Rising 7th Grade

Rising 7th Grade Summer Learning

Scroll to the bottom of this page to find additional information regarding student summer work.

Required Math Program:

This summer we are again using DreamBox, a rigorous, adaptive, and engaging online math program to help students reinforce their math proficiency over the summer months and smoothly transition back to school in August. Practicing 4-5 lessons a week consistently every week of the summer (40-50 lessons total) will help ensure that skills are reinforced to prepare for a smooth transition back to school in August. If your child wants to do more (because the program is fun!), all the better.

Please note that for Grades 1-6, your DreamBox payment will be billed directly to your student's Smart Tuition account and for Grades 7-8, through their Follett textbooks orders. The fee is $15. Also note that students will have access to (and in some cases use) DreamBox throughout the school year.

To Login to DreamBox:
On a Computer: https://play.dreambox.com/login/4x6r/m3ez
On an iPad: Download both free DreamBox Apps (Green and Blue). Use this code when prompted: 4x6r/m3ez (iPad Directions linked on SpartanNet Class pages)
Under the Text Login section, type in username (first initial + last name + grad year) & password (spartan1). (You should not need a classroom code.)

While we hope all students will take advantage of this online option, we know that some students may have a summer without internet access or just need a break from online work. If you fall in this category, students should complete the Math Minutes workbook for the grade level they recently finished. For Rising 7th grade, this is Math Minutes for 6th, ISBN 978-1591984306. These workbooks are available for purchase online or through local bookstores.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact MS Dean, Natalie Luke, at nluke@athensacademy.org.

Optional Keyboarding Practice:

For students entering grades 3- 7, computer keyboarding is an essential skill that will benefit them greatly as we increase the use of technology. Typing.com offers fun, helpful, and free keyboarding practice. Students should create an account to keep track of their progress (not for teachers to monitor).

Required Books
Read BOTH books and answer associated discussion questions.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman Philbrick

Dragon Hoops
by Gene Luen Yang

Choice Books
Choose at least TWO, preferably from different genres; as well, select titles you have NOT read previously. If you choose a graphic novel as one of your choice books, please choose a traditional book as your second choice book.
Printable lists available below.

HISTORICAL FICTION
Eleven by Tom Rogers
This is "Eleven": the journey of a boy turning eleven on 9/11. Alex Douglas always wanted to be a hero, but nothing heroic ever happened to him. Until his eleventh birthday. When Alex rescues a stray dog as a birthday gift to himself, he doesn't think his life can get much better. And Radar feels the same way. But this day has bigger things in store. This is a story about bullies and heroes. About tragedy and hope. About enemies with two legs and friends with four, and pesky little sisters and cranky old men, and an unexpected lesson in kindness delivered with a slice of pizza.

Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
With Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. His dad says he’s one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada. After five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they’re out of danger. They’re wrong. Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They’ve been torpedoed and the Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive?

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.

Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsan
Chaya Lindner is a Jewish teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. After her sister is taken away, her brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference and becomes a courier who travels between the Jewish ghettos of Poland, smuggling food, papers, and even people. Soon Chaya joins a resistance cell that runs raids on the Nazis' supplies. But after a mission goes wrong, Chaya's network shatters. She is alone and unsure of where to go, until Esther, a member of her cell, finds her and delivers a message that chills Chaya to her core, and sends her toward an even larger uprising -- in the Warsaw Ghetto. Though the Jewish resistance never had much of a chance against the Nazis, they were determined to save as many lives as possible, and to live -- or die -- with honor.

REALISTIC FICTION
Bystander by James Preller
Thirteen-year-old Eric has moved from Ohio to Long Island, NY, with his mother and younger brother. Eric soon meets Griffin Connelly, a handsome kid with natural leadership, lots of charisma, and a real mean streak. While Griffin is the perfect bully, David Hallenback is the perfect victim: beaten down and willing to do anything to get Griffin's approval. At first, Eric is a bystander, not participating in the bullying but not doing anything to stop it. However, a series of events move him out of this passive role.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.

Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington
As Mysti begins seventh grade, her father is in the hospital, leaving her at home with her younger sister, her severely agoraphobic mother, and no strategy for replenishing the food supplies. To make matters worse, her only friend, Anibal Gomez, asks her to help with his social experiment to be cool, meaning that if she talks to him at school, he'll ruthlessly make fun of her. Mysti struggles with so much change, but as she befriends sassy and supportive Rama, she slowly comes to believe that she can find her own voice.

Deep Water by Watt Key (or any title by Watt Key)
After her father falls ill, twelve-year-old Julie Sims must take over and lead two of his clients on a dive miles off the coast of Alabama while her father stays behind in the boat. When the clients, a reckless boy Julie's age and his equally foolhardy father, disregard Julie's instructions during the dive, she quickly realizes she's in over her head. And once she surfaces, things only get worse: One of the clients is in serious condition, and their dive boat has vanished―along with Julie's father, the only person who knows their whereabouts. It's only a matter of time before they die of hypothermia, unless they become shark bait first. Though Julie may not like her clients, it's up to her to save them.

I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter (or any in series)
As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.

Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus's mom decides it's time for a change of environment. She takes Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don't remember or have never met. But Marcus can't focus knowing that his father--who walked out of their lives ten years ago--is somewhere on the island. So begins Marcus's incredible journey, a series of misadventures that take him all over Puerto Rico in search of his elusive namesake.

Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson (or any in series)
When Rafe Khatchadorian enters middle school, he teams up with his best friend "Leo the Silent" to create a game to make school more fun by trying to break every rule in the school's code of conduct.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.

Pay It Forward (Young Readers Edition) by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town, accepts his teacher’s challenge to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world. Trevor’s idea is simple: do a good deed for three people, and instead of asking them to return the favor, ask them to “pay it forward” to three others who need help. He envisions a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading across the world, and in this “quiet, steady masterpiece with an incandescent ending” (Kirkus Reviews), Trevor’s actions change his community forever.

Restart by Gordan Korman
Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name. He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return. Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him. One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets. Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is -- it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of "Stargirl, Stargirl." She captures Leo Borlock's heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal.

REALISTIC FICTION-SPORTS RELATED
Beanball by Gene Fehler
High-school center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace is a determined, talented player, and a leader on and off the field. When a high and tight fastball crushes him "right in the face," however, his life and relationships undergo radical change. Told in free verse by a full cast of narrators who either know Luke or saw the devastating pitch, the story is a patchwork of observation, perspective, and opinion. The opposing coach makes excuses for instructing his pitcher to brush Luke back, in spite of many wild pitches. The pitcher who threw the ball is riddled with guilt. Many staunch friends remain and new ones are discovered.

Fantasy League by Mike LupicaCharlie is known as the Brain, because he is a football stats genius. He understands which players should be playing where and why. This makes him great at fantasy football; then reality comes center stage. His best friend is the granddaughter of the man who has brought NFL football back to Los Angeles, Joe Warren. But the team hasn’t done well and the GM is being blamed. Enter Charlie, who loves the team and soon comes to love Joe Warren as the grandfather he never had. Charlie shares his massive football knowledge with Joe, and soon players are being recruited at Charlie's suggestion.

Nikki On the Line by Barbara Carroll Roberts
Thirteen-year-old Nikki Doyle's dreams of becoming a basketball great feel within reach when she's selected to play on an elite-level club team. But in a league with taller, stronger, and faster girls, Nikki suddenly isn't the best point guard. The stress piles on as Nikki's best friend spends more and more time with another girl on the team, and when her science teacher assigns a family tree project that will be impossible to complete unless Nikki reveals her most embarrassing secret. As if that's not enough to deal with, to cover the costs of her new team, Nikki has agreed to take care of her annoying younger brother after school. As the stakes rise on the basketball court, at school, and at home, Nikki's confidence plummets. Can she learn to compete at this new, higher level? And how hard is she willing to work to find out?

Rebound by Kwame Alexander (or any in series)
Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. In this prequel to The Crossover, Chuck Bell takes center stage, as readers get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping, basketball star his sons look up to. Go back in time to visit the childhood of Chuck "Da Man" Bell during one pivotal summer when young Charlie is sent to stay with his grandparents where he discovers basketball and learns more about his family's past.

The Walk On by John Feinstein
Alex Myers, 14, is the new kid at his suburban Philadelphia high school. Knowing that he has a great arm, he tries out for the football team, but the quarterback position is already taken—by the coach’s son, Matt. So it’s third string for Alex, despite his talent, until, in Friday Night Lights fashion, Matt is injured and Alex must step up.

MYSTERY/THRILLER
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney (or any in series)
The message on the milk carton reads, "Have you seen this child?" Three-year-old Jennie Spring was kidnapped 12 years earlier, but Janie Johnson, looking at the photo, suddenly knows that she is that child. Fragments of memory and evidence accumulate, and when she demands to know about her early childhood years, her parents confess what they believe to be true, that she is really their grandchild, the child of their long-missing daughter who had joined a cult. Janie wants to accept this, but she cannot forget Jennie's family and their loss.

Framed! by James Ponti (or any in series)
In Washington, D.C., twelve-year-old Florian Bates, a consulting detective for the FBI, and his best friend Margaret help thwart the biggest art heist in United States history.

Skink, No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen
When your cousin goes missing under suspicious circumstances, who do you call? There’s only one man for the job: a half-crazed, half-feral, one-eyed ex-governor named Skink. Skink joins 14-year-old Richard on a breakneck chase across Florida, undaunted by lightning storms, poisonous snakes, flying bullets, and giant gators. There are a million places cousin Malley could be, a million unpleasant fates that might have befallen her, but one thing is certain: in the Florida swamp, justice is best served wild.

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where everyone's business is fair game. She washed ashore in a hurricane eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those she loves with every bit of her strong will. So when a lawman comes to town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known.

NONFICTION/MEMOIR
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
Michael Oher, the young man at the center of this story becomes among the most highly paid athletes in the National Football League. When we first meet him, however, he is one of thirteen children; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. Nor has he ever touched a football. What changes? He takes up football, and school, after a family plucks him from the streets. Their love alters the world's perception of the boy and the priceless combination of his size, speed, and agility makes him essential to the game.

