South Shore Vo-Tech 476 Webster St., Hanover, MA 02339 (781)-878-8822

District Member Towns:

Abington, Cohasset, Hanover, Hanson, Norwell, Rockland, Scituate, Whitman

South Shore Vocational Technical High School’s

Summer Reading Program Guide for Incoming Freshmen and Sophomore Students

2008

Dear Student, Parent or Guardian:

Participation in the Summer Reading Program is a required element of the curriculum at South Shore Vocational Technical High School. All students are required to read a minimum of one book independently over the summer. Incoming freshmen are expected to complete the Summer Term Project prior to the start of their freshman year.

The program requires that every student read a book and complete the project outlined below. The English teacher assesses the projects in September. The project grades become a major part of the student’s first trimester average in English class.

The following Summer Reading Program Guide provides a list of suitable texts at each grade level and outlines the requirements for the Summer Term Project. The student must select a book from the attached list for the Summer Term Project.

ATTENTION ALL READERS - Please make note of Attachment 1 (found at the end of this packet) which lists new titles!

Summer Term Project Requirements

Read a book on the attached list.
Answer the questions on the attached Summer Term Project list for a work of fiction or answer the questions for a work on nonfiction. Type the questions and the answers.
Choose one of the four MCAS style essay questions listed on the Summer Term Project list. Respond to the question in the form of a five-paragraph essay. Type the question and the answer.
If you have chosen a book that has been made into a movie you are expected to complete the additional assignment explained below.

Summer Term Project Short Answer Questions and MCAS Essay Questions

Short-answer questions: Fiction – answer all questions in complete sentences. Type the question and the answer.

Illustrate the incident of conflict that the author uses to begin the book.
Describe the setting. Where does the action take place? When do the events occur?
Explain the ways in which you feel empathy toward any of the characters in the book. In what ways do you feel sympathetic toward this character?
Identify at least two common emotions that the book evokes. How does this book make you feel?
Discuss how the setting affects the main character.
Explain the conflict that develops in the book.
Interpret the book’s main theme. What message or lesson does the book examine?
Identify the protagonist. What kind of person is the main character? What are his/her goals? What problem does he/she face?
Trace the actions of the antagonist. What is his/her role in the book?
Compare how characters or events in the book remind you of characters or events in your own life. How similar are they?
Contrast how characters or events in the book remind you of characters or events in your own life. How different are they?
Identify the clues that the author uses to help you predict what is going to happen later.
Analyze what you believe to be the most important part of this book. Why?
Explain the main cause-and-effect relationship in this book. “Because the protagonist (performs a particular action) then (something else happened)…”
Trace the main events that led to the climax or turning point in the book.
Evaluate how this book addresses the realities of racism, sexism, abuse, discrimination or poverty.
Apply what you have learned about dealing with conflict with a conflict from this book. Show how you should or should not deal with a real life conflict.
Summarize the conclusion of the book.
Critique the end of the book. If you could change the ending how would you change it? Why?
Argue why you would/would not suggest this book to another reader.

Short-answer questions: Nonfiction – answer all questions in complete sentences. Type the question and then the answer.

Describe the book’s format. How is the book organized (chapters, sections, books)? Is the structure important?
Describe the content of the book. What is this book about?
Explain the author’s purpose in the book. What is his/her reason for writing?
Identify at least two emotions that the book evokes. How does this book make you feel?
Explain the societal impact of this book. What does the book say about the issues in society?
Interpret the book’s main theme. What message or lesson does the book examine?
Identify your assumptions about the public response to this book. Has the public reaction changed from the original publishing date?
Explain the perspective from which the book was written. Is it omniscient or limited omniscient? Other?
How has this book affected your personally? Will it change your life in any way?
Identify clues that the author uses to help you predict what is going to happen later.
Analyze what you believe to be the most important part of this book. Why is this part so significant?
Evaluate how this book addresses the realities of racism, abuse, sexism, poverty, or other social issues.
Summarize the conclusions made in this book.
Critique the end of the book. If you could change the ending how would you change it? Why?
Argue why you would/would not suggest this book to another reader.

