LibGuides: 2025 FWCD Summer Reading: Grade 7

7th Grade Summer Reading 2025

Summer Reading for Students Entering the 7th Grade

All 7th graders must earn 20 AR points, including 7 points from The Outsiders.

All students will read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and take the AR quiz.

The remaining 13 points can come from any combination of books worth 5 or more points. Students may choose the books they would like to read for the 13 points.

Books must have an AR quiz. The student is responsible for ensuring the books they have chosen have an AR quiz in the system. Go to AR Bookfinder to check for a quiz. Mrs. Gardner will not create quizzes over the summer for books that do not already have a quiz.
Books must be at least 5 points each.
Students may not read any book that has been made into a movie.
Do not read the following books because they will be read in class during the school year: The Giver, Make Your Bed, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry or, The Pearl.

Quizzes will be taken at school in the Moncrief Library. The Moncrief Library will be open most Wednesdays from 10:00 - 1:00.

All AR quizzes are due Wednesday, August 27, 2025.

Required Book

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
ISBN: 9780142407332
Publication Date: 2006-04-20
No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he's got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.

Need suggestions?

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
ISBN: 9781368027496
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
Rom-com
After an unexpected breakup, seventeen-year-old Sophie lets members of her large, eccentric extended family set her up on ten blind dates during Christmas vacation.
Alabama Moon by Watt Key
ISBN: 9780312644802
Publication Date: 2010-08-03
Adventure survival
After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon Blake is removed from the Alabama forest where he was raised and sent to a boy's home, where, for the first time, he has contact with the outside world and learns about friendship, love, and humanity.
Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly
ISBN: 9781338809442
Publication Date: 2024-05-07
Fantasy
When handsome thief Beau enters the castle that appeared out of nowhere he finds himself trapped in Arabella's curse, which can only be broken if she finds a boy who loves her for her true self--a seeming impossibility for a girl who has been told she is impossible to love.
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys; Steve Sheinkin
ISBN: 9780593527542
Publication Date: 2024-10-08
Historical fiction
In the summer of 1940, siblings Jakob and Lizzie Novis find themselves at Bletchley Park, where Jakob works to crack Nazi codes while Lizzie investigates the mysterious disappearance of their mother, only to discover that the two mysteries are intertwined.
Borrow My Heart by Kasie West
ISBN: 9780593643259
Publication Date: 2023-06-13
Romance
Wren is a control freak who lives by a set of rules that help her navigate life. When she meets Asher, who is being catfished by an online crush, Wren makes her first impulsive decision and pretends to be that girl to save Asher from embarrassment. Now she's fake-dating a boy she doesn't even know and they are having a great time breaking all of Wren's rules for life. But as things progress, Wren worries that he won't forgive her if he find out she's been lying about her identity.
The Downstairs Girl: Reese's YA Book Club by Stacey Lee
ISBN: 9781524740955
Publication Date: 2019-08-13
Historical fiction
1890, Atlanta. By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel Caroline Payne, the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for 'the genteel Southern lady.
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
ISBN: 9780375830990
Publication Date: 2005-02-08
Mystery

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.
That's when the first ace arrives in the mail. That's when Ed becomes the messenger.
In the Same Boat by Holly Green
ISBN: 9781338726633
Publication Date: 2021-07-20
Adventure
Sadie Scofield is entered in the Texas River Odyssey, 260 miles of brutal canoeing, but a chance to finally make up for ruining her father's chance of winning the previous year; but her brother Tanner suddenly opts to paddle for a different team, and she is left with Cully, a young man who was her best friend years ago, but no longer--260 miles in the same boat to sort out her relationship with the boy she once tried to defend from his abusive father and discover the truth about their feuding families.
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
ISBN: 9780451477538
Publication Date: 2016-03-08
Fantasy

"Amani is desperate to leave the dead-end town of Dustwalk, and she's counting on her sharpshooting skills to help her escape. But after she meets Jin, the mysterious rebel running from the Sultan's army, she unlocks the powerful truth about the desert nation of Miraji...and herself.
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
ISBN: 9780142406113
Publication Date: 2006-02-16
Adventure
After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.
Sweetest Darkness by Leslie Lutz
ISBN: 9780823454945
Publication Date: 2024-09-24
Horror
When fifteen-year-old clairvoyant Quinn enters the dark halls of an abandoned hotel with his friends, he accidentally unleashes a ruthless entity that threatens to wipe out his small Texas town.
Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt
ISBN: 9780618927661
Publication Date: 2008-04-21
Realistic fiction
Fourteen-year-old Henry, wishing to honor his brother Franklin's dying wish, sets out to hike Maine's Mount Katahdin with his best friend and dog. But fate adds another companion--the Cambodian refugee accused of fatally injuring Franklin--and reveals troubles that predate the accident.
The War Outside by Monica Hesse
ISBN: 9780316316699
Publication Date: 2018-09-25
Historical fiction
Teens Haruko, a Japanese American, and Margot, a German American, form a life-changing friendship as everything around them starts falling apart in the Crystal City family internment camp during World War II.