Norwell Middle School Summer Reading
Get your summer reading at Buttonwood!
6th grade students are required to read two books from the designated list. You can find the assignment here. A few of the more recently released options are listed below!
7th grade students are required to read one book from List A and one book from List B. You can find the assignment here. A few of the more recently release options are listed below!
8th grade students are required to read TROUBLE by Gary D. Schmidt and at least one book from the designated list. You can find the assignment here.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Sage, an orphaned thief, is one of four boys chosen to participate in a lethal contest. After being plucked from the streets by a nobleman named Connor, Sage learns that Connor plans to choose one of the orphans to impersonate a long-lost prince in the hopes of averting a civil war.
This is an option for 6th grade.
From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall comes a fantastical meditation on fate, love, and the power of words to spell the world.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Would you make a deal with a magical tiger? This uplifting story brings Korean folklore to life as a girl goes on a quest to unlock the power of stories and save her grandmother.
This is an option for 6th grade.
An oak tree and a crow help their neighbors embrace their differences in this beautiful, nuanced middle-grade novel from Newbery Medalist and New York Times-bestselling author Katherine Applegate.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Meg's father mysteriously disappears after experimenting with the fifth dimension of time travel. Determined to rescue him, Meg and her friends must outwit the forces of evil on a heart-stopping journey through space and time. A commemorative edition with an Introduction by the author. A Newbery Medal winner.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Bree can't wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees--until she's stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she's forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and former swim team captain, is willing to help
This is an option for 6th grade.
Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Lured into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals, they face the most terrifying monster of all.
This is an option for 6th grade.
At home, Maggie is the odd one out. Her parents are preoccupied with the new baby they're expecting, and her younger brothers are twins and always in their own world. Maggie thinks a new puppy is the answer, but when she goes to select one on her birthday, she breaks out in hives and rashes. She's severely allergic to anything with fur!
This is an option for 6th grade.
A true story from the #1 New York Times-bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile, Sisters, Drama, and Ghosts. Telgemeier once again brings a thoughtful, charming, and funny true story about growing up and gathering the courage to face--and conquer--her fears.her fears.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Max and a group of friends dubbed the Midknights go on a quest to rescue the Kingdom of Byjovia from the mean King Gastley Magic in this hilarious illustrated novel from the "New York Times"-bestselling creator of the Big Nate series.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Ben Hatke, the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Zita the Spacegirl, returns to middle-grade fantasy-adventure with the first of two graphic novels retelling Jack and the Beanstalk.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Set in 1935, when guards actually lived on Alcatraz Island with their families, Choldenko's second novel brings humor to the complexities of family dynamics.
This is an option for 6th grade.
From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of the acclaimed Ascendance trilogy comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.
This is an option for 6th grade.
A tour de force from the acclaimed author of "Prisoner B-3087, " this timely and powerful novel tells the story of three different children seeking refuge. Although they are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections tie their stories together in the end.
This is an option for 6th grade.
From the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor Book "Ninth Ward" comes a powerful novel set 15 years after September 11th, 2001, following three dynamic students who know the events only as history--but who slowly discover how much the attacks still color their community.
This is an option for 6th grade.
One boy's search for his father leads him to Puerto Rico in this moving-middle grade novel, for fans of Ghost and See You in the Cosmos.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Sent with her mother to the safety of a relative's home in Cincinnati when her Syrian hometown is overshadowed by violence, Jude worries for the family members who were left behind as she adjusts to a new life with unexpected surprises. Told in verse format.
This is an option for 6th grade.
A heartfelt graphic novel debut for young adults about an Indian-American teen's attempt to reconnect with her mother's homeland through a magical pashmina shawl.
This is an option for 6th grade.
In this heartfelt summer story, acclaimed author Gillian McDunn paints a stunning portrait of the bond of siblings and the love we'll always carry with us.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Eleven-year-old Amelia thinks of herself as devoid of talent, but when the dragonfly staff goes missing seven days before the Dragonfly Day Festical, she takes it upon herself to catch the thief and save her town.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Candice finds a letter in an old attic in Lambert, South Carolina, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, who left the town in shame. But the letter describes a young woman. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding its writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle.So with the help of Brandon, the quiet boy across the street, she begins to decipher the clues. The challenge will lead them deep into Lambert's history, full of ugly deeds, forgotten heroes, and one great love; and deeper into their own families, with their own unspoken secrets. Can they find the fortune and fulfill the letter's promise before the answers slip into the past yet again?
