Teacher Summer Reading 2006 The June 2006 edition of the Innovative Teaching Newsletter will be our fourth annual teacher summer reading issue! What are the best reads you've enjoyed over the past year? What titles would you strongly recommend for colleagues to take with them to the beach? To submit your recommendations, simply fill out the form at http://surfaquarium.com/summer_reading.htm. Please have your recommendations submitted by Friday, May 26, 2006. Thanks!

 

2006 Student Summer Reading Lists

Thanks to everyone who submitted their recommendations for this 2006 edition of student summer reading recommendations. Your input has helped make this issue a wonderfully comprehensive listing of best books for all ages K - 12! You will find that each title is hot linked to Barnes & Noble for quick online ordering, so that families can easily get their hands on recommended titles all summer. Here's to voracious reading and summers full of stories to remember!

Elementary School

Zen Shorts - Jon J. Muth Recommended by Jerry Blumengarten " A wonderful way to show a different way of responding to life situations. It teaches children valuable life lessons such as sharing and the dangers of anger."

Geronimo Stilton Books Recommended by Leta Roznowski " Hiliarious adventures to be told in every chapter book. This one will keep your child begging for more. All 23 books in the series will have you giggling all summer."

On The Run Series - Gordon Korman Recommended by Cheryl Lykowski " This is just one of the series that hooked a lot of my fifth graders. It has adventure and suspense. Gordon Korman visited our school in March and my students became even more excited about reading his books."

Black Beauty - Anna Sewell Recommended by Patti Douglas "This is a classic, and was one of my favorites growing up. I know that a lot of little girls still obsess over horses, and this one is well worth the read."

Among the Forest People - Clara Dillingham Pierson
Arthur for the Very First Time - Patricia MacLachlan
Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job - Willo Roberts
Battle for the Castle - Elizabeth Winthrop
Bear's New Friend - Karma Wilson
Because of Winn Dixie - Kate Dicamillo
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
Black Bull of Norroway - Charlotte S. Huck
Blackwater - Eve Bunting
Brush with Magic - William J. Brooke
Bud, Not Buddy - Christopher Curtis
Chameleon Wore Chartreuse - Bruce Hale
Charlie Bone - Jenny Nimmo
Chasing Vermeer - Blue Balliett
Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food - Eric Schlosser
Dancing in Cadillac Light - Kimberly Willis Holt
Daphne's Book - Mary Hahn
Day It Rained Forever - Virginia Gross
Elsie Dinsmore - Martha Finley
Everest Series- Gordon Korman
Fight for Life - Laurie Halse Anderson
Flip-Flop Girl - Katherine Paterson
Fossil Fish Found Alive - Sally M. Walker
Geronimo Stilton Books - Geronimo Stilton
The Giving Book - Ellen Sabin
Gold Cadillac - Mildred Taylor
Gold Dust Letters - Janet Taylor Lisle
Gossamer - Lois Lowry
Half Magic - Edward Eager
Heat - Mike Lupica
Henry and Mudge (series) - Cynthia Rylant
Here Lies the Librarian - Richard Peck
Homeschool Detective Series - John Bibee
Honus and Me - Dan Gutman
Horrible Harry Moves Up to Third Grade - Suzy Kline
In the Face of Danger - Joan Nixon
Incident at Hawk's Hill - Alan Eckert
Into the Wild - Erin Hunter
Island Series - Gordon Korman
Landry News - Andrew Clements
Left Behind (series) - Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
Leonardo's Horse - Jean Fritz
Lettuce Leaf Birthday Letter - Linda Taylor
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Max and Me and the Time Machine - Gary Greer
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo
My Senator And Me: A Dog's Eye View Of Washington, D.C. - Edward Kennedy
On The Run Series - Gordon Korman
Picture of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff
Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren
Plant That Ate Dirty Socks - Nancy McArthur
Players in Pigtails - Shana Corey
Prince of the Pond - Donna Jo Napoli
Ramona's World - Beverly Cleary
Reaching Tidewater - Noreen Moore
Redwall - Brian Jacques
Richard Wright and the Library Card - William Miller
Ruby Holler - Sharon Creech
Russell and the Lost Treasure - Rob Scotton
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief - Wendelin VanDraanen
Search for Delicious - Natalie Babbitt
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
7 x 9 = Trouble! - Claudia Mills
Seven Treasure Hunts - Betsy Byars
Shadow Children Series - Margaret Peterson Haddix
Shug - Jenny Han
Skateboard Tough - Matt Christopher
Small Steps - Louis Sachar
Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli
Stone Fox - John Reynolds Gardiner
Stories of Robin Hood Told to the Children - Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall
Summer Reading is Killing Me - John Scieszka
Three Cousins Mysteries Series - Elspeth Campbell Murphy
Through My Eyes - Ruby Bridges
Too Close for Comfort - Anne Mazer
Trouble with Tuck - Theodore Taylor
Viking It and Liking It - Jon Scieszka
Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech
Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear - Lensey Namioka
Zen Shorts - Jon J. Muth

