Central Bucks School
District
2007 Required Summer Reading
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Central Bucks School
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Seventh Grade List |
Eighth Grade List |
Ninth Grade List |
Middle SchoolSummer ReadingRequirements
In accordance with the Central Bucks
School District and the Pennsylvania State Academic Standards, all
middle school students in our district are expected to do a significant
amount of reading throughout the entire year. The state standard
recommends twenty-five books per year.
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Grade 7 - Click HERE for Synopses
Honors
Academic
Learning Support -- Students who are not mainstreamed for English/reading may choose from the "academic" list, or they may choose one of these two additional selections.
Grade 8 - Click HERE for Synopses Honors/ Advanced
Academic
Grade 9 - Click HERE for Synopses Honors/ Advanced
Academic
Basic/ Workshop
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Book Synopses
Boy by Roald Dahl In this autobiography, Roald Dahl shares his childhood memories and the events in his life that led him to the writing of several modern classics including James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman In Oxford, England, gobblers have begun kidnapping children. Lyra’s adventure begins when she joins the search to find the missing children and free her father.
King of Shadows by Susan Cooper Nat Field’s dream is to perform as Puck in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His acting skills are put to the test when he finds himself transported back in time to Shakespearean England.
The Maze by Will Hobbes In a surreal landscape of stark redrock spires and deep sandstone canyons, fourteen year old Rick Walker stumbles into the remote camp of Lon Peregrino, a bird biologist who is releasing fledgling California condors back into the wild. When two men with a vicious dog drive up to camp, Rick discovers that Lon and his birds are in grave danger. Will Rick be able to save them?
Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen A mysterious beam of light transports Mark into another time and perhaps to another planet. He must make a new life for himself as he searches for a pathway home.
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen Ever since she saw Bryce's baby blue eyes back in second grade, Juli has been in love. Unfortunately, Bryce has never felt the same. Frankly, he thinks Juli Baker is a little weird. After all, what kind of girl raises chickens and sits in trees for fun? Then, in eighth grade, everything changes. Bryce begins to see that Juli's unusual interests and pride in her family are, well, kind of cool. And Juli starts to think that maybe Bryce's brilliant blue eyes are as empty as the rest of Bryce seems to be. Readers will quickly identify with at least one of these hilarious feuding egos, if not both.
Every Living Thing by Cynthia Rylant This is a collection of twelve short stories. Each one captures the moment when someone's life changes -- when an animal causes a human being to see things in a different way, and, perhaps, changes his life.
So B It by Sarah Weeks Heidi is on a quest. She doesn't know when her birthday is or who her father is. In fact, everything about Heidi and her mentally disabled mother's past is a mystery. When a strange word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi sets out on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past. Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly understands.
Z For Zachariah by Robert O’Brien Seemingly the only person left alive after a nuclear war, a 16-year-old girl is relieved to see a man arrive in her valley until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor -- This Newbery Award-winning book is the bittersweet and beautifully written story of the Logans, a poor black family struggling through poverty and racism in Depression-era Mississippi. Through the eyes of Cassie, the feisty only daughter, we come to admire the dignity, courage, and resourcefulness of this close-knit family.
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli -- Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli, paints a vivid picture of the streets of Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II, as seen through the eyes of a curious, kind, heartbreakingly naïve orphan. This is a powerfully moving story of survival. Readers will love Misha the dreamer, his wonderfully poetic observations of the world around him, and his ability to delight in small things even surrounded by the horror of the Holocaust.
Deathwatch by Robb White A Poe Mystery Writers’ Award winner, this suspense novel is based on a fight to the finish between a courageous young man and a cynical business tycoon who believes that anything can be had for a price.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer Set about 150 years in the future, The House of the Scorpions is the story of young Matt Alacran, a member of the powerful family that controls the drug farms between the U.S. and the former Mexico. But Matt is different; he's a clone in a world filled with dangers for his kind. His only protection from the brutal surroundings are El Patron, the elderly patriarch from which he was made, his caretaker Celia, and a bodyguard who has been assigned to him. Things fall apart when Matt learns the real reason for his creation and he makes a harrowing escape to a promising -- yet insecure -- world. If you enjoyed reading The Giver, you will probably enjoy reading The House of the Scorpion.
