Your job this summer is to read TWO
books you have not read before.
Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have
made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a seventeen-
year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from
memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence.
The Alchemyst (series) by Michael Scott
Fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, find themselves caught up in
the deadly struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John
Dee, over the possession of an ancient book that holds the secret
formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.
All These Things Ive Done by Gabrielle Zevin
Anya Balanchine, daughter of New York City's most notorious crime
boss in 2083, tries to keep a low profile, but she cannot avoid the
spotlight when her loser ex-boyfriend is accidently poisoned by illegal
chocolate manufactured by her family.
Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd
In 2015, when England becomes the first nation to introduce carbon
dioxide rationing in a drastic bid to combat climate change, sixteen-
year-old Laura documents the first year of rationing as her family
spirals out of control.
Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier
Liv Silver has lived in six countries in eight years and she yearns for a
real home and normalcy, but soon after moving in with her mother's
boyfriend in London, Liv's dreams turn bizarre, filled with talking stone
statues, mysterious corridors, and strange rituals conducted by four
boys who happen to be her new classmates.
Edda by Conor Kostick
In the virtual world of Edda, ruler Scanthax decides he wants to invade
another virtual world, embroiling the universes of Edda, Saga, and Epic in
war, with only three teenagers to try to restore peace.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
When billionaire John Hammond exploits genetic engineering to create an
island theme park populated by real dinosaurs, an attempted theft by a
rival bio-genetics company compromises the park's electric fences,
leaving a safety evaluation team--and Hammond's two grandchildren--in
grave danger.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the
aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California,
seventeen-year-old Marcus is released into what is now a police state,
and decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.
Pivot Point by Kasie West
A girl with the power to search alternate futures lives out six weeks of two
different lives in alternating chapters. Both futures hold the potential for
love and loss, and ultimately she is forced to choose which fate she is
willing to live through.
Raven Boys (series) by Maggie Stiefvater
Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent's only gift
seems to be that she makes other people's talents stronger, and when
she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby
Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own--and that together
their talents are a dangerous mix.
Use this list to get ideas!
This list is made up of recommendations
from current eighth graders and from the
middle school librarian.
Your Summer Reading Assignment is at
the bottom of the list.
Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes
against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual
Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water
horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Three teens embark upon a cross-country journey in order to
escape from a society that salvages body parts from children
ages thirteen to eighteen.
Realistic Fiction
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing,
classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a
police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best
friend.
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
Perry's parents insist that he take Gobi, their quiet, Lithuanian
exchange student, to senior prom but after an incident at the
dance he learns that Gobi is actually a trained assassin who
needs him as a henchman on a mission in Manhattan.
Realistic Fiction (cont.)
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
Soon after his mother's death, Matt takes a job at a funeral home
in his tough Brooklyn neighborhood and, while attending and
assisting with funerals, begins to accept her death and his
responsibilities as a man.
Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill
Sloane Emily Jacobs and Sloane Devon Jacobs, from very different
worlds but both with problem families, meet in Montreal where they
will stay in the same hotel while attending camp, one for figure
skating, the other for ice hockey.
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt
Sixteen-year-old atheist Simone Turner-Bloom's life changes in
unexpected ways when her parents convince her to make contact
with her biological mother, an agnostic from a Jewish family who is
losing her battle with cancer.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Call of the Wild recounts the adventures of a courageous dog
who, thrust into the brutal life of the Alaskan gold rush, abandons
the safety of the familiar and answers the call of the wild.
Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson
Through assignments for English class, seventeen-year-old James
Hoff rants against consumerism and his classmates' apathy,
puzzles over his feelings for his ex-girlfriend, and expresses disdain
for his emotionally-distant parents.
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
When his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-
year-old Steven tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his
school life, and his desire to support his family.
The Fixer by Jennifer Barnes
When her grandfather develops dementia, sixteen-year-old Tess,
who has been keeping his Montana ranch going, is whisked away to
Washington, D.C., by a sister she barely knows and thrown into a
world of politics, power, wealth, love triangles, and family secrets.
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
A fictional account of four days in July, 1863 at the Battle of
Gettysburg discussing tactics, plans, and preparations for
battle from both the Northern and Southern points of view.
Monster: a graphic novel by Guy Sims
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old
Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the
courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to
terms with the course his life has taken.
Orchards by Holly Thompson
Sent to Japan for the summer after an eighth-grade
classmate's suicide, half-Japanese, half-Jewish Kana Goldberg
tries to fit in with relatives she barely knows and reflects on
the guilt she feels over the tragedy back home.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Abertalli
Sixteen-year-old, not-so-openly-gay Simon Spier is
blackmailed into playing wingman for his classmate or else his
sexual identity will be revealed in this hilarious tale.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a
devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Spending the summers on her family's private island off the
coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy
named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what
