2005 G.M.M.S. Faculty & Staff Summer Reading Club

Click on the book jacket to read the review of that book

Miss Ritchie

(Performing Arts)

Stargirl

by Jerry Spinelli

From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of "Stargirl, Stargirl." She captures Leo Borlock’s heart and sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted--but then they turn on her. Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal.

Mr.Nutt

(8^th Grade Language Arts)

The Trial

by Jen Bryant

Imagine you are Bruno Richard Hauptmann, accused of murdering the son of the most famous man in America. In a compelling, immediate voice, 12-year-old Katie Leigh Flynn takes us inside the courtroom of the most widely publicized criminal case of the 20th century: the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's baby son. And in doing so, she reveals the real-life figures of the trial--the accused, the lawyers, the grieving parents--and the many faces of justice.

Gifts

by Ursula K. Le Guin

When a young man in the Uplands blinds himself rather than use his gift of "unmaking"--a violent talent shared by members of his family--he upsets the precarious among balance of power rival, feuding families, each of which has a strange and deadly talent of its own.

Miss Lockwood

(8^th Grade Language Arts)

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him, as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"

Mrs. Holochwost

(6^th Grade Language Arts/Social Studies)

Rodzina

By Karen Cushman

Once again Karen Cushman weaves a compelling story that is thoroughly researched, filled with memorable characters, and told with wry humor and keen observation by an absolutely captivating narrator. When 12-year-old Rodzina boards an orphan train, she leaves the only home she's known for a new life out West

Crispin

By AVI

In medieval England, 13-year-old Crispin has no home, family, or possessions. Accused of a crime he didn't commit, he takes his mother's cross of lead and begins an amazing and terrifying journey across the English countryside.

The Puppeteer’s Apprentice

by D. Anne Love

In this medieval adventure, a girl named Mouse works in a manor's scullery, dreaming of a different life. But what chance does she have? After seeing a puppet play, she runs away, determined to become the puppeteer's apprentice.

Mrs. Magliaro

(Physical Education & Health)

Thin Wood Walls

by DavidPatneaude

Eleven-year-old Joe Hanada's world falls apart when Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor. When the government orders people of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast to move to internment camps, Joe turns to the journal his father gave him to record his thoughts and feelings.

Mrs. Miller

(6^th GradeIMAST)

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

by Gary D. Schmidt

Set in 1912 Maine, this historical novel is based on the true story of a community's destruction. No one in town will let Turner Buckminster forget that he's a minister's son. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves, he enters a whole new world.

Mrs. Horsey

(Life Skills & Art)

Rider in the Dark

by Victoria Holmes

Set in 18th-century England, this adventure targets girls who love horses. Fifteen-year-old Helena discovers a terrible secret that puts her family and friends in danger. Only a mysterious and defiant stallion can help her save them.

The Dark Horse

by Marcus Sedgwick

Having risen to power as chief of his people, the Storn, sixteen-year-old Sigurd leads them as they try to resist the bloodthirsty invaders known as the Dark Horse and makes a shocking discovery about his foster sister Mouse.

Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl’s Adventure

by Tanith Lee

The award-winning author introduces a swashbuckling pirate heroine in this gaudy, outrageous tale that sparkles with swordplay, skullduggery, and salty language--not to mention over-the-top comedy.

Mr. Ippolito

(Principal)

Crispin

by AVI

Mrs. McClune

(Guidance Counselor)

Someone Like You

by Sarah Dessen

Halley's junior year of high school includes the death of

her best friend Scarlett's boyfriend, the discovery that

Scarlett is pregnant, and Halley's own first serious relationship

Mrs. Smith

(C.S.T. Secretary)

Rules of the Road

By Joan Bauer

Hired by Madeline Gladstone, the president of a shoe company, to help her prevent a corporate takeover, 16-year-old Jenna Boller embarks on an eye-opening adventure that teaches both of them the rules of the road--and the rules of life.

Mrs. Lund

(Alternative Education)

Hoot

By Carl Hiaasen

New to Florida, Roy is on the school bus when he spots the running boy--running away from the bus, carrying no books or wearing no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail, which leads him to potty-trained alligators and a renegade eco-avenger.

Mr. Tshudy

(Technology Education)

Private Peaceful

By Michael Morpurgo

From the Children's Laureate of England comes a stunning novel about the First World War. Private Thomas Peaceful has lied about his age to enlist. As Thomas stands night watch, his memories are full of his childhood. But each moment brings him closer to something he cannot bear to think about.

Mr. Alpizar

(Custodian)

A Boy at War

by Harry Mazer

December 7, 1941:
On a quiet Sunday morning, while Adam and his friends are fishing near Honolulu, a surprise attack by Japanese bombers destroys the fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Mrs. Roth

(Special Education)

The Frog Princess

by E.D. Baker

Princess Emeralda, Emma, isn't exactly an ideal princess. Her laugh is more like a donkey's bray than tinkling bells, she trips over her own feet and she does "not like Prince Jorge, whom her mother hopes she will marry. But if Emma ever thought to escape her troubles, she never expected it to happen by turning into a frog! When convinced to kiss a frog so he might return to being a prince, somehow the spell is reversed and Emma turns into a frog herself! Thus begins their adventure--a quest to return to human form.

Miss Leverberg

(Personal Aide)

The Janie Series

by Caroline Cooney


The Janie series is a collection of four books about a young girl, Janie, kidnapped at birth and her subsequent life with her new family.

Miss Pagliaro

(Physical Education & Health)

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

by Ann Brashares

Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn't look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they're great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they're fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants, and the most memorable summer of their lives, begins.

Mrs. Hall

(Substitute Teacher)

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

and

Girls in Pants

by Ann Brashares

The Old Willis Place

By Mary Downing Hahn

Tired of the rules that have bound them ever since "the bad thing happened," twelve-year-old Diana ignores her brother's warnings and befriends the daughter of the new caretaker, setting in motion events that lead to the release of the spirit of an evil, crazy woman who once ruled the old Willis place.

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

By Ann Brashares

As four lifelong friends prepare to split up for the summer, they discover that a pair of secondhand jeans looks good on all of them, despite their different physiques. They promise to rotate the jeans among them and, upon their reunion at summer's end, record their favorite adventures on the pant legs.

Girls in Pants

By Ann Brashares

It's been two summers since the Traveling Pants first worked their magic on four young friends, who are now facing their last summer together. The girls will be leaving to attend four different colleges in four different cities. They plan to gather to launch the Pants on their summer voyage and begin the time of their lives.

Mrs. Kumma

(7^th Grade Language Arts)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

by J.K. Rowling

Mrs. Barden

(7^th Grade IMAST)

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

by Kimberly Willis Holt

Nothing ever happens in Toby's small Texas town. Nothing until his mother leaves home to be a country singer, and his friend goes off to fight in Vietnam. But he is about to get an even bigger jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world.

kira-kira

By Cynthia Kadohata

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

Mrs. Scott

(7^th Grade Resource Room)

The Young Man and the Sea

by Rodman Philbrick

Twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman's mom just died, and his fisherman dad is too depressed to drag himself off the couch and go to work. So these days Skiff has to take care of everything himself. But when his dad's boat sinks, Skiff discovers it will cost thousands to buy a new engine. Skiff's lobster traps won't earn him enough, but there are bigger fish in the sea -- blue fin tuna. If he can catch one of those monster fish, Skiff just might save the boat -- and his family.

Becky Durna-Hunsinger

Mrs. Romanczyk

(7^th Grade IMAST)

Mrs. O’Connor

(Librarian/Media Specialist)