Dear Parents and Guardians,

At JJMS we place a high value on independent reading. Reading is an essential skill for academic success and personal growth. It also helps students develop their critical thinking, creativity, and empathy.

At John Jay Middle School, we spend a considerable amount of time creating community within each of our classrooms during the year. We do this through community building circles and various activities. We are hopeful that the messages in the books listed below will help students build community and a sense of self in our classrooms.

We have designed a summer reading program for our middle school students, based on the theme of self-discovery.  Self-discovery relates to many topics such as resilience, empathy, and courage, which are essential for personal growth for adolescents and many of these ideas will be explored next year in ELA classes. The characters in these stories will help students learn how to overcome challenges, understand different perspectives, and build their self-confidence.

Reading Requirements:

• Rising 6th –8th grade students are required to read at least ONE book from the list below.

Each book offers a different perspective on the theme of self-discovery, and we encourage students to choose the one that interests them the most. Students should be ready to discuss their book and participate in activities in their ELA classes when they return in September.  Students must be finished with the book(s) by Friday, September 5, 2025. 

We strongly encourage students to jot down notes while they are reading to help them with the class discussions/activity.  Possible suggestions for notetaking:

• thoughts about the characters

• setting

• conflicts

• any other thoughts they have around the topic of self-discovery. 

While this is the only required reading, students are encouraged to read regularly to foster strong reading habits.

Books:

• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

• Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi (verse)

• The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

• Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams (verse)

• Legend by Marie Lu

All the titles on this list are available in the JJMS eBook collection (Sora) or the Westchester Library System (WLS) eBook collection.  Many of them are also available as audiobooks.

We hope that you and your children will enjoy reading these books and exploring the theme of self-discovery. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about our summer reading program. Have a wonderful summer and happy reading!

Sincerely,

Middle School ELA Department and the Library Media Specialist