Over the summer vacation we would like our students to continue to read in order
to enhance their comprehension and reading skills. Summer reading should be both pleasurable and thought-provoking. Through this initiative, students will have an opportunity to meet their individual interests and needs through exposure to quality literature.
Grades 1-5
Students entering grades 1- 5 in Fall 2012 should continue to read in order to hone their reading skills and comprehension. Students can select a book from the reading list or choose one of their liking.
Grades 5 & 6
Students entering grades 5 & 6 in Fall 2012 should select a minimum of one book from the reading list and read it during the summer. All students in grades 5 & 6 will be required to turn in an active reading guide in September for the book they have read (guide attached). The book can be selected from the reading list or they can choose a book of their liking.
Grades 7 & 8
Students entering grades 7 & 8 in Fall 2012 should select a minimum of one book from the reading list and read it during the summer. All students in grades 7 & 8 will be required to turn in an active reading guide in September for the book they have read. The book can be selected from the reading list or they can choose a book of their liking.
Your enthusiasm and encouragement will help make this summer reading an enjoyable experience. Please call the school office at 908-753-0330 if you have any questions.
Suggested Reading List 2012 – Download
First Grade
The Bears’ Picnic by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears endure countless trials before finding a suitable picnic spot.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Eric Carle (illus.)
Eric Carle’s double-page tissue collages and Bill Martin’s friendly chant unite to create this vibrant introduction to colors.
Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban, Garth Williams (illus.)
It may be bedtime for Frances, but that doesn’t mean Frances is ready to go to bed.
Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Parks
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
The Little Mouse, The Red, Ripe Strawberry, and The Big, Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, Ray Cruz (illus.)
From the moment Alexander wakes up and finds gum in his hair, everything goes wrong!
Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina
A cap peddler wakes from a nap to find all his caps are gone.
Franklin Rides a Bike by Paulette Bourgeois, Brenda Clark (illus.)
At the beginning of spring, Franklin and all his friends have training wheels on their bikes.
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume, Sonia O. Lisker (illus.)
Nicky has freckles — they cover his face, his ears, and the whole back of his neck.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (illus.)
What happens if you give a mouse a cookie?
The Listening Walk by Paul Showers
We’re going on a Listening Walk. Shhhhh. Do not talk.
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, George Hauman (illus.), Doris Hauman (illus.)
When the other engines refuse, the Little Blue Engine tries to pull a stranded train full of toys and good food over the mountain.
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their brood of ducklings has been a favorite since 1941.
Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, Wallace Tripp (illus.)
Amelia Bedelia, who knows very little about baseball, stands in for a sick player during a game.
Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood, Don Wood (illus.)
A joyful celebration of a child’s growing self-awareness.
Ten Apples Up on Top! by Theodore LeSieg (Dr. Seuss), Roy McKie (illus.)
A lion, a dog, and a tiger are having a contes.
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith (illus.)
This outrageously funny version of a familiar nursery tale will leave readers grinning all the way to their chinny chin chin.
Second Grade
The Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra Barracca, Sal Barracca, Mark Buehner (illus.)
Jim, a New York City taxi driver, rescues a stray dog and dubs his new pet Maxi.
Amelia Bedelia (I Can Read Book Series) by Peggy Parish, Fritz Siebel (illus.)
Meet Amelia Bedelia, the unflappable maid who does everything literally.
The Case of the Spooky Sleepover, Jigsaw Jones Mystery #4 by James Preller
Ralphie Jordan can’t sleep. Something is making spooky noises in his room at night.
Chicken Soup with Rice, A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak
“Each month is gay, each season is nice, when eating chicken soup with rice.”
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, Steve Bjorkman (illus.)
Stanley Lambchop is a nice, average boy. He leads a nice, ordinary life. Then one day a bulletin board falls on him, and suddenly Stanley is flat.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
A little boy befriends a tree. Loving and generous, the tree provides everything she can for him.
The Great Kapok Tree A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
A man walks into a lush rain forest and starts chopping down a huge kapok tree.
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino, Steven Kellogg (illus.)
A young llama is curious — are all his friends’ mamas llamas?
Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy, Junie B. Jones Series #12
by Barbara Park, Denise Brunkus (illus.)
Frustrated because the rules for her class’s Pet Day will not let her take her dog to school.
