Back to School: Summer Reading Lists

Summer break is often considered time away from teachers and books, but older students need to make sure they've cracked a book this summer. 

Commack School District gives out summer reading assignments to its high school and middle school students to help sustain their interest in learning. Finish reading these books on time can help your child start the year off on the right foot, and ahead of the class. 

All of Commack High School and Middle School's summer reading assignments can be found on the district's website along with their written assignments. 

Here is a list of the books, broken down by grade, that your child could choose to read this summer: 

Commack Middle School 
Students are given a choice of reading one of the suggested books or choosing one that's "just right" for them.

Suggested Sixth-Grade Reading 
"Catherine Called Birdy" by Karen Cushman
"Chasing Vermeer" by Brett Helquist
"Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban" by J. K. Rowling
"Flying Solo" by Ralph Fletcher
"Indigo's Star" by Hilary McKay
"My Life in Dog Years" by Gary Paulsen
"Project Mulberry" by Linda Sue Park 
"Summer of the Swans" by Betsy Byars

Suggested Seventh-Grade Reading 
"Bad Boy: A Memoir" by Walter Dean Myer 
"The Circuit:  Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jimenez 
"The Clay Marble" by Minfong Ho A Day
"No Pigs Would Die" by Robert Newton Peck
"Dicey’s Song" by Cynthia Voight 
"Downriver" by Will Hobbs
"Esperanza Rising" by Pam Muñoz Ryan 
"Face on the Milk Carton" by Carolyn B. Cooney
"Listening to the Whales, What the Orcas Have Taught Us" by Alexandra Morton
"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L’Engle 
"Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire" by J. K. Rowling 
"Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen 
"Hope Was Here" by Joan Bauer 
"The House of Dies Drear" by Virginia Hamilton
"I, Juan de Pareja" by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino 
"Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes
"Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure" by Peter Stark 
"My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier
"Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead
"George The Radioactive Boy Scout" by Ken Silverstein 
"The Sky So Big and Black" by John Barnes 
"Travel Team" by Mike Lupica 
"Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen 

Suggested Eigth-Grade Reading
"Crossing the Wire" by Will Hobbs
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
"It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" by Lance Armstrong/Sally Jenkins
"The Perilous Road" by William O. Steele
"Swimming to Antartica: Tales of A Long-Distance Swimmer" by Lynne Cox
"Taking Sides" by Gary Soto
"That Was Then, This Is Now" by S. E Hinton
"Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech

Ninth-Grade Regents (select one)
"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
"The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
"A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry  
"Scribbler of Dreams" by Mary E. Pearson
"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
"This Boy’s Life" by Tobias Wolff  
"The Last Shot: City Streets Basketball Dreams" by Darcy Frey
"Tuesdays With Morrie" by Mitch Albom
"Hiroshima" by John Hersey

10th-Grade Regents (select one) 
"Snow in August" by Pete Hamill
"Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell
"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"Summer of 49’ by Halberstraum
"In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle" by Madeline Blais
"Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer
"The Gift of Valor: A War Story" by Michael M. Phillips 

11th-Grade Regents (select one)
"A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
"The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane  
"All My Sons" by Arthur Miller
"Prep" by Curtis Sittenfeld
"Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
"Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" by Michael Lewis
"A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
"A Brief History: From the Big Bang to Black Holes" by Stephen Hawking
"The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece" by Jonathan Harr 

12th-Grade Regents (select one)
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
"The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
"Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to  Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II" by Robert Kurson
"The Color of Water" by James McBride
"Fly Boys: A True Story of Courage" by James Bradley
"The Blind Side" by Michael Lewis 

*Please note there are different assignments for those students entering pre-IB programs or IB classes in Fall 2012.