2012 Back to School: Summer Reading Assignments Due Soon

School starts for Needham students in just over one month, on Sept. 5, and that means that summer reading assigments will be due before you know it.

If you're planning an August vacation, now is a good time to double check your child's summer reading list and make sure they've got and read the books they need. Missing a title? Check out the summary below and link back to the grade-by-grade list so you can grab the book you still need and encourage your kid to read it on the plane or car ride, at the beach, or before bed every night.

And if you're looking for some reading material for yourself, check out our summer reading guide for a variety of options, including recommendations from Patch editors, the Massachusetts Book Awards and best-selling author James Patterson.

HIGH ROCK SCHOOL SUMMER READING
For students entering sixth grade in 2012-13.

Needham students entering sixth grade at this fall are being asked to read two books from in the next few months.

The list includes titles such as "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick, "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau, "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd and "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor. See the complete approved reading list as a PDF or on the school website, highrock.needham.k12.ma.us.

Students don't need to complete a formal written assignment about the books, but they do need to come to school in September ready to participate in assignments and activities based on the books. Students should bring one of the books with them to school in September.

POLLARD MIDDLE SCHOOL SUMMER READING
For students entering seventh or eighth grade in 2012-13.

Over the summer, incoming or ongoing students must read from an approved list of titles.

Suggested titles include a few classics such as "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton, "Call of the Wild" by Jack London, "Dracula" by Bram Stoker and "Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne, as well as modern favorites such as "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak and "The Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

The full list of approved titles can be found as a PDF (by genre or author) or on the school website, pollard.needham.k12.ma.us.

Note: Students should be reading new books—titles they have read before don't count.

When students return to school in September, they should bring the completed Parent Sign-Off sheet with them as well as one of the books they read.

The summer reading list is also available at the .

NEEDHAM HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER READING
For students entering grades 9-12 in 2012-13.

With the exception of the AP English students, all students must read one required book for their grade level as well as two others from an approved list of titles (see the PDF or download the list from the NHS Summer Reading Web page).

Students going into Accelerated English classes must read at least one book with a "C" designation.

Below is a list of required books all students in each grade must read this summer:

• Grade 9—"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
• Grade 10—"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkein
• Grade 11—"The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien
• Grade 12—"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Students also must choose two titles from the approved book list, which is available as a PDF or on the high school website. The list is divided into categories such as award-winners, historical fiction and sports. The reading levels range from A to C, with an "A" designating a book which should be accessible to all, and a "C" designating challenging reads. An asterisk (*) denotes a recommendation of any title by this author.

Titles not on this list will not be accepted, including any texts taught as part of the NHS curriculum. No books read a prior year may be repeated for the purposes of summer reading.