Theme: Who Am I?

Who am I?  In middle school, kids are learning more about what they like and don’t like, what is easy for them, and what is challenging, and how to cope.  In each of these books, the characters are trying to figure out who they are and how they relate to others.

Assignment:

Students are required to read THREE books over the summer —
the one Required Reading & two other choices from the list below.

Click here for the assignments!

Required Reading:

Spinelli, Jerry. Loser.
Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Donald Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.
On the web!: http://www.jerryspinelli.com

Choose at least two others from the titles below:

Avi.  The Fighting Ground. (Lexile: 580)
Thirteen-year-old Jonathan goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and discovers the real war is being fought within himself.

Blume, Judy. Freckle Juice. (Lexile: 370)
Andrew wants freckles so badly that he buys Sharon's freckle recipe for fifty cents.

Cannon, Janell. Pinduli. (Lexile: 680)
Pinduli, a young striped hyena, talks with Dog, Lion, and Zebra about their ears, manes, and stripes.

Choldenko, Gennifer. Notes from a Liar & her Dog. (Lexile: 580)
Eleven-year-old Ant, stuck in a family that she does not like, copes by pretending that her "real" parents are coming to rescue her, by loving her dog Pistachio, by volunteering at the zoo, and by bending the truth and telling lies.

Clements, Andrew. The Report Card. (Lexile: 700)
Fifth-grader Nora Rowley has always hidden the fact that she is a genius from everyone because all she wants is to be normal, but when she comes up with a plan to prove that grades are not important, things begin to get out of control.

Dahl, Roald. The Magic Finger. (Lexile: 450)
Angered by a neighboring family's sport hunting, an 8-year-old girl turns her magic finger on them.

Dahl, Roald. The Witches. (Lexile: 740)
A young boy & his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

Dalgliesh, Alice. The Courage of Sarah Noble. (Lexile: 610)
An 8-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.

DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. (Lexile: 610)
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.

Graff, Nancy Price. A Long Way Home. (Lexile: 850)
After moving to his mother's small hometown in Vermont, 12-year-old Riley must reconsider his feelings about war and heroes when he meets a man who refused to fight in Vietnam and makes a discovery about one of his own relatives.

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones is a Graduation Girl. (Lexile: 250)
Junie B. Jones has just turned six and is looking forward to her kindergarten graduation, but when grape juice stains the white gown she couldn't resist trying on, she is afraid graduation is ruined.

Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia. (Lexile: 810)
Jess Aarons, a 10-year-old boy in rural Virginia, finds a beloved and unexpected friend in Leslie, the new girl at school, with whom he creates a secret kingdom in the woods and from whom he learns lifelong lessons when tragedy strikes.

Pearson, Mary. The Adoration of Jenna Fox. (Lexile: 570) 
In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a 17-year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her   existence.

Peirce, Lincoln. Big Nate: In a Class by Himself. (Lexile: 430)
Supremely confident middle-school student Nate Wright  manages to make getting detention from every one of his teachers in the same day seem like an achievement.  (Also by this author: Big Nate Strikes Again.)

Pennypacker, Sara.  Clementine. (Lexile: 790)
While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, 8-year-old Clementine gains several unique hairstyles while also helping her father in his efforts to banish pigeons from the front of their apartment building.

Proimos, James. The Many Adventures of Johnny Mutton. (Lexile: 380) 
Although he is a sheep, Johnny Mutton goes to school, competes in the spelling bee, dresses up for Halloween, and discovers his favorite sport, always remaining true to himself.

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. Esperanza Rising. (Lexile:750 )
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.

Sachar, Louis. There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom. (Lexile: 490)
An unmanageable, but lovable, 11-year-old misfit learns to believe in himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit too.

Stauffacher, Sue. Donuthead. (Lexile: 850)
Franklin Delano Donuthead, a fifth-grader  obsessed with hygiene and safety, finds an unlikely friend and protector in Sarah Kervick, the tough new student who lives in a dirty trailer, bonds with his mother, and is as "irregular" as he is.

White, E. B. Charlotte's Web. (Lexile: 680)
Tells the story of a little girl named Fern who adopts a runt pig named Wilbur, and how a spider named Charlotte helped to save Wilbur's life.

Email readingsummer@chelseaschools.com 
if you have questions about the books or the assignments.

These books can be checked out from:

The Chelsea Public Library
Monday 10am-6pm
Tuesday 10am-8pm
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday 9am-5pm
(Closed on Saturday/Sunday)
 
Chelsea High School Library
Tuesday & Thursday
8am-1pm
June 28th - July 28th