School of Science and Technology
1450 NE LOOP 410 SAN ANTONIO. TX 78209  Tel: 210.804.0222  Fax: 210.822.3422  www.ssttx.org
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUMMER READING PROGRAM 2013-2014
FOR ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Due: August 30th, 2013
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can make the transition to the next grade difficult. You can start strong
in the Fall if your reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more you read, the stronger your
thinking skills are in all subject areas. We believe that summer reading should be enjoyable and thought
provoking, and an opportunity for you to mentally prepare for what’s to come in the following school year.
Summer reading is the opportunity for you to relax and enjoy yourself. You must select your Summer Reading
from the attached list. If you do not see a title you are interested in reading please contact the Department
Chair Mrs. Maria Palacios (mh143@ssttx.org).
You must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Keep in mind this will be worth four grades during the second week of school.
THINKING PROJECTS
Writing about a book can help you understand it better, and if we write about the books we read, we can share
our experiences with other people. You may not do the same project for each book. When you finish each of
yours books this summer, you can write about each book in any of the following ways:
OPTION
REQUIREMENTS
Texts between
characters
Create a presentation, on poster or on the computer, which
shows text exchanges between characters throughout the
book.
Advice Column
A character writes off to an advice columnist for assistance
with a conflict in the book. Draft the letter to the columnist
and, as the columnist, submit a response to the character.
Additional letters/responses should also be included, as
there is almost never just one letter in the column. Be sure
to follow traditional advice columns and include questions
from characters in the book.
Family Tree of
Characters
Create a character analysis using a family tree. Display on a
project/poster board and include images, a legend and
analysis typed out and posted at the bottom of the tree.
Analysis should include: traits, quotes, motivations, type of
character (protagonist, antagonist, dynamic, static, round,
etc), explain how he/she furthers/contributes to the plot.
Comparative Essay
(Book/Movie)
Not all book-to-movie efforts are bombs. Write an essay in
which you discuss the elements of the book and the movie.
Look at casting choices, plot elements, details from the book
that were removed for time constraints, etc.
Novel Scrapbook
Create a scrapbook that encompasses the time period of the
book. This requires a physical scrapbook and associated
materials be purchased or otherwise acquired.
Mounted Character
Sketches/Character
Analyses
Create character sketches and mount them on poster or trifold board. Under each sketch, offer an analysis of this
character. Analysis should include: traits, quotes,
motivations, type of character (protagonist, antagonist,
dynamic, static, round, etc) , explain how he/she
furthers/contributes to the plot.
HINTS
Choose key events,
and be aware of the
language the author
has the character use.
Try to keep the
character in the texts.
http://www.thehawke
ye.com/story/Abby082512
Consult literature
book, notes or the
internet for further
info about character
types
Sketches must be
detailed, no stick
figures! I want to see
how this character
looks in your mind!
School of Science and Technology
1450 NE LOOP 410 SAN ANTONIO. TX 78209  Tel: 210.804.0222  Fax: 210.822.3422  www.ssttx.org
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUMMER READING PROGRAM 2013-2014
Historical Novel
Presentation
Similar to the option with historical non-fiction, you will
create a tri-fold that presents information about your book,
characters, setting, plot elements, author, and his/her style.
You will then be required to show that you have researched
that time period and what the trends, norms, culture, style
were like at that time. You will also need to explain during
your presentation whether you believe that the author did
an appropriate job of researching the time period before
writing the book.
The more
interactive/3-D it is,
the better. Use your
imagination!
Author-itis
Sometimes we fall in love with the author’s writing style and
want to read everything they’ve written. If you’ve done
this, you may write an essay comparing two or more pieces.
Discuss the types of characters used, styles of writing,
similarities, differences, etc.
Dig deep on this one,
each of those books is
a glimpse into the
author’s mind, and
what they think about
the world. How are
they using language,
dialogue, narration,
suspense, etc.
Non-fiction Tri-fold
(Historical
Adaptation)
On a tri-fold board, in whatever order you choose:
Use one side to display author information, summary,
description of topic and background. Use the second section
to present vocabulary, ideas and opinions of the author. On
the third flap, write your reactions and ideas as the reader.
How did this change the way you think, feel or see the
world? Use quotations and page numbers on your display.
(Include a timeline or map)
Creative Writing
Research
Prezi Presentation
Your creative work can be anything that relates to the book:
a song, a poem, a short story, a play, a film, or any
combination of genres. You can re-write a scene from the
perspective of another character. You could re-imagine the
plot in a different setting. You could re-write the ending.
You could write a poem that deals with a theme or a
character in the book. Whatever kind of text you write,
include an explanation that links your creative work back to
the book you read. Explain how your work is related to the
author’s work.
