Library Media
Dive into a world of adventure this summer with our exciting Summer Reading Program! Grab your favorite book, find a cozy spot, and let your imagination soar as you embark on thrilling journeys with characters old and new. From daring escapades to magical realms, there's a story waiting for everyone. Join us as we make reading the coolest summer activity around!
Summer Reading Titles and Activities
District Provided Books:
- Incoming K: I Promise by LeBron James
- Incoming 1st Grade: Where are you From? by Yamile Saied Méndez and Jaime Kim
- Incoming 2nd Grade: Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi
Additional and Alternative Readings: While LPS will not be providing hard copies of these books, many of these items can be located on Sora [scroll down for a tutorial] and the Leominster Public Library.
Beginning to Read Books
- Bradford Street Buddies (series)…Nolen
- Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot…Bell
- Confetti Kids (series)…Woo and others
- Fly Guy (series)…Arnold
- Ty’s Travels (series)…Lyons
Informational Books
- A is for Axolotl…Macorol
- Bee Book…Milner
- Beak Book…Page
- Don’t Let Them Disappear…Clinton
- The Elephant…Desmond
- Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee…Leung
- How Do You Say Hello to a Worm?…Percival
- If You Had Your Birthday Party on the Moon…Lapin
- Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest…Lang
- Look Up With Me: Neil DeGrasse Tyson…Berne
- My Stinky Summer By S. Bug…Meisel
- North Pole (Pole to Pole: A Flip Book)…Bright
- One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of Gambia…Paul
- Packs: Strength in Numbers…Salyer
- Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries…Pimentel
- Summertime Sleepers: Animals That Estivate…Stewart
- What Do You Do If You Work at the Zoo?…Jenkins and Page
- Yes We Will: Asian Americans who Shaped this Country…Yang
Picture Books
- All Because You Matter…Charles
- Alma and How She Got Her Name…Martinez-Neal
- Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao…Zhang
- The Arabic Quilt…Khalil
- Dad Bakes…Yamasaki
- Dream Street…Walker
- Electric Slide and Kai…Baptist
- Eyes That Kiss in the Corners…Ho
- Fry Bread…Maillard
- Going Down Home with Daddy…Lyons
- Help Wanted: Must Love Books Sumner…Johnson
- I Am Every Good Thing…Barnes
- I Am Golden…Chen
- Josie Dances…Lajimodiere
- Kaia and the Bees…Boelts
- Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea…Harris
- Let’s Go to Taekwondo…Kim
- Love Grows Everywhere…Timms
- Luis Paints the World…Farish
- Malaika’s Surprise…Hohn
- Mel Fell…Tabor
- My Big Family…Canetti
- My Day with the Panye…Charles
- Paletero Man…Diaz
- The Proudest Blue…Muhammad
- Room for Everyone…Khan
- Salam Alaikum: A Message of Peace…Harris
- Señorita Mariposa…Gundersheimer
- Show the World!…Dalton
- Soul Food Sunday…Bingham
- To Carnival!…Paul
- We Are Water Protectors…Lindstrom
- We Laugh Alike/Juntos Nos Reímos…Bernier-Grand
- Why Not You?…Wilson
- Your Mama…Ramos
- Your Name is a Song…Thompkins-Bigelow
Nursery Rhymes, Poetry, Riddles, and Songs
- Dirt Book: Poems about Animals that Live Beneath Our Feet…Harrison
- Family Poems for Every Day of the Week…Alarcón
- Flutter & Hum: Animal Poems / Aleteo y Zumbido: Poemas de Animales…Paschkis
- I am the Wind…Karg
- Just Like Me…Brantley-Newton
- Kiyoshi’s Walk…Karlins
- La Madre Goose: Nursery Rhymes for Los Niños…Elya
- The Neighborhood Mother Goose…Crews
- Seeing into Tomorrow…Wright
- Folk Tales and Fairy Tales
- Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella…Fleischman
- High-Five to the Hero…Murrow
- Power to the Princess…Murrow
- La Princesa and the Pea…Elya
- The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess…Gauld
- The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes…Tonatiuh
- A Year Full of Stories: 52 Folktales and Legends from Around the World…McAllister
Chapter Books
- Ana & Andrew (series)…Platt
- Camila (series)…Salazar
- Dragons and Marshmallows (series)…Citro
- King and Kayla (series)…Butler
- Ling and Ting (series)…Lin
- Penny (series)…Henkes
- Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen…Florence
- Jo Jo Makoons (series)…Quigley
- Juana & Lucas…Medina
- Mr. Grizley’s Class (series)…Avery
- Owl Diaries (series)…Elliott
- Press Start! (series)…Flintham
- Princess in Black (series)…Hale
- Sofia Martinez (series)…Jules
- Stink (series)…McDonald
- Yasmin (series)…Faruqi
District Provided Books:
Incoming 3rd Grade: Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats by David Bowles and Shane Clester
Incoming 4th Grade: Planet Omar by Zanib Mian
Incoming 5th Grade: The First Rule of Punk by Celia Cruz
Additional and Alternative Readings: While LPS will not be providing hard copies of these books, many of these items can be located on Sora [scroll down for a tutorial] and the Leominster Public Library.
