Welcome to the 2017 Seventh Grade Summer Reading Program!

Following are the options for your summer reading novel:

7th Grade Language Arts Students:

Choose one and complete the assignment. Al Capone Does My Shirts (Gennifer Choldenko)

The House of the Scorpion (Nancy Farmer) When You Reach Me (Rebecca Stead)

Elephant Run (Roland Smith) The Night Tourist (Katherine Marsh)

The Wild Girls (Pat Murphy)

7th Grade Honors Language Arts Students:

Read two summer reading novels.

REQUIRED novel: And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie)

(Please complete the reflection for this novel only.)

CHOICE novel:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain) or

a selection from the 7th Grade list

When you return to school in September, you will be asked to turn in a written assignment on Monday, September 11. The directions and questions for the assignment are included in this packet. We look forward to meeting you in September. Enjoy your summer reading! The Seventh Grade Language Arts Teachers

Name: _____________________________________________________________

7th Grade Language Arts Summer Reading Assignment

Directions: After reading your novel, thoughtfully respond in writing to each of the following bullets. Your response should include specific examples and details from the novel. Explain at least one text, personal, and/or world connection to the characters, setting, or circumstances of the book. ________/5

Describe at least one event that surprised you and explain why. ________/5 What did you learn from this novel? Explain at least one lesson that you learned and how the author taught this to you. ________/5 Identify the main character and a significant problem he or she faces. Explain how the problem was solved. If the problem wasn’t solved, explain why. ________/5 Review your work carefully and check for complete sentences, proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. ________/5

Total: ________/25 Formatting:

● at least two pages (no more than three pages) typed ● double spaced ● 12 point font ● Include your first and last name on your paper. ● Due date: Monday, September 11

7th Grade Summer Reading Choices

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko “Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she’s denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose’s family has used for dealing with her disorder. When Moose meets Piper, the cute daughter of the Warden, he knows right off she’s trouble. But she’s also strangely irresistible. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents’ expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away.” The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer “Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free?” When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead “By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.” Elephant Run by Roland Smith “In this thrilling journey through the jungles of Burma, Smith explores the far-reaching effects of World War II, while introducing readers to the fascinating world of wild timber elephants and their "mahouts." When fourteen-year-old Nick is sent to his father in Burma to escape the 1941 bombings in London, he finds himself in even more danger as Japanese soldiers arrive and take control of the plantation house.”

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh “Jack Perdu, a shy, ninth-grade Classics prodigy, lives with his father on the Yale University campus. Smart and introverted, Jack spends most of his time alone, his nose buried in a book. But when Jack suffers a near fatal accident, his life is forever changed. His father sends him to a mysterious doctor in New York City. While in the city, Jack meets Euri, a young girl who offers to show him the secrets of Grand Central Station, the secrets only true urban explorers know about. Fifteen flights below the train station, however, Jack discovers more than just hidden tracks and mysterious staircases. He has stumbled upon New York’s ghostly underworld. But as secrets about Euri’s past are revealed, so are the true reasons for Jack’s visit to the underworld. ” The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy “It is the early 1970s. Twelve-year-old Joan is sure that she is going to be miserable when her family moves from Connecticut to California. Then she meets a most unusual girl. Sarah prefers to be called Fox, and lives with her author dad in a rundown house in the middle of the woods. The two girls start writing their own stories together, and when one wins first place in a student contest, they find themselves recruited for a summer writing class taught by the equally unusual Verla Volante. The Wild Girls is about friendship, the power of story, and how coming of age means finding your own answers rather than simply taking adults on faith.”

7th Grade Honors Language Arts And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie “First, there were ten- a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal- and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder: One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.” The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain “Take a lighthearted, nostalgic trip to a simpler time, seen through the eyes of a special boy named Tom Sawyer. It is a summertime world of hooky and adventure, pranks and punishment, villains and young love.”