Incoming Junior Summer Reading Project
Name________________________________ Class_____________ Book Title________________________
Directions: Read one book from the choices below and complete three activities from the following options. Your three
activities must follow the rules of Tic-Tac-Toe (i.e., three in a row). The book project will be turned in on the first day of
school. You will need to include the Tic-Tac-Toe sheet with your activities.
Scene It!
Pick a pivotal scene from the novel
to dramatize. Record the scene
using digital technology. Props,
musical
instruments, prerecorded music,
and costumes may be used.
Performances may be no longer
than five minutes.
Dear Diary!
Pretend to be one of the main
characters from your novel and
write a diary entry from their point
of view. Explain how this
character is thinking/feeling about
a pivotal event, major decision,
etc. Reflect on what is happening
as well as how the character may
be changed.
Book Trailer!
Prepare a video trailer for your
chosen novel. The trailer should be
3-5 minutes long, and a positive
presentation of the subject. The
trailer must contain original
footage, or copyright free media.
Ex:
Sneaky Snoop!
As an investigative reporter,
you sneak into the home of
the main character in your
novel. Report at least 10
items that you find and
include a picture (hand-drawn
or digital) for each item.
Also, include a written
explanation identifying how
each item connects to the
main character. These items
may or may not have been
mentioned in the novel…feel
free to use your imagination!
Artist Alley!
Create a cartoon/story board
(minimum of 8 panels) that is
based on your novel. It may
focus on a pivotal series of
events or summarize the
entire novel in chronological
order.
Author Inquiry!
Write a letter to the author of your
chosen novel. Explain what you
liked and disliked, ask any
questions that you have about the
story/characters, explain what you
would have changed if you were
the author, and mention at least
one thing that you will always
remember about this novel and
why. (Should be written in letter
format!)
http://www.letterwritingguide.com
Poetry Corner!
Write a poem or song lyrics that
connect to your novel. You can
focus on the plot (what happened),
characters, or personal connections
that you have with this novel.
Alternate Timeline!
Create an alternate
timeline…change a major
event/decision in the novel and
explain how this change would
have affected the characters and
the plot. Would this have been a
better direction for the novel to
take? Why/Why not?
Information Cube!
Make an information cube about
your book with the following on the
6 different sides of the cube:
title/author, characters, setting(s),
favorite part, theme (what lesson or
truth is revealed in this novel), and
an illustration of the novel’s
resolution/ending.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr7tqhL_u9Y
http://blachan.com/shahi/
http://freeplaymusic.com/
http://www.origami-make.com/origami-cube.php
Remember, this is our first impression of you as a student. Do your best and be creative. You never
get a second chance to make a first impression. We are looking forward to your products and meeting
you next year! 
1. To Bear Any Burden - Santoli, Al. Thirty- five oral accounts of American soldiers in Vietnam.
2. The Hot Zone - Preston, Richard. The deadly Ebola virus breaks out in Africa and in Reston,
Virginia.
3. WHEN PLAGUE STRIKES: THE BLACK DEATH, SMALLPOX, AND AIDS -Giblin, James Cross.
Three major plagues have had important parallels throughout history.
4. ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL -Herriot, James This popular work recounts the heart felt
true story of a countryside veterinarian.
5. THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING - White, T. H The romance and chivalry of medieval England are
transported to the modern world in this tale of fancy.
6. A TIME FOR DANCING - Hurwin, David Wills This is the story of four close girlfriends who have
been inseparable for most of their 16 years and how they learn to deal with death and dying when
one of them is diagnosed with cancer.
7. DANGER ZONE - Klass, David Jimmy Doyle is an accomplished basketball player from a small
town who finds himself faced with hate and racist views when he accepts an offer to play for the
American dream team
8. A LESSON BEFORE DYING -Gaines, Ernest. A young teacher discovers compassion and
commitment as he tutors a prisoner on death row.
9. MEMORY OF EARTH -Card, Orson Scott. This book describes a futuristic society in which women
hold the power and the world is monitored by a super computer that tries to prevent violence and war.