Contemporary Fiction
- Dumpling Days…Lin
- EllRay Jakes (series)…Warner
- Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet (series)…Blakemore
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington…Marks
- Front Desk…Yang
- The Great Treehouse War…Graff
- Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen…Florence
- Just Right Jillian…Collier
- Lety Out Loud…Cervantes
- Maizy Chen’s Last Chance…Yee
- Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel (series)…Grimes
- Merci Suarez Can’t Dance…Medina
- Midsummer’s Mayhem…LaRocca
- Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business (series)…Lee
- Nikki and Deja (series)…English
- Operation Sisterhood…Rhuday-Perkovich
- Sadiq and the Desert Star (series)…Nuurali
- Scientific Life of Azaleah Lane (series)…Smith
- The Season of Styx Malone…Magoon
- Simon B. Rhymin’…Reed
- Sofia Valdez and the Vanishing Vote (series)…Beaty
- Something To Say…Ramée
- Stella Diaz Never Gives Up…Dominguez
- The Terrible Two (series)…Barnett
- Ways to Make Sunshine (series)…Watson
- Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream…Khan
- Folktales, Fairy Tales, & Legends
- Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns…Tonatiuh
- High-Five to the Hero…Murrow
- The Legend of Gravity: A TALL Basketball…Tale Palmer
- Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales…Mandela
- Power to the Princess…Murrow
- The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas…García Esperón
- Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection…Campoy and Ada
- Treasury of Magical Tales From Around the World…Napoli
Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Dory Fantasmagory…Hanlon
- The Fairy Tale Detectives (series)…Buckley
- Gumazing Gum GIrl (series)…Montijo
- Midnight War of Mateo Martinez…Yardi
- Mulan: Before the Sword…Lin
- Pip’s Guide to Magical Creatures…Pearce & Steifvater
- The Coin Slot Chronicles…Jennings
- The Unicorn Rescue Society (series)…Gidwitz
- Sisters of Neversea…Smith
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon…Lin
Biography & Autobiography
- Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball…Bryant
- Becoming Kid Quixote: A True Story of Belonging in America…Sierra
- Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks…Slade
- I Am Not A Label…Burnell
- Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers…Menéndez
- Look Up With Me: Neil deGrasse Tyson…Berne
- One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon, and a Lifelong Mission…Johnson
- She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor (series)…Medina
- Sprouting Wings: The True Story of James Herman Banning…Jaggar
- When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop…Hill
- Who is Greta Thunberg? (series)…Leonard
- Who is Kamala Harris? (series)…Anderson
Historical Fiction
- I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 (series)…Tarshis
- Lincoln Project (Flashback Four series)…Gutman
- Marika Marches for Equality…Alikhan
- The Mighty Miss Malone…Curtis
- One Crazy Summer…Williams-Garcia
- Out of Left Field…Klages
- Riding Freedom…Ryan
- Turtle in Paradise…Holm
Informational Books
- A Child’s Introduction to African American History…Asim
- Brave. Black. First: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World …Hudson
- A Child’s Introduction to Egyptology…Alexander
- Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls…ed. by Workneh
- I Am An American: The Wong Kim Ark Story…Brockenbrough
- It’s A Numbers Game! Basketball…Buckley
- Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet…Manley
- King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin…Costanza
- The Last Straw: Kids Vs. Plastics…Hood
- More Than Just A Game: The Black Origins of Basketball…Moore
- Sanctuary: Kip Tiernan and Rosie’s Place…McDonnell
- Saving American Beach…King
- Sharks: Nature’s Perfect Hunter (Science Comics series)…Flood
- Water: A Deep Dive into Discovery…Mihaly
- What’s In Your Pocket? Collecting Nature’s Treasures…Montgomery
- Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery…Pincus
- Your Place in the Universe…Chin
Poetry Books
- Bravo: Poems about Amazing Hispanics…Engle
- Family Poems for Every Day of the Week…Alarcón
