Jackson Public Schools
Summer Reading Program
630 South State Street
Jackson, MS 39201
Phone: (601) 960-8908
Tiffany Cline
TRC/Director of Library Services
District eBook Collection
Overview
The Jackson Public Schools Summer Reading Program encourages scholars to stay engaged and continue growing as readers throughout the summer months. By promoting daily reading, the program helps strengthen comprehension skills, build vocabulary, and inspire a lifelong love of books. All scholars in grades PreK-12 are required to read three books during the summer and complete either a reading log or summary for each title.
Summer Reading Requirements
Students in Grades PreK-3 must read the district's required summer reading book and select two additional titles from a curated list. A log or summary must be completed for each book read.
Scholars in Grades 4-12 must read the required summer reading book and then select two additional books either of their choice or from the curated lists. Books may be selected from any source, including the JPS District eBook Collection, school libraries, or public libraries.
With access to the district's digital and print resources, curated recommendations, and support from Library Services, every scholar is equipped to explore meaningful, age-appropriate literature all summer long.
Examples of Different Types of Text
- SJ - Social justice
- GF - Graphic Fiction
- GN - Graphic Nonfiction
- FAN - Fantasy, Romance
- MO - Moral Lesson
- LA - Local Authors
- HU - Funny, Humor
- SP - Skills to practice with adult supervision (cookbooks, knitting, gardening)
- $$ - Recommended for aspiring entrepreneurs.
After completing the minimum of three books, scholars are encouraged to continue reading and writing logs or summaries. Summer reading is fun and helps students grow academically.
Scholars who read and write logs/summaries on more than three books will earn additional incentives.
Audio Book
Families and students may use the following links to search for the audiobook version of the summer reading book. Please note: THERE MAY BE A CHARGE to download or access audiobooks and NOT all summer reading books may be available in an audio format.
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Kindergarten | The Pigeon Has to Go to School | Mo Williams |
| Kindergarten | Wemberly Worried | Kevin Henkes |
| 1st | Llama Llama Back to School | Anna Dewdney |
| 2nd | Dragons Love Tacos | Adam Rubin |
| 3rd | The Lemonade War | Jacqueline Davis |
| 4th | The Wild Robot on the Island | Peter Brown |
| 5th | Smile | Raina Telgemeier |
| 6th | The One and Only Ivan | Katherine Applegate |
| 7th | Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina | Rodman Hillbrick |
| 8th | Victory Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice | Tommie Smith |
| 9th | What I Carry | Jennifer Longo |
|
10th |
All the Noise at Once |
DeAndra Davis |
|
11th |
One Crazy Summer |
Rita Williams Garcia |
|
12th |
Under the Neon Lights |
Arriel Vinson |
| Additional Summer Reading Book Suggestions | ||
|---|---|---|
|
GRADE |
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
| Pre-Kindergarten |
The Hello Goodbye Window See Marcus Grow Duck, Duck, Taco Truck How to Babysit a Grandma The Day the Crayons Make Friends Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten Bee-Bim Bop! The Color Monster Be Who You Are |
Norton Juster Marcus Bridgewater Jez Alborough Jean Reagan Drew Daywalt Joseph Slate Linda Sue Park Anna Llenas Todd Parr |
| Kindergarten |
The Very Impatient Caterpillar Be You I Promise The King of Kindergarten The Queen of Kindergarten Speak Up, Molly Lou Melon The Scarecrow |
Ross Burach Peter Reynolds Lebron James Derrick Barnes Derrick Barnes Patty Lovell Beth Ferry |
| 1st |
We've Got the Whole World in our Hands How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends First Grade Here I Come Princess Truly, I am Brave The Leaf Thief Poison Garden Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire Broken Crayons Still Color |
Rafel Lopz Jane Yolen/Mark Teague D.J. Steinberg Kelly Greenawalt Alice Hemming Christy Mandin Flavia Z. Drago Toni Collier |
| 2nd |
Giraffes Can't Dance Max Found Two Sticks Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas The Invisible Boy The Reflection in Me Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix-Up City Summer, Country Summer The Worst Camp Out Ever The Very Last Leaf |
Giles Andrede Brian Pinkney Natasha Yim Trudy Ludwig Peter Reynolds Melissa Thomson Kiese Laymon Joe Cepeda Stef Wade |
| 3rd |
The True Story of the Little Pigs! Firebird It Began with Lemonade The Summer of the Bone Horses Lola Levin is Not Mean The Hundred Dresses Keena Ford and the Secret Journal Mix-Up The Invisible Boy The Year We Learned to Fly |
Jon Scieszka Misty Copeland Gideon Sterer Virginia Sneve Virginia Sneve Eleanor Estes Melissa Thomson Trudy Ludwig Jacqueline Woodson |
| 4th |
My Freedom Trip Suitcase J.D. and the Great Barber Battle Wish Tiger Rising The Unteachables One Crazy Summer Tales of the Fourth Grade Summer The Last Kids on Earth |