I am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai’s father runs a school in Pakistan, where Malala proves an eager student. As the Taliban gains influence, she increasingly becomes an international spokesperson for girls' right to learn. The book begins with a prologue in which a Taliban gunman boards her school bus and asks, "Who is Malala?" The book provides insight into the cultural and political events leading up to the shooting that followed and Yousafzai's dramatic recovery.

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan
The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life.

Unbroken (Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian’s Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Laura Hillenbrand
The inspirational true story of how Louis Zamperini, a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic athlete and World War II pilot, crashed into the ocean and survived for weeks on a life raft only to become a prisoner of war.

SCI-FI/FANTASY/DYSTOPIA/FAIRY TALE
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, book 1) by Marissa Meyer (or any in series)
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Xan, a kindhearted witch, lives in the woods with a swamp monster, Glerk, and a lovable “Perfectly Tiny Dragon,” Fyrian. Every year the sorrowful people of the Protectorate leave a baby in the woods on the Day of Sacrifice. And every year Xan finds a new home for that baby. One year, she accidentally “enmagicks” the foundling baby, and decides to raise her, Luna, as her own. But Luna’s magic is strong, and before her 13th birthday, events unfold that will change everything the unusual family has known.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (or any in series)
Sixteen-year-old Jacob, traumatized by his grandfather's sudden death, travels with his father to a remote island off the coast of Wales to find the orphanage where his grandfather was sent to live to escape Nazi persecution in Poland. When he arrives, he finds much more than he bargained for: the children from his grandfather's stories are still at the orphanage, living in a time loop in 1940. The monsters that killed Jacob's grandfather are hunting for "peculiar" children, those with special talents, and the group at the orphanage is in danger. Jacob must face the possibility that he, too, has certain traits that the monsters are after and that he is being stalked by adults he trusted.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (or any in series)
Every four years in the village of Gavaldon, two children are stolen away by a mysterious person known only as the Schoolmaster. These children become students at the School for Good and Evil . One will be taught the ways of goodness, honor, and beauty; the other will be instructed in the ways of darkness and villainy. Twelve-year-old Sophie just knows she's destined to be picked for the school of Good this year, and can't wait to assume the role of a princess and meet her Prince Charming. Her best friend, Agatha, is surely villain material with her dumpy looks, black clothes, and dour demeanor. So how is it that Sophie winds up in the School for Evil and Agatha the School for Good? Now both girls must work to succeed in their new roles or face dire consequences.

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, book 1) by Neal Shusterman (or any in series)
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong, book 1) by Kwame Mbalia
A Rick Riordan presents fantasy! Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend. All he has left of Eddie is his journal. Tristan is sent to his grandparents' farm in Alabama to heal. But on his first night, a sticky “doll?” shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it and a tug-of-war ensues. In an attempt to wrestle the journal back, Tristan punches a Bottle Tree and accidentally rips open a chasm into a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle with black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.

GRAPHIC NOVELS
Drama by Raini Telgemeier
Callie rides an emotional roller coaster while serving on the stage crew for a middle school production of Moon over Mississippi as various relationships start and end, and others never quite get going.

El Deafo by Cece Bell
A bout of childhood meningitis left Bell deaf at age four, and she was prescribed a Phonic Ear, with a receiver draped across her chest and a remote microphone her teachers wore. Her graphic memoir records both the indignities of being a deaf child in a hearing community and its joys, as when she discovers that the microphone picks up every word her teacher says anywhere in the school leading to her invention of an alter ego—the cape-wearing El Deafo!

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka
In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family. But Jarrett's family is complicated. His mom is an addict. His father is a mystery -- Jarrett doesn't even know what his name is. Jarrett lives with his grandparents -- two very loud, very loving, very opinionated people who had thought they were through with raising children until Jarrett came along. Jarrett goes through his childhood trying to make his non-normal life as normal as possible, finding a way to express himself through drawing even as so little is being said to him about what's going on. Only as a teenager can Jarrett begin to piece together the truth of his family, reckoning with his mother and tracking down his father.

White Bird: A Wonder Story by R. J. Palacio
In R. J. Palacio's stories Auggie & Me, readers were introduced to Julian's grandmother, Grandmère. In White Bird, Palacio makes her graphic novel debut with Grandmère's heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II; how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend.

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson (ISBN-13: 978-0374386153)
Commemorating its fiftieth anniversary, Hope Larson reproduces a graphic adaptation of this beloved coming-of-age story. She dives wholeheartedly into L’Engle’s seminal epic, chronicling the journey of Meg Murry, her younger brother, Charles, and their friend Calvin O’Keefe, crossing distant worlds to save the Murry’s, lost father. Guided by three grandmotherly guardian angels, they navigate the dangers of a mind-controlled world fallen under the influence of a cosmic force of pure evil.

Rising 7th Grade Summer Reading List (alpha by title)

R ising 7th Grade Summer Reading List (alpha by genre; includes summaries)

Discussion Questions for Required Reading
Answer the discussion questions in complete sentences. You may type or write your responses. We will discuss them as a class in August.

Summer Reading Record