- In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of Color…Salazar
- The Taco Magician Gonzales…Bertrand
- The Undefeated…Alexander
- Voices of Justice: Poems about People Working for a Better World…Lyon
- Write! Write! Write!…Vanderwater
District Provided Books:
Incoming 6th Grade: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Incoming 7th Grade: March by John Lewis
Incoming 8th Grade: Science of Breakable Things by Tae Kelle
Incoming 6th - 8th Grade ESL: When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Additional and Alternative Readings: While LPS will not be providing hard copies of these books, many of these items can be located on Sora [scroll down for a tutorial] and the Leominster Public Library.
Fiction
- Amina’s Voice … by Khan
- Ancestor Approved … ed. by Smith
- The Best At It … Pancholy
- Black Boy Joy … ed. by Mbalia
- As Brave As You … Reynolds
- The Chance to Fly … Stoker
- Click’d … Stone
- Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora … Cartaya
- Fast Pitch … Stone
- Finding Junie Kim … Oh
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington … Marks
- Genesis Begins Again … Williams
- I Can Make This Promise … Day
- King and the Dragonflies … Callender
- The Last Last-Day-of-Summer … Giles
- Lupe Wong Won’t Dance … Higuera
- Maizy Chen’s Last Chance … Yee
- The Many Meanings of Meilan … Wang
- The Only Black Girls in Town … Colbert
- Operation Sisterhood … Rhuday-Perkovich
- Other Words for Home … Warga
- Playing the Cards You’re Dealt … Johnson
- The Season of Styx Malone … Magoon
- Stand Up, Yumi Chung … Kim
- Starfish … Fipps
- Take Back the Block … Giles
- Thanks A Lot, Universe … Lucas
- Too Bright to See … Lukoff
- Yusuf Azeem Is Not A Hero … Faruqi
Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Amari and the Night Brothers … Allston
- Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds … Ahmed
- The Insiders … Oshiro
- The Last Cuentista … Higuera
- Paola Santiago and the River of Tears … Mejia
- The Serpent’s Secret … DasGupta
- Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (series) … Mbalia
Mystery
- City Spies (series) … Ponti
- Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit … Rivera
- The Parker Inheritance … Johnson
- Pepper’s Rules for Secret Sleuthing … McDonald
- A Soft Place to Land … Marks
Legends, Myths, and Poetry
- Across the Rainbow Bridge: Stories of Norse Gods and Humans … Crossley-Holland
- Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States … ed. by Carlson
- Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes … Latham & Waters
- Dreams From Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems … Engle
- Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance … Grimes
- Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes … Riordan
- The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas … García Esperón
- We Rise. We Resist. We Raise Our Voices … Hudson & Hudson
- Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice … Browne
Informational Books
- All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team … Soontornvat
- Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels, America’s First Black Paratroopers … Stone
- Destination Moon: The Remarkable and Improbable Voyage of Apollo 11 … Maurer
- Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown … Sheinkin
- How to Change Everything (the Young Humans’ Guide) … Klein
- Science Comics series … various authors
- Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below in the Chilean Desert … Aronson
- Women Artists A to Z … Labarge
Historical Fiction
- The Blackbird Girls … Blankman
- Echo … Ryan
- Echo Mountain … Wolk
- It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel … Dumas
- Lifeboat 12 … Hood
- Mighty Inside … Frazier
- The Night Diary … Hiranandani
- Northwind … Paulsen
- Red, White, and Whole … LaRocca
- Show Me a Sign … LeZotte
- Spy Runner … Yelchin
- Talking Leaves … Bruchac
- The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA … Woods
- We Dream of Space … Kelly
Graphic Novels
- Borders … King
- The Legend of Auntie Po Yin … Khor
- Measuring Up … LaMotte
- Miles Morales Shock Waves … Reynolds
- New Kid and Class Act … Craft
- Rabbit Chase … LaPensée
- Swim Team … Christmas