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Lilly the mouse adores her teacher, Mr. Slinger — until he takes away the purple plastic purse she was proudly showing off to her class.
Martha Blah Blah by Susan Meddaugh
When the current owner of the soup company breaks the founder’s promise to have every letter of the alphabet in every can of soup, Martha, the talking dog, takes action.
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, Jewell Cannon
Stellaluna, a little brown bat, is accidentally dropped by her mother.
Tonight on the Titanic, Magic Tree House Series #17 by Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (illus.)
The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie away to the decks of that ill-fated ship, the Titanic.
You Can’t Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown by Paula Danziger, Tony Ross (illus.)
Amber Brown has survived third grade — even though her best friend, Justin, moved away.
Zelda and Ivy by Laura McGee Kvasnosky
Zelda and Ivy are sisters with a flair for the dramatic.
Third Grade
The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Herdmans are the most famous kids at Woodrow Wilson School.
The BFG by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (illus.)
Kidsnatched from her orphanage by a BFG (Big Friendly Giant) who spends his life blowing happy dreams to children,
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky, A Message from Chief Seattle by Susan Jeffers
During the 1850s, the white man negotiated to buy some land from the Northwest nations.
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White This is the story of a little girl named Fern.
Go Free or Die, A Story About Harriet Tubman by Jeri Ferris, Karen Ritz (illus.)
A biography of Harriet Tubman, the black woman whose cruel experiences as a slave in the South led her to seek freedom in the North.
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
When Patricia Polacco’s great-great-grandmother came to America from Russia, she made a quilt out of the family’s old clothes.
Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard, James Marshall (illus.)
The children in Miss Nelson’s class go beyond misbehaving.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater, Florence Atwater, Robert Lawson (illus.)
It is hard enough for Mr. Popper to support himself, Mrs. Popper, Bill, and Janie Popper.
Poppy by Avi, Brian Floca (illus.)
As ruler of Dimwood Forest, Ocax the hoot owl has promised to protect the mice.
Poppy and Rye by Avi, Brian Floca (illus.)
Heartbroken over the death of her fiancé Ragweed, Poppy, a deer mouse, journeys west.
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary, Alan Tiegreen (illus.)
Ramona feels quite grown-up taking the bus by herself, helping big sister Beezus.
Walking the Road to Freedom by Jeri Ferris
This is the important and inspiring story of a woman who called herself Sojourner Truth. Using only the power of her voice, she spoke out against slavery throughout New England and the Midwest.
What Are You Figuring Now?, A Story About Benjamin Banneker
by Jeri Ferris, Amy Johnson (illus.)
A biography of the African-American farmer and self-taught mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor.
Fourth Grade
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (The Baby-Sitters Club Series #2)
by Ann M. Martin
Claudia decides to investigate when she and the other members of the Baby-Sitters Club receive mysterious phone calls.
Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret
When an earthquake hits the isolated island in northern California where his family has been camping.
Fudge-a-Mania by Judy Blume
Peter Hatcher’s summer is not looking good.
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, Brock Cole (illus.)
The first book in this bestselling series begins with young Omri receiving an old family wooden medicine cupboard as a birthday gift.
Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler, Fritz Wegner (illus.)
Jacob Two-Two says everything twice.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary, Louis Darling (illus.)
Ralph the mouse is terrified. All he had wanted to do was ride the little motorcycle.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien, Zena Bernstein (illus.)
Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, is faced with a terrible problem.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Tired of big-city life, Sam Gribley runs away to the Catskill Mountains to forge a life of his own.
Native American Doctor, The Story of Susan LaFlesche Picotte
by Jeri Ferris
This is the inspiring biography of the young Omaha Indian woman who became the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school.
Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade by Barthe DeClements
Jenny knows one thing for sure — Elsie Edwards is a fat thief who steals people’s lunch money to buy candy.
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson, Gerald L. Holmes (illus.)
While investigating a vicious murder on his ranch, Hank finds himself the No. 1 suspect.
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat, Robert Frankenberg (illus.)
Owls Wol and Weeps turn a household upside down, outwit a dog with the dignity of Mutt, and shake up a neighborhood.
Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon
Twelve-year-old Andy Bonner isn’t thrilled with his teacher’s assignment to explore family history.
