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Tomball Independent School District

Summer Reading 2025

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Summer Reading 2025
Dear Students,
 
We are so excited to have you in our Advanced English/Language Arts program! Tomball ISD endorses a summer reading program for all students enrolled in advanced English courses grades 6-12. This summer we are offering a variety of novel choices for you to choose from. You will have until August 12, 2025 to complete the novel of your choice to be prepared for the discussions and assessments that will take place during the school day.  
 
The selections on the summer reading list have been chosen to encourage the enjoyment of reading and to prepare students for the study of literature. Upon returning to school in the fall, students will be engaged in inquiry circles with classmates who selected the same book. In order to be prepared to discuss the book in such a setting, students must read the book through a critical lens and be prepared to share insights and original observations discovered while reading.
 
We realize that changes do occur during the summer, and sometimes students find themselves switching schools due to a recent move. Should you find that you will be attending a different Tomball ISD school, please check with that campus for their reading list, as that campus may have a different reading list than what appears on this page. 

Below you will find your campus and class and choose from their particular list of books for your summer reading novel.  Please note that you MUST choose from the list for your particular campus.
 

Northpointe Intermediate

6th Grade TAP

  • Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

  • Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

  • The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

 

Oakcrest Intermediate

6th Grade TAP

  • The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

  • Hope is a Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera

  • Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

  • Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

 

Tomball Intermediate

6th Grade TAP

  • Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

  • Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

  • Freak The Mighty  by Rodman Philbrick

  • Tangerine by Edward Bloor

 

West Intermediate

6th Grade TAP

  • Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

  • Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

  • The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

 

Creekside Park Junior High

6th Grade TAP 

  • Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

  • The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

  • Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

  • Counting by 7’s by Holly Golberg Sloan

7th Grade TAP

  • The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

  • City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau

8th Grade TAP

  • I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

  • Taking Flight by Elaine Deprince

  • A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

 

Grand Lakes Junior High

7th Grade TAP

  • Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

  • Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

  • Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

8th Grade TAP

  • Refugee by Alan Gratz

  • Body in the Woods by April Henry

  • We Dream of Space by  Erin Entrada Kelly

 

Tomball Junior High

7th Grade TAP

  • Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

  • City of Ghosts by V.E. Schwab

8th Grade TAP

  • The Body in the Woods by April Henry

  • Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

 

Willow Wood Junior High

7th Grade TAP

  • Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

  • The Thickety by J.A. White

8th Grade TAP

  • Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

  • Steel Heart by Brandon Sanderson

 

Tomball High School

Tomball High School English I TAP

  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

  • Educated by Tara Westover

Tomball High School English II TAP

  • A Separate Peace by John Knowles

  • Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Tomball High School English III AP

  • Mansfield Park by Jane Austin

  • Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Tomball High School English IV AP

  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

  • Dracula by Bram Stoker

Tomball High School English III 1301 DC

  • The Education of Little Tree by Asa Earl Carter

  • The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

  • Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance

  • Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

Tomball High School English IV 2332 DC

  • Watership Down by Richard Adams

  • A Black Fox Running by Brian Carter

Tomball High School AP Research

 

Tomball Memorial High School

Tomball Memorial High School English I TAP

  • Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

  • Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

  • Tropic of Chaos by Christian Parenti

Tomball Memorial High School English II TAP

  • A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman

  • Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg

Tomball Memorial High School English III AP

  • The Color of Water by James McBride

  • Becoming by Michelle Obama

  • Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Tomball Memorial High School English IV AP

  • A Doll’s House by Henrick Ibsen

  • The Awakening by Kate Chopin

  • Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Tomball Memorial High School English III 1301 DC (11th or 12th grade)

  • Wild by Cheryl Strayed

  • Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Tomball Memorial High School English IV 2332 DC

  • The Shinning by Steven King

  • The Martian by Andy Weir

  • Room by Emma Donoghue

Tomball Memorial High School AP Research

 

Tomball Star Academy

Tomball Star Academy English I TAP

  • REQUIRED FOR ALL: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

  • CHOICE 1: Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

  • CHOICE 2: Educated by Tara Westover

Tomball Star Academy English II TAP

  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

  • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Tomball Star Academy English III 1301 DC

  • The Glass Castle by Jannette Walls

  • Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

 

The following ideas are suggested in order to help students engage in active reading:
 
In his essay “How to Mark a Book,” Mortimer Adler explains that reading is a “conversation between you and the author.” 
 
Adler writes: “Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading? First, it keeps you awake. (And I don’t mean merely conscious; I mean awake.) In the second place, reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book. Finally, writing helps you remember the thoughts you had, or the thoughts the author expressed.” 
 
“There are all kinds of devices for marking a book intelligently and fruitfully. Here’s the way I do it:  
 
  • Underlining (or highlighting): of major points, of important or forceful statements  
  • Vertical lines at the margin: to emphasize a statement already underlined  
  • Star, asterisk, or other doo-dad at the margin: to be used sparingly, to emphasize the ten or twenty most important statements in the book (You may want to fold the bottom corner of each page on which you use such marks. It won't hurt the sturdy paper on which most modern books are printed, and you will be able to take the book off the shelf at any time and, by opening it at the folded-corner page, refresh your recollection of the book.)  
  • Numbers of other pages in the margin: to indicate where else in the book the author made points relevant to the point marked; to tie up the ideas in a book, which, though they may be separated by many pages, belong together  
  • Circling or highlighting of key words or phrases  
  • Writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the page, for the sake of: recording questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage raised in your mind; reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement; recording the sequence of major points through the book 
 
If marking your book is not a possibility, there are some other options:  
  • You can use sticky notes. Place these on the pages/paragraphs where you would underline or highlight and write out your thoughts or ideas on the note.  
  • Write out notes on paper and keep the paper inside the book. Include page numbers with comments/notations so that you will remember what prompted your thinking. 
 
Should any questions arise, please contact us at your convenience. 
 
Dr. Ashley L. Schlafly
 
Best, 
Dr. Ashley L. Schlafly
Director Secondary RLA and Advanced Academics
Tomball ISD
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