Students Beginning 6 Grade 2012 Summer Reading List

Students Beginning 6 th Grade2012 Summer Reading ListUnderstanding that all students have different interests and reading levels, please select two (2)mandatory books with your parents. Two assigned graphic organizers are due in yourReading/Language Arts class during the first week of school. Additional information for many ofthese novels, including reading levels, may be found on the Card Catalog at the Kennett MiddleSchool Library/Media Center home page. Assignments and graphic organizers may also beaccessed on the KMS website.Beyond the Western Sea, Book 1: Escape from Home by AviMaura O'Connell, 15, and her brother, Patrick, 12, escape Ireland's brutal poverty with only thebelongings in their bundles and tickets for ocean passage. Sir Laurence Kirkle, 11, flees a life ofprivilege to seek justice. When fate brings them together, the three join forces in a daring scheme thatmay lead to freedom and glory...or dire consequences.The Boxes by William SleatorFifteen-year-old Annie opens two containers her uncle left her that gives her power to slow down time.Dear Austin: Letters from the Underground Railroad by Elvira WoodruffHere is the sequel to Woodruff's Dear Levi, a historical novel of a young boy's friendship withAfrican-American peers in the mid-1800s and his reflective letters to his older brother, Austin. Hisletters chronicle the people and places he finds along the way — including Harriet Tubman and theslaves who escape north via the Underground Railroad. He also tells his brother about the work of theabolitionists, the horror of a slave auction, and his own painful realization of racial prejudice. Thesecond in a series of personal letters between two brothers, this technique is a wonderful way to tell thehistory of the American South.Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly ClearySecond grader Leigh Botts adores a book about dog training by author Mr. Boyd Henshaw. To fulfill aschool assignment, Leigh painstakingly writes to Mr. Henshaw and tells him how much he "licked" hisbook. And he keeps writing to him. This Newbery Award-winning book by veteran author BeverlyCleary traces the inner life of a sometimes lonely and often troubled boy during that all-important butpainful transition into adolescence, and she does so with grace and humor.The Half-A-Moon Inn by Paul FleischmanA twelve-year-old mute boy sets off to find his mother in a blizzard, and becomes the captive of an evilwoman in the Half-a-Moon Inn. “A suspenseful tale with archetypal characters and a hauntingatmosphere. The brisk pace and steady accumulation of events build tension, while Fleischman's finewriting begs to be read aloud." — Kirkus ReviewLetters from Rifka by Karen HesseThrough compelling letters to a loved one, a Russian girl's escape from the Nazis and her difficult roadto America unfolds. "Told with . . . grace and simplicity, an unforgettable picture of immigrantcourage, ingenuity, and perseverance." — Kirkus ReviewElla Enchanted by Gail Carson LevineIn this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces herto obey any order given to her.

Lost in Cyberspace by Richard PeckWhile dealing with changes at home, sixth-grader Josh and his friend Aaron use the computer at theirNew York prep school to travel through time, learning some secrets from the school's past andimproving Josh's home situation.Nim’s Island by Wendy OrrA girl. An iguana. An island. And e-mail. Meet Nim, a modern-day Robinson Crusoe! She can chopdown bananas with a machete, climb tall palm trees, and start a fire with a piece of glass. So she's notafraid when her scientist dad sails off to study plankton for three days, leaving her alone on theirisland. Besides, it's not as if no one's looking after her-she's got a sea lion to mother her and an iguanafor comic relief. She also has an interesting new e-mail pal. But when her father's cell-phone calls stopcoming and disaster seems near, Nim has to be stronger and braver than she's ever been before.And she'll need all her friends to help her.The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing HahnDiana and her little brother Georgie have been living in the woods behind the old Willis place, adecaying Victorian mansion, for what already seems like forever. They aren't allowed to leave theproperty or show themselves to anyone. But when a new caretaker comes to live there with his youngdaughter, Lissa, Diana is tempted to break the mysterious rules they live by and reveal herself so shecan finally have a friend. The intriguing characters, frightening secrets, and plot twists will delight hermany fans.Pacific Crossing by Gary SotoWhen Lincoln Mendoza leaves his home in San Francisco to spend the summer in Japan, he imaginesthat he'll be spending all of his time studying the martial arts. But once he crosses the Pacific and meetshis host family, Lincoln finds baseball, family life, history, and tradition. He also discovers that peopleare eager to know more about him. How can he explain what it means to be both Mexican andAmerican?Sandry's Book by Tamora PierceFour young misfits find themselves living in a strict temple community where they become friendswhile learning to use their powers, especially magic.Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly GiffDuring a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily’s friendship with a young Hungarian refugeecauses her to see the war and her own world differently.Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds NaylorWhen 11-year-old Marty Preston finds a young beagle up in the hills behind his home near Friendly,West Virginia, he is convinced that the poor pup is in trouble. Certain that the dog is being abused byhis owner, Judd Travers, Marty names him "Shiloh" and immediately feels that he will do anything tosave the dog from further harm. When the dog runs away from Judd to Marty's house, Marty is facedwith a number of ethical dilemmas: Should he tell his parents? Should he return the dog to the abusiveJudd? Should he steal food to feed the mistreated pup? Marty finds that there is a fine line betweentelling the truth and lying by omission.Crash by Jerry SpinelliSeventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressivebehavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make himconsider the importance of friendship and family.

