While school is on break, there’s no better time to embark on thrilling adventures, soak up new knowledge, and explore the world than through the pages of a dazzling and spellbinding book!
The summer reading assignment is a gateway to a world of diverse genres, authors, and riveting stories. We’ve carefully selected what we hope is an exciting array of books for each grade level, spanning from fantasy to biography, anime to nonfiction, and much more. This diverse selection ensures something for everyone, making each student feel included!
Students can learn from the historical fiction novel The Door of No Return, whose story starts with a quote by the French West African Poet David Diop. Perhaps they love fantasy fiction, like the young adult novel Children of Blood and Bone by the award-winning Nigerian-American novelist Tomi Adeyemi. There are nonfiction graphic novels (gn) like They Called Us Enemy, Lies My Teacher Told Me and Stamped. These novels provide a different historical perspective and challenge what students thought they knew.
Sometimes students just want to be immersed in a good story. Many of those are on the list, like Frizzy, Invisible, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Ruby Lost and Found, and The House of the Cerulean Sea. The freedom of choice in this reading assignment empowers students and puts them in control of their reading journey.
Of course, you may encounter resistance, but a few suggestions exist to counter that challenge. One way to entice a reluctant reader is to embark on a family read. Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case is a graphic novel adventure focused on the natural world with a “range of STEM topics.” The Ypsilanti Library has created fabulous family activities focused around this Rising 6th-grade graphic novel to “bring the book to life” and encourage family discussions about the characters, climate change, and perhaps plant your milkweed garden for the monarchs! There are always classics like Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass or A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories. If these don’t suit your reader, short stories abound, like the book for our Rising 8th graders, A Universe of Wishes, where one author invites readers to Dream and Dare!
Students have all summer to read; they are expected to create a book talk in the first week of September. In a book talk, students share their thoughts and feelings about the book, provide a summary without giving away too much, and recommend the book to others. Using the new platform, Submit, students will record a video of their book talk. The goal is to earn extra credit and excite other readers. In case you missed the update, below are the grade-level links for the new platform, Submit.
We hope students choose a book that pulls them into the story. If they don’t find a book from the list provided for their grade level, here are links with other book choices:
We can’t wait to hear about the book that captivated your child’s attention! We value their unique perspectives and are excited to learn about the stories that enchanted and inspired them.
Book Talk Recording Links
Due to the retirement of Flip recording platform, we have changed to Submit, a recording platform supported by Screencastify.
- Rising 5th grade Book Talk Link
- Rising 6th grade Book Talk Link
- Rising 7th grade Book Talk Link
- Rising 8th grade Book Talk Link