2021 SUMMER READING – FORM I

We are excited that you are joining Form I this year as an incoming seventh grade student.
The most effective method to improve vocabulary, critical reading, reading comprehension,
and reading pace is to read as much as possible. Summer reading is important because it
develops these skills and helps stop the “summer slide,” where your skills regress during
the summer months. In addition, the required reading will establish some core texts for us to
reflect on and use in our study during the coming year.

You are expected to read at least six (6) books over the summer, three (3) of which have
already been selected, and then, choose at least three (3) more titles from the Form I
list. The required titles are the following:

● Life of Pi by Yann Martel for English class

● Racing in the Rain: My Life As a Dog by Garth Stein for English Class*
● Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

In addition to the above required three books, please choose at least one (1) more book from
each list.
• 1 – ALA Award Book
• 1 – Free choice fiction from the list
• 1 – Non-fiction from the list

Happy reading, and have a wonderful summer!

Mr. Anders Drewry, Form I English teacher

*This title is the Young Readers version of the New York Times bestseller The Art of Racing in the Rain.
You may read either title—the original or the young reader’s edition.
 Assignment
Submit this assignment to your English teacher on the first day of school.

The Commonplace Book Assignment

Readers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often produced “Commonplace Books,”
thoughtfully compiled anthologies for which they borrowed the best examples of wisdom and
style from their reading, copying those examples into a notebook, or “table book,” for their own
easy access and recall. Writers and thinkers such as John Locke, Virginia Woolf, John Milton,
Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Darwin copied out passages from and fragments of what others
had written, and these excerpts were often accompanied by notable phrases, images, and
anecdotes from everyday life. Crucial to the process of keeping a Commonplace Book was the
careful copying out of others’ words by hand in order to absorb and internalize their wisdom.

“A common-place book is what a provident poet cannot subsist

without, for this proverbial reason, that “great wits have short
memories;” and whereas, on the other hand, poets being liars by
profession, ought to have good memories. To reconcile these, a
book of this sort is in the nature of a supplemental memory; or a
record of what occurs remarkable in every day’s reading or
conversation. There you enter not only your own original thoughts,
(which, a hundred to one, are few and insignificant) but such of
other men as you think fit to make your own by entering them
there.” --Jonathan Swift

For your summer reading assignment you will complete a “Commonplace Book” that records
passages from the required reading texts and your free choice reading books, and that
incorporates other inspirational quotations, ideas or writings. Following each of the entries from
one of your summer reading books you should write at least two paragraphs explaining the
context of the passage (what is happening and who is involved), its meaning, and why you
selected it.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

Throughout the year, you will continue to add entries to your book so you should consider the
following:
● Quotations MUST be handwritten, as must the explanation paragraphs
● Your book should have lined paper--consider having them all acquire the same
book, maybe before this year ends?
● Entries should be written in blue or black ink
● Take the time to carefully and legibly write each entry and its response.

The commonplace book assignment MUST include:

❏ Two entries of two paragraphs for Life of Pi
❏ Two entries of two paragraphs for Racing in the Rain
❏ Two entries of two paragraphs for the all-school reading
❏ One entry and two paragraphs for each of the additional summer reading books
(3 total)
❏ Four inspirational quotations from other sources (please note the sources)
❏ A list of “interesting words” collected from your reading or that you otherwise
come across (at least 25 words)
❏ A recipe including materials and steps
❏ A postcard or picture (pasted into the book)
❏ An interview with one member of your family who you admire (see below)
❏ A personal “mission statement”
❏ Review of an article about a personal who set and pursue a goal

The book may also include other quotations, pictures, drawings, etc., but it will be kept in class
for a majority of the year, so this should not be a sketchbook or other personal journal.
Although some of these entries do not require commentary or paragraphs, you should be
thoughtful in your choices as you may end up writing about that recipe or writing a story that
incorporates their “interesting words,” for example, later in the year.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

Family interview: Choose someone in your family whom you admire and interview them about
their own life story. Consider asking questions such as:
➔ Can you describe your earliest memories from childhood? What are your
greatest memories from childhood?
➔ What was your first job? What was it like? What did you learn there?
➔ How did you decide what you were going to be?
➔ Did you have certain heroes that you looked up to when you were growing up?
Why?
➔ What stories do you remember your parents or grandparents telling about our
family?
➔ What is the scariest thing you have ever experienced?
➔ What is the greatest obstacle you have ever overcome?
➔ What else do you think I missed in this interview?

After you have finished the interview, write a brief description of this person in your
Commonplace Book that includes some of the answers. You do not need to ask all of the
questions, and you do not need to include your notes in the book.