10. BRAVE MEN - Pyle, Ernie and This is Your War - Pyle, Ernie Collections of actual dispatches of
the most famous war correspondents of America’s media. A Pulitzer Prize winner, his writing style is
crisp, stark and penetrating.
11. RED STORM RISING -Clancy, Tom Historical novel of the war which almost broke out between
the Democracies and Communist nations during the 1980’s. This novel covers a war in Europe
between NATO/Warsaw Pact and highlights the stresses, strengths and weaknesses of the Cold War
12. THE EXAMINATION - Bosse, Malcolm This novel of historical fiction set in 16th century China
portrays two very different brothers and the divergent paths they take to prepare for their school
examinations.
13. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X - Malcolm X. This autobiography reveals the long
spiritual and intellectual journey of the private Malcolm.
14. SOMEHOW TENDERNESS SURVIVES: STORIES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA - Rochman, Hazel.
Apartheid. It's about suffering, about violence. Here are ten stories and autobiographical accounts, by
southern Africa writers of various races. Their stories individually and as a group, create a moving,
sometimes shockingly vivid portrait of what it feels like to grow up in a land where racism is the law.
15. The Book Thief - Zusak, Markus. A young girl living in Nazi Germany during World War II steals
books and shares them with neighbors as well as with the Jewish refugee hiding in her foster family's
basement
16. Fast Food Nation – Schlosser, Eric An unflinching piece of long-form investigative journalism
examines the practices and proliferation of the American fast food industry.
17. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Alexie, Sherman. Sherman Alexie tells the
story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on Indian Reservation in Washington State.
Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the “rez” to
attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is
based on the author's own experiences. Coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the character's
art, it chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American youth as he attempts to
break away from the life he thought he was destined to live.
18. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (2006, 240 pp.) An amazing ride by rising indy
comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated
characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the
only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the
oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese
stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come
together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese was
the first graphic novel to be named a finalist for the National Book Award. [Reading level: easier]
19. The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Juno Díaz (2008, 339 pp.) Things have never been
easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home
in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of
becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what
he wants, thanks to the Fukú the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming
them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first
kiss, is just its most recent victim. With dazzling energy, Díaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of
Oscar and the history of the family at large. This is Juno Díaz’s first novel. [Reading level: advanced]
20. The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez (1997, 134 pp.) Amazon, $10.17 | Breaking Through by
Francisco Jiménez (2002, 208 pp.) "'La frontera'...I heard it for the first time back in the late 1940s
when Papa and Mama told me and Roberto, my older brother, that someday we would take a long
trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind." So begins this honest and
powerful account of a family's journey from Mexico to the fields of California -- to a life of constant
moving, from strawberry fields to cotton fields, from tent cities to one-room shacks, from picking
grapes to topping carrots and thinning lettuce. In two books—The Circuit and its sequel, Breaking
Through—Francisco Jiménez shares his own story of survival, hope and faith against crushing
poverty and blatant prejudice. Jiménez went on to earn a master’s degree and PhD from Columbia
University. (Note: Both books are also available in Spanish.) [Reading level: easier]
21. Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa (2003, 277 pp.) Violet Paz has just turned 15, a pivotal birthday in the
eyes of her Cuban grandmother. Fifteen is the age when a girl enters womanhood, traditionally
celebrating the occasion with a quinceañero. But while Violet is half Cuban, she’s also half Polish,
and more importantly, she feels 100% American. Except for her zany family’s passion for playing
dominoes, smoking cigars, and dancing to Latin music, Violet knows little about Cuban culture, nada
about quinces, and only tidbits about the history of Cuba. So when Violet begrudgingly accepts