Biography & Autobiography
- African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History … Baptiste
- Bee Fearless: Dream Like A Kid … Ulmer
- Brave. Black. First: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World … Hudson
- Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South … Hudson
- Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina (Young Reader’s Edition) … Copeland
- March Forward, Girl: From Young Warrier to Little Rock Nine … Beals
- Maya Lin: Thinking with Her Hands … Rubin
- Nuestra América: 30 Inspiring Latinas/Latinos … Vourvoulias
- Ordinary Hazards … Grimes
- Reach for the Skai: How to Inspire, Empower, and Clapback … Jackson
- Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for her American Dream … Arce
- Speak Up, Speak Out!: The Extraordinary Life of “Fighting Shirley Chisholm” … Bolden
- This Promise of Change … Boyce
Sora
Leominster Public Schools is a subscribing member of the MLS Commonwealth eBook Collection. This robust collection gives our community access to over 50,000 eBooks and audiobooks shared with other schools and small libraries across the state. Sora is a powerful digital reading platform that is used to access the collection. Students are able to see and borrow titles in Sora based on their assigned school level. Sora has many built in supports and features, and the information below will help you get started using this amazing resource. Sora has many of our Summer Reading Books available!
Students must be logged into their leominsterps account on a Chrome browser in order to access Clever.
Once logged in your leominsterps.org acct, please visit https://clever.com/in/leominster
Locate the Sora Icon 
Click on the Sora Icon
Note: To change the language of the tutorial, click the 3 dots on the bottom right and then the gear icon and select your preferred langauge.
Here's an interactive tutorial
** Best experienced in Full Screen (click the icon in the top right corner before you begin) **
Reading Suggestions
- Make reading routine, find a quiet comfortable spot. That is the ‘go-to’ spot.
- Before you start reading the book, ask simple questions about the cover and the story.
- “What do you think this book is about?”
- “What makes you say this is what the story might be about?”
- “What is this?”
- “Can you read the title of the book?”
- “Who or what do you think is on the cover”?
- “Who wrote this book?”
- If your children get stuck on a word do not help them straight away.
- Say the first sound in the first word - once they work it out get them to re-read the sentence; or
- If there is no individual sound in the first work, then tell them the whole word and see if they can now read the sentence; if not, use the “sound-out’ tip for each word.
- When your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word, give him/her/them time to do so. Remind the child to look closely at the first letter or letters of the word.
- When your child makes a mistake, gently point out the letters he or she overlooked or read incorrectly. Many beginning readers will guess wildly at a word based on its first letter.
- Always get them to re-read the sentence
- Encourage them to use their reading strategies. Otherwise, they will expect you to tell them words they get stuck on every time.
- e.g., Phonics – sounding out words.
- Let them hear you reading the story and encourage them to follow.
- Make some silly mistakes to see if they are reading with you. They will love correcting you.
- If their reading sounds choppy or not smooth…
- Use the “Echo” Reading Technique...
- When the child has read a sentence in a “choppy”, “unsmooth” manner. Encourage them by focusing on something that they have done correctly.
- Then ask them to listen to you read the sentence. (“Listen to my voice and try to sound like I do.”)
- You then ask them to re-read “Echoing” you. It is about the experienced reader “modelling” fluent reading for the child.
- You can do this line by line or a couple of sentences at a time.
- Good readers: (1) Read words correctly, and (2) Sound nice and smooth, like talking…”
- Use the “Echo” Reading Technique...
- Once the child has read nice and smoothly you then move on to asking a few questions about what they have read.