This is an option for 6th grade.
Twelve-year-old Ben Ripley leaves his public middle school to attend the CIA's highly secretive Espionage Academy, which everyone is told is an elite science school.
This is an option for 6th grade.
An introduction to the life of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assasinated the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Twelve young Asians Americans cross paths, meeting challenges and victories, in a busy airport
This is an option for 6th grade.
In this heartfelt animal friendship story, a troubled young boy befriends a wayward coyote after a forest fire changes both of their lives. Perfect for fans of A Wolf Called Wander and Pax.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules--like "no making waves," "avoid eating in public," and "don't move so fast that your body jiggles." And she's found her safe space--her swimming pool--where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It's also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie's weight will motivate her to diet. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life--by unapologetically being her own fabulous self.
This is an option for 6th grade.
While his father works two jobs, seventh-grader Efrâen Nava must take care of his twin siblings, kindergartners Max and Mia, after their mother is deported to Mexico. Includes glossary of Spanish words.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Told from two viewpoints, sixth-graders Karina and Chris use social media to stand up to racism in Houston, Texas, after an attack puts Karina's Indian American grandfather in the hospital.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?
This is an option for 6th grade.
From a Newbery Medalist ("A Single Shard") comes a mesmerizing novel based on a true story. "A Long Walk to Water" begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985.
This is an option for 6th grade.
From a multiple Coretta Scott King Award-winning author comes the story of a brilliant girl that no one knows about because she cannot speak or write.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Struggling with Asperger's syndrome, Rose Howard shares a bond with her dog, Rain, but when the dog goes missing, Rose is forced to confront the limits of her comfort levels to search for her pet.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Newbery Medal-winning middle grade novel in verse about twelve-year-old twins and basketball stars Josh and Jordan Bell who must learn to deal with problems on and off the court as they navigate homework, first crushes, family and, of course, basketball.
This is an option for 6th grade.
Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle-school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this electrifying novel
This is an option for 7th grade/List A.
Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.
This is an option for 7th grade/List A.
On the eve of World War I, the machine-loving Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their big steam-powered Clankers. Inspired by Darwin, the British have fabricated animals into warships.
This is an option for 7th grade/List A.
When an eccentric millionaire dies mysteriously, 16 very unlikely people are gathered together for the reading of the will--and what a will it is. A Newbery Medal-winning novel.
This is an option for 7th grade/List A.
The true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever
This is an option for 7th grade/List A.
A California girl, born and raised, Mai can't wait to spend her vacation at the beach. Instead, though, she has to travel to Vietnam with her grandmother, who is going back to find out what really happened to Mai's grandfather during the Vietnam War.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
The invasion begins--but not as you'd expect. It begins with rain. Rain that carries seeds. Seeds that sprout--overnight, everywhere. These new plants take over crop fields, twine up houses, and burrow below streets. They bloom--and release toxic pollens. They bloom--and form Venus flytrap-like pods that swallow animals and people. They bloom--everywhere, unstoppable.Or are they? Three kids on a remote island seem immune to the toxic plants. Anaya, Petra, Seth. They each have strange allergies--and yet not to these plants. What's their secret? Can they somehow be the key to beating back this invasion? They'd better figure it out fast, because it's starting to rain again
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
In his Newbery Medal-winning novel, Gaiman introduces Bod, a boy who is the only living resident of a graveyard. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
It’s been five years since the Sweep disappeared. Orphaned and alone, 11-year-old Nan Sparrow had no other choice but to work for a ruthless chimney sweep named Wilkie Crudd. She spends her days sweeping out chimneys.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
A National Book Award Longlist title, "New York Times" bestseller, and an Amazon Best Book of the Year for 2016--award-winning author Pennypacker's beautifully wrought, utterly compelling novel about the powerful relationship between a boy and his fox, now in paperback
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
It's Maine, 1924, and the Ku Klux Klan is on the rise. Davy and Jo Michaud have been recently orphaned. Taken in by a distant relative-a famous aviator-they are now working with a group of stunt pilots who spend their time wing walking, leaping from plane to plane, and flying through fireworks! But though the stunts are dangerous, the real threat is building behind the scenes. The KKK is on the rise in Maine that summer, inspired by the racial fears promoted in Birth of a Nation. They spew hatred of immigrants, Blacks, Jews, and French Catholics-that last, a rage that will be directed at Davy and Jo. When Davy and Jo cross paths with the Klan, they get tangled up in a terrible revenge plan, and held as hostages. Can they escape with their lives?
