Dear Future Eighth Graders and Parents,
“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s
voice, another’s soul.” — Joyce Carol Oates
The Diocese of Rockville Centre Language Arts curriculum states, “Students will read a minimum of 25
books or the equivalent per year across all content areas.” Similarly, the Common Core Standards encourage
the constant reading of both fiction and nonfiction texts. Learning is a year-round endeavor, and summer
vacation presents a unique opportunity to catch up on reading for personal enjoyment.
To assist students in reaching the goal of becoming active readers, I have assembled a summer reading
list. Most books are available in paperback at Barnes & Noble, as well as online at www.amazon.com. The
local bookstores may not have 50 copies of each title in stock but have assured me that they can be ordered
easily, and of course, you can check your local library for these selections as well.
This year, there are two required texts for future 8th graders, as well as a third book of student choice.
All students must read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and Freedom Walkers: The Montgomery Bus Boycott by
Russell Freedman. Students will also choose one book from the list below or read another grade level selection
of their choice.
Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli)
Gathering Blue (Lois Lowry)
Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson)
Travel Team (Mike Lupica)
Wonder (RJ Palacio)
Flipped (Wendelin van Draanen)
Nothing but the Truth (Avi)
Slam (Walter Dean Myers)
Thief Lord (Cornelia Funke)
Wednesday Wars (Gary Schmidt)
One Crazy Summer (Rita Williams- Garcia)
Tangerine (Edward Bloor)
Steve Jobs- The Man Who Thought Different (Karen Blumenthal)
Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 (Sally Walker)
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster (Deborah Hopkinson)
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal--- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Steve Sheinkin)
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans during World War II (Martin W. Sandler)
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels, America’s First Black Paratroopers (Tanya
Lee)
The President Has Been Shot! The Assassination of John F. Kennedy (James L. Swanson)
The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi (Neal
Bascomb)
*One book of the student’s choice (must be grade level) may be substituted for one of the optional selection books.*
Many of these are Newbery Award Medal Winners or Honor Books. I enjoyed each of them, and I hope
the students will as well.
Students will be expected to demonstrate their understanding of these books in September. In order to help
students with this, I have prepared a series of assignments and instructions for each book. Please read through the
following pages carefully to ensure that all the necessary parts of each assignment are complete.
Sincerely,
Lauren Gibbons
The Outsiders Reading Assignment
1. During Reading: Read the novel and complete the graphic organizers. Your notes will be collected in
September, so please be sure to complete these thoroughly.
2. During/After Reading: When you are finished reading each chapter, make sure that you can answer the reading
guide discussion questions. You are not expected to write a response for these questions, but they will serve as the starting
point for our discussion on the book in September. Therefore, it would be helpful for you to make sure that you will be
able to adequately respond to these questions. If there are any questions you are unsure of, you should go back into the
text to find the answer.
3. After Reading: When you get back to school in September, you will have a test that consists of multiple choice
questions, short answers, and an essay. Since you will be required to answer specific questions on this test, I would
suggest reading this text last. This way, the specific details will be fresh in your head for the test.
The Outsiders Study Questions
These questions will help you stay on track with the plot as well as build your reading comprehension. Preview the
questions before reading—then make sure you can answer each question after reading. If you can’t answer a question,
reread that part of the chapter.
Chapter 1
1. Who is the narrator of this story?
2. Why do you think Ponyboy likes the movies so much?
3. What happens to Ponyboy when he leaves the movies?
4. The Greasers chase the Socs away from Ponyboy using what?
5. How does Ponyboy define “family”?
6. What is a Soc? A Greaser? Why are they rivals?
7. Socs are known for wearing what?
8. What is the name of the other greaser gang?
9. Who does Ponyboy live with?
10. What kind of relationship does Ponyboy have with his two brothers, Darry and Sodapop?
11. Who does Ponyboy love more than anyone else?
12. What sport did Darry play in school?
13. Where does Sodapop work?
14. Why is Sodapop so popular with the girls?
15. Who is Soda’s girlfriend?
16. Darry tells Ponyboy “you’ve always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense?”
What is the difference between book sense and common sense? Which is more important to have?