Share of Freedom by June Rae Wood
Freedom Jo is a smart-mouthed 13-year-old with an alcoholic mother, a little brother.
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Stuart Little is a mouse in the family of the Frederick C. Littles and is a pleasantly debonair little character, with a shy, engaging manner and a somewhat philosophical turn of mind.
Fifth Grade
Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech
Zinnia Taylor lives in Bybanks, Kentucky, with too many brothers and sisters — a mess of “tadpoles” and “pumpkins” is what her uncle Nate calls them.
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, Paul O. Zelinsky (illus.)
When fourth grader Leigh Botts asks Mr. Henshaw to write to him personally, he gets more than he bargained for.
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E. L. Konigsburg
The enchanting story of the unappreciated Claudia Kincaid, “boring straight-A Claudia” (oldest child and only girl and almost too old for half-fare tickets), who runs away with her little brother Jamie to live in the Metropolitan Museum.
Holes by Louis Sachar
As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune, which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative.
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord, Marc Simont (illus.)
Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea.
Matilda by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (illus.)
Matilda Wormwood started reading books at the age of four, but her crooked father and bingo-playing mother regard book reading as a waste of time.
Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park
How could someone like Mick die?
My Daniel by Pam Conrad
Wandering through the Natural History Museum with her grandchildren, Julia Creath feels the presence of her dead brother, Daniel.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war.
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Eleven-year-old Marty Preston loves to spend time up in the hills behind his home near Friendly, West Virginia.
The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
It was a surprise to a lot of people when Mrs. Olinski’s team won the sixth-grade Academic Bowl contest at Epiphany Middle School.
Wait Till Helen Comes, A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn
Molly and Michael dislike their spooky new stepsister Heather but realize that they must try to save her when she seems ready to follow a ghost child to her doom.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the “Indian-ness in her blood,” travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents.
The Warm Place by Nancy Farmer
When Ruva, a young giraffe, is captured and sent to a zoo in San Francisco, she calls upon two rats, a street-smart chameleon, a runaway boy.
Sixth Grade
Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
This book chronicles the daily life of 13-year-old Mary Lou Finney during her most chaotic and romantic summer ever.
Belle Prater’s Boy by Ruth White
When Woodrow’s mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents’ home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin.
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Catherine, the spirited and inquisitive daughter of an English country knight.
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Alton Raible (illus.)
Even to Melanie, who knew that you could never predict what a new kid would be like.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Orphaned as a baby, Harry Potter has spent 11 awful years living with his mean aunt, uncle, and cousin.
I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven
Amid the grandeur of the remote Pacific Northwest stands Kingcome, a village so ancient that, according to Kwakiutl myth, it was founded by the two brothers left on earth after the great flood.
The Island by Gary Paulsen
Every morning 15-year-old Wil Neuton gets up, brushes his teeth, leaves the house, and rows away from shore.
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
When Jeffrey Lionel Magee wanders into Two Mills, Pennsylvania, a legend is in the making.
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and in spite of obstacles and hardship.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war.
The River by Gary Paulsen
In this exciting sequel to Hatchet, 15-year-old Brian Robeson, who survived alone in the wilderness for 54 days,
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
The summer that Patty Bergen turns 12 is a summer that will haunt her forever.
The Wish Giver, Three Tales of Coven Tree by Bill Brittain, Andrew Glass (illus.)
The people of Coven Tree are no strangers to magic. In fact, the town’s very name comes from a gnarled old tree where covens of witches used to gather.
Words of Stone by Kevin Henkes
While exploring the countryside outside of his home, 10-year-old Blaze Werla spots a devastating message on the side of a hill. Ultimately.
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli
As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town’s annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.
Seventh Grade
Beyond the Burning Time by Kathryn Lasky
They say something very strange is happening to some of the people of Salem. That some of the young girls have become troubled.
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning
by Jack Canfield (ed.), Mark Victor Hansen (ed.), Kimberly Kirberger (ed.)
This carefully formulated collection of stories guides teenagers through one of the most difficult periods in life. Also recommended: Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II.
Crazy Lady! by Jane Leslie Conly
Receiving less and less attention from his widowed father, Vernon joins with his friends as they ridicule the neighborhood outcasts.
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
The Tillerman kids’ mother just left them one day in a car in a mall parking lot. Their father had left them a long time ago.