MCAS Essay Questions- Choose one to answer in the form of a five-paragraph essay. Type the question and the answer.

Note: The four questions that follow are questions that were asked on the most recent MCAS examinations.

Heroism can mean different things to different people. Literature is full of characters that can be considered heroic.

Select a character from your novel who, in your opinion, is heroic. In a well-developed composition, identify that character and explain why he or she is heroic.

Often in literature, a character struggles against powerful forces or obstacles, and these struggles have a significant effect on the character.

Select a character from your novel that had to struggle against powerful forces or obstacles. In a well-developed composition, identify the character and explain how these struggles have a significant effect on the character.

In literature as in life people make choices and must live with the consequences of those choices.

Select one character from your novel who makes a choice. In a well-developed composition identify the character’s choice and explain what happens as a result of this choice.

The protagonist is the main character in a work of literature who often changes in some important way by the end of the work.

Select a protagonist who changes in some important way by the end of the work. In a well-developed composition, identify the protagonist, and explain why the protagonist changes in some important way by the end of the work.

Additional Assignment for those who read a book that is also a movie.

Please select a part of the book that is omitted from the movie, and describe it in a paragraph. Why was this part not included? Does its omission improve the story, or detract from it? Why?

Response Paragraph #1: ____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please select a moment from the film that occurs only in the movie, and describe it in a paragraph. What purpose does this addition serve? Does its addition improve the story, or detract from it? Why?

Response Paragraph #2: ____________________________________________________

Please list two direct quotes from the book you read on the lines provided. Then please explain how the situation quoted was portrayed differently in the film than it was in the book. The response must be in the form of a paragraph with an opening sentence, three supporting details and a closing statement. You are free to type your responses if you’d prefer to.

Quote #1 and page #: ______________________________________________________

Response Paragraph #3: ____________________________________________________

Quote #2 and page #: ______________________________________________________

Response Paragraph #4: ____________________________________________________

Annotated Book List

Annotated Nonfiction

ATTENTION ALL READERS - Please make note of Attachment 1 (found at the end of this packet) which lists new titles!

Albom Tuesdays With Morrie

During his weekly visits with his favorite old college professor who is dying the author learns about the really important things in life.

Ambrose Undaunted Courage

The experiences of Lewis and Clark on their voyage of discovery from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean

Armsrong It’s Not About the Bike

World-class cyclist and Tour de France winner recounts his battle with cancer and the trip back to championship racing.

Atkinson Ice Time: A Tale of Fathers, Sons, and Hometown Heroes

Ice Time tells the story of a Massachusetts high school hockey team, following the temperamental star, the fiery but troubled winger, the lovesick goalie, the rookie whose father is battling cancer, and the "old school" coach. The Rangers make a desperate charge into the state tournament. Ice Time travels into the rinks, schools, and living rooms of small-town America, where friendships are forged, the rewards of loyalty and perseverance are earned.

Asinof Eight Men Out

Asinof has reconstructed the entire scene by scene story of the scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players arranged with the nation’s leading gamblers to throw the World Series in Cincinnati, describing the meetings, the actual plays that were thrown, the Grand Jury indictment and the trial.

Beals Warriors Don’t Cry

The story of a teenager’s harrowing junior year at Central High, Little Rock, Arkansas, where she endured an organized campaign of terrorism by those who were against desegregation of the school

Bell, William. Forbidden City

Thrilled when his cameraman father invites him along on an assignment in China, seventeen-year old Alex never suspects he will become part of the events in China in the spring of 1989.

Bissinger *Friday Night Lights

In Odessa, Texas, high school football is more than just a passing interest; it is the town’s passion.

Bitton-Jackson I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust

When the Germans enter her town in 1944, her family is forced to leave everything behind and move into a crowded ghetto.

Bowden, Mark. *Black Hawk Down.

An account of what happened in the air and on the ground in war torn Mogadishu, Africa, relating how Rangers and elite Delta Force sent to capture a pair deputies to a warlord. They quickly become surrounded in a hostile city. Their Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down and a number of other missteps left them trapped through the night.

Blais In These Girls Hope Is A Muscle

A sportswriter recounts a year with the girls’ basketball team at Amherst High.

Bryan The Only Way I Know

Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripkin broke an all time record when he played his 2,131^st consecutive game.

Caputo Rumor of War

Caputo’s memories of the sixteen months he served in Vietnam, written a decade after he returned home from the war

Colton Counting Coup: A True Story of Baseball and Honor

A girl’s high school basketball team in Montana is the focus of this realistic account of player’s lives, both on and off the court.

Conroy My Losing Season

A re-creation of the losing season Conroy and his team endured during his senior year at the Citadel. Conroy gives readers a close look at how losing can become a source of strength and inspiration

Crowe Getting Away With Murder

An account of the murder of Emmett Till, a 14 year old black teenager from Chicago who was visiting relatives in Mississippi during the summer of 1955 and the resulting impact on the Civil Rights Movement in America.

Domenick. Neeedles

The story of one family's experience coping with diabetes. Andie knew all about needles because her older sister Denise was diabetic daily. When the author was nine, she was diagnosed as diabetic. Needles became the instruments with which young Andie manages her life. She learns what powerful instruments they could be when, at 21, she finds her sister dead as a result of neglect and self-abuse.

Dorris Broken Cord

Dorris’ story of their adopted son Adam, who was born with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Greenlaw The Hungry Ocean

A swordfish boat captain describes one memorable fishing trip to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland aboard her ship the Hannah Boden.

Grealy. Autobiography of a Face

Grealy's story about a teen with a face disfigured by cancer covers so much--from the definition of beauty to loneliness to acceptance. The author tells a moving and heroic story of her struggle for dignity.

Halbertstam Firehouse

A look at the brave men who operate out of Engine 40, Ladder 35 firehouse in New York after September 11, 2001.

Hayden One Child

An outstanding, inspiring book about Sheila, a six-year old girl, who was left by her mother on the side of a highway when she was four-years old. From then on, she lived with an abusive father. After an act of violence on another child, Sheila was temporarily place in a class of "crazies" with other kids that have behavior problems.

Herriot All Creatures Great and Small

A young veterinarian whose fascinating stories brim with the wonder of life, animal and human, Herriot's hilarious stories of his first years as a country vet perfectly depict the relationship between man and animal.

Hickham Rocket Boys

During the 1950s space race against the Russians, Hickham and his buddies build their own rockets as a ticket out of their dying West Virginia coal-mining town.

Hirsch Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a onetime contender for the middleweight boxing crown, and an acquaintance of Carter's, were charged with the murders. In a publicized and racially loaded trial, the prosecution hinged its case upon the contradictory testimonies of two lifelong criminals, and failed to present any definitive evidence of Carter and Artis's guilt.

Irwin Another River, Another Town

The story of an GI 18 year old tank gunner on the German front during World War II who learns the “kill or be killed|” code of a combat soldier.

This spare, honest memoir of an 18-year-old GI tank gunner on the German front in 1945

Kahn. The Boys of Summer

Roger Kahn, who covered the Brooklyn Dodgers for the New York Herald Tribune, creates a heartfelt story about his beloved team.

Kidder Old Friends

Through the eyes of two senior citizen roommates Lou and Joe, we experience daily life in the Linda Manor Nursing Home in Northhampton, Massachusetts.

Krakauer Into Thin Air

The author attempts to explain what lead a twenty-four-year-old to walk into the Alaskan wilderness only to be found dead, of starvation, four months later.

Lovell Lost Moon

The story about the perilous voyage of spaceship named Apollo 13.

Mah Chinese Cinderella

True story of a young Chinese woman who survives against all odds

Mahmoody *Not Without My Daughter

Michigan housewife, Betty, accompanies her husband to his native Iran for a two week vacation that turned into a nightmare for her as her husband re-dedicates himself to his Shiite Moslem faith in a land where women are near-slaves and Americans are despised. Her only hope lay in a dangerous underground escape that would not include her child.

McCourt *Angela’s Ashes

Humorous, angry, and forgiving account of an Irish childhood in Limerick, Ireland during the grim and desperate 1930s and 1940s.

Morris My Dog Skip

The story of a dog and his closest companion.