17. How does Ponyboy describe each of the other characters?
18. Which characters does Ponyboy seem to be closest to?
19. Ponyboy says the Socs have their cars and clothes. What do the greasers have?
20. What happened to Ponyboy’s parents?
Chapter 2
1. Who do Ponyboy and Johnny meet at the movies?
2. Why do Cherry and Marcia talk to Johnny and Ponyboy at the movies?
3. What is Ponyboy’s first impression of Cherry and Marcia?
4. Why is Johnny Cade so nervous and scared all the time?
5. Do the greasers like being called greasers?
6. What is the difference between a fair fight and a rough fight? How do the greasers fight? The Socs?
7. Why does Ponyboy feel the greasers have it so much worse than the Socs?
8. How are Cherry and Marcia different from the girls the greasers normally hang out with?
9. What does Cherry mean when she tells Ponyboy “things are rough all over”?
10. Do the Socs believe that all greasers are rough?
Chapter 3
1. Ponyboy and Johnny offer to do what for Cherry and Marcia?
2. Ponyboy tells Cherry a personal story about Sodapop; what is it?
3. Cherry says at one point that she “admires” Dally and later that she “could fall in love” with him. Why do you think she
feels this way?
4. What does Ponyboy mean when he says to Cherry, “Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too”?
5. Cherry tells Ponyboy, “Did you ever hear of having more than you wanted?” What does she mean?
6. Ponyboy feels Darry doesn’t love him as much as Sodapop. Why?
7. Why does Ponyboy love being in the country so much?
8. Why does Ponyboy run away?
Chapter 4
1. What kind of car do the Socs drive?
2. Why do the Socs trail Johnny and Ponyboy in the park?
3. What do they do to Ponyboy?
4. Why does Johnny kill the Soc? Did he do the right thing? Why or why not?
5. How does Dally react when Ponyboy and Johnny tell him about the murder?
6. Where is Dally staying when Ponyboy and Johnny go to see him?
7. What illegal activity does Buck participate in?
8. How does Dally offer to help them?
9. How do Ponyboy and Johnny react when Dally gives them a gun?
10. How do Ponyboy and Johnny get away?
11. Ponyboy sees Johnny in a new way after they have fled. Why does he look at him differently?
12. What does Ponyboy mean when he says “there are things worse than being a greaser”?
Chapter 5
1. What do Ponyboy and Johnny do once in hiding?
2. How is their hair an important part of who the greasers are?
3. How do Ponyboy and Johnny react when they finally see the reality of what they have done?
4. How do Ponyboy and Johnny pass the time while in hiding?
5. Who wrote the poem Ponyboy recites?
6. Why does Johnny like Gone with the Wind so much?
7. What do Ponyboy and Johnny eat while in hiding?
8. What does Ponyboy mean when he says “Dally was so real he scared me”?
9. What do you think the sunset symbolizes for Ponyboy?
10. Who sends a letter for Ponyboy to their hideout? Is he angry?
Chapter 6
1. What does Ponyboy mean when he says, “it wasn’t Cherry the Soc who was helping us, it was Cherry the dreamer who
watched sunsets and couldn’t stand fights”?
2. Why is it not a good thing to be sensitive when you are a greaser, according to Ponyboy?
3. Why does Johnny think they should turn themselves in?
4. What conflict do Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally encounter when they return to their hideout after lunch?
5. Who goes into the fire?
6. What does Dally do when Ponyboy emerges from the flames?
7. Who is most injured in the fire?
8. How do Darry and Sodapop react when they see Ponyboy at the hospital?
Chapter 7
1. Who approaches them at the hospital?
2. What does Ponyboy tell reporters when they ask him what he wants to do at the hospital?
3. Darry tells the doctor that he, Ponyboy and Soda are “about as much family as Dally and Johnny had.” What does he
mean?
4. Ponyboy comments that “greasers don’t cry in front of strangers.” Why?
5. After returning home, Ponyboy discovers what in the newspaper?
6. Does Ponyboy see himself as a hero? Why or why not?
7. Does what Ponyboy and Johnny did make them heroes, in your opinion?
8. What does Ponyboy dream about in his recurring nightmare?
9. Two-Bit tells Ponyboy a joke, in which he says that if you meet a “social outcast” in an alley, the
safest thing to be is another social outcast. Do you think this is true? What does it say about how the greasers view
themselves?