Journey of the Sparrows by Fran Leeper Buss
Nailed into a crate in the back of a truck, 15-year-old Maria, her older sister Julia, their little brother Oscar, and a boy named Tomas endure a cruel journey across the U.S. border.
The Man Who Was Poe by Avi
In Providence, Rhode Island, in 1848, Edgar Allan Poe reluctantly investigates the problems of 11-year-old Edmund, whose family has mysteriously disappeared .
The Maze by Will Hobbs
Stowing away in the back of a pickup, Rick, a 14-year-old foster child, escapes from a juvenile detention facility near Las Vegas and travels to Canyonlands.
The Gypsy Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
After living like Egyptians in The Egypt Game, April and the gang begin a new thrilling game.
Myst, The Book of Atrus by Rand Miller, Robyn Miller, David Wingrove
The ages of Myst are worlds of adventure and awe … of mystery and beauty … of intrigue and betrayal.
Night by Elie Wiesel
A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family.
Nothing but the Truth, A Documentary Novel by Avi
A ninth-grader’s suspension for singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during homeroom becomes a national news story.
Redwall by Brian Jacques
A young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall’s inhabitants destroy the enemy.
River Thunder by Will Hobbs
Jessie, Troy, and the rest of the crew from Downriver have returned to the Grand Canyon for adventure on the Colorado River.
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
When 11-year-old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family.
Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera Cleaver, Bill Cleaver
Mary Call has true Appalachian grit. When her dying father makes her promise to keep her brother and sisters together forever on the mountain and take no help from strangers, she is determined to keep her word no matter what.
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien
Ann Burden is 16 and, as far she knows, the only person left in the world. The nuclear radiation that destroyed the rest of the world has not touched the valley where she lives.
Eighth Grade
Children of the River by Linda Crew
Having fled Cambodia four years earlier to escape the Khmer Rouge army, 17-year-old Sundara is torn between remaining faithful to her own people and enjoying life in her Oregon high school.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
In 1940s Brooklyn, two boys who have grown up within a few blocks of each other, but in entirely different worlds, meet for the first time in a bizarre encounter.
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
The one thing you can depend on in Cold Sassy, Georgia, is that word gets around — fast. When Grandpa E. Rucker Blakeslee announces one July morning in 1906 that he’s aiming to marry the young and freckly milliner, Mill Love .
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Folksy and fresh, endearing and enduring, this bestselling book tells the tale of two women and the cafe they ran in Whistle Stop, Alabama.
Ironman by Chris Crutcher
Bo Brewster has been at war with his father for as long as he can remember. Following angry outbursts at school which cost Bo his spot on the football team.
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, Lynn Ward (illus.)
A story filled with danger and excitement, Johnny Tremain tells of the turbulent, passionate times in Boston just before the Revolutionary War.
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fought for two dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life.
Lone Wolf by Kristine L. Franklin, Joe Baker (illus.)
When a large family moves into the house near where he and his father live in the woods, Perry’s friendship with the oldest girl helps him come to terms with his sister’s death and his parents’ divorce.
Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
Her parents are gone, and her brother and sisters sent to live with other people. Lyddie Worthen is on her own.
Midget by Tim Bowler
Subject to strange fits, physically abnormal, and psychologically disturbed from the constant torment and abuse of his older brother, 15-year-old Midget finds himself in control of his life for the first time when he gets his own sailboat and discovers untapped mental powers.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck’s work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus on creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding and jealousy.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
It’s the summer of 1832, and the Seahawk looms against a darkening sky. Manned by an angry, motley crew at the mercy of a ruthless captain, the ship reeks of despair and mutiny! It is no place for the lone passenger, 13-year-old Charlotte Doyle, yet for her there is no turning back.
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Here is the original book that started the wonderful series and inspired the famous movie! After being transported by a cyclone to the magical land of Oz.
Do you possibly have one of the papers that they are supposed to fill out about the book they read, or can you describe it to me. We cant find it anywhere. Sorry about that
Amy Maran0
Hi Ms. Marano
You can access the Newmark K-8 Summer Reading List and Reading Guide (6-8) online at: http://newmarkschool.com/schools/newmark-schools/elementarymiddle-school-summer-reading/
Hope this helps.
Sandra