DSST: Byers Summer Reading List 2016
Category
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Young Adult
Cousins by Virginia Hamilton
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
The Year the Swallows Came Early
by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.
Lewis
Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty
Smith
Bless me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickman
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Adventure
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Where the Red Fern Grows by
Wilson Rawls
Woodsong by Gary Paulson
Under the Blood Red Sun by
Graham Salisbury
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul
Curtis
Freak the Mighty by Rodman
Philbrick
How Tia Lola Came to Stay by Julia
Alvarez
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Ties that Bind, Ties that Break by
Lensey Namioka
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by
Christopher Paul Curtis
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Alt Ed by Catherine Atkins
We Beat the Street by Davis,
Jenkins, and Hunt
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Canyons by Gary Paulson
Treasure Island by Robert Louis
Stevenson
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott
O’Dell
Black Pearl by Scott O’Dell
Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep
Flush by Carl Hiassen
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings (series) by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Into Thin Air by John Krakauer
The Other Side of Truth by Beverly
Naidoo
Hoot by Carl Hiaason
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz
Ryan
Parrot in the Oven by Victor
Martinez
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline
Woodson
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
Breaking Chains by Francisco
Jimenez
Little Women by Louis May Alcott
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D.
Houston
I am Malala by Malala Yusafzai
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn
Little Bee by Chris Cleavee
Rights/Culture
Society
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser *
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan *
* Book has a “teen” version available
Task:
For each book you read, complete one of the assignments listed below. This assignment will be among your first major reading grades, so make sure you are putting in
your best effort!
These books are widely available in local bookstores and libraries.
Assignment Options: Choose one project below and submit it to your reading teacher by Friday, August 26th, 2016.
1.
Interview a character from your book. Write at least ten questions (include answers) that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her
thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story.
2.
Write a diary or journal entry that one of the story’s main characters might have kept before, during, or after the book’s events. Remember that the
character’s thoughts and feelings are very important in a diary. This must be at least one page.
3.
Imagine that you are the author of the book you have just read. Suddenly the book becomes a best seller. Write a letter to a movie producer trying to
make that person interested in making your book into a movie. Explain why the story, characters, conflicts, etc., would make a good film. Suggest a
filming location and the actors to play the various roles. YOU MAY ONLY USE BOOKS WHICH HAVE NOT ALREADY BEEN MADE INTO MOVIES. This
must be at least one page.
4.
Create a collage/poster of characters, settings, events, symbols or items that relate to the book. You can use graphics or cut-outs from magazines, or
design your own pictures. Explain how each image connects to the book and explain its significance (several sentences for each).
5.
Write a different ending or beginning for your story. This must be at least one page.
6.
Write a letter from one character in the story to another. What would you say that might not have been said in the book? Use details to make
inferences about what your character is thinking and feeling.
7.
Choose a quote from a character. Explain why it would or wouldn’t be a good motto by which to live your life. This must be at least one page.
8.
Choose five "artifacts" from the book that best illustrate the happenings and meanings of the story. Explain (in several sentences) why you chose each
one and its significance to the book.
9.
Rewrite the story for younger children in picture book form.
10. Conduct research on an issue or problem that appears in your book (poverty, injustice, war etc.) Try to discover how common the problem is and
what's being done in your community to solve it. Summarize your findings about the issue in a report (must be at least one page).