10. Why is Ponyboy worried that he might not get to stay with his brothers after getting in trouble?
11. Why does Randy come to see Ponyboy?
12. What does Randy mean when he tells Ponyboy that the greasers can’t win the fight with the Socs?
13. Do you think parents are to blame when a kid turns bad or does something wrong?
Chapter 8
1. What is the extent of Johnny’s injuries after the fire?
2. What does he ask Dally and Ponyboy for while in the hospital?
3. What does Dally ask from Two-Bit while he is in the hospital?
4. Why does Dally want to fight in the rumble?
5. What does living on the streets teach you, according to Ponyboy?
6. Why doesn’t Johnny want to see his mother? Do you think he should see her? Why or why not?
7. Two-Bit tells Ponyboy that “the only thing that keeps Darry from bein’ a Soc is us”. What does he mean?
8. How is Darry different from the other greasers?
9. Why do you think Cherry wants to help the greasers?
10. What message does she bring to Ponyboy about the rumble?
Chapter 9
1. Why do the greasers fix themselves up and put extra grease on their hair before the rumble?
2. Where is the rumble to take place?
3. Why is Ponyboy afraid of some of the other greasers at the rumble?
4. Who starts the fighting at the rumble?
5. Who shows up unexpectedly at the rumble?
6. Did the greasers really win the rumble? Why or why not?
7. What do Ponyboy and Dally do after the rumble?
Chapter 10
1. What does Ponyboy do after leaving the hospital?
2. Why does Ponyboy have such a hard time accepting what happens to Johnny?
3. Who takes him home?
4. Who tells the gang that Johnny is dead?
5. Why does the gang go looking for Dally?
6. Ponyboy realizes that Johnny is the only thing Dally really loved. Why do you think Dally loves Johnny?
7. Why does Ponyboy describe Dally with a look of triumph on his face as he crumples under the
streetlight?
8. What does Ponyboy do when Dally is shot?
9. Who does Ponyboy ask for while he is in bed?
10. Ponyboy says that Dally and Johnny are better off now that they are dead. What do you think?
11. Ponyboy asks himself: Who died more gallantly, Dally or Johnny? What do you think?
Chapter 11
1. Ponyboy is delirious for several days and has to do what?
2. Who visits Ponyboy while he is in recovery?
3. Why does Ponyboy tell Randy that he is the one who killed Bob, not Johnny?
4. Why is Johnny so important to Ponyboy?
Chapter 12
1. What happens when Ponyboy goes to court?
2. What is the only thing the judge asks Ponyboy?
3. What happens to Ponyboy after court?
4. What does Ponyboy do when three Socs approach him after his court appearance?
5. What advice does Two-Bit give Ponyboy?
6. Is it possible to idolize someone, even if they do something wrong or illegal?
7. What does Ponyboy learn from his experience?
8. How is Ponyboy not like the rest of the greasers?
9. Why does Sodapop run away at the end?
10. What happens when Darry and Ponyboy catch up to Sodapop?
11. What does Johnny leave for Ponyboy?
12. What does Johnny’s letter say?
13. What theme does Ponyboy decide to write for his English class at the end of the book?
Name: ___________________________________________________
The Outsiders Graphic Organizer (Page 1)
Greasers Gang Profile
As you read The Outsiders, fill in the graphic organizer with details about the Greasers.
Appearance: What do the Greasers look like? What do they wear? What do they drive? How do they present
themselves?
Main Members: List the main members of the gang and then BRIEFLY write what happens to them by the
end of the novel.
Actions: What do the gang members do? What activities do they partake in?
Speech: What are some slang words the group uses? What are the members’ ideas about life?
Opinions of Others: What do others say about this gang? How does society view them?
Name: ___________________________________________________
The Outsiders Graphic Organizer (Page 2)
Socs Gang Profile
As you read The Outsiders, fill in the graphic organizer with details about the Socs.
Appearance: What do the Socs look like? What do they wear? What do they drive? How do they present
themselves?
Main Members: List the main members of the gang and then BRIEFLY write what happens to them by the
end of the novel.
Actions: What do the gang members do? What activities do they partake in?
Speech: What are some slang words the group uses? What are the members’ ideas about life?
Opinions of Others: What do others say about this gang? How does society view them?
Freedom Walkers Reading Assignment
1. During Reading: Read the informational book and complete the graphic organizers. Your notes will be
collected in September, so please be sure to complete these thoroughly.
2. During/After Reading: Make sure that you can answer the attached reading guide discussion questions. You are not
expected to write a response for these questions, but they will serve as the starting point for our discussion on the book in
September. Therefore, it would be helpful for you to make sure that you will be able to adequately respond to these
questions. If there are any questions you are unsure of, you should go back into the text to find the answer.
3. After Reading: When you get back to school in September, you will write an essay on this book. Your notes and the
discussion questions should help you prepare for the essay. This will serve as your first performance task grade of the 1st
trimester.