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko Murderers, mob bosses, and convicts . . . these guys are not your average neighbors. Unless you live on Alcatraz! It’s 1935 and twelve-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family have just moved to the infamous island that’s home to criminals like notorious escapee Roy Gardner, Machine Gun Kelly, and of course, Al Capone. Now Moose has to try to fit in at his new school, avoid getting caught up in one of the warden’s daughter’s countless plots, and keep an eye on his sister Natalie, who’s not like other kids. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents’ expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away.
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck Peck’s story of Vermont farm boyhood is celebrated as a modern classic. It is the timeless story of a Shaker boy, his beloved pig, and the joys and hardships that mark his passage into manhood. Maturity comes early as the boy learns the tougher lessons of life.
Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school, this problem is only getting worse -- Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods where he learns that the father he never knew is really Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to unravel treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Mars is a place where a fine dust settles on the great cities of a silent, destroyed civilization. The wonders begin as men from Earth attempt to colonize the red planet.
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck This novel by Pearl Buck is about peasant life in China in the 1920s. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1932. The Good Earth follows the life of Wang Lung, from his beginnings as an impoverished peasant to his eventual position as a prosperous landowner. He is aided immeasurably by his equally humble wife, O-Lan, with whom he shares a devotion to the land, to duty, and to survival. Buck combines descriptions of marriage, parenthood, and complex human emotions in this classic tale.
Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals Abridged version ISBN 0671899007 In 1957 Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board Education, she was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School. This is her remarkable story.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christi Considered to be the best mystery novel ever written by many readers, And Then There Were None is the story of 10 strangers, each lured to Indian Island by a mysterious host. Once his guests have arrived, the host accuses each person of murder. Unable to leave the island, the guests begin to share their darkest secrets--until one by one they begin to die.
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for — the love and understanding of her family.Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by S. Delany, E. Delany, and A. Hearth In their 200+ combined years, Sadie and Bessie Delany have seen it all. They saw their father, who was born into slavery, become America's first black Episcopal bishop. They saw their mother, a woman of mixed racial parentage who was born free, give birth to ten children, all of whom would become college-educated, successful professionals in a time when blacks could scarcely expect to receive a high school diploma. They saw the post-Reconstruction South, the Jim Crow laws, Harlem's Golden Age, and the Civil Rights movement. In their own feisty, wise, inimitable way, they've got a lot to say about these events and people. More than a firsthand account of black American history, Having Our Say teaches us about surviving, thriving, and embracing life, no matter what obstacles are in our way.
The Road to Memphis by Mildred Taylor This novel focuses on the Logan family in 1941. Cassie is entering her last year of high school, and her older brother Stacey is driving his first car. After a family trip to Memphis, a sequence of events, including death and the intrusions of Pearl Harbor and World War II, wreaks havoc on the family, threatening to separate them from each other. Drawing upon their strength as a family and the support of their community, the Logans fight for survival, particularly Cassie, who dreams of becoming a lawyer. The Road to Memphis won the 1991 Coretta Scott King award.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Melinda, a high school freshman, is a popular girl until she makes the 911 call that ends a wild party. Now she barely speaks to anyone and must cope with being a social outcast shunned by her closest friends.
Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper High school basketball star, Rob Washington, dies in an automobile accident. No one is more affected by his death than his friend Andy, who was driving the car.
Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen Although he is eager to enlist, 15-year-old Charley Goddard has a change of heart after experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat. Battle by battle, Gary Paulsen shows readers the turmoil of war through one boy’s eyes and one boy’s heart.
In accordance with the Central Bucks School District and the Pennsylvania State Academic Standards, all middle school students in our district are expected to do a significant amount of reading throughout the entire year. The state standard recommends twenty-five books per year.
When you begin the new school year, you will be required to complete an activity related to one of the two required books. Make sure you have completed the reading of the two books before you return to school.
These books were selected by middle level English teachers. They are available from a variety of sources including these: the Bucks County Library, Booktenders, The Doylestown Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Amazon.com.
“Our high respect for a well-read person is praise enough for literature.” T.S. Eliot
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