Hi rising 7th grade parents,

This summer we are excited to offer summer reading with both a required text and two choices with some freedom attached to it when it comes to selecting the books.

This summer there will be ONE REQUIRED TEXT for all students: Prisoner B-3087 by Alan
Gratz

In addition, there will be TWO grade-level appropriate choice reads as well. Having done our homework, we are confident in the power and value of choice reading, especially at the middle school level. Students will spend the school year reading required texts in ELA, so while we hope that they will enjoy those, we find that giving them this opportunity through summer reading is a way to carry a passion for reading over into the school year during daily independent reading time at school and hopefully at home. Our objective is to help students build a lifelong love for reading. We hope to be a model of that in the classroom through our own engagement with other teachers in front of the students as well as in our emphasis on independent reading, having it be a constant in their ever-changing day. Summer reading is meant to keep the students engaged and give them the opportunity to be in the driver’s seat (with parameters) of their reading as they enter new worlds or explore new genres.

With all of this being said, having so many choices to choose from can be as daunting, so we
want to offer suggestions:

7th grade student favorites over the years:
I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda (nonfiction)
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Bradley (fiction)
Refugee by Alan Gratz (fiction)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (fiction)
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (fiction)
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick (fiction)
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (fiction)
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (fiction)

Student & Teacher Approved Series:
Ghost Series by Jason Reynolds (fiction)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (fiction)
The Maze Runner by James Dasher (fiction)
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan (fiction)
Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (fiction)

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Summer Reading Recommendations:
As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (fiction)
The Book Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (fiction)
Show Me a Sign by Anne Clare LaZotte (fiction)
Finding Gobi: A Little Dog with a Very Big Heart by Dion Leonard (fiction)
The Boys’ War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War by Jim Murphy
(nonfiction)

Other recommendations: Life in Motion:
An Unlikely Ballerina Young Readers edition by Misty Copeland (nonfiction)
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds (fiction)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (fiction)
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (fiction)
Restart by Gordon Korman (fiction)
Holes by Louis Sachar (fiction) Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan (fiction)
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (nonfiction)
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary G. Schmidt (fiction)

Novels in verse recommendations:
A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (fiction)
House Arrest by K.A. Holt (fiction)
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (fiction)
Booked by Kwame Alexander (fiction)
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (nonfiction)

We hope that these titles can provide some guidance and that this summer students will enjoy
their summer reading selection. In September we look forward to listening to students’ opinions
and recommendations as to cultivate a master list of student-approved books for them to use
throughout the year for independent reading and inspire us as we are always building our
classroom libraries. We always hope to be able to witness another September of swapping
books with one another based on reviews! When we return to school, students can expect to
kick off ELA with summer reading assignments designed to unite the class on the whole class
novel and show off their novels of choice in order to expose them to other students – and
ultimately help students build an independent reading list for the year! Summer reading is
expected to be completed BY the first day of school. We hope you have a great summer and
are able to dive into some good reads yourselves!

The 7th Grade ELA Teachers