The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck"If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it," begins Richard Peck's novel, a bookfull of his signature wit and sass. Russell Culver is fifteen in 1904, and he's raring to leave his tinyIndiana farm town for the endless sky of the Dakotas. To him, school has been nothing but a chainholding him back from his dreams. Maybe now that his teacher has passed on, they'll shut the schooldown entirely and leave him free to roam. No such luck.The Thief Lord by Cornelia FunkeOrphaned brothers Prosper and Bo, having run away from their cruel aunt and uncle, decide to hide outin Venice where they fall in with the Thief Lord, a thirteen-year-old boy who leads a crime ring ofstreet children.Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson HaddixWhen a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteen-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a1996 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists.The Lightning Thief by Rick RiordanFantasy. Twelve-year-old Percy, son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, goes to a campfor demigods where he and his friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.The Cay by Theodore TaylorShipwrecked on a tiny Caribbean island, Philip must overcome his prejudice towards Timothy, the oldsailor who becomes the key to his survival.The Wreckers by Iain LawrenceThere was once a village bred by evil. On the barren coast of Cornwall, England, lived a communitywho prayed for shipwrecks, a community who lured storm-tossed ships to crash upon the sharp rocksof their shore. They fed and clothed themselves with the loot salvaged from the wreckage; dead sailors'tools and trinkets became decorations for their homes. Most never questioned their murderous way oflife. Then, upon that pirates' shore crashed the ship The Isle of Skye. And the youngest of its crew,fourteen-year-old John Spencer, survived the wreck. But would he escape the wreckers? This is hisharrowing tale.Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack GantosJoey Pigza, who is taking medication to keep from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer withthe father he has never known. Joey really wants his six-week visit with his dad to count, to show himhe's not as wired as he used to be, to show his dad how much he loves him. But Carter Pigza's not aneasy guy to love. He believes Joey can be as normal a kid as he wants without medication. He thinkstaking control means giving up the things that keep Joey safe, and Joey wants to believe him more thananything in the world. And if he wants to please his dad, he's going to have to play by his rules, evenwhen the rules don't make sense.Lizzie Bright and the Buckminister Boy by Gary SchmidtIt only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in townwill let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets LizzieBright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves.Despite his father's — and the town's — disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time withLizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine's rockycoast. This sensitively written historical novel, based on the true story of a community's destruction,highlights a unique friendship during a time of change.

A Northern Light by Jennifer DonnellySixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate formoney, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task ofburning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattiediscovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder. The book is set in 1906 againstthe backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy."Raven’s Gate by Anthony HorowitzMatt is being punished for a crime he saw, but didn't commit. Instead of being locked up, he is beingsent to the middle of nowhere to live with a new foster mom, as part of a government scheme calledThe Leaf Project. But Matt's new home provides anything but peace and quiet. His new guardian isinvolved in very sinister things . . . and the whole town seems to be on her side. Everybody who triesto help Matt winds up disappearing…or dead. The truth is much bigger than Matt or the town — butMatt is the only person who can stop the ultimate evil from being unleashed.