Summer Reading

Mrs. Leslie

  • AP Seminar: Annotation & AP Sem Summer Reading
  • College Comp: Annotation, College Comp Summer Reading, & CC-They Say/I Say
  • The Art of Storytelling: Annotation, Art of Storytelling Summer Reading, & AS-Zinsser Intro
Mrs. Flint
  • AP Literature: (1) How to Read Literature Like a Professor (recommended by AP Institute)-It focuses on finding patterns and symbolism in literature. Assignment: Annotate and use to write a literary analysis for A Prayer for Owen Meany. (2) A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (known for using a lot of symbolism in his writing; also a NH author); Assignment: Literary analysis and quiz when we get back to school
  • English 11: (1) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Assignment: Annotate and answer short-answer reading questions provided at the beginning of summer. (2) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Assignment: Reading quiz taken when we get back to school
  • Honors English 9: (1) The Life of Pi, Yann Martel. Assignment: Reading quiz taken when we get back to school. (2) 1984. Assignment: Annotate and answer short-answer reading questions provided at the beginning of summer
  • English 9: (1) The Life of Pi, Yann Martel.  Assignment: Reading quiz taken when we get back to school. (2) Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. Annotate and answer short-answer reading questions provided at the beginning of summer.
6th Grade

7th Grade

English 7: 2025 Summer Reading Expectations

Over the summer and before your return to school in late August, you will be required to read two books from the summer reading list (see list below). Upon completion of the book, you will need to take a Reading Quiz at the SMHS Library. At the start of next year I will ask you to do a little writing about the book you liked the most. This writing assignment will be completed in class (see topics below), but you should think about, and be able to answer, the following questions:

1. Tell me about the main character in the novel. Provide enough information so I get to know him/her. In this explanation please include the major conflict that the character faces.
2. The antagonist in a story is the force (person or even the setting) that works against the main character (or protagonist). Often, there are many antagonists in the story. Explain what (or who) is the biggest antagonist working against the main character and how it impacts the main character.
3. Is there a message (or theme) to your book? Explain providing one specific example from the book that proves your point.
4. Connect the main character in the book to another character in another book or film. Explain your connection.


Book Options
I have tried to choose books with a range of difficulty (the higher the lexile score, the more challenging the book) and a range of genres. In general, these are books that students really enjoy, so I hope that’s true for you too.

Give and Take - Elly Swartz's
630 Lexile Score

Give and Take is a touching middle grade novel about family, friendship, and learning when to let go.

Family has always been important to twelve-year-old Maggie: a trapshooter, she is coached by her dad and cheered on by her mom. But her grandmother's recent death leaves a giant hole in Maggie's life, one which she begins to fill with an assortment of things: candy wrappers, pieces of tassel from Nana's favorite scarf, milk cartons, sticks . . . all stuffed in cardboard boxes under her bed.

Then her parents decide to take in a foster infant. But anxiety over the new baby's departure only worsens Maggie's hoarding, and soon she finds herself taking and taking until she spirals out of control. Ultimately, with some help from family, friends, and experts, Maggie learns that sometimes love means letting go.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins**
820 Lexile Score

The first novel in the worldwide bestselling series by Suzanne Collins!
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.


Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
880 Lexile Score

Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.

Heat - Mike Lupica
940 Lexile Score

Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat along with aspirations of leading his team all the way to the Little League World Series. But his firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day life. Newly orphaned after his father led the family’s escape from Cuba, Michael’s only family is his seventeen-year old brother Carlos. If Social Services hears of their situation, they will be separated in the foster-care system—or worse, sent back to Cuba. Together, the boys carry on alone, dodging bills and anyone who asks too many questions. But then someone wonders how a twelve-year-old boy could possibly throw with as much power as Michael Arroyo throws. With no way to prove his age, no birth certificate, and no parent to fight for his cause, Michael’s secret world is blown wide open, and he discovers that family can come from the most unexpected sources.

Hatchet - Gary Paulsen*
1020 Lexile Score

"Plausible, taut, this survival story is a spellbinding account." —Kirkus (starred review) Thoughts of his parents' divorce fill Brian Robeson's head as he flies in a single-engine plane to visit his father in the Canadian wilderness. When the pilot suffers a massive heart attack and dies, Brian must somehow land the plane by himself and then, left with only the clothes he is wearing and a hatchet he received from his mother as a parting gift, Brian must put thoughts of his past behind him and try to figure out how he can stay alive... ''A heart-stopping story...something beyond adventure, a book that plunges readers into the cleft of the protagonist's experience." —Publishers Weekly A Newbery Honor Book An ALA Notable Book Booklist Editor's Choice


8th Grade

Mr. MacNamee