Odyssey Charter School
Summer Reading Assignment
9th Grade / 10th Grade
Students: Once you select a book from the Summer Reading List, please select an assignment to
demonstrate your understanding of the text. This assignment is due at the end of the second week
of school to your English Language Arts teacher.
Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
Inspired by the true-life experiences of a marooned sailor, Robinson Crusoe tells the story of
the sole survivor of a shipwreck, stranded on a Caribbean island, who prevails against all odds,
enduring almost three decades of solitude while mastering both himself and his strange new
world.
Across Five Aprils, by Irene Hunt
During the turbulent years of the Civil War, this novel describes the coming of age of Jethro
Creighton. Jethro is left to take care of the family farm in Illinois during some of the hardest
struggles in American history.
Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger
Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been
expelled from prep school.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, by Jennifer E. Smith
Having missed her flight, 17 year old Hadley Sullivan is stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's
second wedding in London. While in the cramped waiting area at the airport, she meets the perfect
guy, a British boy named Oliver. A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley
and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival.
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try
to govern themselves. The young men deal with many controversial issues in the novel
like individual welfare versus the common good.
The Odyssey, by Homer
The epic poem of Odysseus begins ten years after the capture of Troy in Ithaca, his homeland. In his
palace a large group of suitors have arrived and taken up residence to court Penelope, Odysseus’s
wife. She, however, does not wish to remarry and makes them wait while her son Telemachus
searches for just cause and a good reason to banish them from their home. All the while, Antinous
plots to kill Telemachus and remove his opposition in the palace.
Odyssey Charter School
Summer Reading Assignment
The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir, by Gaby Rodriguez
Growing up, Gaby Rodriguez was often told she would end up a teen mom. After all, her
mother and her older sisters had gotten pregnant as teenagers. Gaby had ambitions that
didn’t include teen motherhood. But she wondered: how would she be treated if she “lived
down” to others’ expectations? In The Pregnancy Project, Gaby details how she was able to
fake her own pregnancy—hiding the truth from even her siblings and boyfriend’s parents—
and reveals all that she learned from the experience.
Ten Miles Past Normal, by Frances O’Roark
Janie Gorman, a teen that lives on an isolated goat farm with her modern-hippy parents, is smart
and creative but all she wants is to be normal. High school gives Janie the chance to get on par with
her suburban peers, but before long she realizes normal may not ever be within her grasp. She soon
joins a jam band at school, befriends a wild-child senior named Emma, and falls in like with a boy
named Monster. Janie discovers that growing up gets complicated and that normal is entirely
overrated.
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
The turbulent and tempestuous love story of Cathy and Heathcliff spans two generations, from
the time Heathcliff, a strange, coarse young boy, is brought to live on the Earnshaws'
windswept estate, through Cathy's marriage to Edgar Linton and Heathcliff's plans for revenge,
to Cathy's death years later and the eventual union of the surviving Earnshaw and Linton heirs.
Girl in Translation, by Jean Kwok
When Ah-Kim (Kimberly) Chang and her mother arrive from Hong Kong to New York, they are forced
to live in a roach infested apartment and work at a sweatshop for hardly any pay. Kim is great at
school, but can she succeed without knowing the language or culture?
The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane
The Red Badge of Courage sets the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry
Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a
"red badge of courage," to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the
enemy, Henry acts as standard-bearer.
Jane Eyre, by Charolette Bronte
This novel follows the emotions and experiences of Jane, including her growth to adulthood, her
moral and spiritual sensibility, and her love for Mr. Rochester, a master of Thornfield Hall.
Odyssey Charter School
Summer Reading Assignment
1) CASTING A FILM
Put together a cast for a film version of your novel. Imagine the director/producer wants
you, the casting director, to make recommendations for the actors and actresses playing
each part of the story. Include photos and descriptions of the stars you choose to play each
part. To convince the producer to hire your cast, explain why each actor/actress is “perfect”
for the part in a 1-2 page casting report. At least one example of textual evidence should be
used for each cast member. Use the Casting Report Rubric to guide your project.
2) TIMELINE
Create an illustrated Time-Line of the important events in your novel. Illustrate the events of
the day and provide a 3-4 sentence summary of each event on the timeline. At least one
example of textual evidence should be used for each important date. Use the Timeline
Rubric to guide your project.
3) NEWSLETTER
Create a 1-2 page newsletter that covers all of the main storylines in your novel. The
audience for the newsletter is your teacher and others who may not be familiar with the
book. At least one example of textual evidence should be used for each section of the
newsletter. Use the Newsletter Overview and Rubric to guide your project.
Odyssey Charter School
Summer Reading Assignment
Casting Rubric
Odyssey Charter School
Summer Reading Assignment
Timeline Rubric
Odyssey Charter School
Summer Reading Assignment
Newsletter Overview and Rubric
1. When you pass in your newsletter final copy and all required “sloppy copy” papers and notes, please
include this sheet with the copy of the rubric on the back. I will expect to see that you have crossed off
each item as it is completed.
2. You must have a title for your newsletter. This title should be created in some way from the title of
the book or theme of the book.
3. Advertisements: Insert three or more advertisements for people, places, and/or things from your
book. Refer to the Press Sentinel and other newspapers for ad ideas. For example, for PERSON you
could advertise a service that someone is offering; for PLACE you could advertise a travel destination
or a piece of real estate that is for sale; for THING you could advertise an item that is for sale or rent.
Ads must be reflective of the time period in which the story occurs.
4. The newsletter must have three or more news stories about events in your book.
5. The newsletter must have two or more obituaries about characters in your book
6. Be sure to cleverly insert the book title, author’s name and your name in the newsletter in a location of
your choice. I suggest that you include them in some creative way rather than just adding them on at
the end. You will not credit if you simply write this information in as you turn in the assignment.
7. Final copy error-free. Five points will be deducted for each error in spelling, punctuation, etc., so
proofread several times for accuracy!
8. Write a reflection that covers the entire newsletter. In the writing reflection, explain what part of the
newsletter was your favorite part and why, if this was a difficult or easy assignment for you, what you
liked or disliked about it, explain the worst or hardest part of the assignment and why, etc. (4 points)