Myers The Greatest: Muhammad Ali

Vivid biography capturing all the excitement Ali created in the boxing world.

Nelson, Pete. Left For Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis.
The research of 11-year-old boy into the truth behind a historic WWII naval disaster aboard the USS Indianapolis which led to the reversal of the wrongful court martial of the ship's captain.

Pelzer A Child Called It, The Lost Boy and/or A Man Called Dave

Preston The Hot Zone

An unstoppable virus born in the African rainforest explodes in the suburbs of Washington, D. C. with frightening consequences.

Roy Eleven Seconds

On an October night in 1995, Roy, a talented hockey player, skated onto the ice for his first game with Boston University. Eleven seconds later he was paralyzed from the neck down.

Shaughnessy The Curse of the Bambino

This title traces the history of “curse” that supposedly haunts the Boston Red Sox to the trade of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees keeping the team from winning any world championships.

Sides Ghost Soldiers

The Bataan Death March was just the beginning of the sorrows the American soldiers captured by the Japanese army endured. For three years, these "ghost soldiers" lived in misery, until Army Rangers hatched a plan to liberate their comrades with the Japanese in hot pursuit.

Weisel Night

An account of a Jewish boy’s survival from two concentration camps.

Annotated Fiction

Adams Watership Down

Classic story of wild rabbits turned out of their warren that must find a new safe home. The story describes the dangers and the obstacles they overcome in their search. Anderson Speak

A teenaged girl speaks to no one after an unspeakable event at a high school party.

Averett The Rhyming Season

Brenda begins her senior year with a lot of things to sort out. Her parents have lost their

jobs at the local mill, brother Benny recently was killed in an auto accident and her beloved basketball coach has moved away.

Bauer, C. Harley, Like a Person

Harley is convinced that she is adopted and sets out to find the truth.

Bauer, J. Rules of the Road

Jenna drives the aging President of Gladstone Shoes to Dallas for the money wondering how she will be able to put up with this demanding woman.

Brashares *Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Four senior girls share a pair of blue jeans with mysterious powers. Anyone who wears them has good fortune, looks attractive and has fun adventures.

Bronte Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is about an orphan, raised by Mr. Earnshaw as one of his own children only to be despised by his stepbrother. Cathy, the wild sister, becomes his constant companion, and he falls violently in love with her. When she will not marry him his vengeance destroys them all.

Brooks, K. Kissing the Rain

15-year-old shy and overweight boy is bullied by his classmates after he witnesses a car chase and a fight resulting in murder, he must decide between truth and lies, loyalty and loneliness, justice and retribution.

Brooks, M. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl

A confused 17 year old girl, a single mother and her young son, two elderly woman and a sad and lonely man, all with their individual tragedies, come together in a small town and find a way to happiness.

Card Ender’s Game

Ender, the result of genetic manipulation, may be the military genius needed to save his people.

Carter Bull Catcher

The novel tells the story of two best friends who love baseball as they go from ninth grade through high school in their small town.

Chevalier *The Girl With the Pearl Earring

A young girl becomes a maid in the household of the famous painter, Johannes Vermeer, to help support her family. Despite Griet’s quiet and calm manner she becomes fascinated with her master's paintings, which only draw her into the painter's private world with scandalous consequences.

Chute The Beans of Egypt, Maine

A contemporary story about a family living in poverty in Maine

Clarke The Ox-Bow Incident

A posse of men captures and hangs three men believed to be guilty of cattle rustling and murder only to learn later that the men were completely innocent.

Conroy The Great Santini

A novel about the incredible tension and eventual rift between a hard-core Marine fighter pilot and his teenaged son.

Coy Crackback

Miles barely recalls when football was fun after being sidelined by a new coach, constantly criticized by his father, and pressured by his best friend to take performance-enhancing drugs.

Crutcher Whale Talk, also Stotan! Or Ironman

While training for a triathlon, 17-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school, which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.

Deuker Night Hoops

Above all else Nick wants to be a star player on his high school basketball team. As the story progresses, Nick learns how to be a great point guard. The story also traces Nicks’relationship with a difficult team player as they learn to get along and finally become a powerful duo on court.

