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Required Reading—Novel
Project Mulberry
by Linda Sue ParksWe recommend that you read this novel between August 1 and the start of school.You should be prepared to discuss this story in class and work on assignmentsrelated to this book during the first week of school.Students should:- review the accompanying list of possible summer reads.
- should identify several potential novels, talk with a parent, guardian, or librarian about the book choice, and read the book.
- are expected to read AT LEAST one choice novel and Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Parks
- maintain a reading list and turn it in with the signature of a parent or guardian when your Language Arts teacher asks for it during the first week of school.
Download your summer reading Log!
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100 Cupboards
by N.D. Wilson Year Published: 2007 FantasyTwelve-year-old Henry York is going to sleep one night when he hears a bump on the attic wall above his head. It's an unfamiliar house—Henry is staying with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins—so he tries to ignore it. But the next night he wakes up with bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall, and one of them is slowly turning...
Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers doors—ninety-nine cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room—with a man strolling back and forth! Henry and his cousin Henrietta soon understand that these are not just cupboards. They are, in fact, portals to other worlds.-Goodreads, 2016Bound
by D. Napoli Year Published: 2006 Historical fictionYOUNG XING XING IS BOUND. Bound to her father's second wife and daughter after Xing Xing's father has passed away. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where the life of a woman is valued less than that of livestock. Bound to be alone and unmarried, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Dubbed "Lazy One" by her stepmother, Xing Xing spends her days taking care of her half sister, Wei Ping, who cannot walk because of her foot bindings, the painful but compulsory tradition for girls who are fit to be married. Even so, Xing Xing is content, for now, to practice her gift for poetry and calligraphy, to tend to the mysterious but beautiful carp in her garden, and to dream of a life unbound by the laws of family and society.
But all of this is about to change as the time for the village's annual festival draws near, and Stepmother, who has spent nearly all of the family's money, grows desperate to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed and desperation may threaten not only her memories of the past, but also her dreams for the future.-Goodreads, 2016Hoot
by C. Hiaasen Year Published: 2002 Humor, Realistic fictionThe story takes place in Coconut Cove, Florida, where new arrival Roy makes a bad enemy, two oddball friends, and joins an effort to stop construction of a pancake house which would destroy a colony of burrowing owls who live on the site. The book won a Newberry Honor award in 2003.-Goodreads, 2016Magyk
by A. Sage Year Published: 2005 Fantasy, Science FictionThe seventh son of the seventh son, aptly named Septimus Heap, is stolen the night he is born by a midwife who pronounces him dead. That same night, the baby's father, Silas Heap, comes across a bundle in the snow containing a new born girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take this helpless newborn into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus?-Goodreads, 2016Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt Year Published: 2011 Realistic fictionOkay For Now, explores a seemingly improbable alliance between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself. Along the way, he also readjusts his relationship with his abusive father, his school peers, and his older brother, a newly returned war victim of Vietnam.-Goodreads, 2016Small Steps
by L. Sachar Year Published: 2006 Coming-of-Age, Realistic fictionTwo years after Camp Green Lake, Armpit is home in Austin. With a record, everyone expects the worst except disabled neighbor Ginny 10. They take small steps on the right path until Camp pal X-Ray has a get-rich-quick idea. Teen pop sensation Kaira DeLeon spins his life out of control. Doing the right thing is never a wrong choice, but a small step in the right direction.-Goodreads, 2016