2019 Fall Reading ChoicesFOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE 7TH GRADE IN AUGUST 2019

Center Hill Middle School

Lewis & Clark By: Nick Bertozzi

Tips:

You will need to research and read

about the Louisiana Purchase

before reading this book. The

reading level may be low, but this

book is hard to understand if you do not know the story of Lewis &

Clark’s adventure.

Classification: Nonfiction

Lexile: Not available

Grade Level: 2-3

AR Level: 2.9

Audio Available: No

SUMMARY

A fictionalized account, in graphic novel format, of

the adventures of explorers Lewis and Clark during

their journey from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

By: William Kamkwamba

Classification: Biography

Lexile: 850

Grade Level: 4-6

AR Level: 5.3

Audio Available: Yes

SUMMARY

African teenager William Kamkwamba explored science books in his village library when he was forced to drop out of school, and was able to change his family's life by creating a windmill to pump water for his family's farm.

Tip: Research the 2002 famine in Malawi, Africa before reading this book

Jim Thorpe: Original All American

By: Joseph BruchacSummary:

Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played

professional football, Major League Baseball, and won Olympic gold medals in

track & field. But his life wasn’t an easy one. Born on the Sac and Fox Reservation

in 1887, he encountered much family tragedy, and was sent as a young boy to

various Indian boarding schools—strict, cold institutions that didn’t allow their

students to hold on to their Native American languages and traditions. Jim ran

away from school many times, until he found his calling at Pennsylvania’s Carlisle

Indian School. There, the now-legendary coach Pop Warner recognized Jim’s

athletic excellence and welcomed him onto the football and track teams.

Focusing on Jim Thorpe’s years at Carlisle, this book brings his early athletic

career—and especially his college football days—to life, while also dispelling

some myths about him and movingly depicting the Native American experience

at the turn of the twentieth century. This is a book for history buffs as well as sports

fans—an illuminating and lively read about a truly great American.

Classification: Biography

Lexile Level: 950

Grade Level: 4-7

AR Level: 5.8

Audio Available: Yes

Tips: Read about the history of the Sac and Fox Reservation

Freedom’s Children:

Young Civil Rights

Activist Tell Their Own

StoriesBy: Ellen Levine

Summary:

Presents a collection of true stories in which African-Americans who were involved in the Civil Rights

movement during the 1950s and 1960s discuss their struggles to end segregation in the South.

Tips: Research and read about the Civil Rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s before reading this book.

Classification: Nonfiction

Lexile Level: 760

Grade Level: 3-5

AR Level: 6.3

Audio Available: No

Lincoln’s Grave RobbersBy: Steve Shieken

Classification: Nonfiction

Lexile Level: 930

Grade Level: 4-7

AR Level: 6.6

Audio Available: Yes

Summary

The action begins in October of 1875, as Secret Service

agents raid the Fulton, Illinois, workshop of master

counterfeiter Ben Boyd. Soon after Boyd is hauled off to

prison, members of his counterfeiting ring gather in the back

room of a smoky Chicago saloon to discuss how to spring

their ringleader. Their plan: grab Lincoln's body from its

Springfield tomb, stash it in the sand dunes near Lake

Michigan, and demand, as a ransom, the release of Ben

Boyd --and $200,000 in cash. From here, the action

alternates between the conspirators, the Secret Service

agents on their trail, and the undercover agent moving

back and forth between the two groups. Along the way

readers get glimpses into the inner workings of

counterfeiting, grave robbing, detective work, and the early

days of the Secret Service. The plot moves toward a wild

climax as robbers and lawmen converge at Lincoln's tomb

on election night: November 7, 1876.

Tips: Research and read about Lincoln’s tomb in Springfeild,

Illinois. Also, research and read about counterfeiters.

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia EarhartBy: Candace Fleming

Summary: In alternating chapters, Fleming deftly moves readers back and forth between Amelia's life (from

childhood up until her last flight) and the exhaustive search for her and her missing plane. With incredible photos,

maps, and handwritten notes from Amelia herself—plus informative sidebars tackling everything from the history of

flight to what Amelia liked to eat while flying (tomato soup)—this unique nonfiction title is tailor-made for middle

graders.

Tip: Amelia Lost received four starred reviews and Best Book of the Year accolades from School Library Journal, Kirkus

Reviews, Horn Book Magazine, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Classification: Lexile Level: 930

Grade Level: 4-7

AR Level: 6.6

Audio Available: No

Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America

By: Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Summary:

Classification: Bio/ Nonfiction

Lexile Level: 980

Grade Level: 4-7

AR Level: 7.2

Audio Available: Yes

What happens when a person's

reputation has been forever damaged?

With archival photographs and text

among other primary sources, this riveting

biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert

medalist and Newbery Honor winner

Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid

scandal of Mary's controversial life. How

she was treated by medical and legal

officials reveals a lesser-known story of

human and constitutional rights,

entangled with the science of pathology

and enduring questions about who Mary

Mallon really was. How did her name

become synonymous with deadly

disease? And who is really responsible for

the lasting legacy of Typhoid Mary? This

thorough exploration includes an author's

note, timeline, annotated source notes,

and bibliography.

Tip: Research and

read about

“healthy carriers”

of bacteria and

Typhoid Fever.

Chasing Lincoln’s KillerBy: James L. Swanson

Classification: Bio/Nonfiction

Lexile: 980

Grade Level: 4-7

AR Level: 7.5

Audio Available: Yes

Summary:Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts,

and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the man-

hunters, 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.

Tips: Check out the map in the back

of the book before and while

reading.

The Duel:

The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron BurrBy: Judith St. George

SUMMARY:In curiously parallel lives, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were

both orphaned at an early age. Both were brilliant students who

attended college--one at Princeton, the other at Columbia--and studied

law.

Both were young staff officers under General George Washington,

and both became war heroes. Politics beckoned them, and each served

in the newly formed government of the fledgling nation. Why, then, did

these two face each other at dawn in a duel that ended with death for

one and opprobrium for the other?

Judith St. George's lively biography, told in alternating chapters,

brings to life two complex men who played major roles in the formation of

the United States.

Classification: Nonfiction

Lexile: 1040

Grade Level: 5-9

Audio: Yes

AR: 7.5

TIP: Research and read about DUELS and how they

were carried out.

Kids at Work By: Russell Freedom

SUMMARY:

Photo-biography of early

twentieth-century photographer

and schoolteacher Lewis Hine,

using his own work as illustrations.

Hines's photographs of children at

work were so devastating that

they convinced the American

people that Congress must pass

child labor laws.

Tips: Research and read about child labor

laws before reading this book.

Classification: Nonfiction

Lexile: 1140

Grade Level: 5-9

AR:5-9

Audio: No

There’s a Hair in My Dirt

By: Gary LarsonYOU MUST HAVE SPECIAL PERMISSION FROM YOU ELA TEACHER TO

CHOSE THIS BOOK.

Summary: When a worm family sits down to their dinner of dirt, the

little worm discovers a hair in his dirt. Father Worm decides to tell

him a story to restore his interest in dinner, and in being a worm at

all. The story that Father Worm tells sums up more than the

adventures of the fair maiden Harriet—it points out complex

ecological facts and describes life from a worm's point of view.

TIP: This book focus on ecology which is

the branch of biology that deals with the

relations of organisms to one another and

to their physical surroundings.