Bishop Kearney High School - Summer Reading for Junior High

Summer Reading for Junior High

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June, 2009

To: Families of the 7^th and 8^th Grade Class of 2009-2010
From: Lauren Bates, ELA Teacher, Bishop Kearney High School
Subject: Enjoying Summer Reading

Welcome to all new students and hello to returning students. As I prepared the list for summer reading, many questions came to me: Why do we have summer reading? What are the goals? Should it be fun, informational, or preparation for the upcoming classes in the new school year? Along with the questions I was asking myself, I also remember comments from students last year, who clearly wanted more of a selection.

I also have a philosophy that children who are exposed to written words are more likely to do better in all their academic classes. The more they read, the more they understand, the bigger their vocabulary, the better their understanding of the mechanics of writing (grammar, punctuation, spelling, use, etc.), the greater their exposure to life and solutions—the list of benefits are endless!

To that end, I researched what many school districts are requiring their students to read and produce for summer reading projects. I have gleaned a list of 21 books, from many, many lists, which I think look like fun, inspirational and informative reading. I hope you think so too! I am asking each student to choose one book from the Fantasy and Fiction list and one from the second page labeled Historical Fiction, Sports Autobiography and Inspirational. That will be a total of at least two books that the students are being required to read this summer.

Projects: Many students enjoyed working on special projects last year for their summer reading—and frankly, I really enjoyed perusing them! Here are the directions for this year:

7^th Graders – for one book, you will fill in the Book Review form that is attached. I would like to know if you liked the book and whether you would recommend this book to a friend and some other information you read about.

For the second book that you read, I would like you to keep a reading journal. Very simply, I would like to know the date you read, how much time you read, and a couple of brief sentences about what you read during this time. You can do it on plain or lined paper you have (I will also attach a sample); it might look like this:

Trading Faces by Jennifer Roy

6/30	12:00 – 12:25pm	In the first chapter I read about the two twins, named Payton and Emma Mills—they are identical which means they look the same! They are getting ready to go to their first boys and girls school; they will be in 7^th grade.
6/30	9:00 – 9:45	Payton and Emma may be twins but they have very different personalities and interests. Emma really enjoys school work but Payton is mainly interested in friends.

8^th Graders – for one of the books, you will fill in the Book Review form that is attached. I would like to know if you liked the book and whether you would recommend this book to a friend and some other information you read about.

For the second book that you read, I will ask you to put together some sort of presentation that you can give during English class to inform the other students about the book that you read. This can be, but not limited to:

· A skit or "puppet show" where you act out a scene of the book that you particularly liked.
· A PowerPoint presentation describing the literary elements (Setting, Characters, Conflict, Resolution, etc.) of the book.
· A poster about the book (It should have a "theme", like: characters, plot, setting, problem and solution, etc.)
· A written report that you present to the class (You might be a reporter for a TV show who is giving a review of the book. Or you and a friend might pretend to have a discussion that we, the audience, are listening to.) Be creative!

Oh, and to make this project a little bit easier, yes, you can work with one partner on this project, but you both must read all of the book.

Some Notes for All:

If you have a great idea that you are not sure would be appropriate for your project, please contact me via email at LBates@BKHS.org.

REMEMBER: There will be a test on each of the books you read, in addition to your 2 projects. This will happen during the second week of school. So, take good notes and actively read your books.

Please contact me if you have any questions at all on this reading assignment. Please do not wait until the last second before you step in the door in September to decide what book you wish you began reading in June. Reading can be fun if you give it a chance, so, put down the electronics for a while and discover the wonderful world of reading!

By the way, I have a larger list of books that I found for summer reading, so if you are a reader already or discover you really want to read more, email me and I can send it to you. The summer seems already too short for all the reading that I want to do!

Have a wonderfully relaxing summer. I can't wait to either meet you or see you again in September.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bates
7^th and 8^th grade ELA Teacher
Bishop Kearney High School

This is the list of books you are to choose from—REMEMBER – one from each section!

Name of the Book	Author	A bit about the novels…from the Barnes and Noble Website
Choose one from this Section … Fantasy and Fiction
Masterpiece	Broach, Elise	Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays' apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy.After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer.
Confessions of a Closet Catholic	Littman, Sarah	Justine Silver's best friend, Mary Catherine McAllister, has given up chocolate for Lent, but Justine doesn't think God wants her to make that kind of sacrifice. So she's decided to give up being Jewish instead. Eleven-year-old Justine pours her heart out to her teddy bear, "Father Ted," in a homemade closet confessional. But when Justine's beloved Bubbe suffers a stroke, Justine worries that her religious exploration is responsible. Worse, she must suddenly contemplate life without Bubbe. Ultimately, it's Bubbe's quiet understanding of Justine's search for identity that helps Justine to find faith in the most important place of all-within herself.
Crash	Spinelli, Jerry	Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family. Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli's hilarious, poignant story of cocky seventh-grade superjock Crash Coogan.
Firegirl	Abbott, Tony	A middle school boy's life is changed when Jessica, a girl disfigured by burns, starts attending his Catholic school while receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Hush	Woodson, Jacqueline	Toswiah Green's life ended the moment her policeman father decided to testify against a fellow officer. The Greens have had to change their identities and move to a different city. Now Toswiah is Evie Thomas, and that is the least of the changes. Her defeated father spends his days sitting by the window. Since her mother can no longer work as a teacher, she puts her energy into their new church. Her only sister is making secret plans to leave. And Evie, struggling to find her way, wonders who she is now and how she can make her future as bright as her past once was.
I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader	Scott, Kieran	Annisa Gobrowski has a problem-everyone at her new high school in Florida is blonde. If Annisa's Jersey attitude doesn't make her stand out enough, her dark pixie haircut sure does. Yet no lack of golden highlights is going to stop Annisa from making the best of Sand Dune High, especially once she checks out the competition-level cheerleading squad.
Lunch Money	Clements, Andrew	Greg Kenton has always had a natural talent for making money — despite the annoying rivalry of his neighbor Maura Shaw. Then, just before sixth grade, Greg makes a discovery: Almost every kid at school has an extra quarter or two to spend almost every day. Multiply a few quarters by a few hundred kids, and for Greg, school suddenly looks like a giant piggy bank. All he needs is the right hammer to crack it open. Candy and gum? Little toys? Sure, kids would love to buy stuff like that at school. But would teachers and the principal permit it? Not likely. But how about comic books?
Rules	Lord, Cynthia	Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"---in order to head off David's embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal? Newberry Award Winner
School Story	Clements, Andrew	Twelve-year-old Natalie Nelson has written a powerful school story. It's a short novel called "The Cheater," and her best friend Zoe is certain it should be published. All Natalie has to do is give the manuscript to her mom, an editor at a big publishing house. However Natalie doesn't want any favors from her mom. Still, Zoe won't drop the idea. Spurred into action, Natalie invents a pen name for herself and Zoe becomes a self-styled literary agent. But if the girls are to succeed, they'll need support from their wary English teacher, legal advice from Zoe's tough-talking father, and some clever maneuvering to outwit the overbearing editor in chief of Shipley Junior Books.
Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks and Me	Padademetriou, Lisa	As Allie Kimball starts sixth grade, she discovers that middle school is a very different world, populated with glommers -- those girls who cling to each other in groups; norks -- a combination of a nerd and a dork; and worst of all, squashes -- crushes that make you feel like your heart has been stepped on. Keeping a journal of words that help define her world, Allie tries to navigate through the strange land of sixth grade. With the help of her soccer team, a few new friends, and some shocking surprises from old friends, Allie soon discovers that she does have the strength to be herself.
Surviving the Applewhites	Tolan, Stephanie	Hilarious! then was kicked out of every other school in his home state. Only weeks into September, the middle school in Traybridge, North Carolina, has thrown him out, too. Now there's only one place left that will take him — a home school run by the most outrageous, forgetful, chaotic, quarrelsome family you'll ever meet. Each and every Applewhite is an artist through and through — except E.D., the smart, scruffy girl with a deep longing for order and predictability. E.D. and Jake, so nearly the same age, are quickly paired in the family's first experiment in "cooperative education." The two clash immediately, of course. The only thing they have in common is the determination to survive the family's eccentricities.
Trading Faces	Roy, Jennifer	There is more to this book than boys, texting, and mean girls. Identical twins Payton and Emma Mills are attending their first co-ed school. Fashionista-wannabe Payton is eager to make new friends. Brainiac Emma cannot wait to start her advanced classes. On the first day of seventh grade, they realize they do not have a single class together. Maybe that could be a good thing and they will avoid the inevitable question: Which twin are you? Still, seventh grade is not all they had hoped. Payton joins a clique that judges others by their clothes. Emma is challenged by an abrasive girl more ambitious than she is.
Edenville Owls	Parker, Robert	Fourteen-year-old Bobby, living in a small Massachusetts town just after World War II, finds himself facing many new challenges as he tries to pull together his coachless basketball team, cope with new feelings for his old friend Joanie, and discover the identity of the mysterious stranger who seems to be threatening his teacher.
Football Genius	Green, Tim	Twelve-year-old Troy White's athletic ability and his preternatural talent for predicting football strategy are both going to waste (he's stuck playing second-string on his team), until frustration with a vicious bully on his team pushes him to "borrow" an official NFL football from local Atlanta Falcons star linebacker Seth Halloway. As Troy languishes on his own football team and resents the father who abandoned him, he strives to alert the Falcons of his gift: "Sometimes a kid's heart tells him to do something and he needs to listen, even if it means getting in trouble."
Travel Team (Sequel: Summer Ball)	Lupica, Mike	Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court--but don't tell him that. Because no one plays with more heart or court sense. But none of that matters when he is cut from his local travel team, the very same team his father led to national prominence as a boy. Danny's father, still smarting from his own troubles, knows Danny isn't the only kid who was cut for the wrong reason, and together, this washed-up former player and a bunch of never-say-die kids prove that the heart simply cannot be measured. Travel Team is an inspirational tale in the tradition of The Bad News Bears and Hoosiers. It will leave readers of all ages cheering.
*And Choose one from this Section … Historical Fiction, Sports Autobiography and Inspirational*
Yellow Star	Roy, Jennifer	From 1939, when Syvia is four and a half years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation. In February 1940, four-and-half-year-old Syvia (later Sylvia) Perlmutter, her mother, father and 12-year-old sister, Dora, were among the first of more than 250,000 Jews to be forced into Poland's Lodz Ghetto. When the Russians liberated the ghetto on January 19, 1945, the Perlmutters were among only 800 people left alive; Syvia, "one day shy of ten years old," was one of just 12 children to survive the ordeal. The novel is filled with searing incidents of cruelty and deprivation, love, luck and resilience. But what sets it apart is the lyricism of the narrative, and Syvia's credible childlike voice, maturing with each chapter, as she gains further understanding of the events around her.
Al Capone Does My Shirts	Choldenko, Gennifer	A twelve year old boy named Moose with his family, including his autistic sister, moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935
Esperanza Rising	Ryan, Pamela Munoz	Esperanza and her mother leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to work as migrant laborers in California, in the days before the Great Depression.
Lily's Crossing	Giff, Patricia Reilly	The summer of 1944 was supposed to be as carefree as the past summers of Lily's life -- spent in Rockaway, in her family's house by the Atlantic Ocean. But World War II changes everything: Lily's best friend moves away to a wartime factory town, and Lily's father heads overseas to the war. Then Lily meets Albert, a refugee from Hungary who has a very tragic past. The secrets these two children share and the special friendship they form will change both their lives forever.
Serving From the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving, and Winning	Williams, Venus & Serena	Venus and Serena Williams have something to say. But it isn't all about tennis. It's about life and how to play it. These superstars and super sisters share their secrets in this straight-talking smart guide. Speaking candidly about their personal experiences, the sisters give you the inside scoop on: • What it takes to rise and stay on top. • Who watches their backs when the pressure is on. • How they spend—and save—their money. • Dating—their real deal on romance. • Book smarts—keeping grades up and study stress down. • Loving the skin you're in. This book offers solid advice for getting an advantage in every game you play.
Derek Jeter: The life you imagine	Jeter, Derek	Ever wonder what it would take to turn your dreams into reality? Read this fascinating life story by the star shortstop of the New York Yankees.