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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

Bowditch Middle School PTSA
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