Summer Reading Titles for Students Entering Grades 7 and 8

It’s all about book talks in the library as of late. We finished previewing the titles on the grade 7 list to this year’s 20 grade 6 English classes and are getting ready to do the same next week when we'll present this year’s seventh grade with the grade 8 list.

The middle school summer reading lists all require students read one title and take a quiz, either online or on paper, on that book. Students at each grade level then choose a second book to read, but the assessment on that title is different for each grade.

There is one title that appears on all three grade level lists: "Edenville Owls" by Robert B. Parker. This title is a basketball novel set after World War II that is part of the Read and Rebound program sponsored by the Friends of the Peabody Institute Libraries and facilitated by the Peabody Institute Library and Peabody Recreation Department. This free program runs August 20-23; students are dropped off in the morning at Pierpont Park to play basketball, they have lunch, which is provided free by the Peabody Institute, and then they read "Edenville Owls" as a group. For more information, call 978-536-7130.

Students entering grade 7 next year all read "All of the Above" by Shelley Pearsall. They then choose one of the books on the grade 7 list; the assessment for that title is participation in a book discussion group in the fall. Community leaders volunteer to lead the discussion groups.

One of the choices for students entering grade 7 is "Okay for Now." The plot involves a local library that owns the John J. Audubon Birds of America collection. Sound familiar? The Peabody Institute too owns the Birds of America prints and they have developed a summer Art for Now program that runs from July 23-26. Readers of "Okay for Now" come to the downtown library for art classes, lunch and a group read of the title. For more information, call 978-531-0100, ext. 14.

In addition, those attending the Grade 6 Concert at Higgins on the evening of June 5 will be able to view one of the Peabody Institute’s rare Audubon prints at the library’s book sale before the concert.

Current grade 7 students will read "After Ever After" by Jordan Sonnenblick and then choose a title from the grade 8 list and complete an assessment. Grade 7 students will visit the library next week to perform poems resulting from the grade level’s Harlemania unit and following the performances, the library will speed booktalk the titles on the grade 8 summer reading list.

Students may purchase "After Ever After" at the Grade 7 spring concert on June 6 and in the Library through the end of the school year.

The PVMHS Summer Reading List provides information on requirements for students entering grades 9 to 12 next year, as well as for Advanced Placement students.

For parents of current grade 5 students who did not purchase summer reading
books for grade 6 at the Grade 5 Parent Orientation or the Grade 5 Instrumental Concerts in May, the books are available through the Higgins Library till the end of the school year.