Summer Reading 2023

 Robert Adams Middle School

To encourage summer reading, as well as prepare students for start-of-the-year activities and community-building experiences, the summer reading requirements are as follows:

REQUIRED:

• ALL STUDENTS 6-8 must read at least two books of their choice before returning to school in September
  

  - For 8th GRADERS ONLY: choose one fiction book and one nonfiction book.

• ALL STUDENTS must turn in the Summer Reading Form to their English teachers.

OPTIONAL:

• ALL STUDENTS have the option to complete the extra credit activities and turn their work in to their English teachers.

Submit your Summer Reading Form and your extra credit activities to your English teacher by Wednesday, September 7. Parents are required to sign off that students completed their summer reading.

SUGGESTED SUMMER READING LISTS

This list is for all middle school students, created with input from students, teachers, and librarians. Books with mature content have been noted, but please read reviews to determine the best fit for your student. 

Students are NOT required to choose books from this list, as there are many other titles that suit students' interest, reading skills, and maturity level.

REALISTIC FICTION

• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• The Crossover (series) by Kwame Alexander
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin
• Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
• The Penderwicks (series) by Jeanne Birdsall
• Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
• Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
• King and the Dragonflies, by Kacen Callender
• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
• Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee
• Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
• George by Alex Gino
• Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff
• Football Genius by Tim Green
• Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• House Arrest by K. A. Holt
• Redwood and Ponytail by K. A. Holt
• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
• Supergifted by Gordon Korman
• Restart by Gordon Korman
• Ungifted by Gordon Korman
• The Unteachables by Gordon Korman
• I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee
• Rules by Cynthia Lord
• Heat by Mike Lupica 
• A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
• The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
• The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye
• A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee
• Ghost (Track Series) by Jason Reynolds
• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
• Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
• After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
• Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
• Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer
• Crash by Jerry Spinelli
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
• Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• Boot Camp by Todd Strasser
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
• Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
• Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson & Ellen Hagan
• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
• Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
• Front Desk by Kelly Yang
• The Way to Bea by Kate Yeh
• Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
• The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

HISTORICAL FICTION

• Chains (The Seeds of America Trilogy) by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The War That Saved My Life by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley
• Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos
• Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
• Refugee by Alan Gratz
• Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton
• The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
• Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
• The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
• This is Just a Test by Madelyn Rosenberg & Wendy Wan-Long Shang
• Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein: Based on a True Story by Jennifer Roy
• The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
• Fallout by Todd Strasser
• Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
• Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

MYSTERY & ADVENTURE

• Wolf Rider by Avi
• Jump by Elisa Carbone (OUT OF PRINT)
• The Tyrant's Daughter by J. C. Carleson
• I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls series) by Ally Carter
• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
• Paper Towns by John Green
• Greystone Secrets #1: The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
• Stormbreaker (Alex Rider series) by Anthony Horowitz
• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
• Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
• The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klaven
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
• Greenglass House (series) by Kate Milford
• The Recruit (Cherub series) by Robert Muchamore
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• The Blackthorn Key (series) by Kevin Sands
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
• The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart
• The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. series) by Jonathan Stroud
• One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

LITERARY NON-FICTION

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda
• Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
• The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
• Calling All Minds: How To Think and Create Like an Inventor by Temple Grandin
• A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield
• The Boy who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose
• A Walk in Our Cleats by Steven Johnson, Jr.
• When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
• Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers’ Edition by James W. Loewen 
• It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime (Young Readers' Edition) by Trevor Noah 
• The Omnivore's Dilemma (Young Readers' Edition) by Michael Pollan
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
• Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
• Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin
• Hidden Figures (Young Readers' Edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly
• The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told edited by Jeff Silverman
• The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
• They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
• No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
• No Better Friend (Young Readers' Edition) by Robert Weintraub

MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSICS

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
• The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
• Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

FANTASY, DYSTOPIA & SCIENCE FICTION

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series) by Douglas Adams
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loren Clark
• The Storm Runner (series) by J.C. Cervantes
• Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Series) by Roshani Chokshi
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• The Land of Stories (series) by Chris Colfer
• Artemis Fowl (series) by Eoin Colfer
• The Hunger Games (trilogy) by Suzanne Collins
• The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
• The Maze Runner (series) by James Dashner
• The Last Apprentice (series) by Joseph Delaney
• Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
• The City of Ember (series) by Jeanne DuPrau
• The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice #1) by John Flanagan
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Found (The Missing, Book 1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Princess Academy (series) by Shannon Hale
• Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
• I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies Series) by Pittacus Lore
• The Giver (quartet) by Lois Lowry
• Legend (trilogy) by Marie Lu
• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (series) by Kwame Mbalia
• Keeper of Lost Cities (series) by Shannon Messenger
• The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials Trilogy) by Philip Pullman
• Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (series) by Rick Riordan
• The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles) by Rick Riordan
• The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo) by Rick Riordan
• Divergent (series) by Veronica Roth
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• El Deafo by Cece Bell
• Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
• Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
• New Kid by Jerry Craft
• Class Act by Jerry Craft
• Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch
• Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha
• Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales by Nathan Hale
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
• The Stonekeeper (Amulet #1) by Kazu Kibuishi
• Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Guts by Raina Telgemeier
• Bad Island by Doug TenNapel (OUT OF PRINT)
• Stargazing by Jen Wang
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang