Reading High School
2013 Summer Reading
Freshmen
Ms. Doyle
Ms. Wright
- Please note: This Summer Reading Assignment is NOT OPTIONAL. It will make up 25% of your 1st Quarter grade.
If you have any questions during the summer, you can email me at .
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For students taking Accelerated English 9– ChooseONE of the following novels:
1. Warriors Don’t Cry. (NF)- Beals, Melba Patillo
In 1957, Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, Melba was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.
Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down.
This is her remarkable story.
2. Birthmarked (F) – Caragh M. O’Brien
In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the wall and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife, Gaia Stone, who live outside. Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia’s mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe. Gaia’s choice is now simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.
3. Something Wicked This Way Comes–Ray Bradbury
The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes. . .and the stuff of nightmare.
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For students taking English 9-- Choose only ONE of the following novels:
1. Birthmarked (F)– Caragh M. O’Brien (See description from front.)
2. Anne Frank Remembered (NF) -- MiepGies
For the millions moved by Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, here at last is Miep's own astonishing story. For more than two years, MiepGies and her husband helped hide the Franks from the Nazis. Like thousands of unsung heroes of the Holocaust, they risked their lives each day to bring food, news, and emotional support to the victims.
From her own remarkable childhood as a World War I refugee to the moment she places a small, red-orange, checkered diary -- Anne's legacy -- in Otto Frank's hands, MiepGies remembers her days with simple honesty and shattering clarity. Each page rings with courage and heartbreaking beauty.
3. Deadline (F)—Chris Crutcher
After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, 18-year-old Ben Wolf elects to forgo treatment and keep his illness secret from his family and friends in an attempt to have a "normal" senior year at his small Idaho high school. However, Ben's illness slowly exacts its toll on him, and he begins to realize the consequences of keeping his condition hidden. Crutcher brings his signature blend of sports action and human emotion to this powerful novel. Emotionally spare but deeply touching,
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For a successful experience with your summer reading assignment . . .
1. Finding the book(s) -- Check your local library first. The Cincinnati Public Library will help locate a copy for you if your branch does not have it. Amazon.com seems to have everything. Ask your parents about ordering a used copy of the novel from that site. Check Half Price Books, too.
2. Perhaps wait until July to begin reading. This may help keep the reading fresh in your mind, which may help when you take the test over the novel(s) on Friday, August 23.
3. In order to be actively engaged with your reading, EVERYONE MUST COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENT FOR THESUMMER READING:
Reader Response Journal
PROMPTS:
1. Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be read people)? Why or why not?
2. Create a timeline of eventsfrom start to finish.
3. Describe a character that you would like to meet (which doesn’t mean that you think you would like the character, but that you think thecharacter would be interesting). List 4 questions that you would ask.
4. Describe something you have read that is similar to this.
5. Describe the major conflict. What side are you on?
6. Importance of an Episode: Select what you consider the most important episode in the book. Explain (briefly) what happens, why you think it is important to the section, your reaction to the episode, and why you react this way.
7. Setting: What effect does the setting (time, place, social and historical background) have on the character’s thoughts, actions, and choices? What would be your reaction to having to adapt to the character’s environment? Why?
8. Describe the setting’s time and place. Create a new setting that you think would be better for the story and describe it.
9. Describe what was either believable or unbelievable about your reading. Defend your opinion.
10. Describe the similarities and differences between the main character and you.
11. Theme: Explain an idea or theme –either stated outright or implied by events—which is meaningful to you. Explain its importance to the book and why you find it meaningful.
12. Character Comparison #1: Compare yourself to a main character. Point out your similarities and try to account for differences between you and him/her. Considering what you have discovered, what is your reaction to this character? Why? How do you think the character would feel about you?
13. Character Comparison #2: Compare a character from your book to a character from another work of fiction (novel, play, film, short story). What are their similarities? What are their differences? Which character do you admire more? Why?
14. Judgment: Examine a character’s actions, values, behavior, etc. with which you disagree. What is happening? Why is the character thinking/acting this way? What do you see wrong with it? Why? What would you suggest as a preferable response?
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