Francis and Ginger Park Mildred Pitts Walter J. Dillard Barbara O'Conner Kate Dicamillo Gordan Korman Rita Williams Garcia Judy Blume Max Brailler |
| 5th |
Hidden Figures Stunt Boy Charlie and Frog The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins Bat and the Waiting Game Jake Drake, Teacher's Pet The Boy Who Harnesses the Wind Restart New Kids |
Margot Lee Shetterly Jason Reynolds Karen Kane Barbara Kerley Elana K. Arnold Andrew Clements Bryan Mealer, Williams Kamkwamba Gordon Korman Jerry Craft |
| 6th-8th |
Restart New Kid When the Stars are Scattered A Good Kind of Trouble Before the Ever After Out of My Mind Midnight Without a Moon Starfish One Big Open Sky |
Gordon Korman Jerry Craft Victoria Jamieson Lisa M. Ramee Jacqueline Woodson Sharon Draper Linda W. Jackson Lisa Flipps Lesa Cline-Ransome |
| 9th-12th |
Legend The House in the Cerulean Sea Born a Crime The Boys in the Boat Station Eleven There There Astrophysics for People in a Hurry The Wright Brothers Looking for Alaska Piecing Me Together Perks of Being a Wallflower I'll Give You the Sun Tyrell Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry |
Marie Lu TJ Klune Trevor Noah Daniel James Brown Emily St. John Mandel Tommy Orange Neil deGrasse Tyson David McCullough John Green Renee Watson Stephen Chbosky Jandy Nelson Coe Booth Mildred D. Taylor |
|
Summer Reading Books for Special Program Schools |
||
|---|---|---|
| Casey, McWillie, Obama Magnet IB, Bailey APAC (4th-5th) | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| Pre-Kindergarten | The Pigeon Has to Go to School | Mo Williams |
| Kindergarten | Hank's Big Day: The Story of a Bug | Evan Kuhlman |
|
1st |
I’m Sorry You Got Mad |
Kyle Lukoff |
|
2nd |
King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth |
Dori Hillestad Butler |
|
3rd |
The School is Alive! |
Jack Chabert |
|
4th |
Before the Ever After |
Jacqueline Woodson |
|
5th |
Count Me In |
Varsha Bajaj |
| Bailey APAC (6th-8th) | ||
|
GRADE |
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
| 6th | The Wild Robot | Peter Brown |
|
7th |
Tangerine |
Edward Bloor |
|
8th |
Animal Farm |
George Orwell |
| Northwest IB (6th-8th) | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 6th | Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks | Jason Reynolds |
| 7th | Free Lunch | Rex Ogle |
| 8th | Animal Farm | George Orwell |
| Jim Hill, Murrah, and Forest Hill | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 9th | Long Division | Kiese Laymon |
| 10th | The Patron Saint of Nothing | Ray Ribay |
| 11th | 1984 | Goerge Orwell |
| 12th | There There | Tommy Orange |
| Jackson Middle College (11th & 12th) | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 11th | Educated | Tara Westover |
| 12th | The Water Dancer | Ta-Nehisi Coates |
| JTECHS (9th-12th) | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 9th |
This is My America Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens |
Kim Johnson Sean Covey |
| 10th | Promise Boys | Nick Brooks |
| 11th | Educated | Tara Westover |
| 12th | The Water Dancer | Ta-Nehisi Coates |
| Additional Summer Reading Book Suggestions for Special Program Schools | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Bailey APAC (6th-8th) |
||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 6th |
Ghost Boys The Season of Styx Malone |
Jewell Parker Rhodes Kekla Magoon |
|
7th |
Tangerine Popcorn Front Desk |
Edward Bloor Rob Harrell Kelly Yang |
|
8th |
Izzy, Willy-Nilly Midnight Without a Moon |
Cynthia Voigt Linda Williams Jackson |
| Northwest IB (6th-8th) | ||
|
GRADE |
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
| 6th |
Ghost Boys The Season of Styx Malone |
Jewell Parker Rhodes Kekla Magoon |
|
7th |
Feed |
MT Anderson |
|
8th |
Izzy, Willy-Nilly Midnight Without a Moon |
Cynthia Voigt Linda Williams Jackson |
| Northwest IB (6th-8th) | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
| 6th | Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks | Jason Reynolds |
| 7th | Free Lunch | Rex Ogle |
| 8th | Animal Farm | George Orwell |
| APAC | ||
| GRADE | TITLE | AUTHOR |
|
9th
Alternate Option
Alternate Option |
Punching The Air Solito: A Memoir I Am Malala A Raisin in the Sun Coming of Age in Mississippi |
Zoboi, Ibi and Yusef Salaam Javier Zamora Malala Yousafzai Lorraine Hansberry Anne Moody |
|
10th
Alternate Option
Alternate Option |
The Joy Luck Club Persepolis Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card The Poet X Remarkably Bright Creatures |
Amy Tan Marjane Satrapi Sara Saedi Elizabeth Acevedo Shelby Van Pelt |
|
11th (AP Lit. & Comp.)
Alternate Option Alternate Option |
The Handmaid's Tale Memoir: Choice Educated Finding Me |
Margaret Atwood
Tara Eastover Viola Davis |
| 12th (AP Lit. & Comp.) |
Remarkably Bright Creatures How to Read Literature Like Professor Thomas Foster |
Shelby Van Pelt Thomas C. Foster |
Note: Program schools may recommend that additional books are read during the summer in preparation for coursework during the upcoming school year. Those listed above are the minimum books required by the District for each grade level and program school.