Abuela’s plans for a quinceañero-–and as she begins to ask questions about her Cuban roots–cultures and feelings collide. The mere mention of Cuba and Fidel Castro elicits her grandparents’
sadness and her father’s anger. All Violet knows is that she’s got to form her own opinions, even if
this jolts her family into unwanted confrontations. This is Nancy Osa’s first novel. [Reading level:
easier]
22. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok (2011, 320 pp.) When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate
from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl
during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of
her life like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family's future resting on her
shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition. Kimberly
learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she
straddles. Through Kimberly's story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a
young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure
to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that
we rarely hear about. This is Jean Kwok’s first novel. [Reading level: intermediate]
23. A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron
Suskind (1999, 373 pp.) It is 1993, and Cedric Jennings is a bright and ferociously determined honor
student at Ballou, a high school in one of Washington D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where
the dropout rate is well into double digits and just 80 students out of more than 1,350 boast an
average of B or better. At Ballou, Cedric has almost no friends. He eats lunch in a classroom most
days, plowing through the extra work he has asked for, knowing that he’s really competing with kids
from other, harder schools. Cedric Jennings’s driving ambition—which is fully supported by his
forceful mother—is to attend a top-flight college. In September 1995, after years of near superhuman
dedication, he realizes that ambition when he begins as a freshman at Brown University. In this
updated edition, A Hope in the Unseen chronicles Cedric’s odyssey during his last two years of high
school, follows him through his difficult first year at Brown, and now tells the story of his subsequent
successes in college and the world of work. This is Ron Suskind’s first book. [Reading level:
intermediate]
24. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (2009, 324 pp.) Helene Cooper is “Congo,” a
descendant of two Liberian dynasties—traced back to the first ship of freemen that set sail from New
York in 1820 to found Monrovia. Helene grew up at Sugar Beach, in a 22-room mansion by the sea.
Her childhood was filled with servants and flashy cars. It was also an African childhood, with knock
foot games and hot pepper soup. When Helene was eight, the Coopers took in a foster child, a Bassa
girl named Eunice. For years the Cooper daughters—Helene, her sister Marlene, and now Eunice—
enjoyed the blessings of their wealth. But on April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers staged a coup d'État,
assassinating President William Tolbert and executing his cabinet. The Coopers and the entire Congo
class were now the hunted, being imprisoned, shot, tortured, and raped. After a brutal daylight attack
by a ragtag crew of soldiers, Helene, Marlene, and their mother fled Sugar Beach, and then Liberia,
for America. They left Eunice behind. A world away, Helene tried to assimilate as an American
teenager. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she found her passion in journalism,
eventually becoming a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. She reported
from every part of the globe—except Africa—as Liberia descended into war-torn, third-world hell. In
2003, a near-death experience in Iraq convinced Helene that Liberia—and Eunice—could wait no
longer. At once a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, The
House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and
a survivor's gentle humor. It is Helen Cooper’s first novel. [Reading level: advanced]
25. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez (2010, 336 pp.) The Garcías—Dr.
Carlos (Papi), his wife Laura (Mami), and their four daughters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—
belong to the uppermost echelon of Spanish Caribbean society. Their family compound adjoins the
palacio of the dictator’s daughter. So when Dr. García’s part in a coup attempt is discovered, the
family must flee. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the
Dominican Republic. Papi has to find new patients in the Bronx. Mami, far from the compound and
the family retainers, must find herself. Meanwhile, the girls try to lose themselves—by forgetting their
Spanish, by straightening their hair and wearing fringed bell bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating
and excruciating being caught between the old world and the new, trying to live up to their father’s
version of honor while accommodating the expectations of their American boyfriends. Acclaimed
writer Julia Alvarez’s brilliant and buoyant first novel sets the García girls free to tell their most
intimate stories about how they came to be at home—and not at home—in America. [Reading level:
intermediate]