happened during her fifteenth summer.
Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts
The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like
Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the
real world, he wouldn't be friends with her. In the hospital
different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall
leads to a friendship neither of them sees coming.
Non-Fiction
Beyond Magenta: transgender teens speak out by Susan Kuklin
Six teens tell what it is like for them to be members of the
transgender community
Bubonic Panic by Gail Jarrow
In March 1900, San Francisco's health department investigated
a strange and horrible death in Chinatown. A man had died of
bubonic plague, one of the world's deadliest diseases. 'Bubonic
Panic' tells the true story of America's first plague epidemic.
Chew On This by Eric Schlosser
A look at fast food, what's in it, how it's made, and what it does
to our bodies.
Discovering Wes Moore by Wes Moore
The author, a Rhodes scholar and combat veteran, analyzes
factors that influenced him and another man from his
neighborhood named Wes Moore who was drawn into a life of
drugs and crime and ended up serving life in prison, focusing on
the influence of relatives, mentors, and social expectations that
could have led either of them on different paths.
A Girl Called Vincent: the life of poet Edna St. Vincent
Millay by Goddu, Krystyna Poray
Follow Edna St. Vincent Millays incredible journey from a unique
and talented girl to an international celebrity and Pulitzer Prize-
winning poet. Raised in poverty in rural Maine, the rebellious,
creative, red-haired Vincent always found time for writing, acting,
singing, and playing piano. She became a sensation in young
adulthood, bewitching audiences with her words, voice, and
luminous appearance and audiences nationwide went wild when
she recited her works onstage.
This Land is Our Land by Linda Barrett Osborne
This book explores the way government policy and popular
responses to immigrant groups evolved throughout U.S. history,
particularly between 1800 and 196
The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
An introduction to the life of Benedict Arnold that highlights not
only the traitorous actions that made him legendary, but also his
heroic involvement in the American Revolution.
Historical Fiction
The Book Thief by Markus Zusack
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.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France
and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and
great courage as she relates what she must to survive while
keeping secret all that she can.
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
Ida Maes daddy was a pilot, and years after his death she feels
closest to him when she's in the air. But as a young black
woman in 1940s Louisiana, she knows the sky is off limits to her,
until America enters World War II, and the Army forms the WASP-
Women Air Force Service Pilots. Ida has a chance to fulfill her
dream if she's willing to use her light skin to pass as a white girl.
The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
In mid-thirteenth century Provence, Dolssa de Stigata is a
fervently religious girl who feels the call to preach, condemned
by the Inquisition as an "unnatural woman. Botille is a
matchmaker trying to protect her sisters from being branded as
gypsies or witches--but when she finds the hunted Dolssa dying
on a hillside, she feels compelled to protect her, a decision that
may cost her everything.
Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci
In the 1980s, two teenaged ballet dancers--one American, one
Russian--spend an unforgettable night in New York City, forming
a lasting friendship despite their cultural and political differences.
Sources of Light by Margaret McMullan
Sam, having moved with her mother to Jackson, Mississippi, after
the death of her father, finds the conservative 1960s values of
the town clashing with her family's liberal views and struggles to
navigate difficult relationships and understand segregation.
Mystery Your Summer
The Amanda Project by Melissa Kantor
Reading Assignment
Three very different girls from the same high school are selected to
be guides for a new student, but when the girl disappears, leaving
behind a trail of clues, the girls must work together to solve the Please print out and complete the last
mystery of Amanda Valentino. page of the summer reading list. The
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
document can also be found as a file called
When Will Halpin transfers from his all-deaf school into a 8th Grade Summer Reading Assignment
mainstream Pennsylvania high school, he faces discrimination and below this list.
bullying, but still manages to solve a mystery surrounding the
death of a popular football player in his class.
You will have to rate the best book
Famous Last Words by Katie Alender
High-schooler Willa has just moved to California with her mother
you read this summer and talk about
and film director stepfather, and she will be attending a private the characters, theme, language, and
school--but her real problem is that she keeps seeing things that
are not really there, like a dead body in the swimming pool, and her
plot of the book.
visions may be connected to a serial killer that is stalking young
girls in Hollywood.
This assignment is due on the first
The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks day of school!
When a teenage girl with a bad reputation is murdered in New York
City's Central Park after a party, her childhood friend is determined
to solve the mystery of who caused her death. Then, snap a selfie of you with
your book and bring it in!
Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg
Sixteen-year-old Jacob, having traveled to a remote island after a
family tragedy, discovers an abandoned orphanage, and, after
some investigating, he learns the children who lived there may have
been dangerous and quarantined and may also still be alive.
Skink: No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen
When your cousin goes missing under suspicious circumstances,
who do you call? There's only one man for the job: a half-crazed,
half-feral, one-eyed ex-governor named Skink. Skink joins 14-year-
old Richard on a breakneck chase across Florida, undaunted by
lightning storms, poisonous snakes, flying bullets, and giant gators.
One thing is certain: in the Florida swamp, justice is best served
wild.
Name:________________________''Parent'signature:'______________________'
Summer'Reading'Grade'8'

What was your favorite book this summer? : ____________________________________

Rate that book by coloring in 1 to 5 stars: 1= did not enjoy it and 5=loved it!

Why was this your favorite book? You might discuss character connections, the plot,
or the language.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Based on what you know about theme, what is the theme of your novel?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

What'other'books'did'you'read'this'summer?''Rate'them'as'well.'
'
1. ___________________________''''

2. ___________________________''''

3. ___________________________''''

Please print and attach a selfie of you and your book