Deuker Runner

Living with his alcoholic father, Chance Taylor finds his love of running leads to a high paying job, but quickly learns that money is not worth the risks.

Earley Jim the Boy

This coming-of-age story set in a small North Carolina town in the 30s is the story of a growing up from a ten-year-old boy's point of view.

Flinn Breathing Underwater OR Nothing to Lose

Ordered to keep a journal by the courts, Nick recounts his relationship with his former girlfriend, describing his behavior and anger and finally comes to realize the source of his problems

Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

The story of a young African American man sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit and a teacher who tries to teach him all he knows and instill a sense of pride before the execution.

Gaines A Gathering of Old Men

When a farmer is found shot to death on a plantation, a group of old men form a wall of protection around the murderer.

Gibbons Ellen Foster

Having suffered abuse and misfortune for much of her life, a child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.

Goldman *The Princess Bride

The story of a common girl, who falls in love with an more common boy, but is forced to marry an exceptionally cruel Prince, The boy, grows into a dashing hero and decides to claim back his true love - but not without great danger.

Grafton A is for Alibi

Out on parole following a conviction for murdering her husband, Niki Fife hires private investigator, Kinsey Millhone to follow the trail leading to the real killer.

Grahame Wind in the Willows

Classic tale that follows the wild and crazy adventures of a band of colorful animal characters which stress the truths about tolerance and community spirit

Grisham *A Time to Kill

Two drunken and remorseless young men shatter the life of a ten-year-old Mississippi girl. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime, until her father takes justice into his own hands.

Haddix Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dumphrey

Sixteen-year-old Trish can’t believe that her father and mother would leave her alone to take care of her seven-year-old brother. She describes her agony in a journal she keeps for English class but marks her all her entries, “Do Not Read”.

Haddix Among the Hidden

Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He lives in hiding and cannot go outside. One day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Does Luke dare to become involved in this child’s dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?

Haddon The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, a 15 year old autistic boy decides to investigate the murder of his neighbor’s dog, discovering some family secrets along the way.

Hartinger. Last Chance Texaco

The Last Chance Texaco is a group home that represents the last chance for a kids before a juvenile detention center. When a series of arsons threaten to close the place, Lucy Pitt must expose the real criminal or risk losing her last chance for happiness.

Hoffman Green Angel

Haunted by grief and by her past after losing her family in an apocalyptic fire, fifteen-year-old Green retreats into her ruined garden as she struggles to survive emotionally and physically on her own.

Heller Catch 22

A bombardier, based in Italy, during World War II, repeatedly tries to avoid flying more bombing missions having already completed the required number of missions as while his superior officer tries to get him killed.

Hobbs Downriver

Eight teens with problems participate in an outdoor survival program that almost ends in disaster

Jenkins Damage

Senior Austin Reed has everything; good looks, athletic ability, a beautiful girlfriend, and a great mom. He feels detached from everything and barely alive. A powerful look at teenage depression.

Jenkins Out of Order

Sophomore Colt Trammel loves baseball and his girlfriend Grace, but he rates the rest of high school and maintains a touch exterior to his feelings of inferiority.

Johnson, M. The Key to the Golden Firebird

Three sisters cope with the their grief after their father dies in his prized 1967 Firebird.

Kesey *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

McMurphy, a criminal who fakes insanity, is admitted to a mental hospital where he rebels against the harsh control of the head nurse only to face the consequences of his actions.

Keyes. *Flowers for Algernon

This is the journal of Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded adult, who becomes a genius after undergoing a brain operation. His transformation proves to be short lived.

King The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

A nine-year-old girl survives a night in the woods imagining her favorite baseball player is by her side.
King *The Green Mile

Set in the 1930s at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death-row facility, The Green Mile is the riveting and tragic story of John Coffey, a gentle giant condemned to death for the murder of twin nine-year-old girls. The story is narrated by the Ward Superintendent, who was dedicated to helping every prisoner spend his last days peacefully and every man walk the “green mile” to execution with dignity.

Kingsolver The Bean Trees

Taylor Greer finds an abandoned baby in her car and takes on many new responsibilities.

Kinsella Shoeless Joe

It begins with the magic of a voice in a cornfield, the building of a baseball field, and ends with the magic of a son playing catch with the his long gone hero and father.

Klause The Silver Kiss

A mysterious boy harboring a dark secret helps Zoe come to terms with her mother’s terminal illness

Blood and Chocolate

Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.

Lawrence B is For Buster

A 16 year old boy enlists illegally to fight with the Canadian Air Force in 1943 , experiencing the war while battling his fear during bombing raids over Germany.

Letts Where The Heart Is

The novel concerns a pregnant teenage girl who finds a new life among the quirky inhabitants of a small town in Oklahoma.

Lynch Iceman

Fourteen-year-old Eric, a ruthless hockey player prone to violence, tries to reconcile his own needs with those of his parents.

Gypsy Davey

Twelve-year-old Davey is the man of the household, taking care of his mother and older sister as best he can and avoiding them when they’re either too mean or too sad.

Maguire Wicked

Set in Oz, the book tells the story of the green skinned wicked witch of the west as she sets about avenging her dear sister’s death.

Malumud *The Natural

Gifted baseball player Roy Hobbs, his career derailed by stupid decisions and risky behavior, makes a comeback later in life only to struggle against the same temptations that could bring him down again.

Marchetta Saving Francesca

Francesca is learning to cope with being one of 30 girls in a school of 750 boys at the same time her mother appears to be suffering from a breakdown.

Mitchner. Bridges at Toko-Ri

American fighter pilots, trained but frightened, face an enemy they can never

understand and fight a war they must win.

Morrison The Bluest Eye

Unloved and abused years for because she is convinced that by other’s standards, she is ugly, a young girl yearns for blue eyes.

Na Step From Heaven

A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.

Mosley Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

Socrates, a paroled convict, comes to grips with the chaos, poverty, and violence around him. He tries to get and keep a job delivering groceries; takes in a young street kid named Darryl, who has his own murder to hide; and helps drive out the neighborhood crack dealer.

Myers Fallen Angels

Seventeen-year-old Richie, just out of high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.

Myers Monster

Was Steve the lookout who gave the all clear to the murderer or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time when a convenience store robbery goes wrong?

Paolini *Eragon

Eragon finds a mysterious blue stone from which a dragon emerges. He is then thrust in the role of Dragon Rider and his wild adventures begin.

Piccoult My Sister’s Keeper

13-year-old Anna has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions and shots so that her older sister Kate can fight leukemia. Anna can’t take it anymore and starts a legal battle

to stop her parents from using her body to keep her sister alive.

Plum-Ucci The Body of Christopher Creed

A high school junior struggles with the doubts and questions that surround the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.

Paulsen Soldier’s Hearts: A Novel of the Civil War

The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer

Qualey Close to a Killer

Anxious to start a new life after serving a 15-year prison sentence, Barrie's mother opens a beauty parlor, Killer Looks, with some of her ex-con friends, all of whom have done time for killing, with interesting results.

Quindlen Blessings

The caretaker of a large estate takes on the care of a baby that is left on his doorstep.

Randle Slumming

Two best friends choose a classmate in need of improvement. In their attempts to transform others, they learn some truths about themselves.

Rubio Icy Sparks

A story about a girl who grew up with Tourette’s syndrome in a time period when no one understand what was wrong with her and so often ridiculed her.

Sachar Holes

An inmate in a juvenile detention center becomes suspicious when forced to dig a five-foot hole each and every day.

Sebold The Lovely Bones

Fourteen-year-old Susie narrates her story from heaven as she watches how her family and the town cope with her murder.

Soto The Afterlife

After he is killed, the main character falls in love in the afterlife and sets out to even the score with a small town thief as he gradually disappears into his new role.

Sweeney Players

18-year-old Corey sees a threat to his dream of winning the basketball championship when he discovers the new player on the team is a girl-stealing, friend-framing, team-destroying force of evil.

Tan The Bonesetter’s Daughter

Ruth discovers that her inability to speak parallels the story of her mother LuLing's early life in China, where Ruth finds the famous bonesetter, a woman whose mouth was sealed shut during a suicide attempt.

