Cyrus Peirce Middle School 2007 Summer Reading Packet and ...

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by: Mildred D. TaylorHer Newbery Medal-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry tells the story of one AfricanAmerican family, fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks,illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s.Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by: Wendelin Van DraanenOn Halloween night, seventh grader Sammy stumbles onto a mystery involving a twentyyear-oldfamily feud and some heirlooms stolen by a man in a skeleton costume.So B. It by: Sarah WeeksHeidi knows that she's approximately 12 years old, but she doesn't know her last name,her birthday, or, for that matter, the identity of her father. With a vocabulary of only twodozen words, her mentally disabled mother can't help Heidi fill the gaps in her history,but simple despair will not stop this little trooper. When she finds a camera full of oldphotographs, she begins a quest that will take her into the past and new beginnings. Amature, gripping story.Stormbreaker by: Anthony HorowitzThey told him his uncle died in a car accident. Fourteen-year-old Alex knows that's a lie,and the bullet holes in his uncle's windshield confirm his suspicions. But nothing prepareshim for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for MI6—Britain's top secret intelligence agency. Recruited to find his uncle's killers and completehis final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse.Summer Ball by: Mike LupicaThe story is of a 13 year old boy who goes to a basketball summer camp. He has thestigma of being short, however it seems to have gone away by when he mentors ayounger camper. Lupica captures the nerves of leaving home and the desire to be thebest.The Bad Beginning by: Lemony SnicketA Series of Unfortunate Events, a wonderfully different and disastrous children's storystarring three highly unlucky siblings. In this first book, readers are introduced to theunfortunate Baudelaire children -- 14-year-old Violet, 12-year-old Klaus, and their infantsister, Sunny -- when they learn they've just been orphaned by a terrible house fire.The Cay by: Theodore TaylorThis award-winning novel remains a powerful classic of prejudice, love, and survival. In1942, 11-year-old Phillip Enright lives with his parents on the Dutch island of Curaçao, butwhen the war moves too close for comfort, his mother decides to travel with him back tothe safety of Virginia. When their boat is torpedoed, however, Phillip is blinded and findshimself adrift on a life raft with an old black man and a cat. They eventually land on adeserted island. Phillip is suspicious of "the large Negro," but soon grows to trust--andultimately love--the patient and generous Timothy. Dedicated to "Dr. King's Dream," TheCay has a clear message that friendship is colorblind; it is also a terrific adventure story ofa young, newly blinded man learning to survive on an uninhabited island.The Iceberg Hermit by: Arthur RothShipwrecked in 1757 on an iceberg in the Arctic seas with only an orphaned polar cub forcompanionship, seventeen-year-old Allan begins a seemingly hopeless struggle forsurvival.