Students at are encouraged to read at least two books from their respective grade-level lists over the summer, according to a notice posted on the Parras website. Students may complete a project on one of the books by the end of summer to earn 20 points of extra credit in their language arts class.
Extra credit assignments are due Aug. 31. See below for the reading lists and project options.
EIGHTH-GRADE READING LIST
- Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
- Call Me Marie by Judith Ortiz Confer
- Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki
- Goodbye Vietnam by Gloria Whelan
- Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
- Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
- My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Christopher Collier
- Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
- Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
- Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell
- The Call of the Wild by Jack London
- The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho
- The Pearl by John Steinbeck
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
SEVENTH-GRADE READING LIST
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Lupita Manana by Patricia Beatty
- Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
- Tangerine by Edward Bloor
- Across the Grain by Jean Ferris
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Bearstone by Will Hobbs
- M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton
- Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
SIXTH-GRADE READING LIST
- The Fighting Ground by Avi
- The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
- On My Honor by Marion Dale Bauer
- The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain
- The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
- Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
- The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
- Baby by Patricia MacLachlan
- Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
- Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
- The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
- No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
FINAL BOOK REPORT OPTIONS
- Write a new ending
- Design a game pertaining to the setting
- Cast a movie for characters (can't be a movie already)
- Create a diorama of the setting
- Write a critique giving your opinion of the novel
- Make a poster showing characters, setting and plot
- Write a diary from the main character's point of view
- Make a cartoon
- Make a travel brochure
For more summer reading ideas, visit Patch's Summer Reading Guide.