Tolkien The Hobbit. Fellowship of the Ring…

Trueman Inside Out

Zach’s schizophrenia places him in a very difficult position as he struggles with reality during a hostage crisis.

Walker *The Color Purple

The story of a poor and barely literate black woman in the South during the early decades of this century and her struggle for independence against a brutal husband

Wallace Wrestling Sturbridge

As the second-best 135-pound wrestler in his high school, Ben watches as a friend's future becomes brighter and his turns dim. Eager to leave his hometown of Sturbridge, Pennsylvania--and to avoid a dismal future working in a cinder block factory--Ben looks for a way out.

Wells Meely LaBauve

Fifteen-year-old Meely is growing up on Bayou and living by his wits. Not since Huck Finn rafted down the Mississippi has there been story like this.

Werlin Black Mirror

Convinced her brother’s death was not a suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her school.

Zusak Fighting Ruben Wolfe

Due to his family’s financial situation, brothers, Ruben and Cameron take jobs as fighters and find themselves reacting very differently in the boxing ring.

I Am The Messenger

After capturing a bank robber, nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness.

Attachment 1: Summer Reading List Update

Additional Titles For Students Entering the 9^th or 10^th Grade

Anderson, Peaches

Three teenaged girls from very different background, thrown together to pick peaches in a Georgia orchard, spend a summer in the pursuit of the right boy, the truest friends and the perfect peach.

Bauer, J. Best Foot Forward

Jenna Boller realizes that maturity is an ongoing process as she balances a new job in her junior year with her needy family using her sense of humor and her friend’s street smarts.

Coy, J. Crackback.

Miles barely can recall when football was fun after being sidelined by a new coach, constantly criticized by his father, and shunned by his best friend.

Hautman, P. Sweetblood

After a lifetime of being a model student, sixteen-year-old Lucy Szabo is suddenly in trouble at school, at home, with the "vampires" she has met online and in person, and most of all with her uncontrolled diabetes.

Lupica, Mike Heat

Pitching star, Michael Arroya is on the run from social services after being banned from playing in the Little League because rival coaches doubt that he is only twelve. He has no parents who can offer proof of his age.

Sachar, L. Small Steps (Sequel to Holes)

Three years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is trying hard to keep his life on track, but when his old pal X-Ray shows up with a tempting plan to make some easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit reluctantly goes along.

Edwards, Kim The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

In a story spanning twenty-five years, a doctor delivers his newborn twins during a snowstorm. Rashly deciding to protect his wife from the baby daughter’s affliction with Down’s Syndrome, he gives the girl to a nurse who secretary raises the child.

King, S. From a Buick 8 or Cell

From a Buick 8: Eighteen-year-old Ned becomes obsessed with learning the truth about a 1954 Buick Roadster that the Pennsylvania State Police keep hidden in a shed.

Cell: A pulse sent out through cell phones turns every person using one of them into a zombie-like killing machine, but a few "normies" remain and try to make their way home.

Meyer, S. Twilight.

When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and whom she comes to realize is not wholly human.

Mitchell, D. Black Swan Green

The 13-year-old narrator battles a stammer, cruel classmates, and fitting in, as his parents' marriage slowly disintegrates.

Mcnamee, G. Acceleration

Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the subway system for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him.

See. Lisa Snow Flower and The Secret Fan

A story of friendship set in nineteenth-century China follows an elderly woman and her companion as they communicate their hopes, dreams, joys, and tragedies.

Stahler, D. Doppelganger

When a sixteen year old member of a race of shape-shifting killers called doppelgangers assumes the life of a troubled teen, he becomes unexpectedly embroiled in human life—and it is nothing like what he has seen on television.

Tharp, Tim Knights of the Hill Country

In his senior year, high school star linebacker Hampton Greene finally begins to think for himself and discovers that there may be more to life than just football.

Volponi, P. Black and White

Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.

Werlin, N. Rules of Survival

Seventeen-year-old Matthew recounts his attempts, starting at a young age, to free himself and his sisters from the grip of their emotionally and physical abusive mother.<