26. The Latecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang (2008, 277 pp.)
In search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn
jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand and onward to America. But lacking a
written language of their own, the Hmong experience has been primarily recorded by others. Driven
to tell her family’s story after her grandmother’s death, The Latehomecomer is Kao Kalia Yang’s
tribute to the remarkable woman whose spirit held them all together. It is also an eloquent, firsthand
account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard. Beginning in the 1970s, as
the Hmong were being massacred for their collaboration with the United States during the Vietnam
War, Yang recounts the harrowing story of her family’s captivity, the daring rescue undertaken by her
father and uncles, and their narrow escape into Thailand where Yang was born in the Ban Vinai
Refugee Camp. When she was six years old, Yang’s family immigrated to America, and she
evocatively captures the challenges of adapting to a new place and a new language. Through her
words, the dreams, wisdom, and traditions passed down from her grandmother and shared by an
entire community have finally found a voice. Together with her sister, Kao Kalia Yang is the founder
of a company dedicated to helping immigrants with writing, translating, and business services. A
graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University, Yang has recently screened The Place Where
We Were Born, a film documenting the experiences of Hmong American refugees. [Reading level:
advanced]
27. La Linea by Ann Jaramillo (2006, 131 pp.) Miguel has dreamed of joining his parents in California
since the day they left him behind in Mexico six years, eleven months, and twelve days ago. On the
morning of his fifteenth birthday, Miguel’s wait is over. Or so he thinks. The trip north to the border—la
línea—is fraught with dangers. Thieves. Border guards. And a grueling, two-day trek across the
desert. It would be hard enough to survive alone. But it’s almost impossible with his tagalong sister in
tow. Their money gone and their hopes nearly dashed, Miguel and his sister have no choice but to
hop the infamous mata gente as it races toward the border. As they cling to the roof of the speeding
train, they hold onto each other, and to their dreams. But they quickly learn that you can’t always
count on dreams—even the ones that come true. Ann Jaramillo is a middle school teacher in a Texas
border community. She wrote La Línea for her students, many of whom have made journeys that
parallel Miguel and Elena’s. [Reading level: easier]
28. A Step from Heaven by An Na (2003, 160 pp.) When she is five, Young Ju Park and her family
move from Korea to California. During the flight, they climb so far into the sky she concludes they are
on their way to Heaven, that Heaven must be in America. Heaven is also where her grandfather is.
When she learns the distinction, she is so disappointed she wants to go home, even though her uncle
suggests that maybe America can be "a step from Heaven." Life in America, however, proves far from
heaven. Her father becomes depressed, angry, and violent. Jobs are scarce and money is even
scarcer. When her brother is born, she faces her father's sexism as he confers favored status upon
the boy who will continue to carry the Park name. In a wrenching climactic scene, her father beats her
mother so severely that Young Ju calls the police. Soon afterward, her father goes away and the
family begins to heal. This is An Na’s first novel. [Reading level: intermediate]
29. The Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (2010, 284 pp.) Strength in What Remains is an
unlikely but true story about an unreasonable man. Deo was a young medical student who fled the
genocidal civil war in Burundi in 1994 for the uncertainty of New York City. Against absurd odds--he
arrived with little money and less English and slept in Central Park while delivering groceries for
starvation wages--his own ambition and a few kind New Yorkers led him to Columbia University and,
beyond that, to medical school and American citizenship. What gives Deo's story its particular power
is that becoming an American citizen did not erase his connection to Burundi, in either his memory or
his dreams for the future. The author, Tracy Kidder, follows Deo back to Burundi, where he recalls the
horrors of his narrow escape from the war and begins to build a medical clinic where none had been
before. Deo's terrible journey makes his story a hard one to tell; his tirelessly hopeful but clear-eyed
efforts make it a gripping and inspiring one to read. [Reading level: advanced]
30. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalad Hosseini (2008, 432 pp.) After 103 weeks on the New York
Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns
with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important
literary writers today. A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of
Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in
love. Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila
are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever
escalating dangers around them—in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul—they come to form
a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter
the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and
suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic
acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to
survival. [Reading level: advanced]
Other possible options:
All the Bright Places
Unwind
Looking for Alaska
I Hunt Killers
Tina’s Mouth: an Existential Comic Diary
We were Liars
Eleanor and Park