 

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Middle School

Rosa - Nikki Giovanni Recommended by Katie Conlin "This is a great book for learning the story of Rosa Parks. The illustrations are full of expression, and put things into perspective. Every student needs to hear this story, and this book tells it in truth with relativity to a younger ear. "

Artemis Fowl Series - Eoin Colfer Recommended by Janet Lorien " I absolutely LOVE this series! I've read it twice in the past eight months, and want to read it again! I laughed hysterically, I got teary-eyed, and got completely wrapped in suspense both times I read this remarkable series! I recommend this series to anybody and everybody! "

The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff Recommended by Barton Downey "An excellent adventure and introduction to Roman Britain."

All Alone in the Universe - Lynne Rae Perkins
Armageddon Summer - Bruce Coville
Artemis Fowl Series - Eoin Colfer
Bat 6 - Virginia Euwer Wolff
Because of Anya - Margaret Peterson Haddix
Big Wander - Will Hobbs
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Brothers in Arms - Paul Langan and Ben Alirez
Crazy Lady! - Jane Leslie Conly
Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn - April Lurie
Dead Man in Indian Creek - Mary Downing Hahn
Deadly Game of Magic - Joan Lowery Nixon
Doing Time Online - Jan Siebold
Dreadful Acts - Philip Ardagh
The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff
Ender's Game - Scott Orson Card
Flight to Freedom - Ana Veciana-Suarez
Flour Babies - Anne Fine
Freak the Mighty - W. Rodman Philbrick
Freshman Flash - Mike Boushell
Ghost in the House - Betty Ren Wright
Guts - Gary Paulsen
Heartbeat - Sharon Creech
Hoot - Carl Hiaasen
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
Kids at Work - Russell Freedman
King of Shadows - Susan Cooper
Land of Hope - Joan Lowery Nixon
Last Season - Eric Blehm
Lost Years of Merlin - T.A. Barron
Mable Riley - Marthe Jocelyn
Mango-Shaped Space - Wendy Mass
Mick Harte Was Here - Barbara Park
Mister Monday - Garth Nix
My Louisiana Sky - Kimberly Holt
North - Donna Jo Napoli
Numbering all the Bones - Ann Rinaldi
Point Blank - Anthony Horowitz
Rookie Arrives - Thomas Dygard
Rosa - Nikki Giovanni
Ruby Electric - Theresa Nelson
Running Out of Time - Margaret Haddix
The Short Day Dying - Peter Hobbs
Silent to the Bone - E.L. Konigsburg
Singularity - William Sleator
Sointula - Bill Gaston
Something for Joey - Richard Peck
Squashed - Joan Bauer
Stepping on the Cracks - Mary Downing Hahn
Summer of Secrets - Paul Langan
Tangerine - Edward Bloor
Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
Things Not Seen - Andrew Clements
13 - James Howe
Timothy of the Cay - Theodore Taylor
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi
Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894 - Daniel James Brown
Violet’s Amazing Summer - Martha Finley
Warriors - Erin Hunter
We All Fall Down - Robert Cormier
Weasel - Cynthia DeFelice
Whirligig - Paul Fleischman
Wizards of the Game - David Lubar
Wreckers - Iain Lawrence
Year of Secret Assignments - Jaclyn Moriarty

 

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High School

On Writing : A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King Recommended by Allison Rose " The story of one man's journey through the writing process, a funny yet serious tome of advice for struggling or curious young writers. Learn to build your writing toolbox."

