2019 Fall Reading ChoicesFOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE 7TH GRADE IN AUGUST 2019
Center Hill Middle School
Lewis & Clark By: Nick Bertozzi
Tips:
You will need to research and read
about the Louisiana Purchase
before reading this book. The
reading level may be low, but this
book is hard to understand if you do not know the story of Lewis &
Clark’s adventure.
Classification: Nonfiction
Lexile: Not available
Grade Level: 2-3
AR Level: 2.9
Audio Available: No
SUMMARY
A fictionalized account, in graphic novel format, of
the adventures of explorers Lewis and Clark during
their journey from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
By: William Kamkwamba
Classification: Biography
Lexile: 850
Grade Level: 4-6
AR Level: 5.3
Audio Available: Yes
SUMMARY
African teenager William Kamkwamba explored science books in his village library when he was forced to drop out of school, and was able to change his family's life by creating a windmill to pump water for his family's farm.
Tip: Research the 2002 famine in Malawi, Africa before reading this book
Jim Thorpe: Original All American
By: Joseph BruchacSummary:
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played
professional football, Major League Baseball, and won Olympic gold medals in
track & field. But his life wasn’t an easy one. Born on the Sac and Fox Reservation
in 1887, he encountered much family tragedy, and was sent as a young boy to
various Indian boarding schools—strict, cold institutions that didn’t allow their
students to hold on to their Native American languages and traditions. Jim ran
away from school many times, until he found his calling at Pennsylvania’s Carlisle
Indian School. There, the now-legendary coach Pop Warner recognized Jim’s
athletic excellence and welcomed him onto the football and track teams.
Focusing on Jim Thorpe’s years at Carlisle, this book brings his early athletic
career—and especially his college football days—to life, while also dispelling
some myths about him and movingly depicting the Native American experience
at the turn of the twentieth century. This is a book for history buffs as well as sports
fans—an illuminating and lively read about a truly great American.
Classification: Biography
Lexile Level: 950
Grade Level: 4-7
AR Level: 5.8
Audio Available: Yes
Tips: Read about the history of the Sac and Fox Reservation
Freedom’s Children:
Young Civil Rights
Activist Tell Their Own
StoriesBy: Ellen Levine
Summary:
Presents a collection of true stories in which African-Americans who were involved in the Civil Rights
movement during the 1950s and 1960s discuss their struggles to end segregation in the South.
Tips: Research and read about the Civil Rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s before reading this book.
Classification: Nonfiction
Lexile Level: 760
Grade Level: 3-5
AR Level: 6.3
Audio Available: No
Lincoln’s Grave RobbersBy: Steve Shieken
Classification: Nonfiction
Lexile Level: 930
Grade Level: 4-7
AR Level: 6.6
Audio Available: Yes
Summary
The action begins in October of 1875, as Secret Service
agents raid the Fulton, Illinois, workshop of master
counterfeiter Ben Boyd. Soon after Boyd is hauled off to
prison, members of his counterfeiting ring gather in the back
room of a smoky Chicago saloon to discuss how to spring
their ringleader. Their plan: grab Lincoln's body from its
Springfield tomb, stash it in the sand dunes near Lake
Michigan, and demand, as a ransom, the release of Ben
Boyd --and $200,000 in cash. From here, the action
alternates between the conspirators, the Secret Service
agents on their trail, and the undercover agent moving
back and forth between the two groups. Along the way
readers get glimpses into the inner workings of
counterfeiting, grave robbing, detective work, and the early
days of the Secret Service. The plot moves toward a wild
climax as robbers and lawmen converge at Lincoln's tomb
on election night: November 7, 1876.
Tips: Research and read about Lincoln’s tomb in Springfeild,
Illinois. Also, research and read about counterfeiters.
Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia EarhartBy: Candace Fleming
Summary: In alternating chapters, Fleming deftly moves readers back and forth between Amelia's life (from
childhood up until her last flight) and the exhaustive search for her and her missing plane. With incredible photos,
maps, and handwritten notes from Amelia herself—plus informative sidebars tackling everything from the history of
flight to what Amelia liked to eat while flying (tomato soup)—this unique nonfiction title is tailor-made for middle
graders.
Tip: Amelia Lost received four starred reviews and Best Book of the Year accolades from School Library Journal, Kirkus
Reviews, Horn Book Magazine, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.
Classification: Lexile Level: 930
Grade Level: 4-7
AR Level: 6.6
Audio Available: No
Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America
By: Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Summary:
Classification: Bio/ Nonfiction
Lexile Level: 980
Grade Level: 4-7
AR Level: 7.2
Audio Available: Yes
What happens when a person's
reputation has been forever damaged?
With archival photographs and text
among other primary sources, this riveting
biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert
medalist and Newbery Honor winner
Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid
scandal of Mary's controversial life. How
she was treated by medical and legal
officials reveals a lesser-known story of
human and constitutional rights,
entangled with the science of pathology
and enduring questions about who Mary
Mallon really was. How did her name
become synonymous with deadly
disease? And who is really responsible for
the lasting legacy of Typhoid Mary? This
thorough exploration includes an author's
note, timeline, annotated source notes,
and bibliography.
Tip: Research and
read about
“healthy carriers”
of bacteria and
Typhoid Fever.
Chasing Lincoln’s KillerBy: James L. Swanson
Classification: Bio/Nonfiction
Lexile: 980
Grade Level: 4-7
AR Level: 7.5
Audio Available: Yes
Summary:Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts,
and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the man-
hunters, CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER is a fast-paced thriller
about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild
twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C.,
across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of
Virginia.
Tips: Check out the map in the back
of the book before and while
reading.
The Duel:
The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron BurrBy: Judith St. George
SUMMARY:In curiously parallel lives, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were
both orphaned at an early age. Both were brilliant students who
attended college--one at Princeton, the other at Columbia--and studied
law.
Both were young staff officers under General George Washington,
and both became war heroes. Politics beckoned them, and each served
in the newly formed government of the fledgling nation. Why, then, did
these two face each other at dawn in a duel that ended with death for
one and opprobrium for the other?
Judith St. George's lively biography, told in alternating chapters,
brings to life two complex men who played major roles in the formation of
the United States.
Classification: Nonfiction
Lexile: 1040
Grade Level: 5-9
Audio: Yes
AR: 7.5
TIP: Research and read about DUELS and how they
were carried out.
Kids at Work By: Russell Freedom
SUMMARY:
Photo-biography of early
twentieth-century photographer
and schoolteacher Lewis Hine,
using his own work as illustrations.
Hines's photographs of children at
work were so devastating that
they convinced the American
people that Congress must pass
child labor laws.
Tips: Research and read about child labor
laws before reading this book.
Classification: Nonfiction
Lexile: 1140
Grade Level: 5-9
AR:5-9
Audio: No
There’s a Hair in My Dirt
By: Gary LarsonYOU MUST HAVE SPECIAL PERMISSION FROM YOU ELA TEACHER TO
CHOSE THIS BOOK.
Summary: When a worm family sits down to their dinner of dirt, the
little worm discovers a hair in his dirt. Father Worm decides to tell
him a story to restore his interest in dinner, and in being a worm at
all. The story that Father Worm tells sums up more than the
adventures of the fair maiden Harriet—it points out complex
ecological facts and describes life from a worm's point of view.
TIP: This book focus on ecology which is
the branch of biology that deals with the
relations of organisms to one another and
to their physical surroundings.