Los Angeles Unified School District

Hale Charter Academy 23830 Califa Street, Woodland Hills CA 91367

www.HaleCharterAcademy.com Phone (818) 313-7400 Fax (818) 346-7517

Michelle King Michelle King

Superintendent of Schools

Vivian Ekchian Local District Northwest

Superintendent

Christopher Perdigao Principal

DearIncomingSixthGraders,

WelcometoHaleCharterAcademy,welookforwardtomeetingyouinAugustandstartingaproductiveschoolyear.Pleaseselectoneofthenovelsbelowasreadingmaterialforthesummerforyourintroductionintomiddleschool.

InalignmentwiththeCommonCoreStateStandards,thefollowingreadingmaterialwilleaseyourtransitioninAugust.Thereadingwillbeacomponentofyourworkforthefirstgradingperiodofthefallsemester.Therewillbeclassworkand/ordiscussionsonthematerial.Youmaywishtokeepnotesonyourreadingfocuseduponthesetting,characters,conflicts,andmaineventsofthenovel. SeeyouinAugust, HaleCharterAcademy6thGradeEnglishDepartmentAuthor Title Synopsis Genre Lexile Boyne, John The Boy in the Striped

Pajamas Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school, he discovers his belongings are packed in crates. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance.

Historical Fiction

1080

Clare, Cassandra City of Bones Discover the world of the Shadow hunters in the first installment of the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

Fantasy 710

Gantos, Jack Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts getting worked up.

Realism 970

Haddix, Margaret Peterson

Running Out of Time Fantasy historical novel set in the 1840s frontier and in the 1990s, as a girl becomes a subject in a strange experiment.

Science Fiction

730

Horowitz, Anthony Stormbreaker After the death of his uncle, Alex is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency M16.

Adventure Series

870

Ibbotson, Eva Which Witch? The Great Wizard announces a competition among the witches to help him find a wife.

Fantasy / Humor

940

Konigsburg, E.L. The View from Saturday

Four students are chosen by their teacher to represent their class in the Academic Bowl competition.

Realism 870

Nielsen, Jennifer The False Prince An orphan is forced into a twisted game with deadly stakes. Choose to lie...or choose to die.

Adventure Series

710

Prince, Karen Switch Trouble is brewing in Karibu and Maya and her leopard are about to make matters worse. Their risky ‘switching’ trick has jettisoned them right out of the secret realm into the mess they left behind them.

Fantasy Series

870

Paulsen, Gary Liar, Liar Kevin is very good at lying and it makes life easier…or so he thinks. But when he starts lying to impress the girl of his dreams things spiral out of control.

Humor 940

Riordan, Rick The Red Pyramid Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. The siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe -- a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Adventure Series

650

The Lexile measure of a book refers to its text difficulty only. A Lexile measure does not take the subject matter or content of the book into consideration. Synopsis from Barnes and Noble.com and Lexile.com. The average Lexile for Sixth Grade reading levels is between 800 and 1000, Seventh Grade between 900 and 1050 and Eighth Grade between 1000 and 1150. These are average levels. For more information, visit www.lexile.com

Suggested Summer Reading List

Incoming Seventh Graders

Author Title Synopsis Genre Lexile Adams, Douglas

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The story of a British earthling plucked from his planet, and his subsequent adventures elsewhere in the universe.

Science Fiction

1000

Balliett, Blue Chasing Vermeer Petra and Calder are drawn into a mysterious labyrinth.

Mystery 770

Flake, Sharon The Skin I'm In A 13-year-old girl, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is.

Realism 670

Haugaard, Erick

The Samurai's Tale In 16th Century Japan, an orphan is taken in by a general serving a great warlord and grows up to become a samurai.

Historical Fiction

960

Hiaasen, Carl Hoot Roy becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.

Realism 760

Hawking, Lucy & Stephen

George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt

An out-of-this-world adventure story with essays by Hawking on space travel. *For STEAM Academy students*

Science Fiction

940

Mah, Adeline Yen

Chinese Cinderella The author tells of her painful childhood in China where she lived until she was 14 with her father, stepmother, and siblings, all of whom considered her bad luck.

Biography 960

Myers, Walter Dean

SLAM! 1997 Coretta Scott King Award

Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city.

Realism 750

Namioka, Lensey

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of Chinese society by refusing to have her feet bound.

Historical Fiction

830

Paulsen, Gary Brian's Winter Instead of being rescued from a plane crash, as in the author's book Hatchet, portrays what would have happened to Brian had he been forced to survive a winter in the wilderness.

Adventure 1140

Salisbury, Graham

Blue Skin of the Sea Eleven stories follow Sonny Mendoza and his cousin as young men growing up in a Hawaiian fishing village.

Realism 810

Van Draanen, Wendelin

Flipped In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings have changed over the years.

Realism 720

The Lexile measure of a book refers to its text difficulty only. A Lexile measure does not take the subject matter or content of the book into consideration. Synopsis from Barnes and Noble.com and Lexile.com. The average Lexile for Sixth Grade reading levels is between 800 and 1000, Seventh Grade between 900 and 1050 and Eighth Grade between 1000 and 1150. These are average levels. For more information, visit www.lexile.com

Suggested Summer Reading List

Incoming Eighth Graders

Author Title Synopsis Genre Lexile Abeel, Samantha

My Thirteenth Winter

Abeel tells her story of living with and overcoming dyscalculia as she describes in detail how her life was affected by her learning disability before and after she was diagnosed.

Autobiography 1050

Adams, Douglas

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Arthur Dent and his comrades in arms hurtle across space desperately in search of a place to eat.

Science Fiction

970

Anderson, Laurie Halse

Chains

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. This is the prequel to Forge, which is taught in 8th grade classes.

Historical Fiction

780

Bloor, Edward Tangerine A boy fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his sight.

Realism 680

Card, Orson Scott

Ender's Game

After the earth is twice attacked by aliens, the world government begins breeding military geniuses.

Science Fiction

780

Crichton, Michael

Sphere Four scientists confront a terrible power one thousand feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Science Fiction

610

Deuker, Carl Heart of a Champion

A fast-paced sports novel that explores a boy's rite of passage when he learns that athletes are not perfect.

Realism 650

Du Maurier, Daphne

Rebecca Is Rebecca really dead? Her insidious influence seems to extend beyond the grave.

Mystery / Classic

880

Hobbs, Will Far North After the destruction of their floatplane, 16-year-old Gabe and his friend, struggle to survive a winter in the wilderness.

Adventure 820

Rinaldi, Ann The Girl in Blue To escape an abusive father and arranged marriage, Sarah enlists in the Union Army and becomes a spy in the house of a Confederate sympathizer.

Historical Fiction

680

The Lexile measure of a book refers to its text difficulty only. A Lexile measure does not take the subject matter or content of the book into consideration. Synopsis from Barnes and Noble.com and Lexile.com. The average Lexile for Sixth Grade reading levels is between 800 and 1000, Seventh Grade between 900 and 1050 and Eighth Grade between 1000 and 1150. These are average levels. For more information, visit www.lexile.com