6-8 Reading List (Gwinnett)

2015 Ivy Preparatory Academy at Gwinnett Summer Reading List
Rising 6th Grade NonFiction
Description
The Diary of Ma Wan
Ma Wan Piere Haski
Lexile 720
In a drought-stricken corner of rural China, an education can be the difference between a life of crushing
poverty and the chance for a better future. But for Ma Yan, money is scarce, and the low wages paid for
backbreaking work aren't always enough to pay school fees . . . or even to provide enough food for herself and
her family.
Middle School: The Real Deal
(revised edition): From
Cafeteria Food to
Combination Locks
By Juliana Farrell, Megan
Howard, Beth Mayall
Lexile: N/A
No Summit Out of Sight
By Jordan Romero
Lexile: 850
Ma Yan's heart-wrenching, honest diary chronicles her struggle to escape hardship through her persistent,
sometimes desperate, attempts to continue her schooling. Its publication was an international sensation,
creating an outpouring of support for this courageous teenager and others like her . . . all due to one ordinary
girl's extraordinary diary.
From cliques to class schedules, electives to extra credit, cafeteria food to combination locks, you'll find
everything you need to know right here. And in this newly revised edition, you'll also get the most up-to-date
information on everything from technology to test taking. This book has the latest scoop, the coolest quizzes,
and the best advice around if you're about to take the middle school plunge.
On May 22, 2010, at the age of thirteen, American teenager Jordan Romero became the youngest person to
climb to the summit of Mount Everest. At fifteen, he became the youngest person to reach the summits of the
tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. In this energizing memoir for young adults, Jordan, now
seventeen, recounts his experience, which started as a spark of an idea at the age of nine and, many years of
training and hard work later, turned into a dream come true.
Hoop Genius
By John Coy and Joe Morris
Lexile: 880
Taking over a rowdy gym class right before winter vacation is not something James Naismith wants to do at
all. The last two teachers of this class quit in frustration. The students--a bunch of energetic young men--are
bored with all the regular games and activities. Naismith needs something new, exciting, and fast to keep the
class happy or someone's going to get hurt. Saving this class is going to take a genius. Discover the true story
of how Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Rising 6th Grade
Fiction
Description
The Limit
By Kristen Landon
Lexile: 690
An eighth grade girl was taken today . . . With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fastpaced thriller that doesn't let up for a moment. In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being
taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the monthly debt limit imposed by the
government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought.
After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his
parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is
one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit—and to change his reality forever.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become
busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence
for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordionplaying foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids
as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
The Book Thief
By Markus Zusak
Lexile: 730
Life As We Knew It
By Susan Beth Pfeffer
Lexile: 770
The Giver
By Louis Lowry
Lexile: 760
High school sophomore Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon
closer to Earth, like "one marble hits another." The result is catastrophic. How can her family prepare for the
future when worldwide tsunamis are wiping out the coasts, earthquakes are rocking the continents, and
volcanic ash is blocking out the sun? As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania,
Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they
subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.
The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The
haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of
conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he
begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Lois Lowry has written three
companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.
7th Grade Non-Fiction Description
I Am Malala
By Malala Yousefzai
Lexile: 830
I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education,
of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school,
and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.
The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective Teens
Lexile: 870
a handbook to self-esteem and success. Now updated for the digital age, this classic book applies the timeless
principles of the 7 Habits to the tough issues and life-changing decisions teens face. In an entertaining style,
Covey provides a simple approach to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure,
achieve their goals, and get along with their parents, as well as tackle the new challenges of our time, like
cyberbullying and social media. In addition, this book is stuffed with cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes, and
incredible stories about real teens from all over the world.
Chinese Cinderella
By Adeline Yen Mah
Lexile: 960
A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns
to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.
Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does
not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother,
while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to
compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family.
Get Real: what kind of world
are YOU buying?
By Rockliff, Mara
Lexile: 890L
Can you change the world with your wallet? You already do. In this frank, teen-friendly manifesto, Mara
Rockliff reveals what you’re really buying when you spend your money on a cell phone, a cheap t-shirt, or fast
food—and shows the way to better choices, both for people and the planet.
7th Grade Fiction
Description
How The Garcia Girls Lost
Their Accents
By Julia Alvarez
Lexile: 950
In this debut novel, the García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their family must flee their
home in the Dominican Republic after their father’s role in an attempt to overthrow a tyrannical dictator is
discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean.
In the wild and wondrous and not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try to hold on to their old ways, but
the girls try find new lives: by forgetting their Spanish, by straightening their hair and wearing fringed bell
bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new
On a foggy night in Amsterdam, a man falls from a rooftop to the wet pavement below. It's Archibald McQuinn,
the notorious cat burglar, and he's dying. As sirens wail in the distance, Archie manages to get out two last
words to his young son, March: "Find jewels. "March and Jules have no intention of staying put. They know
their father's business inside and out, and they're tired of being pushed around. Just one good heist, and they'll
live the life of riches and freedom that most kids only dream about...
