(from the handout sent home from Milford Middle School)
To prepare your child for 6th grade and an important 6th grade theme, Community, we suggest that he/she read one of three books this summer. These books will be discussed in all 6th grade core classes at the start of next year. We hope that reading this book will be the start of great summer reading! For any questions, please call MMS at 673-5221 x1533.
- Flying Solo
by Ralph Fletcher,
1998
Opportunity is knocking at the door of Mr. "Fab" Fabiano's sixth grade class. Mr. Fab is absent and a substitute never arrives. The class wants to prove that kids rule, so they decide to run the class on their own.
- Flush
by Carl Hiaasen,
2005
A boy and his sister try to support their father's claims that a local business is polluting the waters off the coast of Florida.
- Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen,
2006
A boy in Florida tries to save an endangered species from being bulldozed to make way for a restaurant.
(from the handout sent home from Milford Middle School)
To prepare your child for 7th grade, he or she should read (or listen to) four short stories this summer:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (audiobook)(read online here)
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs (read online here)
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, also titled "The Diamond Necklace" (read online here)
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (read online here)
These stories will be discussed during 7th grade English classes. Online links to these stories and related activities can be found on 7th grade English teacher Chris Erdody's website. The stories can also be found on the Middle School website. If you do not have a computer, you can obtain a hard copy of these stories at the Milford Middle School office during the summer. If you have any questions about this assignment, please feel free to contact Milford Middle School at 673-5221 x1533.
Additional suggested books for summer reading are listed below:
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
- Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.
- Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
Sixteen-year-old Kaye, who has been visited by faeries since childhood, discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny.
- Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng
Unlucky and unloved, Molly Moon, living in a dreary orphanage in a small English town, discovers a hidden talent for hypnotism and hypnotizes her way to stardom in New York City.
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Child-hero Ender Wiggin must fight a desperate battle against a deadly alien race if mankind is to survive.
- Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
- The Wish List by Eoin Colfer
Meg Finn is in trouble. She's dead, but not at peace--she's in limbo, her good deeds perfectly balanced against her bad deeds; Heaven or Hell wait, a tip of the scale away. So she's back on Earth trying to tip the scale to the good by helping her last victim, and her former "partner" is also back, trying to force her to tip the scale to the bad.
- Outriders: Expedition to Blue Cave by Ed Decter
- Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
- Inkheart and Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a bookbinder. But her father has a deep secret - he possesses an extraordinary power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives and suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of escape and intrigue as her father's life is put in danger.
- Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
Joey has big problems: he was emotionally abused by his grandmother, he never met his dad, and he sufferes from severe attention deficit disorder. He continually disrupts his class, swallows his house key, and runs away during a field trip.
- Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Luke has never been to school, had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now he is no longer even allowed to go outside. Then one day Luke sees another shadow child. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows - does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?
- Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.
- Gifts from the Sea by Natlie Kinsey-Warnock
Quila and her father, living alone in a remote Maine lighthouse in the 1850's, find their lives profoundly changed when a baby washes ashore and they decide to keep her as part of their family.
- Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski
In this classic frontier adventure, Lois Lenski reconstructs the real life story of Mary Jemison, who was captured in a raid as young girl and raised amongst the Seneca Indians. Meticulously researched and illustrated with many detailed drawings, this novel offers an exceptionally vivid and personal portrait of Native American life and customs.
- White Fang by Jack London
The adventures in the northern wilderness of a dog who is part wolf and who eventually makes his peace with man.
- Gathering Blue and Messenger by Lois Lowry
Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Left alone on an island with her brother, a young Indian girl fights for her survival.
- Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
Maximum Ride is the 14-year-old leader of a band of kids who have escaped the lab where they were bred as 98% human and 2% bird and develolped a variety of other-worldly talents. They are forced to rescue one of their own - a girl named Angel - from a pack of mutant wolf-humans called Erasers.
- The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
A thousand years in the future, an earthquake destroys much of the planet, and an epileptic teenager nicknamed Spaz begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to Earth.
- Tales of Mystery and Terror by Edgar Allan Poe
A collection of four well-known tales of mystery and suspense including "The Gold Bug," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-tale Heart," and "The Cask of Amontillado."
- Maniac Magee and Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee's life becomes legendary - he can outrun dogs, hit a home run easily, and tie a knot no one can undo. Maniac tries to find a home, soothes tensions between rival factions on the tough side of town, and becomes a true hero.
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (20 book copies in the consortium, 6 audiobook copies)
It took the event of one turbulent year - the year of the night riders and the burnings, the year a white girl humiliated Cassie in public simply because she was black - to show Cassie why having land of their own where they answered to no one was so important to her family.
- Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.
(from the handout sent home from Milford Middle School)
To prepare for 8th grade, we suggest that your son/daughter read one of the following books. For any questions, call MMS at 673-5221 x1533.
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Whent he pilot of a small, two-person plane has a heart attack and dies, Brian has to crash land in the forest of a Canadian wilderness. Learning to survive only begins when he stops pitying himself and understands that no one can help him. He is on his own, without his divorced father, whom he was to visit, or his mother, whom Brian saw kissing another man before the divorce. Ages: 11-13
- Homeboyz by Allen Lawrence Sitomer
Computer wiz Teddy sets out for revenge after gangbangers gun down his sister, Tina, in a drive-by shooting. After a failed first try, he's sentenced to a mentoring program for at-risk youth that forcibly hooks him up with hard-nosed parole officer Mariana and wild preteen Micah. Ages: Young Adult
- So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
The riveting story of a Japanese family's escape from Korea to their war-ravaged home. Ages: 10-14
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud. What could ahve caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason... Ages: 13+
- Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World One Child at a Time (grades 4-8 version) OR Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time (adult version) by Greg Mortenson
The inspirational true story of author Greg Mortenson, who became lost and ill when climbing one fo the world's most difficult peaks in 1993 and eventually found aid in the tiny Pakistani village of Korphe. He vowed to repay his generous hosts by building a school; his efforts have since provided education for 25,000 children.
- Truesight by David Stahler Jr.
Everyone in Jacob's colony is born blind. It has always been this way. They embrace the phiosophy of Truesight: blindness brings unity, purity, and freedom. It is an exceptional, happy community. As Jacob nears his 13th birthday, he anxiously anticpates his new role as an adult and all the changes that will bring. But as the day approaches, a far greater change threatens Jacob's future. It all starts with a searing pain in his eyes... Ages: 12+
Additional suggested 8th grade summer reading books are:
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