Cambridge Summer Reading

Information about Cambridge Summer Reading Checkout

Incoming 8th grade Cambridge students, choose two:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

TheBoyintheStripedPajamas.pdf

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson

Students may check out Cambridge Summer Reading books from Mrs. Pfriender in the BMS media center on Tuesday, May 19th.  The 7th grade Cambridge ELA teachers will be bringing students to the media center on that day. Also, the BMS media center will be open on the following Tuesday mornings this summer from 9:00am to 12:00pm:

  • Tuesday, June 2nd
  • Tuesday, June 16th
  • Tuesday, June 23rd
  • Tuesday, June 30th
  • Tuesday, July 7th
  • Tuesday, July 14th
  • Tuesday, July 28th

 

Summer Reading Assignment for incoming 8th Grade Cambridge students:

Choose two of the following books to read:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (fiction)

Berlin 1942 – When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.  But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose (nonfiction)

At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation’s leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. Naming their secret club after the fiery British leader, the young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage, infuriating the Germans, who eventually had the boys tracked down and arrested. But their efforts were not in vain: the boys’ exploits and eventual imprisonment helped spark a full-blown Danish resistance in the latter years of the war. Interweaving his own narrative with the recollections of Knud himself, Phillip Hoose captures the astounding story of these young war heroes who refused to give in without a fight.

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson (nonfiction)

Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters, Chasing Lincoln's Killer is a fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.

Assignments

Choose two books and complete the appropriate graphic organizer – using details – for each.  Be prepared for a test on each book at the beginning of the school year in August.  Both the graphic organizers and the tests will count as grades in your ELA class.

 Here is the link to the fiction graphic organizer: FictionSummaryStoryMap.pdf

Here is the link to the Chasing Lincoln’s Killer graphic organizer: ChasingLincolnsKillerBookReport.docx

Here is the link to The Boys Who Challenged Hitler graphic organizer: BoysWhoChallengedHitlerBookReport.docx

 

Incoming 7th grade Cambridge students, read both:

Four Perfect Pebbles by Lila Perl

Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith

Students may check out Cambridge Summer Reading books from Mrs. Pfriender in the BMS media center on Monday, May 18th.  The 6th grade Cambridge ELA teachers will be bringing students to the media center on that day. Also, the BMS media center will be open on the following Tuesday mornings this summer from 9:00am to 12:00pm:

  • Tuesday, June 2nd
  • Tuesday, June 16th
  • Tuesday, June 23rd
  • Tuesday, June 30th
  • Tuesday, July 7th
  • Tuesday, July 21st
  • Tuesday, July 28th

Summer Reading Assignment for Incoming 7th grade Cambridge students:

Read both of the following books:

Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith (fiction)

After their parents are lost in an accident, thirteen-year-old twins Grace and Marty are whisked away to live with their Uncle Wolfe – an uncle that they didn't even know they had. The intimidating Uncle Wolfe is an anthropologist who has dedicated his life to finding cryptids, mysterious creatures whose existence has never been proven.

Through a series of perilous adventures, the twins uncover long-buried secrets about their own identities and that of their uncle. Now the twins must play a high-stakes game, where the prize is a dinosaur egg, and the penalty is death.

Four Perfect Pebbles by Lila Perl (nonfiction)

The author tells the story of her family's experiences as Jews in Hitler's Germany, tracing their horrifying journey from their home country to Holland and back again, living in refugee, transit, and prison camps, including Bergen-Belson.

Assignments

For each book, complete the appropriate attached graphic organizer – using details – to turn in at the beginning of the school year.  Be prepared for a test on each book at the beginning of the school year in August.  Both the graphic organizers and the tests will count as grades in your ELA class. 

Here is the link to the fiction graphic organizer: FictionSummaryStoryMap.pdf

Here is the link to the Four Perfect Pebbles graphic organizer: FourPerfectPebblesBookReport.docx

 

Incoming 6th grade Cambridge students, choose one:

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm

For incoming 6th grade Cambridge students, please contact Mrs. Pfriender at [email protected] or 352-671-6235 ext. 55034 if you are interested in checking out one of the books from the BMS library.  Mrs. Pfriender can check the book out to the student and a parent may pick it up in the front office. Also, the BMS media center will be open on the following Tuesday mornings this summer from 9:00am to 12:00pm:

  • Tuesday, June 2nd
  • Tuesday, June 16th
  • Tuesday, June 23rd
  • Tuesday, June 30th
  • Tuesday, July 7th
  • Tuesday, July 21st
  • Tuesday, July 28th

Summer Reading Assignment for incoming 6th grade Cambridge students:

Choose one of the following books to read:

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

For Brian, the hero of Hatchet, it all starts with a terrible accident. The small plane he shares with a seasoned pilot crashes in the Canadian wilderness. The pilot is dead and Brian, a suburban kid with almost no outdoor experience, must fend for himself for fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given to him by his mother.

The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm

Tired of being bullied and picked on, three seventh-grade outcasts join forces and, using scientific methods and the power of the Internet, begin to create a new atmosphere at Parkland Middle School.

Assignments

Read one these books, complete the attached graphic organizer – using details – to turn in at the beginning of the school year.  Be prepared for a test on that book at the beginning of the school year in August.  Both the graphic organizer and the test will count as grades in your ELA class. 

Here is the link to the graphic organizer: FictionSummaryStoryMap.pdf