Loot: How To steal a
Fortune
By: Jude Watson
Lexile: 560
Ungifted
Gordon Korman
Lexile: 730
Divergent
By: Veronica Roth
Lexile: 700
When Donovan Curtis pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he’s finally gone too far. But thanks
to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of
Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students.
Although it wasn’t exactly what Donovan had intended, the ASD couldn’t be a more perfectly unexpected
hideout for someone like him. But as the students and teachers of ASD grow to realize that Donovan may not be
good at math or science (or just about anything), he shows that his gifts may be exactly what the ASD students
never knew they needed.
One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior's society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest),
Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice
must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions. Her choice will shock her
community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she's determined to keep hidden,
because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.
8th Grade NonFiction
Description
Marley A Dog Like No
Other
By: John Grogan
Lexile: 760
Make way for Marley!When the Grogan family is ready for a dog, they choose Marley, a yellow furball of a
puppy who quickly grows into a large, rowdy Labrador retriever. Marley has a zest for life, and as he grows, so
does his enthusiasm. He has an appetite for whatever he can get his paws on—from fine jewelry to underwear—
and the one thing he always finds is trouble. Marley even gets kicked out of obedience school! Can this
rambunctious pup ever learn how to be a good boy?
The Dark Game :True Spy
Stories
By Paul Janeczko
Lexile: 1200
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer
By James Swanson
Lexile: 980
In this collection of true stories, readers will meet several spies from U.S. history, including the infamous
Benedict Arnold. The author provides information about how spies have been recruited and trained, and
discusses some interesting spy gadgets.
Outcast United: the story of
a refugee soccer team that
changed a town
By St. John Warren
Lexile: 980
Life in Motion an Unlikely
Ballerina
By Misty Copeland
Lexile: 1040
Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and
the manhunters, 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.
Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s,
becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and
Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the
smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also
became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to
unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.
Misty Copeland makes history as the only African American soloist dancing with the prestigious American
Ballet Theatre. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one
expected the undersized, anxious thirteen-year-old to become a groundbreaking ballerina.When she discovered
ballet, Misty was living in a shabby motel room, struggling with her five siblings for a place to sleep on the floor.
A true prodigy, she was dancing en pointe within three months of taking her first dance class and performing
professionally in just over a year: a feat unheard of for any classical dancer. But when Misty became caught
between the control and comfort she found in the world of ballet and the harsh realities of her own life
(culminating in a highly publicized custody battle), she had to choose to embrace both her identity and her
dreams, and find the courage to be one of a kind.
8th Grade Fiction
Description
Do The Math: Secrets Lies,
and Algebra
By Wendy Lichtman
Lexile: 1050
Tess loves math because it's the one subject she can trust—there's always just one right answer, and it never
changes. But then she starts algebra and is introduced to those pesky and mysterious variables, which seem to be
everywhere in eighth grade. When even your friends and parents can be variables, how in the world do you find
out the right answers to the really important questions, like what to do about a boy you like or whom to tell when
someone's done something really bad?Will Tess's life ever stop changing long enough for her to figure it all out?
Tears of a Tiger
by Sharon M. Draper
Lexile:700
Andy Jackson was driving the car that crashed one night after a game, killing Robert Washington, his best friend
and the captain of the Hazelwood High Tigers. It was late, and they'd been drinking, and now, months later,
Andy can't stop blaming himself. As he turns away from family, friends, and even his girlfriend, he finds he's
losing the most precious thing of all: his ability to face the future.With perceptiveness and compassion, Sharon
Draper portrays an African-American teenager who feels driven to consider suicide in the wake of a devastating
tragedy.
Fahrenheit 451
By: Ray Bradbury
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen
start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along
with the houses in which they are hidden.
Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and
wife, But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t
live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter
of television.
Lexile: 890
I’d Tell you I love you but I’d
have to Kill you
By : Ally Carter
Lexile: 1000
Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls
school — that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science,
and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might
claim to be a school for geniuses, but it's really a school for spies.Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen
languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an
ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him
through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist," but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who
can never know the truth about her? Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year,
she's on her most dangerous mission--falling in love.
Ivy Preparatory Academy at Gwinnett 2015 Summer Reading Assignment
Each scholar is responsible for reading 2 books from the Summer Reading list and responding to each of the topics listed below. Responses should
be at least one paragraph in length (5-7 sentences).
Journal Topics
1. Did you like this book? Why or why not? Would you read another book by this author why or why not?
2. Describe one problem or conflict in this book? How was it resolved?
3. What connections to your own life did you make while reading this book
4. What do the main character’s actions tell you about his/her personality? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text.
5. What is the overall theme of message of the book. Be sure to cite textual evidence.
6. Choose two characters in the book and describe their similarities and differences?
7. Choose 4 words from the book that you are reading that you had difficulty understanding. Make a prediction as to what you think that word
means and then use a dictionary to write down the actual definition.
8. If you could write an alternate title for the book that you have read what would it be and why?