Summer 2013 Reading Assignments are below.
Scroll through the document and locate the section that relates to your
grade
Assignment for incoming Freshmen
 Read one book from below before the start of school
 Complete one of the following assignments below before the
start of school
- Using Prezi.com or a poster board, create a map of the main
character’s journey through the book. Include major events
and how the character felt at each part of the story. You should
be able to show about 10 events.
- Using Microsoft Word, a poster or any other method, create a
Facebook page or Twitter account for a character in the story.
Statuses should include main facts from the story about where
a character was, what they did and how they felt. At least 10
statuses. Project, like social networking sites, should include
biographical information of the character that you learned
from the book.
- Write a diary for the main character. This diary should have 10
entries each at least a paragraph long. The diary should include
events and character’s feelings about those events from the
story. Handwritten or typed is acceptable. Students, who
would like to use internet programs, may.
- Write a book of poetry or a CD of songs or raps for a
character. These poems/songs/raps should include feelings and
events from the book. There must be reference to 10 different
events/parts of the book
All of the above assignments require the student to fully read the
book and to include details about the main characters life.
Rising to Perspectives in Literature
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- John Boyne(not for Honors)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- Ann Brashares (not for
honors)
Luna-Julie Anne Peters
Coraline-Neil Gaiman
The House on Mango Street- Sandra Cisineros (not for
Money Hungry- Sharon G. Flake
Honors)
Go Ask Alice-Anonymous (not for honors)
Thirteen Reasons Why- Jay Asher (not for honors)
The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold
Monster- Walter Dean Meyers (Not for Honors)
Speak- Laurie Halse Anderson
The Davinci Code- Dan Brown
Heidi- Johanna Spyri (find it on Google Books for free)
Wrinkle in Time-Madeleine L'Engle
The Uglies- Scott Westerfield
Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
Little Women- Louisa May Alcott (find it on Google Books
Call of the Wild- Jack London (find it on Google Books for
for free)
free) (Not for Honors)
Treasure Island- Robert Louis Stevenson (find it on Google
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings –Maya Angelou
Books for free)
Fever 1793- Laurie Halse Anderson (not for honors)
The Pearl- John Steinbeck
And Then There Were None- Agatha Christie
Out of the Dust- Karen Hesse
Down These Mean Streets- Piri Thomas
Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan (not for Honors)
Night- Elie Weisel- (not for Honors)
A Step From Heaven- An Na
Assignment for Sophomores
 Read one book from below before the start of school
 Complete one of the following assignments below before the
start of school
- Using PowerPoint, Prezi.com, Windows Movie Maker or a
poster board or shoebox, make a project that shows the main
character’s major conflict:
1. What is it? Stay focused on this one event!
2. Who is involved?
3. How does it develop? You should highlight 3 events that
lead/set up the conflict.
4. How does it play out and how is it resolved? You should
highlight another 4 events at least that show it develop and
then resolve.
Ways to be creative:
Can you make a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram like project that
shows all this?
Can you videotape friends acting this out?
Can you show it through a character diary?
Can you make a problem map?
Be as creative as you want, but be sure to answer the questions.
This requires the student to fully read the book and to include
specific details about the main characters life.
Rising to Genre Studie
s
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
Touching Bear Spirit- Ben Mikaelson
Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian- Sherman Alexie (not
Angela’s Ashes- Frank McCourt
for honors)
Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver
The Clan of the Cave Bear- Jean Auel
Cannery Row- John Steinbeck
Red Tent -Anita Diamant
Swimming to Antarctica- Cox
There are No Children Here-Alex Kotlowitz
The Book Thief by Mark Zusak
Interview With a Vampire- Anne Rice
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (not for honors)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (not for honors)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Patillo Beals
Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
Trash by Andy Mulligan
Maus by Art Spiegelman
The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird
Those Other People by Alice Childress
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (free on Google Books)
Peter Pan by J.M. Barry (free on Google Books)
Phineas Gage by John Fleischman
Let Me Play by Karen Blumenthal
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes (Novel that incorporates poetry)
The Invisible Ladder: An Anthology of Contemporary American
Poems for Young Readers - Liz Rosenberg (Editor)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis
Stevenson (free on Google Books)
Assignment for Juniors
 Honors- create a project (multi-paragraph essay,
play, PowerPoint/Prezi, short film….)that shows
similarities and differences of the protagonists of the
two books you have read.
 Regular: create a project (multi-paragraph essay,
play, PowerPoint/Prezi, short film….) that analyzes
the protagonist’s motivation for his/her most
important action in one of your books.
 All 11th grade students: Be prepared to answer
questions about both of your books during the first
week of class.
Rising to U.S. Literature or Contemporary
The Eyes of the Dragon – Stephen King
Beloved – Toni Morrison
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
Let It Rain Coffee – Angie Cruz
The Devil in White City - Erik Larson
What Is the What? – Dave Eggers
Dreams from My Father – Barack Obama
The Liars’ Club – Mary Karr
This Boy’s Life – Tobias Wolff
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Ethan Fromme- Edith Wharton (find it on Google Books for free)
Age of Innocence- Edith Wharton (find it on Google Books for
Frankenstein- Mary Shelly (find it on Google Books for free)
free)
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. LeGuin
Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Fault in the Stars – John Green
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris
Third and Indiana – Steve Lopez (not for honors)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Assignment for Seniors
 Honors- create a project (multi-paragraph essay,
play, PowerPoint/Prezi, short film….)that shows
similarities and differences of the protagonists of the
two books you have read.
 Regular: create a project (multi-paragraph essay,
play, PowerPoint/Prezi, short film….) that analyzes
the protagonist’s motivation for his/her most
important action in one of your books.
 All 12th grade students: Be prepared to answer
questions about both of your books during the first
week of class.
Rising to British Literature
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) (free ebook) (Deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage
in the society of the early 19th-century England. One of the most-loved English novels.)
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) (free ebook) (The story of a passionate, but ultimately doomed love, and how this
unresolved passion eventually destroys them and the people around them.)
The Millon The Floss (Geroge Eliot) (free ebook) (Details the lives of a brother and sister growing up on a river and the
melodramatic events (Lawsuits, flash floods, family feuds) that happen to the people around them)
White Teeth (Zadie Smith) (Focuses on the later lives of two wartime friends (one Bangladeshi, one English) and their families in
London)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) (Four children travel through a wardrobe to the land of Narnia and learn of their destiny
to free it with the guidance of a mystical lion)
Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien) (Epic fantasy trilogy about a hobbit’s journey to destroy The One Ring and the dark lord
Sauron)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) (The life of a fictional Nigerian village leader and the influence of colonialism on the tribe)
The Namesake (Jhumpa Latiri) (Indian American author’s novel examines the nuances involved with being caught between
conflicting cultures with their distinct religious & social differences.)
Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) (Japanese British author’s romantic dystopian sci-fi thriller. )
Siddhartha- (Herman Hesse) (free ebook) (the spiritual journey of an Indian man named Siddhartha during the time of the
Buddha)
Les Miserables- (Hugo Victor) (free ebook) (Follows the lives and interactions of several French characters, focusing on the
struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean trying to redeem himself escape his dark past.)
The Alchemist- (Paulo Cohelo) (The magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who travels from his home in Spain
to the Egyptian deserts in search of n extravagant treasure.)
The Stranger- (Albert Camus) (The story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach.)