2022 Summer Reading
As you spend time with friends and family and enjoy the outdoors this summer, we hope you continue reading! Below are suggested reading titles for various age groups that may help guide students in selecting books. Visit our library’s catalog making it easier for you to place holds on your chosen books or borrow them electronically through Libby or Hoopla.
The American Library Association’s ALSC Summer Reading Lists:
Love reading about the same character? Check out this list of popular chapter book series for grades K-2
Summer Reading Selections for 2022
Specific School Requirements
Summer reading requirements PDF
**Essex Tech, Salem High School, and Salem Academy Charter School reading lists are also available for borrowing with your library card through Overdrive as e-books and e-audiobooks**
Collins Middle School –
For your summer reading, choose a “just right for you” book and read it. Rate it 1 to 5 sharks using the link. Find out more about how you can earn more chances to win prizes with your summer reading!
Essex Tech –
All students are required to read at least TWO BOOKS: The first is an open-choice, fiction or nonfiction book written for young adults or adults.
Incoming Grade 9 students will read Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven.
Grades 10, 11, and 12 will read Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In, Lessons from an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini & David Rensin.
When students return to school, each English teacher will assign a Summer Reading Project for BOTH books. Please note that students taking either A.P. English Language and Composition in grade 11 or A.P. English Literature and Composition in grade 12 will have additional summer reading assignments given by their respective teacher(s).
For more information: https://library.essextech.net/summer-reading
Salem High School –
Let’s engage in summer reading! How do we make a safe, welcoming, anti-racist, anti-bias community for all? Find out more by reaching out to Ms. Bright at ebright@salemk12.org or the Salem Public Library.
Select one of the following books for this summer:
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Nevertheless, We Persisted: 48 Voices of Defiance, Strength and Courage edited by In This Together Media and Amy Klobuchar
SHS Library summer hours: Monday & Wednesday, 10am – 2pm
Salem Academy Charter School –
The summer reading requirements for the lower school (grades 6-8) are as follows:
- Incoming Grade 6 students must read Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper and complete a summer book review. Suggested optional texts include Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor, Paperboy by Vince Vawter, Bystander by James Preller, and/or The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.
- Incoming Grade 7 students are required to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and complete a 7th Grade Reading Packet (see “lower school” link above for more details).
- Incoming Grade 8 students will read American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. There will be in-class discussions and checks for understanding during the first week of school. Additionally, students may also choose to read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, and/or The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The summer reading requirements for the upper school (grades 9-12) are as follows:
- Incoming Grade 9 students must read The Book Thief by Markus Suzak and complete reading notes. Additionally, students can read these suggested titles: Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez and/or Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson.
- Incoming Grade 10 students will read The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore and are strongly encouraged to complete reading notes in preparation for an in-class assessment during the first full week of school. Suggested additional texts include: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Dear Martin by Nic Stone, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, and/or The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
- Incoming Grade 11 CP Rhetoric students will select any four (4) of the assigned essays and articles to read (see “upper school” link above for more details). While reading, students will consider: what do the pieces seem to be saying about them and how would you answer them? After reading, students will write a 2 page essay responding to the assigned essay prompt and using and citing at least 2 of the articles/essays you read.
- Incoming Grade 11 AP Language and Composition students will select any six (6) of the assigned essays and articles to read (see “upper school” link above for more details). While reading, students will consider: what do the pieces seem to be saying about them and how would you answer them? After reading, students will write a 3-4 page essay responding to the assigned essay prompt and using and citing at least 3 of the articles/essays you read.
- Incoming Grade 12 CP English 12 students are required to read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and take notes of the characters, plot, and themes for an open-notes comprehension test.
- Incoming Grade 12 AP Literature students must read both The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Students will take notes on character, plot, and themes for both books in preparation for an open-notes comprehension test.