Summer Reading for those students entering Grade 8 in Sept. 2019

What our ELA faculty expects you to read this summer 

Choose one title from each list: 

Fiction- 

Feed                                                                     M. T. Anderson 

Watched                                                               Marina Budhos 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time    Mark Haddon 

The Secret Life of Bees                                           Sue Monk Kidd 

Nonfiction- 

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia      Candace Fleming 

The Soul of an Octopus                                                                            Sy Montgomery  

Brown Girl Dreaming                                                                                Jaqueline Woodson 

Why we expect you to complete this reading 

There are so many ways that reading a lot will help you as a student: it increases your reading speed,

expands your vocabulary, and exposes you to time periods and places you aren’t able to visit yourself.

Reading a lot doesn’t just make you a better student, though- it also makes you a better person. Studies

have shown that the more fiction you read, the better you are able to understand and empathize with others.

Reading allows you to access experiences you may never live through yourself, giving you a partial glimpse

of what another’s life is like. 

What you should do before you read these texts 

Acquire a copy you can bring to school with you in September. 

What you should do while you are reading 

Enjoy! For the fiction title, think about what themes (big ideas about what it’s like to be a person)

the author is trying to convey. For both, formulate an opinion. What aspects did you like? What

didn’t you like? 

How we will make use of the reading when we return to school 

We will use the fiction title to write an essay about a major theme you see in the novel. We will use

the nonfiction title to create presentations, in teams, highlighting different aspects of the books. 

Additional things you need to succeed in English Language Arts for the upcoming school year 

Three ring binder with loose leaf paper and four dividers 

One composition notebook (or notebook with a vinyl cover) 

1 box of tissues 

Any required texts for the school year can be ordered through the school bookstore.

Whom to contact for questions 

Please email Mr. McDermott with any questions- amcdermott@buffaloschools.org