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We understand that our rising and incoming students have a broad range of interests and reading levels, but our hope is that students take the opportunity to read one book that provides a window into another’s lived experience as well as one book that mirrors their own lived experience. Our goal is to provide a list of  titles to give students the opportunities to dive into a variety of books that represent a broad range of topics, plots, and experiences as well as a range of levels in sophistication of literature and content. Our summer reading booklist was compiled by the English Department in consultation with our Library Director, Christina Dominique-Pierre. 

 

We encourage families to review the list of books together, and if interested, research the books via the resources Ms. Dominique-Pierre consults to help you and your student make an informed decision about which books to read. While Ms. Dominique-Pierre notes these sites have recommendations for an age range, because she is familiar with our community, she adjusts those recommendations accordingly.

GRADE 7 EXPECTATIONS

Choose two of the following to read this summer.  You do not have to take active reading notes, but you should write up a brief summary (3-5 sentences) when you complete the book so you remember what it was about.  Most, if not all, of these books should be available through your local library’s E-book system and the BB&N E-book library through SORA. If you are having access issues, please contact Ms. Dominique-Pierre (MS Librarian) at cdominiquepierre@bbns.org or Ms. Jamison (MS English Dept Chair) at rjamison@bbns.org

 

Book Choices (You may only read ONE graphic novel)

  1. A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat (graphic novel)

  2. A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger**

  3. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot*

  4. Carry Me Home by Janet Fox

  5. Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

  6. Game Changer by Tommy Greenwald

  7. Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet by Barbara Dee

  8. I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib (graphic novel)

  9. I Will Always Wr¿ite Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka

  10. A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat (graphic novel)

  11. It's Boba Time For Pearl Li by Nicole Chen

  12. It's Trevor Noah: Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Young Readers Edition) by Trevor Noah

  13. Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango**

  14. Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood

  15. Little Women  by Louisa May Alcott

  16. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi

  17. Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy

  18. Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog (Young Reader's Edition) by Garth Stein

  19. Refugee by Alan Gratz

  20. Restart by Gordon Korman

  21. Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution by Judith Heumann

  22. Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Kahn

  23. Spin with Me by Ami Polonsky

  24. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

  25. The Color of Sound by Emily Barth Isler

  26. Ultraviolet by Aida Salazar

  27. What Happened to Rachel Riley by Claire Swinarski

*Unlikely available in your library's E-book system or BB&N SORA

**Some Mature Content or Heavy Themes: A novel that is accessible to our middle school students, although parents/guardians may want to be involved in book choice.

GRADE 8 EXPECTATIONS

Choose two of the following to read this summer.  You do not have to take active reading notes, but you should write up a brief summary (3-5 sentences) when you complete the book so you remember what it was about.  Most, if not all, of these books should be available through your local library’s E-book system and the BB&N E-book library through SORA. If you are having access issues, please contact Ms. Dominique-Pierre (MS Librarian) at cdominiquepierre@bbns.org or Ms. Jamison (MS English Dept Chair) at rjamison@bbns.org

 

Book Choices

  1. American Street by Ibi Zoboi**

  2.  A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman 

  3. Between the Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

  4. Before the Ever After by Jaqueline Woodson

  5. Children of Blood and Bone, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, and/or Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi**

  6. Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram**

  7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

  8. Here to Stay by Sara Farizan

  9. How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow**

  10. Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park**

  11. Internment by Samira Ahmed**

  12. Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice (Young Adult Adaptation) by Bryan Stevenson

  13. King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender**

  14. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell* 

  15. Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo**

  16. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

  17. Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts by Susan Cain

  18. Signs of Survival: A Memoir of the Holocaust by Renee Hartman & Joshua Green

  19. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

  20. Slay by Brittany Morris**

  21. Sunshine by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (graphic novel)**

  22. The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team's Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics (Young Adult Adaptation) by Gregory Mone & Daniel James Brown

  23. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon**

  24. Tokyo Ever After and/or Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean

  25. Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson**

  26. XOXO by Axie Oh

 

*Unlikely available in your library's E-book system or BB&N SORA

**Some Mature Content or Heavy Themes: A novel that is accessible to our middle school students, although parents/guardians may want to be involved in book choice.

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