I believe in reading and in summer reading as well I think it can make our children better writers, better learners and more creative persons too.

Where can you find books in English.
There are a lot of English and American book stores in Paris

Click here to get the address.

You can also order from an online bookstore and get a cheaper second hand copy that will be just as good.

To help you choose you will need a guide here is one I did taking hints from follow teachers, friends and other summer reading lists. You are welcome to it and although I have given hope of anybody commenting on this blog, I still tell you to please comment on the books you have read in the list or not. You are very welcome as always.

Beginners

The Candymakers
By Wendy Mass

Four gifted 12-year-olds, including Logan, the candymaker's son, are set to be contestants in the Confectionary Association's national competition to determine the nation's tastiest sweet. What nobody anticipates is that a friendship will form between the children.

The Dreamer
By Pam Ryan

This is a fictionalized biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. He grew up a painfully shy child, ridiculed by his overbearing father, but still became one of the most widely read poets in the world.

Selling Hope
By Kristin Tubb This story, set in 1905, is about a smart, savvy girl named Hope who travels the vaudeville circuit with her magician dad and a cast of quirky characters, including Buster Keaton and his family. She invents anti-comet pills in an effort to make money and to save people from Haley’s Comet, which some people believe is about to hit the earth.

The London Eye Mystery
By Siobhan Dowd

When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye ferris wheel, the two siblings must work together--Ted with his brain that is "wired differently" and impatient Kat--to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim.

Powerless
By Matthew Cody

Soon after moving to Noble's Green, Pennsylvania, 12-year-old Daniel learns that his new friends have super powers that they will lose when they turn 13, unless he can use his brain power to protect them.

Intermediate
or lower intermediates (if they have read the book in French)

The adventures of Harry Potter and his friends. Enjoy one or all in the series -- they are magical.

For intermediate or lower intermediate if they have read it in French before.

The Hound of the Baskervilles
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This classic was first published in 1902. Sherlock Holmes is asked to investigate a mysterious death and a hound that haunts the lonely moors around the Baskervilles' ancestral home.

And Then There Were None
By Agatha Christie

Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a lonely mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. And then, one by one, they begin to die.

The Lion and the Witch

in the Wardrobe

by C.S.Lewis

Follow Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter into the fantasy world of Narnia where they encounter a witch, a lion, and many exciting adventures. The book is from The Chronicles of Narnia series, which your children may have read in French or seen at the cinema, they will love reading from start to finish.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney

This semi-autobiographical journal/cartoon book by Jeff Kinney - the diary of seventh-grader Greg Heffley - is available online, and in hard-copy. Your child can follow the hilarious trials and tribulations of Greg by logging in daily.

The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton

In this Edgar Allan Poe Award-winning novel, a black family moves into an enormous house once used to hide runaway slaves. Mysterious sounds and events as well as the discovery of secret passageways make the family believe they are in grave danger.

Cover image for The Suburb Beyond the Stars

The Suburb Beyond the Stars by M. T. Anderson

Something very strange is happening in Vermont. It's not the Game of Sunken Places — Brian and Gregory have been through that before, and there's not supposed to be another Game until they say there's a Game.

Raiders' Ransomby Emily Diamand

It's the 22nd century and, because of climate change, much of England is underwater. Poor Lilly is out fishing with her trusty sea-cat when greedy raiders pillage the town — and kidnap the prime minister's daughter.

Stargirl (2000) realistic fiction

By Jerry Spinelli

In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

The House on Mango Street ; realistic fiction

By Sandra Cisneros

The story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.

The Hobbit ; fiction

By J.R.R. Tolkein

J.R.R. Tolkien's own description for the original edition: "If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did) -- if you do not already know all about these things -- much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period. For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now (it is said) becoming rather rare. They do not like noise."

To Kill a Mocking Bird ; Realistic fiction

By Harper Lee

Harper Lee's classic novel of a lawyer in the Deep South defending a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.

Tom Sawyer ; Realistic fiction; a classic of American literature.

By Mark Twain

The wanderings of a boy who did not want to go to school.

The Giver ; Fiction

By Lois Lowry

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world.

When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does Jonas begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray dog

By Ann M. Martin

Squirrel and her brother Bone begin their lives in a toolshed behind someone's summer house. Their mother nurtures them and teaches them the many skills they will need to survive as stray dogs. But when their mother is taken from them suddenly and too soon, the puppies are forced to make their own way in the world, facing humans both gentle and brutal, busy highways, other animals, and the changing seasons. When Bone and Squirrel become separated, Squirrel must fend for herself, and in the process makes two friends who in very different ways define her fate.

Shiloh ; Realistic fiction

By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

When Marty Preston comes across a young beagle in the hills behind his home, it's love at first sight -- and also big trouble. It turns out the dog, which Marty names Shiloh, belongs to Judd Travers, who drinks too much and has a gun -- and abuses his dogs. So when Shiloh runs away from Judd to Marty, Marty just has to hide him and protect him from Judd. But Marty's secret becomes too big for him to keep to himself, and it exposes his entire family to Judd's anger. How far will Marty have to go to make Shiloh his?

A little history

Moon over Manifest (2010) historical fiction

By Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (1996 historical fiction)

By Karen Cushman
In 1849, twelve-year-old California Morning, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mot

her moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town.

Torn Thread (2000 historical fiction)

By Anne Isaacs
In an attempt to save his daughter's life, Eva's father sends her from Poland to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia where she and her sister survive the war.

City of Ember c2003 science fiction

By Jeanne DuPrau
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (2006 narrative nonfiction)

By Russell Freedman (a little expensive)
Covers the events surrounding and including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the end of segregation on buses.

Nory Ryan’s Song (2000 historical fiction )

By Patricia Reilly Giff
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve-year-old Nory Ryan's courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive.

Science or adventure

Sugar Changed the World ; Non fiction

By Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science is about

the legacy of sugar and how it changed the world. A history and

dates back to its first harvest in 8000 B.C. in the island of New

Guinea.

Holes (1998 realistic fiction)

By Louis Sachar
Stanley is falsely accused of a crime and ends up in a juvenile detention center where he is forced to dig holes everyday. It is supposed to build his character, but he suspects there are ulterior motives.

The Manatee Scientist: Saving Vulnerable Species (2011 nonfiction)

By Peter Lourie
Scientists in Florida, West Africa and the Amazon Basin share information with the goal of protecting the docile and sometimes elusive manatee.

Peak (2007 realistic fiction, adventure)

By Roland Smith
A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.

For the most ambitious

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The series that started it all. Join the adventures of Percy Jackson and his demigod friends as they fight mythological monsters and the forces of the titan lord Kronos.