of being a samurai, and he gets a chance to prove his worth when, as the only witness to the theft of a priceless ruby intended for the shogun, he is asked to assist the samurai magistrate in solving the crime. Lane, Andrew. Death Cloud: Sherlock Holmes-The Legend Begins ** In 1868, with his army officer father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously "unwell," fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Farnham, where he uncovers his first murder and a diabolical villain. Lee, Y. S. The Agency: A Spy in the House (series) ** Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan and thief Mary Quinn is offered a place at Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls where she is trained to be part of an all-female investigative unit called The Agency. London, Jack. The Call of the Wild ** The adventures of an unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, that is forcibly taken to the Klondike gold fields where he eventually becomes the leader of a wolf pack. Morton-Shaw, Christine. The Hunt for the Seventh ** "Find the Seventh." That whispered phrase haunts Jim in this eerie mystery of death, ghosts, family secrets, and ancient rites and prophecy. Roberts Willo Davis. Twisted Summer * Cici is devastated when she learns that her friend, Brody, is being considered the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl in town and begins her own search to find the real murderer. Sedgwick, Marcus. Revolver * Teenaged Sig Andersson, who lives in an isolated cabin in the Arctic Circle, confronts a stranger who has come to take revenge on Sig's dead father for his actions when the two men knew each other during the Alaska Gold Rush. Werlin, Nancy. Black Mirror ** Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school. Play Ball!: Sports Books Brooks, Bruce. The Moves Make the Man ** This book recounts the extraordinary friendship between Jerome Foxworthy, a top student, loving son, basketball star, and first Black to integrate his southern high school, and Bix, a white athlete facing problems in his life. Bruchac, Joseph. Warriors * As a member of the lacrosse team and of the Iroquois heritage, Jake knows how sacred the game is, but when he moves to a

boarding school and plays for their team, he finds that Coach Scott is feeding untruths to his team about the game. Burg, Ann E. All the Broken Pieces ** Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past. Carlin, John. Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation *** This book describes how the 1995 rugby World Cup helped Nelson Mandela unite the country of South Africa and bring about the end to the country's apartheid and bitter racial tensions. Deuker, Carl. Payback Time *** Student sports reporter Mitch investigates his football coach on suspicion of corruption in order to determine why the best athlete at his high school, Angel, does nothing but stand on the sidelines. D'Orso, Michael. Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska *** Author Michel D'Orso shadows the Fort Yukon Eagles through an Arctic winter of fifty-below-zero temperatures and near-round-the-clock darkness as the Eagles criss-cross Alaska in pursuit of their--and their village's--dream - to win the basketball championship. Feinstein, John. Change-up: Mystery at the World Series (series) ** While covering the World Series, teen reporters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol uncover some inconsistencies in the life story of a popular new pitcher and begin to investigate. Hawk, Tony. Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder * In this autobiography, Tony Hawk shares the stories from his life that have helped him become a skateboarding hero. Kephart, Beth. Undercover ** High school sophomore Elisa is used to observing while going unnoticed except when classmates ask her to write love notes for them, but when she falls for one of those classmates, her life takes an unexpected turn. Lee, Marie. Necessary Roughness ** Sixteen-year-old Korean American Chan moves from Los Angeles to a small town in Minnesota, where he must cope not only with racism on the football team but also with the tensions in his relationship with his strict father. Roberts, Kristi. My Thirteenth Season * Already downhearted due to the loss of her mother and her father's overwhelming grief, thirteen-year-old Fran decides to give up her dream of becoming the first female in professional baseball after a coach attacks her just for being a girl. Van Draanen, Wendelin. The Running Dream ** When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and

Entering 7 – 8 her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again. Way Back When: Historical Fiction Anderson, Laurie Halse. Chains (series) ** At the start of the Revolutionary War, Isabel is sold to a cruel loyalist family, even though she has been promised freedom by her former owner. Soon faced with the choice of working for or against the British, Isabel chooses to work with anyone who can help her. Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy ** The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off. Davis, Tanita. Mare's War ** Teens Octavia and Tali learn about strength, independence, and courage when they are forced to take a car trip with their grandmother, who tells about growing up Black in 1940s Alabama and serving in Europe during World War II as a member of the Women's Army Corps. Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. The Red Umbrella * In 1961 after Castro has come to power in Cuba, fourteen-year-old Lucia and her seven-year-old brother are sent to the United States when her parents fear that the children will be taken away from them as others have been. Fleischman, Paul. Bull Run ** Northerners, Southerners, generals, couriers, dreaming boys, and worried sisters describe the glory, the horror, the thrill, and the disillusionment of the first battle of the Civil War. Hughes, Dean. Soldier Boys ** Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge. Levine, Kristin. Best Bad Luck I Ever Had ** In Moundville, Alabama, in 1917, twelve-year-old Dit hopes the new postmaster will have a son his age, but instead he meets Emma, who is black, and their friendship challenges accepted ways of thinking and leads them to save the life of a condemned man. Myers, Walter Dean. Fallen Angels ** Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam. Paulsen, Gary. Woods Runner * From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, thirteen-year-old Samuel, who is a highly-skilled woodsman, sets out toward New York City to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Indians who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community. Includes historical notes.

