This document provides a summer reading list for students in 3rd through 8th grade at Birchwood School. It includes required reading books for each grade as well as suggested series and topics. Students are encouraged to cultivate their reading habits over the summer and discuss their required books during the first week of school. The list also provides nonfiction topics and series for additional reading. Students are asked to keep track of events from their books or character descriptions to help remember what they read.

1. Birchwood School
3 rd and 4 th Grade Summer Reading List
Dear Students and Parents,
Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy books and to cultivate your
reading habit. I hope you will join a summer reading club or set a summer
goal for your reading. In addition, the books listed below are required
reading for the summer. Enjoy them and be prepared to discuss them in
reading class during the first week of school in the fall. Along with the
required books, are suggested books for students who desire additional
suggestions.
Third Grade Required Reading
• The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
• Shoeshine Girl, by Clyde Robert Bulla
Fourth Grade Required Reading
• Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
• Ferrets in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridge by Bill Wallace
Suggested Reading
Explore some super series! Pick a series and read 2-3 books in the series,
then move on to the next series!!! Make a list of the books you read on the
back of this sheet.
• Something Queer Series by Eve Titus
• Cam Jansen Series by David Adler
• Basil of Baker Street Series by Eve Titus
• Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• Hardy Boys Mysteries by Franklin W. Dixon
• Nancy Drew Mysteries by Carolyn Keene
• Sports Fiction Series by Matt Christopher
• All of a Kind of Family Series by Sidney Taylor
You can also pick a nonfiction topic: soccer, crafts, rock collecting, biking,
cooking, chess, castles, etc. Find the section in the library, browse the
shelves and take home a pile!!!

2. Birchwood School
5 th – 8 th Grade Summer Reading List
Dear Students and Parents,
Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy books and to cultivate your reading habit.
We hope you will join a summer reading club or set a summer goal for your reading. In
addition, the books listed below are required reading for the summer. Along with the
required books, are suggested books for students who desire additional suggestions.
All students in 5th-8th grade can head over to Mrs. Jackson’s Sixth Grade Reading blog
(www.mrswhatsit.edublogs.org) for more enticing titles and summer reading fun!
~ Mrs. Debelak and Mrs. Jackson
5th Grade Required Reading/Assignment
• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
• Write at least 6 events that occur in your required reading book. This would be
like writing a book summary. Your paragraph should be about 10 sentences long.
You will be expected to turn in your book summary on the first day of class.
6th Grade Required Reading/Assignment
• Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel
• A nonfiction title of your choice
• As you read Silverwing and your nonfiction title, write your thoughts on our Sixth
Grade Reading blog, www.mrswhatsit.edublogs.org. For any other good books you
read this summer, write a brief review on the blog as well.
5th and 6th Grade Suggested Reading
• A Gathering of Days by Joan Blos
• The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Pen Wright
• Dragon’s Gate by Laurence Yep
• National Velvet by Enid Bagnoldi
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
• Rules of the Road and any other by Joan Bauer
• Skellig by David Almond
• Silverwing Trilogy and any other by Kenneth Oppel
• When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Angel Factory by Terence Blacker
• Mama’s Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes
• Stargirl and Loser by Jerry Spinelli
• How about a Newberry book such as Holes by Louis Sachar, A View From
Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, or And Now
Miguel or Onion John by Joseph Krumgold
Look at the back of this sheet for nonfiction titles and suggestions.
For the 7th & 8th grade reading lists, see the back of this sheet.

3. 7th Grade Required Reading
• Boys: No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt
• Girls: Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
After reading the required book, compile a list of the 10 main events. This will help you
remember the book if you read it early in the summer. These will be discussed during the
first week of school.
8th Grade Required Reading
• The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.
As you read, keep a running list of the major characters. When you finish the book, jot
down 3 adjectives for each one. This will help you remember the book if you read it early
in the summer. We will compare adjectives the first week of school.
7th and 8th Grade Suggested Reading
• Crossbreed by Allan Eckert
• Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan
• December Stillness by Mary Downing Hahn
• October Sky by Homer Hickman Jr.
• Dixie Storms by Barbara Hall
• The Man Without a Country by Edward Everett Hale
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Lost Horizon by James Hilton
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
• Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
• Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
• Kira-kira by Cynthia Kadohata
• The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
• The House of the Scorpian and The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
• Try a classic such as The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett or The Yearling by
Marjorie Rawlings or Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Sink your teeth into an award winning adult-size biography such as Truman, John
Adams, (by David McCullough) Helen Keller, the Story of My Life, Up From
Slavery (Booker T. Washington)
Nonfiction Reading ALL GRADES
Go to the library and browse one new nonfiction section:
1. BOOKS - Greek mythology, chess, dinosaurs, cooking, soccer, football…
Whatever interest you have, there are shelves of books waiting for you!
2. MAGAZINES – Such a world of fascination in so many magazines for kids. Spend an hour
sitting around the magazine section and discover Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated for
Kids, Cicada and Cricket, Popular Science, Readers Digest, Games Magazine and …
Be ready! Mrs. Debelak and Mrs. Jackson will have a time of sharing what you read.
Be accountable to yourself to expand your interests this summer and be ready to discuss with other
bands of enthusiasts! Keep a journal of the topics you read about – build a personal interest data bank!
Future Problem Solving – Read on the topics for next year and consider the issues. Begin a scenario?
Olympic Games, Cyber Conflict, Space Junk, Counterfeit Economy, Pandemic
The Website www.fpsp.org will have a fuller description of each topic.
If you want a list of sources for any topic you may contact Mrs. Tzeng. lctzeng@aol.com

4. National History Day – The theme for next year is: The Individual in History. Begin by reading short
biographies and make a list of possible topics. Bring it to school in the fall and you’ll have a head start!
List the books you want to show to Mrs. Alicea
Third and Fourth Graders… you will, of course, read more books than
you can fit on this page. (You are not required to list all of the books
you read this summer.) This page is just for fun. What Mrs. Alicea
wants to see is whether you do pick the titles of a single series that
you read. For example, your list might include Hardy Boys books OR a
list of Cam Jansen titles, OR a list of a few biographies OR a list of
books about chess. It will be fun to compare which series we each got
“hooked” on over the summer. We’ll make a huge list in our classroom!!
My “Serious About Series” List
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