Select an interesting issue raised in the book. Write a brief
explanation of how the issue was raised and why you find it
interesting. Research the topic further, and write about
your research, citing sources as needed.
Create a multi-media presentation using Prezi.com about
the book documenting any of the ways the text connects
with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
2 pages minimum
2 page
School of Science and Technology
1450 NE LOOP 410 SAN ANTONIO. TX 78209  Tel: 210.804.0222  Fax: 210.822.3422  www.ssttx.org
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUMMER READING PROGRAM 2013-2014
VOCABULARY
People who read have expansive vocabularies. We can make an inference that, as you read and come in
contact with new words, you will learn the new words. To help you learn some new words as you read this
summer, we ask that you document new and unfamiliar words. For each book, please find at least ten words
you do not know. You must use the format below to gather information about the new words you find in your
reading.
HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER READING LIST
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness or The Secret
Sharer
Ernest Hemingway – The Sun Also Rises and A
Farewell to Arms
Hermann Hesse – Steppenwolf and The Glass
Bead Game
Robert Pirsig – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance
Samuel Butler – The Way of All Flesh
Somerset Maugham - Of Human Bondage
Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar
Cormac McCarthy – Blood Meridian
Umberto Eco – The Name of the Rose
Jean-Paul Sartre – The Age of Reason
Thomas Mann – Death in Venice, Magic
Mountain, Doctor Faustus
F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Beautiful and the
Damned and Tender is the Night
Thomas Hardy – Jude the Obscure
Virginia Wolff – To The Lighthouse and Ms.
Dalloway
Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Notes from the
Underground / The Idiot / Crime and Punishment
Robert Graves – Goodbye to All That
Nikolai Gogol – Dead Souls
Franz Kafka – The Trial and Metamorphosis
Voltaire – Candide
Alexander Dumas – The Three Musketeers
Marcel Proust – Swann’s Way
Charles Dickens – Great Expectations and Hard
Times
E.M. Forster – Howard’s End
Ernest Gaines - A Lesson Before Dying
Alexie Sherman - The Absolute True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian
Walter Dean Myers - Fallen Angels
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
School of Science and Technology
1450 NE LOOP 410 SAN ANTONIO. TX 78209  Tel: 210.804.0222  Fax: 210.822.3422  www.ssttx.org
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUMMER READING PROGRAM 2013-2014
Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club
Upton Sinclair - The Jungle
William Golding - Lord of the Flies
Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis
Sue Monk Kidd - The Secret Lives of Bees
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak
John Grisham - A Time to Kill
Scott Westerfeld - The Uglies (part of a series)
Todd Strasser - The Wave
Frank McCourt - Angela’s Ashes
Thomas Foster - How to Read Literature Like a
Professor
Elie Wiesel - Night
Dan Gediman and Jay Allison - This I Believe
Franklin Covey - Seven Habits of Highly Effective
Teams
S. A. Bodeen – Compound
John Green - The Fault in Our Stars
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
Bryce Courtenay - The Power of One
J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye
Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged
Stephen Ambrose - Band of Brothers
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Ernest Hemingway - Farewell to Arms
Anne Tyler - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
Chris Gardner - The Pursuit of Happyness
David Mitchell - Black Swan Green
Edwidge Danticat - Breath, Eyes, Memory
Loung Ung - First They Killed My Father
Nikita Lalwani - Gifted: A Novel
Jonathan Swift - Gulliver’s Travels
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
Alexandre Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo
John Fowles - The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale
Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite-Runner
Chimamanda Ngozi Acichie - The Thing Around
Your Neck
Daoud Hari - The Translator
Yann Martel - Life of Pi
Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre
Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises
Kate Chopin - The Awakening
T. S. Eliot - Murder in the Cathedral
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Judith Clarke - One Whole and Perfect Day
Veronica Roth - Divergent
Allie Condie - Matched
Deborah Ellis - No Safe Place
Christine Fletcher - Ten Cents a Dance
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Nighttime
Gordon Korman - Son of the Mob
David Lubar - Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
James McBride - The Color Of Water
Andy Mulligan - Trash
Norman Ollestad - Crazy for the Storm
Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture
Dave Pelzer - A Child Called “It”
Ruta Sepetys - Between Shades of Gray
James Patterson - Maximum Ride (first in a
series)
William Shakespeare - Othello
Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities
Sandra Cisneros - The House on Mango Street
H.G. Wells - The Island of Dr. Moreau
Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones
Jodi Picoult - My Sister’s Keeper
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak
*We highly recommend parents to review student’s selections to assure an age appropriate text.