Perkins, Mitali. Secret Keeper ** In 1974 when her father leaves New Delhi, India, to seek a job in New York, Ashi, a tomboy at the advanced age of sixteen, feels thwarted in the home of her extended family in Calcutta where she, her mother, and sister must stay, and when her father dies before he can send for them, they must remain with their relatives and observe the old-fashioned traditions that Ashi hates. Preus, Margi. Heart of a Samurai ** It is 1841 a freak storm washes Manjiro and his four fishing companions onto a tiny island far from their Japanese homeland where they are rescued by an American whaling ship. Based on a true story of the first Japanese person to enter the United States. Stuber Barbara. Crossing the Tracks ** In Missouri in 1926, fifteen-year-old Iris Baldwin discovers what family truly means when her father hires her out for the summer as a companion to a country doctor's invalid mother. Weyn, Suzanne. Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic ** In the early twentieth century, four sisters and their widowed mother, a famed spiritualist, travel from New York to London, and as the Titanic conveys them and their acquaintances, journalist W.T. Stead, scientist Nikola Tesla, and industrialist John Jacob Astor, home, Tesla's inventions will either doom or save them all. Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief *** Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer * It is the summer of 1968, and three black sisters from Brooklyn are put on a California-bound plane by their father to spend a month with their mother, a poet who ran off years before and is living in Oakland. Just For Fun: Humor Gantos, Jack. Jack's Black Book: What Happens When You Flunk an IQ Test? (series) ** In just a few months, Jack is humiliated by a gorgeous syncronized swimmer, gets a tattoo the size of an ant on his big toe, flubs an IQ test and nearly fails wood shop, and has to dig up his dead dog not once but twice. It's all here in Jack's black book. Korman, Gordon. Born to Rock (series) ** High school senior Leo Caraway, a conservative Republican, learns that his biological father is a punk rock legend. Korman, Gordon. Schooled * After his hippie grandmother ends up in the hospital, Cap Anderson is forced to leave the commune where he is homeschooled and attend Claverage Middle School, where his odd looks and behavior make him the target of bullies.

Entering 7 – 8 Peck, Richard. Year Down Yonder (series) * In this Newbery Honor book, Chicago-bred Mary Alice has been sentenced to a year-long stay in rural Illinois with her irrepressible, rough and gruff grandmother. Soon, however, she becomes Grandma's partner in crime, helping to carry out madcap schemes to benefit friends and avenge enemies. Prachett, Terry. Wee Free Men: A Story of Discworld (series) ** A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland. Rex, Adam. The True Meaning of Smekday ** Twelve-year-old Gratuity "Tip" Tucci is left to fend for herself after Earth is colonized by aliens and her mother is abducted, and must try to stop another alien invasion with only the help of a cat named Pig and an alien named J. Lo. A Way with Words: Poetry Aquado, Bill and Richard Newirth. Paint Me Like I Am * Teens who have taken part in writing programs run by a national nonprofit organization called WritersCorps are represented in this collection of poems which convey the words in the diverse voices of teenagers everywhere. Koertge, Ron. Shakespeare Bats Cleanup (series) ** When a fourteen-year-old baseball player catches mononucleosis, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps fill the time, it also helps him deal with life, love, and loss. Nye, Naomi Shihab. What Have You Lost? ** What have you lost? A friend? A brother? A wallet? A memory? A meaning? A year? Each Night Images, dream news, fragments, flash then fade. These darkened walls. Here, I say. Climb into this story. Be remembered! Myers, Walter Dean. Street Love ** This story, told in free verse, is set against a background of street gangs and poverty in Harlem in which seventeen-year-old African-American Damien takes a bold step to ensure that he and his new love will not be separated.

Notes

My Reading Log

AuthorTitle

Name: __________________ Class: _______________

The Public Schools of Brookline, Massachusetts

Educational Technology and Library Department