Bowditch Middle School: Summer Reading List
All Language Arts students entering grades 6th through 8th are encouraged to read over the summer. This is one of the best ways to continue learning and avoid a summer slump. Plus, when students pick books they are interested in, it's fun! These reading lists are not mandatory but are suggested reading in preparation for ELA classes next year,
The following grade-appropriate titles are recommended by Bowditch teachers. Besides this list, check out Common Sense Media or Scholastic Book Lists for suggestions and guidance in helping your student select books.
For Students Entering 6th Grade:
The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan
Refugee by Alan Kratz
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
For Students entering 7th grade:
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
The Miracle Worker by william Gibson
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Loser by Jerry Spinelli
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
Something to Declare by Julia Alvarez
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Godless by Pete Hautman
Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for her American Dream by Julissa Arce
For Students Entering 8th Grade:
Exodus by Julia Bertagna
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
China Boy by Gus Lee
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
Shakespeare Bats Clean Up by Ron Koertege
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
When I was Puerto Rican by Esmerelda Santiago
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Houston
Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier
Not a Happy Camper by Mindy Schneider
City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar
The Glass Collector by Anna Perera
This Light Between Us: A Novel of World War II by Andrew Fukuda
It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
