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St. Mary’s Jr. /Sr. High School: Summer Reading for 2011

All students must read two books for Summer Reading: one is a required book and the other is a book of choice for the student’s grade level.    It is important that all students complete the required summer reading journal assignment, for it is the first major graded assignment for English courses for the first marking quarter.

Required Reading:

Seventh Grade:          Holes (Louis Sachar)

Eighth Grade: Call of the Wild (Jack London)

Ninth Grade:              Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Renir)

Tenth Grade:              The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

Eleventh Grade:         The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)

Twelfth Grade:           Grendel (John Gardner)

ADVANCED PLACEMENT REQUIRED READING:

AP ENGLISH: All 3 Required: Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)

The Odyssey (Homer)

Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY:    The Agony and the Ecstasy (Stone)

Student’s Choice: Choose ONE book from the grade level list:

Seventh Grade:

The Upstairs Room (Reiss)                                       Greatest: Muhammad Ali (Myers)

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)

Eighth Grade:

Beyond the Chocolate War (Cormier)            Chains (Halse-Anderson)

The Red Badge of Courage (Crane)

Ninth Grade:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Angelou)          Speak (Halse-Anderson)

Heat (Lupica)

Tenth Grade:

A Lesson Before Dying (Gaines)

The Secret Life of Bees (Kidd)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Haddon)

Eleventh Grade:

The Glass Castle (Walls)

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie (MacDonald)

The Natural (Malamud)

Twelfth Grade:

Into The Wild (Krakauer)

Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson)

All students must complete the following Journal Assignment Questions ONLY for the required summer reading book:

Required Summer Reading Journal Questions: For Grades 7-12

For the required summer reading book, respond to the following journal questions. Your responses should reflect your understanding of the required reading book, should highlight your thoughts and feelings while reading the book and after reading the book, and should be a clear indication that you have read the book and have full knowledge of the elements of plot, the characters’ actions and motivations, and the overall content of the required reading book.

Your goal is to respond to each journal question in one paragraph (10-15 sentences) or more.  Each response must have clear and complete examples from the required reading book in order to earn full credit for your work.  When quoting from the book, be sure to use correct citations.

You must have these 5 journal assignments completed by the first day of school, and you should bring a copy of the required summer reading book with you as well.

  1. Is there an idea in the book that makes you stop and think, or prompts questions? Identify the idea and explain your responses.
  2. What are your favorite lines/quotes? Copy them into your reading log/journal and explain why these passages caught your attention.
  3. How have you changed after reading the book? What did you learn that you never knew before?
  4. Write a brief summary or review of the book. What happened? What didn't happen? Capture what it is about the book that stands out (or doesn't stand out).
  5. Write about the characters. Which one is your favorite? Is there a character you hate/detest/despise? Why? What traits could you change about the characters that would change how you think about them? Do you think that any of the characters represent real people?