English 12 Summer Reading 2015

Choose any one novel from the list below. You have many choices, so use Amazon.com and check summaries and reviews to select a novel that may interest you. Multiple copies of these novels are available for FREE at your public library, provided you have a library card. If your neighborhood library does not have the book, other libraries will send it over to your library FREE of charge. Call your local library if you do not know how to do this.

Reading reflection assignment--Use approximately one page of lined paper (front and back) to answer the following:

  1. Find any ten interesting or challenging words from your novel and 1) rewrite the original sentence and page number where you found the word; 2) write the definition according to how it is used in the sentence (you may use dictionary.com for this).
  2. Write a brief summary of your novel (about ½ page) in your own words.
  3. Choose any popular song and explain why it would be your protagonist’s favorite song. If you have more than one main character, choose one.
  4. Copy one sentence with page number from the novel that illustrates the main conflict. Explain the conflict and how it is resolved (or not resolved) at the end of your novel.
  5. Discuss your author’s writing style. Does s/he write using a dialect? Explain why or why not. Does s/he use an elevated style with complex vocabulary or does s/he write in a style that is more conversational and straightforward? Why do you think the author wrote the novel in this particular style?
  6. Is your novel written in first or third person? Does it work best written this way, or would it be more effective if written from a different perspective? Explain.
  7. Finally, would your novel be able to take place in your neighborhood? Explain.

Books are listed in a general order of difficulty from least to most difficult, but all are contemporary novels with high teen interest.

William E. Coles, Jr. Another Kind of Monday

MarjaneSatrapi Persepolis I and II (you must read BOTH graphic novels for this choice)

Walter MosleyThe Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Walter Dean Myers Darius & Twig

James McBride The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Wes Moore The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

KalishaBuckhanon Upstate

Maria SempleWhere’d You Go Bernadette?

Harry Bernstein The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers

Don Robertson The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

Erin Morgenstern Night Circus

Markus ZusakThe Book Thief

Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go

If you have no access to the library, the following books are free on Project Gutenberg’s website :

Arthur Conan O’DoyleThe Hound of the Baskervilles (a Sherlock Holmes novel)

Franz KafkaThe Metamorphosis

H.G. WellsThe Island of Dr. Moreau