2016 Summer Reading Requirements for Rising 8th Grade Students

Dear Rising Eighth Grade Student,

Reading is crucial to your continuing academic success and we believe that recreational reading enriches your personal life. Summer is a time to relax and experience books that you did not have time for during the busy school year. Although we hope that you will read with gusto many many books this summer, we request that each of you read a minimum of four books of your own choosing.  You may choose books from the 2016 Summer Recommended Reading for Rising 7th and 8th Grade Students and the Recommended Book Series lists or explore bookstores and libraries for great new titles and classics.

We also require that every student must also have finished reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie before the beginning of the new school year in preparation of in-depth discussion during English. The 8th Grade Teachers sent a letter home framing the book and some of its content and please note that there will be dedicated time in class to address the more difficult aspects of the book, including racial stereotyping and teen-related issues.

To sum up — you will need to read at least FIVE books during the summer months. Please keep track of the books you read, and we will ask that you share your summer readings with us in the fall.

We wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you this fall!

Sincerely,

Joshua Bachrach and Jennifer Neubauer
8th Grade English Teachers