Summer Reading List

Summer 2020 Reading List

7th Grade: SCAPA


At SCAPA, we require that the incoming 7th grade students read a total of three books over the summer. Please keep in mind that this requirement is an attempt to prevent students from losing their reading skills during the break. “Children who are readers add between 3,000 and 5,000 new words to their vocabulary every year through incidental exposure”. (Nagy, Anderson, and Herman 1987) Reading comprehension and speed also improve as students add vocabulary words. We encourage you to read with your children and discuss their books. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to teach them those invaluable critical thinking skills they will need to develop in order to be successful in both school and the workplace.

The books below may be located at the public libraries and at local or on-line bookstores. You may also be able to download them as eBooks through either our SCAPA library or the public libraries. They were chosen because of their relationship to core content, so they reflect a variety of genres, time periods, and themes. However, only you know what is appropriate for your children, so we recommend you assist them in making selections which meet your expectations.

In addition, we have listed the Lexile Reading Level next to each title along with the Lexile Reading Level Charts for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. This should help you assist your child in choosing the most appropriate books for his/her current reading level. Please keep in mind that Lexile levels are determined by sentence length as well as vocabulary so the more dialogue a book has, the shorter the sentences. This can lead to below level Lexile Level scores for books which are still appropriate for your child’s grade level.

6th Grade Lexile Level: 925-1070

7th Grade Lexile Level: 970-1120

8th Grade Lexile Level: 1010-1185


English Language Arts (Choose one book from the list below.)

Abeel, Samantha

  • My Thirteenth Winter: A Memoir (1050L)

Beals, Melba Pattillo

  • Warriors Don’t Cry (1000L)

Barwin, Steven

  • Fadeaway (590L)

Brown, Daniel James

  • The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics (1000L)

Butler, Dori Hillestad

  • The Truth about Truman School (640L)

Collard III, Sneed B.

  • Dog Sense (740L)

Copeland, Misty

  • Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina (Young Reader’s Edition) 890L

Davis, Mo’ne

  • Remember My Name (890L)

Draper, Sharon

  • Out of My Mind (700L)
  • Blended (610L)

Flake, Sharon

  • The Skin I’m In (670L)

Flinn, Alex

  • Breaking Point (410L)

Gansworth, Eric

  • If I Ever Get Out of Here (870L)

Gonzales, Christina Diaz

The Red Umbrella (590L)

Gratz, Alan

  • Refugee (800L)

Haddix, Margaret Peterson

  • Uprising (790L)

Hamilton, Bethany

  • Soul Surfer: A true Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board (960L)

Hinton, S. E.

  • The Outsiders (750L)

Howe, James

  • The Misfits (960L)

Kamkwamba, William

  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Reader’s Edition) 860L

Koja, Kathe

  • Buddha Boy (1090L)

Li, Moying

  • Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution (1020L)

McKay, Hillary

  • Indigo’s Star (740L)

Mikaelson, Ben

  • Touching Spirit Bear (730L)
  • Myers, Walter Dean

Bad Boy: A Memoir (970L)

Palacio, R. J.

  • Wonder (790L)

Park, Linda Sue

  • When My Name was Keoko (670L)

Potter, Ellen

  • Slob (740L)

Preller, James

  • Bystander (600L)

Reedy, Trent

  • Words in the Dust (670L)

Winerip, Michael

  • Adam Canfield, Watch Your Back! (730L)

Woodson, Jacqueline

  • Brown Girl Dreaming (990L)


Science (Choose one book from the list below.)

Cooney, Caroline

  • Code Orange (941)

DeFelice, Cynthia

  • The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker (811)

Goodall, Jane

  • In the Shadow of Man (1178)

Haddix, Margaret Peterson

  • Double Identity (781)

Herriot, James

  • All Creatures Great and Small (1009)
  • All Things Bright and Beautiful (999)
  • All Things Wise and Wonderful (999)
  • The Lord God Made Them All (989)

Hickam, Homer

  • Rocket Boys (910)

Kelly, Jacqueline

  • The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (829)

Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw

  • Charles Darwin: The Life of a Revolutionary Thinker (1211)

Pfeffer, Susan Beth

  • Life As We Knew It (731)

Preston, Richard

  • The Hot Zone (1061)

Werlin, Nancy

  • Double Helix (781)


Social Studies (Choose one book from the list below.)

Barrett, Tracy

  • Anna of Byzantium (969)

Benanav, Michael

  • Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold (1140)

Cooney, Caroline

  • Goddess of Yesterday (800)

Cushman, Karen

  • Catherine, Called Birdy (969)
  • Matilda Bone (888)
  • The Midwife’s Apprentice (921)

DuPrau, Jeanne

  • The City of Ember (781)

Fleischman, Paul

  • Dateline: Troy (860)

Fleming, Candace

  • The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia (950L)

Gaughen, A. C.

  • Scarlet (670)

Gregory, Kristiana

  • Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile (941)

McGraw, Eloise Jarvis

  • The Golden Goblet (951)

Meltzer, Milton

  • Weapons & Warfare: From the Stone Age to the Space Age (1120)

Meyer, Caroline

  • Mary, Bloody Mary (951)

Napoli, Donna Jo

  • Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters (931)

Riordan, Rick

  • The Lightning Thief (731)
  • The Sea of Monsters (720)
  • The Titan’s Curse (650)
  • The Battle of the Labyrinth (631)
  • The Last Olympian (669)

Rubalcaba, Jill and Robertshaw, Peter

  • Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deduction, and Debates (1088)

Snyder, Zilpha Keatly

  • The Egypt Game (969)

Turner, Megan Whalen

  • The Thief (921)

Turner, Pamela S.

  • Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune (950)