North Haven High School: Summer 2013 Summer Reading English 9 L1 and L2 All eighth grade students entering ninth grade are expected to read ONE of the following books listed below. We encourage students to read more than one book over the summer; however, each student will complete a writing on his or her chosen book during the second week of school. The books below contain themes connected to the ninth grade curriculum. Students will be given the opportunity to hear about and pick books in June. We have copies available for student use over the summer. If students do not choose their books in June, they can call the main office during summer school hours to borrow the books, or they can purchase the books on their own. Please take notes on the book using the signposts bookmark. Bring the bookmark and book to school on the first day. Any notes found to have been influenced by unattributed outside sources, such as Internet websites like SparkNotes.com, will automatically receive a zero. Summer Reading Book Choices: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie The Fault in Our Stars by John Green A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Green Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella Note: Students with reading difficulties should work with their reading, special education or ELA teacher to select an appropriate book. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie This absorbing novel is about a Native American boy searching for a brighter future. At once humorous and stirring, Alexie's novel follows Junior, a resident of the Spokane reservation who transfers out of the reservation's school -- and into a nearby rich, all-white farm school -- in order to nurture his desire to become a cartoonist. Junior encounters resistance there, a backlash at home, and numerous family problems -- all the while relaying his thoughts and feelings via amusing descriptions and drawings. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Narrator Hazel Grace Lancaster, 16, is (miraculously) alive thanks to an experimental drug that is keeping her thyroid cancer in check. In an effort to get her to have a life, her parents insist she attend a support group at a local church, which Hazel characterizes in an older-than-her-years voice as a "rotating cast of characters in various states of tumor-driven unwellness." Despite Hazel's reluctant presence, it's at the support group that she meets Augustus Waters, a former basketball player who has lost a leg to cancer. The connection is instant, and a romance blossoms. There is a road trip—Augustus, whose greatest fear is not of death but that his life won't amount to anything, uses his "Genie Foundation" wish to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author of her favorite book. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Nolans lived in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn from 1902 until 1919...Their daughter Francie and their son Neely knew more than their fair share of the privations and sufferings that are the lot of a great city's poor. Primarily this is Francie's book. She is a superb feat of characterization, an imaginative, alert, resourceful child. And Francie's growing up and beginnings of wisdom are the substance of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella “If you build it, he will come.” These mysterious words, spoken by an Iowa baseball announcer, inspire Ray Kinsella to carve a baseball diamond in his cornfield in honor of his hero, the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson. What follows is both a rich, nostalgic look at one of our most cherished national pastimes and a remarkable story about fathers and sons, love and family, and the inimitable joy of finding your way home. Notice & Note Signposts Bookmark Name_________________________________________ Book _________________________________________ Notice & Note Signposts Bookmark Record page numbers and brief responses to the signposts you see. Try to find two good examples for each signpost. Signpost Descriptions Contrasts and Contradictions Contrasts and Contradictions When a character does something that contrasts with what you’d expect or contradicts his earlier acts or statements STOP and ask, “Why is the character doing that?” AHA Moment AHA Moment When a character realizes, understands, or finally figures out something STOP and ask yourself, “How might this change things?” Tough Questions Tough Questions When a character asks him or herself a very difficult question, STOP and ask yourself, “What does this question make me wonder about?” Words of the Wiser Words of the Wiser When a character (probably older and wiser) takes the main character aside and offers serious advice, STOP and ask, “What’s the point of the lesson and how might it affect the character?” Again & Again Again & Again When you notice a word, phrase, or situation mentioned over and over, STOP and ask yourself, “Why does this keep happening over and over again?” Memory Moment When and author interrupts the action to tell you about a memory, STOP and ask yourself, “Why or how might this memory be important?” Memory Moment
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