- Let your child choose their reading material. You may see them gravitate toward nonfiction, science fiction and fantasy, or humor. Whatever it is, be sure to provide ready access!
- Subscribe to magazines that will interest them. Ask your child to choose one or two titles and put the subscription in their name to make it extra-special when an issue arrives. You can also visit a local library and explore their magazine collection.
- Read the news together. Establish a routine for reviewing current events around the world. Ask your child how they feel about the headlines and encourage them to form opinions.
- Keep up with what they’re reading. If you can, read a few pages of their books yourself so you can discuss them together. If your child is a strong or advanced independent reader, this also allows you to judge material for age-appropriateness.
- Talk about what they’re reading. Asking your child what they like about their books compels them to make connections and think critically. Summarizing and sequencing events will challenge their reading comprehension (which is a significant component of standardized testing).
- If they’re struggling or bored with a book, let them put it down. Reading is meant to be fun, and the more kids enjoy their books, the more likely they are to keep reading. Achieving reading frequency takes practice, and that means trying different titles until that just-right book is found.
- Ensure they have a good reading space. Let them choose the nook, and make sure it's well-lit and inviting. If you find your child is enjoying their reading space past bedtime, be flexible. Avoid asking your child to stop reading.
- Play games that utilize reading. If you have a family game night, try incorporating word- and vocabulary-based games, like Scrabble or Boggle. Completing crosswords in the morning is another opportunity for learning new words and practicing spelling.
- Encourage your middle schooler to read to a younger sibling. Letting your older child take over the nightly reading ritual once a week will ensure they read something. They may find their younger sibling's enthusiasm for stories contagious.
- Visit the bookstore or library together. Make discovering new books a regular event where you get to share quality one-on-one time.
- Encourage journaling. Journaling is a skill-building activity that allows your child to record observations, ambitions, problems, and solutions. Writing about their books further allows them to explore their interests, not to mention refine their book-reviewing techniques for class and build their social-emotional skills.
- Explore books based on popular media. Your child may not know that the on-screen adventures of their favorite superhero continue in books. For example, check out The Bad Guys series and watch the movie! Literary extensions of multimedia franchises offer an entry point for reluctant readers drawn to movies and TV series.
- Provide access to audiobooks. Books on tape are an easy way to connect your child with the rhythms and pace of a story — and they’re surprisingly successful among this age group. Whether you’re heading on vacation or just back-and-forth to school, try listening to a book that appeals to everyone. Equip your child’s mobile device with an audiobook platform as well, so they can listen on their own time.
- Model reading. From birth, your child is modeling their behaviors after you. Your pre-teen will follow your reading habits (though they’ll never let you know it!). Let them see you reading, strike up a dialogue about what you’re reading, and share interesting passages with them.
- Allow and encourage kids to re-read their favorite books. Parents may be discouraged to see their child reading the same book over and over. In reality, they are reading for pleasure and likely picking up on new words and contexts with each read.
- Leave reading material in the car. Pack a bag with books, magazines — whatever your child likes to read — for quick grab-and-read opportunities. Parents have told Scholastic in interviews that their child’s favorite time to read is in the car on the way to sports practice.
- Start a book club. Choose a title the whole family can read together, or help your child organize a regular meetup with friends to discuss a selection in person, virtually, or via text message.
- Take reading outside. Enjoying books literally outside of the everyday routine shows kids books are there to be enjoyed and can provide an escape. They can listen to audiobooks while hiking, or find a peaceful park to read in.
- Try out multiple formats of a book. Many popular book series, like Wings of Fire, have been adapted as chapter books and graphic novels, and others have corresponding audiobooks and e-books. A book’s format can have a major effect on the overall reading experience: The illustrations and simple text of graphic novels, for example, are especially popular with reluctant readers who can comprehend context more quickly. Trying different formats also lets young readers experiment with different reading styles (e.g., digital vs. print), to determine what they’re most comfortable with.
- Meet an author. To bring life to the reading experience, help your child seek out local events with their favorite writers. If you can’t meet an author in person, check out their official website, listen to interviews they’ve done, or watch book trailers for their books. Meeting an author and hearing what inspires them can inspire readers to seek out related titles.
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