SUMMER READING

SUGGESTED SUMMER BOOK LIST 2009

Airborn, Kenneth Oppel. Mysterious, wild fantasy about a 15-year-old boy who works on a plane that is also a ship; lots of adventure, including beasts with enormous claws that fly

Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder. If you had a magic wall that could take you to any place and any time, where would you go?

Catherine, Called Birdy, Karen Cushman. Can you imagine anything more boring than a life stuck inside a castle, embroidering until your fingers are numb, and watching the world pass by outside? This is the life that Birdy, a young noblewoman of the twelfth century, records in her journal: the tedium of a ladylike life. Tedious, that is, until her father decides it's time for her to wed.

City of Ember, Jeanne Duprau. When the lights in Ember begin to flicker, twelve-year-old messenger Lina struggles to find out what's happening to her city. The secrets she discovers have the power to either save or destroy her world. What will happen when the lights go out?

Crackback, John Coy. Miles barely recalls when football was fun after being sidelined by a new coach, constantly criticized by his father, and pressured by his best friend to take performance-enhancing drugs.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, Rachel Renee Russell. Dork Diaries follows eighth grader Nikki Maxwell as she chronicles through text and sketches her move to a snooty new school and other adventures of growing up.

George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt, Lucy and Stephen Hawking. An action-packed roller-coaster ride into a dramatic treasure hunt across the cosmos, this terrific adventure is FILLED with the LATEST scientific knowledge about our Universe, including special essays from some of the top scientists in the world!

Hope Was Here, Joan Bauer. A Newbery Honor book that is a delicious novel full of delectable characters including Hope, with tasty wit and deep-dish truth.

Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stephenson. A classic romantic Scottish adventure story set in 1886, following the adventures of eighteen-year-old David Balfour.

Leaving Protection, Will Hobbs. Readers who appreciate straightforward outdoor fiction laced with bracing action and heady suspense will enjoy this book about a boy who joins a salmon trawler in Alaska.

Losing Joe's Place, Gordon Korman. Hilarious story of three teenage boys who take over an apartment for the summer.

Mudshark, Gary Paulsen. Mudshark, a boy with amazing ball skills, is the subject of the latest funny but short book by the author of How Angel Peterson Got His Name and Harris and Me.

Peak,  Roland Smith. Bone-shattering cold, no oxygen, frozen bodies, on Everest.

Raptor, Paul Zindel. This thriller novel begins with a bang: dark caves, something moving around, the suspicion of a practical joke, then eggs, a giant head full of dagger-like teeth, panic, a fall.

Soldier Boys, Dean Hughes. This historical fiction novel features two 16 year-old boys from  opposite sides of the world who join opposite forces in World War II.

Star Crossed, Mark Schreiber. Modern-day Romeo and Juliet—will love defeat fate?

Tangerine, Edward Bloor. This is an outstanding novel with a fast-moving plot that pulls you along to a dramatic conclusion about a boy who lives in the shadow of his older brother.

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie. It is a mature, powerful story of friendship between two teenage guys who have grown up together on the reservation. It is the story of Arnold's journey after he is persuaded by the math teacher to escape the reservation school and transfer to a high school 22 miles away.

The Adventures of Blue Avenger, Norma Howe. On his sixteenth birthday, David Schumacher changes his name to Blue Avenger. . .

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Terry Prachett. A talking cat, intelligent rats, and a strange boy cooperate in a Pied Piper scam until they try to con the wrong town and are confronted by a deadly evil rat king.

The Body of Christopher Creed, Carol Plum-Ucci. Christopher Creed, the class outcast, disappears, leaving behind only a cryptic e-mail message. Is he a runaway, a suicide, or a murder victim?

The Compound, S.A. Bodeen. They never thought the world would come to an end.

The Giver, Lois Lowry. It is set in the future in a society where everyone is assigned jobs at the Ceremony of Twelve.  When Jonas is given a special job, he finds the stress unbearable.  A dark book, but thought-provoking.

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman. This book is this year’s Newbery winner. It is a fantasy about a boy who is raised by ghosts in a cemetery.

The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer. The House of the Scorpion is a thought-provoking novel, presenting issues like human cloning, the value of human life, the importance of responsibility and friendship, and the question of how to make social structures work for all the people of a society.

The Last Olympian, Riordan, Rick. The fifth installment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series unfolds the long-awaited prophecy and Percy battles for the survival of Western civilization.

The Man Who Was Poe, Avi. In Providence, R.I., in 1848, Edgar Allan Poe reluctantly investigates the problems of eleven-year-old Edmund, whose family has mysteriously disappeared and whose story suggests a new Poe tale with a ghastly final twist.

The Princess Bride, William Goldman. A story that has everything: Fencing, fighting, poison, True Love, hate, revenge, giants, hunters, bad men, good men, beautiful ladies, snakes, spiders, beasts of all natures and descriptions, pain, death, brave men, cowardly men, strongest men, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion, miracles.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi. In this fast-paced and suspense-filled novel, 13-year-old Charlotte Doyle describes a remarkable sea voyage that changes her life forever.

Touching Spirit Bear, Ben Mikaelsen. After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

Tunnels, Roderick Gordon. Fourteen-year-old Will Burrows has little in common with his strange, dysfunctional family. In fact, the only bond he shares with his eccentric father is a passion for archaeological excavation. So when his dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth behind his disappearance.

What World Is Left? Monique Polak. When Anneke and her family are sent to Theresienstadt, the "model" concentration camp, she struggles to understand how her father could cooperate with the Nazis in order to improve their family's situation.

Wringer, Jerry Spinelli. Wringer is about peer pressure. Palmer LaRue dreads his upcoming tenth birthday. In his town, Family Fest is a yearly fundraiser that ends with an annual pigeon shoot, when entrants gun down five thousand live pigeons. Ten-year-old boys are "wringers."

VOYAGER ACADEMY
Durham, North Carolina
Voyager Academy
4238 Technology Drive
Durham, North Carolina 27704

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