Personal Mission Statement: Look online at several mission statements. One way to start is by
looking at the mission statements of several schools, then branch out and look for other
organizations and even businesses that have mission statements. What do you notice about
each of these? How could you apply this understanding in writing your own mission statement?
What ones stand out in particular? What statements do you find yourself agreeing with the
most? How might these preferences help you to shape your own statement? The statement
that you complete should be 2-4 sentences outlining why you want to act a certain way, not
specific actions or goals you want to accomplish.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

 2021 Summer Reading Log
Submit this form to your English teacher on the first day of school.

St. Albans School

Incoming Form I (7th Grade)
Student name ________________________________________________________________

Book # Title and Author Date Parent

Completed Initials

1. Required Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

ISBN: 978-0151008117

2. Required Racing in the Rain: My Life As a Dog

(Garth Stein)
ISBN: 978-0062015761

3. Required Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

(Joy Harjo)
ISBN: 978-0393353631

4. Your choice from

ALA list

5. Your choice from

Free Choice list

6. Your choice from

Non-Fiction list

Note: You may attach additional pages to add other titles.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

 Quick Reference
(Categories with titles and authors)

Required
1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. Racing in the Rain: My Life As a Dog by Garth Stein
3. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo
ALA Award Winners Free Choice
A Hope More Powerful than the Sea Revolution is Not a Dinner Party
(Fleming) (Compestine)
In the Country we Love: My Family Annexed (Dogar)
Divided (Guerrero) Angelfall (Ee)
Electric Arches (Ewing) Ethan, Suspended (Ehrenberg)
Apple (Skin to the Core) (Gansworth) The Rock and the River (Magoon)
Hey, Kiddo (Krosoczka) All We Have Left (Mills)
Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) A Long Walk to Water (Park)
(Nayeri) Divergent (Roth)
Because You’ll Never Meet Me (Thomas) Golden Boy (Sullivan)
All Systems Red (Wells) The Beast Player (Uehashi)
The Clockwork Dynasty (Wison)

Non-Fiction
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (Dunbar-Ortiz)
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia (Fleming)
Torpedoed (Heiligman)
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (Link)
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has
Never Seen (McDougall)
The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living (Marshall)
The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream (Sampson)
Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team (Sheinkin)
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights (Sheinkin)
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
(Yousafzai)

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

 Book Descriptions
Required
Martel, Yann. The Life of Pi
Stranded on a boat with a tiger forces a young Indian man to ponder and reflect upon
the meaning of life in this fantasy. 2010 Mann Booker Prize

Stein, Garth. Racing in the Rain: My Life As a Dog*

In this young readers’ edition of the New York Times bestselling adult novel The
Art of Racing in the Rain, meet one funny mutt—Enzo, the lovable dog who tells
this story.Most dogs love to chase cars, but Enzo longs to race them. Through
his relationship with best friend, Danny (an up-and-coming racecar driver), Enzo
finds that life is just like being on the racetrack—it isn't simply about going fast.

Harjo, Joy. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

In these poems, the joys and struggles of the everyday are played against the
grinding politics of being human. Beginning in a hotel room in the dark of a
distant city, we travel through history and follow the memory of the Trail of Tears
from the bend in the Tallapoosa River to a place near the Arkansas River. Stomp
dance songs, blues, and jazz ballads echo throughout. Lost ancestors are
recalled. Resilient songs are born, even as they grieve the loss of their country.

*This title is the Young Readers version of the New York Times bestseller The Art of
Racing in the Rain. You may read either title- the original or the young reader’s edition.

ALA Award Winners

(Choose one from this group. All versions should be unabridged.)
Flemming, Melissa. A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea
This gripping account follows Doaa Al Zamel's journey to Egypt and her
harrowing days at sea as she leaves her war-torn home for the promise of a better life in
Europe. Alex Award 2018

Guerrero, Diane. In the Country We Love: My Family Divided

After Diane Guerrero returned home from school one day to find her family
deported, the 14-year-old went on to combat self-injury and suicidal thoughts, finish her
education, and to become a successful actress and citizenship activist. Alex Award 2017

Ewig, Eve L. Electric Arches

Wielding words and images like lasers, and bending genres to her will, Ewing’s
poetry and prose tells stories both personal and universal. With humor and gravitas, this
collection spotlights the joy, cruelty, and struggle of life. Alex Award 2018

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

Gansworth, Eric. Apple (Skin to the Core).
The term "Apple" is a slur in Native communities across the country. It's for someone
supposedly "red on the outside, white on the inside.” From the horrible legacy of the
government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave
again, to a young man fighting to be an artist, author Eric Gansworth shatters that slur
and reclaims it in verse and prose and imagery that truly lives up to the word
heartbreaking. Printz Honor Book 2021

Krosoczka, Jarrett. Hey, Kiddo.

Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with
addiction, and finding the art that helps you survive.

Nayeri, Daniel. Everything Sad is Untrue.

Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical Oklahoma middle
school audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family's history, stretching back
years, decades, and centuries. Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his
claim to the truth.This is a tale of heartbreak and resilience and urges readers to speak
their truth and be heard. Printz Award 2021

Thomas, Leah. Because You’ll Never Meet Me

Ollie is allergic to electricity and lives in isolation with his mother. Moritz was born
with no eyes, has a pacemaker, and is bullied at school. They become pen pals and
unlikely friends as they learn more about one another. Morris Award Finalist 2016

Wells, Martha. All Systems Red

Stuck on a distant planet with an exploratory crew, a Security Robot kills time
watching soaps. After a group of scientists is killed, the robot (now calling itself
“Murderbot”) must figure out how to save its crew from a similar fate. Alex Award 2018

Wilson, Daniel H. The Clockwork Dynasty

Automata Elena and Peter are "born" in Peter the Great's Russia… or are they?
Can they really live in the power-hungry world of humans? And can they find the "breath
of life" before it is too late? Alex Award 2018

Free Choice Fiction

Compestine, Ying Chang, Revolution is Not a Dinner Party
Ling is a child in China during the waning years of Mao's Cultural Revolution. She and
her mother struggle to survive as food grows scarce and is rationed, electricity is
interrupted, her doctor parents lose their jobs, and a political officer moves into their
apartment, with the family getting no say in the matter.

Dogar, Sharon. Annexed

A fictional account of life with Anne Frank hidden in the secret annex from Peter's point-
of-view, following as he becomes closer with Anne, begins to question his own religion,
and is forced to suppress his own desires to join the fight.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

Ee, Susan. Angelfall.
It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern
world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior
angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do
anything to get her back.

Ehrenberg, Pamela. Ethan, Suspended

After a school suspension and his parents' separation, Ethan is sent to live with his
grandparents in Washington, D.C., which is a world apart from his home in a
Philadelphia suburb.

Magoon, Kekla. The Rock and the River

Set during the early Civil Rights era, thirteen-year old Sam is living with his middle-class
family and adores his preacher-activist father. While his life centers on school and girls,
the vortex of change pulls him into an unexpected drama challenging his values.

Mills, Wendy. All We Have Left

Two stories - that of Jesse's and Alia's are told simultaneously with sensitivity and build
upon their lives as they meet in New York City and face the attacks on the Twin Towers
on 9/11 .

Park, Linda Sue. A Long Walk to Water

When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva
becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members
through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life
of Salva Dut, who, after immigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water
wells in Sudan.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent.

In a dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the
cultivation of a particular virtue. On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds
must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. Beatrice must
decide between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have
both.

Sullivan, Tara. Golden Boy

A Tanzanian albino boy finds himself the ultimate outsider, hunted because of the color
of his skin.

Uehashi, Nahoko. The Beast Player

Nahoko Uehashi's The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special
power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

Non-Fiction
(biography, graphic novel, history, poetry, science, short story)
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States For Young
People
In An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges
the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous
peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants,
displacing or eliminating them. American Indian Youth Literature Honor Book 2020.

Fleming, Candace. The Family Romanov : Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia
The award-winning author of The Lincolns traces the story of the Russian Revolution, the
lives of the Romanov family and the story of their tragic deaths, in an account that draws
on primary source materials and includes period photography. Simultaneous eBook.

Heiligman, Deborah. Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of “The
Children’s Ship.
Amid the constant rain of German bombs and the escalating violence of World War II,
British parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country: the
wealthy, independently; the poor, through a government relocation program called
CORB. In September 1940, passenger liner SS City of Benares set sail for Canada with
one hundred children on board. When the war ships escorting the Benares departed, a
German submarine torpedoed what became known as the Children's Ship. Out of
tragedy, ordinary people became heroes. This is their story. YALSA Non-Fiction Honor
Book 2020.

Link, Kelly, and Gavin J. Grant, editors. Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and
Strange Stories
A collection of fourteen fantasy stories by well-known authors, set in the age of steam
engines and featuring automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels
that never existed.

McDougall, Christopher. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest
Race the World Has Never Seen*
This narrative, through a scientific lens, tells the discovery by this Harvard professor of
the Tarahumara Indians who are able to run miles through the canyons of Mexico.

Marshall III, Joseph M. The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living
Twelve short chapters introduce the Lakota way of life and how it centers on living
according to Lakota ethics. The narrator is Lakota himself and writes in a narrative style
from his personal perspective.

Sampson, Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt (with Lisa Frazier Page). The Pact: Three
Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream
Three men share their story as African-American kids from the inner city of Newark, New
Jersey, who made a pact to support each other as they rose from an environment of
poverty, crime, and drugs to become successful doctors.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021

Sheinkin, Steve. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian Football Team
The author breaks ground with the blending of the socio-cultural setting alongside the
biography and rise to fame of Jim Thorpe. Tales of Pop Warner, especially his role at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School, are invaluable, as his legacy remains alive and vibrant
today.

Sheinkin, Steve. The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
Presents an account of the 1944 civil rights protest involving hundreds of African-
American Navy servicemen who were unjustly charged with mutiny for refusing to work
in unsafe conditions after the deadly Port Chicago explosion.

Yousafzai, Malala and Christina Lamb. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education
and Was Shot by the Taliban
This adult version is as straightforward as the young author in her autobiography.
Threatened and almost assassinated, Yousafzai tells of her harrowing experiences, and
demonstrates her fierce determination to change young girls’ lives in Pakistan.

St. Albans School Form I Summer Reading 2021