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
After fleeing the plantation where they were enslaved, siblings Ada and Homer discover the secret community of Freewater, and work with freeborn Sanzi to protect their new home from the encroaching dangers of the outside world.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Millie McGonigle lives in sunny California, where her days are filled with beach and surf. It should be perfect--but times are tough. Hitler is attacking Europe and it looks like the United States may be going to war. Food is rationed and money is tight. And Millie's sickly little sister gets all the attention and couldn't be more of a pain if she tried. It's a time of sunshine, siblings, and stress. Will Millie be able to find her way in her family, and keep her balance as the world around her loses its own?
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Despite growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and though her bullying seems isolated at first, it quickly escalates. Toby, a reclusive World War I veteran, soon becomes the target of Betty’s attacks. While others see Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. And as tensions mount in their small community, Annabelle must find the courage to stand as a lone voice for justice.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Thirteen-year-old new girl Anna Hunt decides to make an investigative podcast about how fellow classmate Rachel Riley went from being the most popular girl in school to the most hated
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
On the day they are born, every Swift child is brought before the sacred Family Dictionary. They are given a name, and a definition. A definition it is assumed they will grow up to match. Meet Shenanigan Swift: Little sister. Risk-taker. Mischief-maker. Shenanigan is getting ready for the big Swift Family Reunion and plotting her next great scheme: hunting for Grand-Uncle Vile's long-lost treasure. She's excited to finally meet her arriving relatives -- until one of them gives Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude a deadly shove down the stairs. So what if everyone thinks she'll never be more than a troublemaker, just because of her name? Shenanigan knows she can become whatever she wants, even a detective. And she's determined to follow the twisty clues and catch the killer. Deliciously suspenseful and delightfully clever, The Swifts is a remarkable debut that is both brilliantly contemporary and instantly classic. A celebration of words and individuality, it's packed with games, wordplay, and lots and lots of mischief as Shenanigan sets out to save her family and define herself in a world where definitions are so important.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
From award-winning and bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
In this funny, realistic, contemporary middle grade environmental comedy, two twelve-year-olds find themselves unexpected friends and allies on board a scientific research ship at the edge of the Great Pacific Garbage Pile--and on the cusp of changing the future of our world oceans!
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Winner of the 2018 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. From the author of "Wolf Hollow" comes a moving story of identity and belonging. Set adrift on the ocean in a small skiff as a newborn, 12-year-old Crow embarks on a quest to find the missing pieces of her history.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
As World War II comes to a close, the United States and the Soviet Union emerge as the two greatest world powers on extreme opposites of the political spectrum. After the United States showed its hand with the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, the Soviets refuse to be left behind. With communism sweeping the globe, the two nations begin a neck-and-neck competition to build even more destructive bombs and conquer the Space Race. In their battle for dominance, spy planes fly above, armed submarines swim deep below, and undercover agents meet in the dead of night. The Cold War game grows more precarious as weapons are pointed towards each other, with fingers literally on the trigger. The decades-long showdown culminates in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world's close call with the third-and final-world war
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
On 9/11/2001, the small town of Gander, Newfoundland opened their houses and hearts to 7,0000 Americans and other international passengers grounded when airspace was closed. Lifelong friendships were made and as a show of thanks, the passengers set up a scholarship fund for the children of Gander.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
In this timely, call-to-action contemporary middle grade novel from Claire Swinarski, author of What Happens Next, a twelve-year-old girl must face herself, and the truth, after her participation in a bullying incident goes viral.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
In this compelling companion to New York Times bestseller Amal Unbound, Amal's friend Omar must contend with being treated like a second-class citizen when he gets a scholarship to an elite boarding school.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
A haunting ghost story about navigating grief, growing up, and growing into a new gender identity
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
The unforgettable, highly acclaimed story about surviving middle school with an unthinkable cancer diagnosis
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Following a tragedy that further alters the course of her life, twelve-year-old Lucy Everhart decides to continue the shark research her marine biologist mother left unfinished when she died years earlier
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Told from four intertwining points of view--two boys and two girls--this funny and poignant neighborhood story by the acclaimed author of "Blackbird Fly" celebrates bravery, being different, and finding one's inner bayani (hero).
