REQUIRED 
5th GRADE SUMMER READING:
Welcome to Fifth Grade! To get ready for an super awesome year, you will be required to read TWO books during the summer. Please select at least ONE book from the following list to read and the SECOND book can be either from this list as well, or one from your own choosing. Books can be borrowed from the Burlington Public Library either by visiting them in person or online. http://burlington.mvlc.org
In the fall, you will be completing an assignment that will involve your summer reading. You are REQUIRED to fill out the provided notes sheet as you read. This will help you keep track of important characters, sequence and events. Plus, you WILL be allowed to use your handwritten notes on the assignment.
We have listed five choices that we think you will enjoy. Three are based on Fairy Tales, One is written as a Fantasy and the last is Realistic Fiction about friendship. Each of the five books are part of the Massachusetts Children's Book Award nominee list. Please talk to your parents about your book selections if you chose a second book other than these listed below, look at online reviews to check their appropriate theme and level.
Have A Great Summer!
The Fifth Grade Teachers
Fortunately, the Milk 3-6 (680L)
A little boy and his little sister awake one morning, milkless. Their mother is away on business, their father is buried in the paper, and their Toastios are dry. What are young siblings to do? They impress upon their father that his tea is also without milk and sit back to watch their plan take effect. But something goes amiss, and their father doesn’t return and doesn’t return some more. When he does, finally, he has a story to tell, a story involving aliens; pirates; ponies; wumpires (not the handsome, brooding kind); and a stegosaurus professor who pilots a Floaty-Ball-Person-Carrier (which looks suspiciously like a hot-air balloon). There is time travel, treachery, and ample adventure, and, fortunately, the milk he has procured is rescued at every turn. Grades 3-6. --Thom Barthelmess
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin 4-8 (660L)
Twelve-year-old Rump lives with his grandmother in a mountain village where he endures endless teasing about his name. When he discovers that he can spin straw into gold, he hopes to end their poverty and hunger. Unfortunately, the troublesome magic forces him to accept anything offered in trade for the gold: a sack of flour, a cheap ring, or a queen’s first born child. Rump leaves home to discover his true name. While on his quest, he finds the knowledge, insight, and courage he needs to understand his gift and claim his destiny. Grades 3-6. --Carolyn Phelan
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell 4-6 (720L)
Gr 4-6-When Alex and Conner's father unexpectedly dies, the twins lose the person who always had the perfect story to cheer them up. Then, on their 12th birthday, their grandmother gives them the book of fairy tales he used to read to them. Suddenly it seems to come to life, and the youngsters find themselves falling into the Land of Stories, seemingly with no way to get out. Desperate, they follow instructions in a mysterious journal: if they gather eight items from various residents in the kingdoms of the Land of Stories, they can complete the Wishing Spell and have one wish granted. After scaling castle walls, diving deep into the home of mermaids, and meeting characters from all of the beloved fairy tales, they are stymied by the Evil Queen, who has escaped from Snow White's dungeon. With the hope of using the spell gone, the twins appear to have no way home until they meet Fairy Godmother, their own grandmother. In a way, they find comfort from their grief over their father's death when they realize that they have been following his journal and that he grew up in this land.
Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy 4-6 (660L)
Ophelia is a grieving 11-year-old who only believes in things that science can explain. Following her beloved mother’s death, her father takes a job at an enormous museum in a city where it constantly snows. There Ophelia discovers the imprisoned Marvelous Boy, who discloses to her that in three days the Snow Queen will discharge her wretchedness upon mankind. He further reveals that he must save the world before that happens and that only Ophelia can help him. As the boy tells his story, Ophelia accepts the challenges required to release him from his three-hundred-year captivity. She faces magical snow leopards, child ghosts, a Spanish conquistador, and a monstrous misery bird—none of which, like the boy, can be scientifically explained. Nevertheless, Ophelia learns there are truths she never dreamed of and that courage is less about bravery than about the decision to help people in need. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, this clever story-within-a-story reads easily yet offers deep lessons about trust, responsibility, and friendship. Grades 4-6. --Jeanne Fredriksen
The Nearly Calamitous Taming of PZ: A laboratory dog’s search for love 5-7
A mute, nameless foxhound has spent her life in a laboratory cage. She has never seen the sun. When she gets rescued, Dottie, a diva ladybug with a heart as big as her hat, helps the dog understand the world and find a home with Olivia, a restless, solitary girl seeking comfort that her new pet cannot supply.
The isolated dog and the hesitant girl must face their fear of connecting. They learn to tame each other, let go, survive adventures, and find the courage to trust as they search for their place in the sun.
Use the link below to print out your Summer Reading Notes Sheet
Summer Reading Notes Sheet
