Hillside High School
Summer Reading
Incoming 9th Grade
Choose two (2) books from the attached list to read over the summer. Complete one
of the projects below on one of the books. A test will be given on the second book you read
in September. The project grade and test grade will be averaged together for the first test
grade of the first marking period.
Book Choices
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13 Reasons Why
Delirium
Push: A Novel
The Book Thief
The Eye of Minds
The Fault in Our Stars
The Lovely Bones
The Secret Life of Bees
Uglies
Warriors Don’t Cry
Bad Boy
The Rose That Grew from Concrete
The Scorpio Races
Steampunk!
Trash
The House of the Scorpion
The Mark of Athena
Mockingjay
The Ruins of Gorlan
Taking Sides
DNA Doesn’t Lie
Freedom Summer
How They Croaked
FBI Heroes
Unraveling Freedom
Jay Asher
Lauren Oliver
Sapphire
Markus Zusak
James Dashner
John Green
Alice Sebold
Sue Monk Kidd
Scott Westerfeld
Melba Pattillo Beals
Walter Dean Myers
Tupac Shakur
Maggie Stiefvater
Gavin J. Grant & Kelly Link
Andy Mulligan
Nancy Farmer
Rick Riordan
Suzanna Collins
John Flanagan
Gary Soto
Scholastic
Susan Goldman Rubin
Kevin O’Malley
Allan Zullo
Ann Bausum
Project Choices
1. Create a soundtrack: Create a playlist of songs to be used as a backdrop for a
potential movie version of the novel. The songs do not have to include lyrics in order to
provide a mood for the scene. There should be at least two different genres of music in
your playlist. Write out your playlist and a justification for why you have chosen each
song. Your playlist should have at least 15 songs. Submission of a cd with the recorded
songs will count as extra credit.
2. Create a movie poster: Compose a movie poster that is an advertisement for movie
version for the book. You should have a bold and noticeable title, pictures of the main
characters with actors’ names, and a teaser to entice the viewer to want to see the
movie. On a separate sheet of paper, write a 1-2 page rationale as to why these characters
are important and why you chose these particular actors to represent each
character. Include a brief summary of key scenes from the book that would be in the movie.
3. Make a scrapbook: Create a scrapbook journaling the main character’s journey
throughout the novel. Include a journal entry from the main character’s point of view that
gives a summary of the book. Place pictures throughout the scrapbook with explanations
that describe what is going on in each. Draw, create, or find mementos or souvenirs that
can be placed throughout the scrapbook to make it look genuine. Finally, write a letter from
the main character to a secondary character that describes the main conflict being faced in
the text.
4. Poetry Collection: Write at least four poems that reflect that book you have read. Each
poem should be about a different character. Make sure you include the main
characters. Each poem should be at least six lines or longer. Incorporate the use of some
poetic techniques, such as simile, metaphor, alliteration, etc. The poems do not have to
rhyme.
5. Literary Devices Booklet: Create a flipbook or booklet to define at least 10 different
literary devices. Provide an example from the book for each device. Include a cover page
that provides the title, author, and an illustration to represent your book. Each page should
identify a specific literary device with an illustration of the scene in the book. The book must
have a Table of Contents and be in alphabetical order.