Summer Reading Assignment 10A
You need to choose one of the books from the list accompanying this letter. You will read the book and then respond to each of the following prompts. I would suggest that you read the prompts before reading the novel, and take notes as you read to help you with your responses. Your assignment will be due in class the first day of the school year. I would encourage you to get this done in a timely fashion and not wait until the last minute. You have five prompts, and they are as follows:
- In literature, the climax of a story is sometimes defined as the turning point. What do you consider to be the turning point of your story? Explain your choice.
- Identify and explain any two symbols in the book. (One paragraph for each symbol)
- Identify what you consider to be three themes in the novel. Support each of the choices in a separate paragraph.
- Identify four passages that you feel are crucial to your story/book. These passages can be either a quote or narration. Identify each passage, and then explain how the book/story would be incomplete without each of the passages. Each passage should have its own paragraph response.
- Rank the five most important characters in your story in order of importance. Explain/support each of your rankings in several well-written sentences.
- Your responses should be supported by textual evidence. Further, I would expect your responses to be thorough, and show thought and effort.
- My class policy is that late work receives half-credit; this will apply to the summer reading assignment, also.
This assignment needs to be typed and in MLA format, including a title page. If you are unsure of the specifics of MLA format, you should:
- Go to
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “writing lab”
- On the right, under “Most Popular Resources”, click on “MLA 2009 Formatting and Style Guide”
- Follow the examples and information provided
- You can number your responses and answer them in paragraph form.
Good luck, enjoy your summer, be safe, and I look forward to meeting you in August!
Mr. Kevin Finucan
Honors Sophomore and Junior Language Arts
National Honor Society Advisor
Summer Reading List for 10A
Rooftops of Tehran, by Mahbod Seraji
In this poignant, eye-opening and emotionally vivid novel, Mahbod Seraji lays bare the beauty and brutality of the centuries-old Persian culture, while reaffirming the human experiences we all share.
In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran's sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the next. He also hides a secret love for his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. But the bliss of Pasha and Zari's stolen time together is shattered when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah's secret police. The violent consequences awaken him to the reality of living under a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice...
Along the Watchtower, by Constance Squires
Set against the closing years of the Cold War, Constance Squires's debut novel introduces the family of Army Major Collins, as told through the eyes of Lucinda Collins-the vibrant, headstrong eldest daughter.
In spare, heart-wrenchingly beautiful prose, Squires offers us a rare glimpse into the experiences and sacrifices of an American military family-a powerful story that reveals what it really means to fight for the things we believe in and to defend the ones we love.
Bent Road, by Lori Roy
For twenty years, Celia Scott has watched her husband, Arthur, hide from the secrets surrounding his sister Eve's death. But when the 1967 Detroit riots frighten him even more than his Kansas past, he convinces Celia to pack up their family and return to the road he grew up on, Bent Road, and the same small town where Eve mysteriously died. And then a local girl disappears, catapulting the family headlong into a dead man's curve. . . . On Bent Road, a battered red truck cruises ominously along the prairie; a lonely little girl dresses in her dead aunt's clothes; a boy hefts his father's rifle in search of a target; and a mother realizes she no longer knows how to protect her children. It is a place where people learn: Sometimes killing is the kindest way.
The House of Tomorrow, by Peter Bognanni
Sebastian Prendergast lives in a geodesic dome with his eccentric grandmother, who homeschooled him in the teachings of futurist philosopher R. Buckminster Fuller. But when his grandmother has a stroke, Sebastian is forced to leave the dome and make his own way in town.
Jared Whitcomb is a chain-smoking sixteen-year-old heart-transplant recipient who befriends Sebastian, and begins to teach him about all the things he has been missing, including grape soda, girls, and Sid Vicious. They form a punk band called The Rash, and it's clear that the upcoming MethodistChurch talent show has never seen the likes of them. Wholly original, The House of Tomorrow is the story of a young man's self-discovery, a dying woman's last wish, and a band of misfits trying desperately to be heard.
Losing My Cool, by Thomas Chatterton Williams
Growing up, Thomas Chatterton Williams knew he loved three things in life: his parents, literature, and the intoxicating hip-hop culture that surrounded him. For years, he managed to juggle two disparate lifestyles, "keeping it real" in his friends' eyes and studying for the SATs under his father's strict tutelage-until it all threatened to spin out of control. Written with remarkable candor and emotional depth, Losing My Cool portrays the allure and danger of hip-hop culture with the authority of a true fan who's lived through it all, while demonstrating the saving grace of literature and the power of the bond between father and son.
A School for My Village, by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri
Can one person really make a difference in the world?
Twesigye Jackson Kaguri overcame tremendous odds as he followed his dream to build a school for AIDS orphans in his village in Uganda. This is his unforgettable story.
Growing up on his family's small farm, Kaguri worked many hours each day for his taskmaster father, though he was lucky his parents were able to send him to school. Kaguri eventually became a visiting scholar at ColumbiaUniversity. Returning to his home years later, he was overwhelmed by the plight of AIDS orphans and vowed to build them a tuition-free school. A School for My Village weaves together tales from Kaguri's youth and his inspiring account of building the school and changing the lives of many children.
How Does it Feel to be a Problem?, by Moustafa Bayoumi
Just over a century ago , W.E.B. Du Bois posed a probing question in his classic The Souls of Black Folk: How does it feel to be a problem? Now, Moustafa Bayoumi asks the same about America's new "problem"-Arab- and Muslim-Americans. Bayoumi takes readers into the lives of seven twenty-somethings living in Brooklyn, home to the largest Arab-American population in the United States. He moves beyond stereotypes and clichés to reveal their often unseen struggles, from being subjected to government surveillance to the indignities of workplace discrimination. Through it all, these young men and women persevere through triumphs and setbacks as they help weave the tapestry of a new society that is, at its heart, purely American.
Just Don’t Fall, by Josh Sundquist
This winning memoir of triumph over tragedy tells a story that has deeply affected thousands of readers. When he was just nine years old, Josh Sundquist was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a virulent cancer strain that eventually claimed his left leg. Told in a wide-eyed, often heartbreaking voice, Just Don't Fall is the astounding story of the boy Josh was and of the young man he became-an utterly heroic struggle through numerous hospitalizations and worse to become an award-winning skier in the Paralympics and renowned motivational speaker. What emerges is one of the most fresh and sincere works of inspiration to come along in years.
Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde
Welcome to Chromatacia, where the societal hierarchy is strictly regulated by one's limited color perception. And Eddie Russet wants to move up. But his plans to leverage his better-than-average red perception and marry into a powerful family are quickly upended. Juggling inviolable rules, sneaky Yellows, and a risky friendship with an intriguing Grey named Jane who shows Eddie that the apparent peace of his world is as much an illusion as color itself, Eddie finds he must reckon with the cruel regime behind this gaily painted façade.
If Jack’s in Love, by Stephen Wetta
It's 1967. Jack Witcher is a twelve-year-old boy genius living in a Virginia suburb at an address the entire neighborhood avoids. Jack's father has lost his job-again-and he's starting fights with other fathers. Jack's mother, sweet but painfully ugly, works as a cashier at a local market. Jack's older brother is a long-haired, pot-smoking hippie.
If all of that isn't bad enough, Jack's brother suddenly becomes the main suspect in the disappearance of the town's golden boy. And to make matters even worse, Jack is in love with the missing boy's sister, Myra. Mr. Gladstein, the town jeweler and solitary Jew, is Jack's only friend; together, they scheme to win Jack Myra's love. But to do that, Jack must overcome the prejudices, both the town's and his own, about himself and his family.