Freedom Walkers Discussion Questions
• Discuss the involvement of the black clergy in the civil rights movement. Why were the churches the logical places to
communicate the plans for the Montgomery bus boycott to the 40,000 black bus riders? Discuss how a bus boycott was
the best weapon the black community could have used to fight segregation.
• In October 1955, Mary Louise Smith was arrested for not giving up her seat on a Montgomery bus. She pleaded guilty
and was fined five dollars. Discuss why Mary Louise Smith had the courage to “sit here” but wasn’t the right person to
inspire a battle.
• Why was E. D. Nixon such an important person in the black community of Montgomery? Explain what he meant when
he scolded the black ministers, saying, “You ministers have lived off the sweat of these washerwomen for the last one
hundred years and ain’t never done nothing for them” (p. 42). Why did he call the ministers cowards?
• Discuss the role of the white activists for equal rights. Why did it take courage for them to support the efforts of the
black citizens of Montgomery?
• A test case was needed to prove that segregated buses were illegal under the U.S. Constitution. Explain why E. D. Nixon
and other leaders of the black community didn’t feel that Claudette Colvin or Mary Louise Smith were the proper
candidates for a court case. Why was Rosa Parks the best person?
• Explain why the act of being arrested became a badge of honor in the black community. How were the blacks “freed
from fear”?
• Freedman says of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “More than any other leader of his turbulent era, he had been able to give
America’s conscience a voice” (p. 96). Define the term “America’s conscience.” How did King give it a voice? How was
King different from other leaders of the civil rights era? Discuss how his teachings and leadership are as important today
as they were when he so passionately fought for human rights.
• What obstacles did the freedom walkers face? How did their plight become more difficult as days of boycotting turned
into weeks? What and who gave them the courage to continue their efforts?
• There were a few people in the black community who didn’t choose to participate in the bus boycott. Discuss how they
might have been viewed as courageous among the white population and cowards among the people in their own
neighborhoods.
• Discuss the relationship between “human rights” and “civil rights.”Many blacks involved in the Montgomery bus
boycott began to realize their self-worth. Explain how self-worth might be considered a “human right.” How does racism
and bigotry destroy self-esteem? What did Rosa Parks and the thousands of people who participated in the bus boycott
teach others about self-worth?
• What did Martin Luther King, Jr. learn about the true purpose of segregation? How did his goal of eliminating injustice
and inequality take his work beyond the Montgomery bus boycott? Discuss how King dealt with fear.
• Describe the treatment that Rosa Parks enjoyed in Montgomery when she returned for the 40th anniversary of
the Montgomery bus boycott in 1995. How did this celebration prove that “time heals”? Rosa Parks died on October 24,
2005.In his eulogy on Mrs. Parks, Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit, said, “She stood up by sitting down.” Explain
how this statement summarizes the poignancy and power of Rosa Parks’s act.
• In August 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington D.C. Why did the organizers of the Civil Rights March on Washington select the Lincoln
Memorial as the place for King to deliver this speech?
Name: _____________________________________________________
Freedom Walkers Graphic Organizer
Throughout this book, there are many different problems and solutions. Fill in the graphic organizer below with
problems/solutions that you see while reading.
*** Note: You may not find enough details to fill in every aspect of every single chart, depending on what topics you pick.
Fill in all that you can.***
Problem
Solution
Problem 1:
Who was involved?
Solution 1:
How did characters in the book attempt to solve this
problem?
What happened?
When?
Where?
Why?
Problem 2:
Who was involved?
Solution 2:
How did characters in the book attempt to solve this
problem?
What happened?
When?
Where?
Why?
Problem 3:
Who was involved?
What happened?
When?
Where?
Why?
Solution 3:
How did characters in the book attempt to solve this
problem?
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Freedom Walkers Graphic Organizer
Select two of the following characters, and complete the compare and contrast chart for those two characters. Be as
specific as possible.
Jo Ann Robinson
Claudette Colvin
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Optional Book Reading Assignment
For your third optional book, you will create a project in class when you get back to school. In order for you to
be able to successfully complete this project, you should take notes on the book as you read. Notes will be
collected in September. Your notes must include the following information:
• Title and Author
• Setting: A detailed description of “when” and “where” the story takes place.
• Characters: A list of major characters, as well as a description of each.
• Conflict: A description of the main problem of the story and how it is solved.
• Timeline of Events: List of 10-15 major events for the story.
• Evaluation of the Book: A description of your reaction to the book- What did you think of the book?
What did you like and not like about the book? Was the story confusing? Hard to believe? Interesting?
Boring? Predictable? Surprising?