Fifth Form (Eighth Grade) Summer Reading

Required Book For Students Entering Grade 8 (Fifth Form) in September

Required Reader: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

There will be a one-week unit focused on this book to start the year.
Bring the book with you to school and make sure it is fresh in your mind.
You do not need to annotate the book as you read.

Choose and read at least one book from the list below. The third book you choose may be from the list, or any book of your liking.

There will be small group discussions on and/or small activities pertaining to the books chosen.
You do not need to annotate the books are you read.

Choose and read at least one book from the list below. The third book you choose may be from the list, or any book of your liking.

Backfield Boys
Backfield Boys by John Feinstein. According to School Library Journal, “A riveting, cautionary tale about behind-the-scenes, big-money pressures confronting talented high school athletes. . . . Timely hot topics are embedded in this action-packed sports story. Readers will breathlessly await Terrell’s final decision.”
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac. According to School Library Journal, “Bruchac's gentle prose presents a clear historical picture of young men in wartime, island hopping across the Pacific, waging war in the hells of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Iwo Jima. Nonsensational and accurate, Bruchac's tale is quietly inspiring..."
An Invisible Thread
An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski. From Goodreads, “On one rainy afternoon, on a crowded New York City street corner, eleven-year-old Maurice met Laura. Maurice asked Laura for spare change because he was hungry, and something made Laura stop and ask Maurice if she could take him to lunch. Maurice and Laura went to lunch together, and also bought ice cream cones and played video games. It was the beginning of an unlikely and magical friendship that changed both of their lives forever.”
I Am The Messenger
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. From Common Sense Media, “Ed is a loser. His friends are losers. He drives a cab, lives in a shack, hangs out, plays cards, gets drunk. His dog smells. His mother despises him. The girl he loves doesn't love him back. That's his life, until the day he accidentally captures a bank robber who's an even bigger loser. He has his five minutes of local fame and is happy to go back to his slacker life. But a few days later the Ace of Diamonds arrives in his mailbox, with three addresses and times written on it. At each address and time, Ed finds someone in need of help, some fun (an old lady who needs some company), some harder (a brutal man who abuses his wife). As he continues to receive clues about other people, he finds that his view of himself, and his relationships with his friends and relatives, are changing, but a mystery remains: Who is sending him these clues, and why? And how does this mystery person know so much?”
Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. From Goodreads, “A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.”
Show Me a Sign
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte. From Goodreads, “Mary Lambert has always felt safe and protected on her beloved island of Martha's Vineyard. Her great-grandfather was an early English settler and the first deaf islander. Now, over a hundred years later, many people there - including Mary - are deaf, and nearly everyone can communicate in sign language. Mary has never felt isolated. She is proud of her lineage. But recent events have delivered winds of change. Mary's brother died, leaving her family shattered. Tensions over land disputes are mounting between English settlers and the Wampanoag people. And a cunning young scientist has arrived, hoping to discover the origin of the island's prevalent deafness. His maniacal drive to find answers soon renders Mary a "live specimen" in a cruel experiment. Her struggle to save herself is at the core of this novel.”
Jackpot
Jackpot by Nic Stone. According to Kirkus Reviews, “Filled with rich character development, whip-smart dialogue, and a layered exploration of financial precariousness… Stone delivers a thoughtful and polished novel about class, privilege, and relative poverty.”
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds. From Goodreads, “Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.”
March
March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. From Common Sense Media, “MARCH follows real-life U.S. Representative John Lewis (D-Ga.) from his early days on his family's Alabama chicken farm, where he objected to the way his beloved birds were killed, through his education about the birth of the civil rights movement, up to his experiences as a nonviolent student protester. Much of this graphic novel focuses on the sit-ins at Nashville department-store lunch counters in 1960 and how they led to a confrontation on the steps of the town's city hall.”
Miles Morales - Spider-Man
Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds. From Goodreads, “Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider-Man.”
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. From Goodreads, “Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer—in case he or she decides to strike again.”
Shoeless Joe
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella. From Goodreads, “‘If you build it, he will come.’ These mysterious words inspire Ray Kinsella to create a cornfield baseball diamond in honor of his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson. What follows is a rich, nostalgic look at one of our most cherished national pastimes and a remarkable story about fathers and sons, love and family, and the inimitable joy of finding your way home.”
Apple in the Middle
Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley. From Goodreads, “Apple Starkington turned her back on her Native American heritage the moment she was called a racial slur. Not that she really even knew HOW to be an Indian in the first place. Too bad the white world doesn't accept her either. So began her quirky habits to gain acceptance. Apple's name, chosen by her Indian mother on her deathbed, has a double meaning: treasured apple of my eye, but also the negative connotation: a person who is red, or Indian, on the outside, but white on the inside. After her wealthy [white] father gives her the boot one summer, Apple reluctantly agrees to visit her Native American relatives on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in northern North Dakota for the first time, which should be easy, but it's not. Apple shatters Indian stereotypes and learns what it means to find her place in a world divided by color.”
A Place to Belong
A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata. From Goodreads, “A Japanese-American family, reeling from their ill-treatment in the Japanese internment camps, gives up their American citizenship to move back to Hiroshima, unaware of the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb in this piercing look at the aftermath of World War II by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata.”
We Will Not Be Silent
We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler by Russell Freedman. According to School Library Journal, "A highly readable and well-documented overview of a fascinating aspect of World War II."
True Legend
True Legend by Mike Lupica. From Goodreads, "There's a reason teammates call him "True." Because for basketball phenom Drew Robinson, there is nothing more true than his talent on the court. It's the kind that comes along once in a generation and is loaded with perks--and with problems. Before long, True buys into his own hype, much to the chagrin of his mother, who wants to keep her boy's head grounded--and suddenly trouble has a way of finding him. That is, until a washed-up former playground legend steps back onto the court and takes True under his wing."
Children of Blood and Bone
From Goodreads, Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
From Penguin Random House, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “compassionate” (People), “startling” (Baltimore Sun), “moving” (Chicago Tribune) true story of two kids with the same name from the city: One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
From the Guardian, The novel tells the story of a young boy, Ender Wiggin, who is sent to a training academy named Battle School, located in orbit above the Earth, built to train people to become soldiers that will one day battle against a vast alien race known as "Buggers". Ender goes up there, trying his best to become promoted in the difficult training scheme; his brother and sister are trying to restore the world and to make it a better place. For Ender, the training is tough. He is granted a very special teacher, who will help him to become a commander to save humanity from the Third Invasion.
New Kid
From jerrycraft.com, Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
Booked
From Common Sense Media: This novel in verse tells the story of Nick, who has on his mind what every middle school soccer lover does: soccer, playing soccer video games, avoiding school assignments, and more soccer. Just as his plans for a fantastic soccer season are getting started, he learns his parents are getting a divorce. Navigating middle school gets even harder when Nick's bullies come back to school, his best friend has to play on another team, and his favorite rapping librarian keeps trying to get him to read all kinds of dumb books. Will Nick ever get his plan to become a world soccer star back on track?
Flying Lessons & Other Stories
From Goodreads, Whether it is basketball dreams, family fiascos, first crushes, or new neighborhoods, this bold anthology—written by the best children’s authors—celebrates the uniqueness and universality in all of us.In a partnership with We Need Diverse Books, industry giants Kwame Alexander, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, and Jacqueline Woodson join newcomer Kelly J. Baptist in a story collection that is as humorous as it is heartfelt. This impressive group of authors has earned among them every major award in children’s publishing and popularity as New York Times bestsellers.