Warriors - Erin Hunter Recommended by Sara Ramirez "In this series, a tribe of questing cats observe unusual customs and discover an ominous prophecy. A great read! "

Freckles - Gene Stratton-Porter Recommended by Mary Ann Rutter " It is a very thoughtful look at how suffering shapes character. It is also valuable simply for its historic desciption. Available to view complete text at: http://www.online-literature.com/stratton-porter/freckles/ but the Focus on the Family edition is worth the money, too. "

Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz

Ancient Rome: How it Affects you Today - Richard J. Maybury Recommended by Annette Hirst "A thought-provoking look at how our connections to ancient Rome influence how we view our world today."

American Plague - Jim Murphy
Ancient Rome: How it Affects you Today - Richard J. Maybury
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Be More Chill - Ned Vizzini
Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
Blood and Chocolate - Annette Curtis Klause
Born Confused - Tanuja Desai Hidier
Bucking the Sarge - Christopher Paul Curtis
Canning Season - Polly Horvath
Can’t Get There from Here - Todd Strasser
Childhood's End - Arthur Clarke
Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel
Clemente - David Maraniss
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two - Joseph Bruchac
Confessions of a Not It Girl - Melissa Kantor

Eagle Blue - Michael D'Orso Recommended by Bob Esposito "A brand new read in the tradition of Friday Night Lights"

Contents Under Pressure - Lara M. Zeises
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The Dead Beat - Marilyn Johnson
Dealing with Dragons - Patricia Wrede
Deliver Us from Evie - M.E. Kerr
Demon in the Freezer - Richard Preston
Double Helix - Nancy Werlin
E=mc² - David Bodinas
Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a High School Basketball Team in Arctic Alaska - Michael D'Orso
Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynn Truss
Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife - Sam Savage
First Part Last - Angela Johnson
Freckles - Gene Stratton-Porter
Friedrich - Hans Richter
Getting Away with Murder - Chris Crowe
Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales - Deborah Noyes
Hangman's Beautiful Daughter - Sharyn McCrumb
Heart Divided - Cherie Bennett
Hope was Here - Joan Bauer
House of Stairs - William Sleator
I'll Be Seeing You - Mary Higgins Clark
In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez
Leap Day - Wendy Mass
Letters to Sam: A Grandfather's Lesson on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life - Daniel Gottlieb
Life in the Fat Lane - Cherie Bennett
Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams
Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Luna - Julie Anne Peters
Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary - Walter Dean Myers
Matter of Profit - Hilari Bell
Me and Orson Welles - Robert Kaplow
Milkweed - Jerry Spinelli
Nothing to Lose - Alex Flinn
Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
On Writing : A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurie
River Between Us - Richard Peck
Road to Memphis - Mildred Taylor
The Rug Merchant - Meg Mullins
Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
Sweetgrass - Jan Hudson

Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd Recommended by Tamalyn Goble " A highly engaging book of relationships in the South in the 1960's. My 8th grade girls love this book and have an immediate connection to it."

Sweetness in the Belly - Camilla Gibb
Thomas Jefferson Travels - Anthony Brandt
Thought of High Windows - Lynne Kositsky
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale - Holly Black
Touching Spirit Bear - Ben Mikaelsen
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl - Martha Brooks
Ttyl - Lauren Myracle
Watchers - Dean Koontz
When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka
Where the Heart Is - Billie Letts
A Writer's Life - Gay Talese

 

Click here for a printable file of these lists!

 

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