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. 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.
A novel in verse with all the impact and rhythm readers have come to expect from Kwame Alexander, Rebound goes 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.
This is an option for 7th grade/List B.
Twelve-year-old Coyote and her father rush to Poplin Springs, Washington, in their old school bus to save a memory box buried in a park that will soon be demolished.
This is the required book for 8th grade.
Henry Smith's father told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you."But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry's older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin's preparatory school, and the accident sparks racial tensions in the school--and in the well-established town where Henry's family has lived for generations. Caught between anger and grief, Henry sets out to do the only thing he can think of: climb Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, which he and Franklin were going to climb together. Along with Black Dog, whom Henry has rescued from drowning, and a friend, Henry leaves without his parents' knowledge. The journey, both exhilarating and dangerous, turns into an odyssey of discovery about himself, his older sister, Louisa, his ancestry, and why one can never escape from Trouble.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Twelve-year-old Golden Maroni starts eighth grade determined to be master of his universe, but learns he cannot control everything on the soccer field, in his friendships, and especially in facing his father's incurable disease.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
\While thirteen-year-old Teddy fights for his life after a football injury at training camp, his friends and family gather to support him and discuss events leading to his coma. Told through dialogue, text messages, newspaper articles, transcripts, an online forum, and Teddy's inner thoughts.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
From the author of Nowhere Boy - called "a resistance novel for our times" by The New York Times - comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
What is the meaning of being a hero? What toll does it take on the person? Danny has always looked up to Jack and in return, Jack tries to look out for Danny. But when Jack disappears, Danny is set to solve the mystery, but what if Jack doesn’t want to be found?
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Seventh-grade siblings Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas, each dealing differently with their tense and unpredictable household, are changed and united in unexpected ways by the fateful launch of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Set during World War II in Germany, Zusaks groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing, encounters something she cant resist: books.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
The incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust, based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
A "New York Times" bestseller, this sequel to Bradley's Newbery Honor-winning "The War that Saved My Life" continues Ada's World War II journey as new challenges force her to figure out who she really is now that she's free.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen transports readers to a corner of history with this inspiring story of a girl who discovers the strength of her people united in resisting oppression.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
A moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna, (allias Anna) and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust in Ukraine, WWII and Drobitsky Yar as well as black and white photos from Zhanna's family's collection.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
His name is synonymous with high-stakes wilderness survival adventures. Now, beloved author Gary Paulsen portrays a series of life-altering moments from his turbulent childhood as his own original survival story. If not for his summer escape from a shockingly neglectful Chicago upbringing to a North Woods homestead at age five, there never would have been a Hatchet. Without the encouragement of the librarian who handed him his first book at age thirteen, he may never have become a reader. And without his desperate teenage enlistment in the Army, he would not have discovered his true calling as a storyteller.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant. With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington's eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
YA contemporary realistic novel about a witty Black French Canadian teen who moves to Austin, Texas, and experiences the joys, clichés, and awkward humiliations of the American high school experience.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
In Caitlin's world, everything is black or white. Anything in between is confusing. That's how Caitlin's older brother, Devon, always explained it. But now Devon's dead. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an 11-year-old girl with Asperger's, she doesn't know how.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, eleven-year-old Fadi and his family immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Fadi schemes to return to the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left behind.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
An instant "New York Times" bestseller. In a world where Beauty is a commodity only a few control, one Belle will learn the dark secrets behind her powers, and rise up to change the world.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Matt Alacrán wasn't born. He was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, the drug-lord ruler of the country of Opium. Most people hate and fear clones like Matt--except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, and realizes escape is his only chance to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom.
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
Two teens must learn the "art of killing" in this Printz Honorwinning book, the first in a chilling new series from the author of the New York Times-bestselling Unwind dystology
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
During a massive blackout in rural Nevada, two brothers struggle to survive without their self-reliance-obsessed dad and without enough water cross the desert for help
This is an option for the additional book for 8th grade.
This stunning New York Times Bestseller from the survival story master, set along a rugged coastline centuries ago, does for the ocean what Hatchet does for the woods, as it relates the story of a young person's battle to stay alive against the odds, where the high seas meet a coastal wilderness.