Dear Parents,
I have the pleasure of having your student in my Sophomore English class this
semester. As mentioned in previous communications, a part of our sophomore curriculum this
year is a quarterly independently read novel outside of class. Your student will complete various
assignments that demonstrate their understanding of the text they have selected. As a
Sophomore English team, our hope is that this independent novel assignment will allow students
the opportunity to interact with a variety of texts that are outside of the limited number of novels
we have time to cover as a whole class. In addition, the element of choice that is built into the
reading list provides the students and their parents with a variety of titles from which to choose a
novel that is interesting and challenging yet still appropriate to their families’ values and
expectations.
The theme for this quarter’s reading list is Cultural and Religious Diversity. This will
allow the independent reading to be tied to our class novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Each of the
novels offers students an opportunity to gain insight into the experiences of groups outside of the
scope of their everyday lives. These novels address the challenges faced by different cultures,
ethnicities, and religions in various time periods from historical to present day.
In order to honor your family’s values and expectations for your student, I wanted to be
sure to provide you the opportunity to be a part of your student’s selection. The book list is
provided on the backside of this letter and includes a synopsis of each novel. Please review the
list and work with your student to determine the best novel for his or her success on this project.
Your student is responsible for having a copy of this novel by Friday, January 9th. Thank you for
your support and help in making this project a successful learning experience for your student.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Tracie Garrard
Please return the signed portion of this letter by January 9th.
Students Name (printed):
Novel Selected:
I have reviewed the list with my student and give my permission for him/her to read the novel
indicated above.
Parent Signature:
As you review this quarter’s book list, please note the following information is included in
parenthesis for each novel: SGL = suggested grade levels according to either School
Library Journal, Scholastic, or Amazon.com; E= explicit language; M= mature content or
situations; V= violence.
A Long Walk to Water written by Linda Sue Park
(SGL: 5-9 Lexile: 720)
Based on the true story of Salva, one of some 3,800 Sudanese "Lost Boys" airlifted to the United States beginning in the mid 1990s,
this poignant story of Salva's life is told side-by-side with the story of Nya, a young girl who lives today in one of those villages.
“Both story lines are spare, offering only pertinent details. In the case of Salva, six years in a camp pass by with the barest of
mentions. This minimalism streamlines the plot, providing a clarity that could have easily become mired in depressing particulars.
The two narratives intersect in a quiet conclusion that is filled with hope,” wrote Naphtali L. Faris, Saint Louis Public Library in a
2010 edition of School Library Journal. Park was the recipient of the 2011 Jane Addam’s Children’s Book Award and the 2012
Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award for this novel.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie
(SGL: 9-12 Lexile: 600 – E,M,V)
A Review from the School Library Journal: “Starred Review. Grade 7–10—Exploring Indian identity, both self and tribal, Alexie's
first young adult novel is a semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian from Wellpinit, WA. The
bright 14-year-old was born with water on the brain, is regularly the target of bullies, and loves to draw. He says, ‘I think the world is
a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.’ He expects disaster when he transfers from the
reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students
and starting on the basketball team. Meeting his old classmates on the court, Junior grapples with questions about what constitutes
one's community, identity, and tribe. The daily struggles of reservation life and the tragic deaths of the protagonist's grandmother, dog,
and older sister would be all but unbearable without the humor and resilience of spirit with which Junior faces the world. The many
characters, on and off the rez, with whom he has dealings are portrayed with compassion and verve, particularly the adults in his
extended family. Forney's simple pencil cartoons fit perfectly within the story and reflect the burgeoning artist within Junior. Reluctant
readers can even skim the pictures and construct their own story based exclusively on Forney's illustrations. The teen's determination
to both improve himself and overcome poverty, despite the handicaps of birth, circumstances, and race, delivers a positive message in
a low-key manner. Alexie's tale of self-discovery is a first purchase for all libraries.—Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library”
Bless Me Ultima written by Rudolpho Anya
(SGL: 9-12 Lexile: 840 – E,M,V)
In this novel Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who
cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him, and he will discover himself
in the magical secrets of the pagan past – a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn there
is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world...and will nurture the birth of his soul. From Library Journal, “Besides winning the
Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award, this novel of a young boy in New Mexico in the 1940s has sold more than 300,000
copies in paperback since its 1973 debut. Here, however, the book gets the hardcover treatment, with a few illustrations added for
color. LJ's reviewer asserted that "the novel has warmth and feeling" (LJ 2/1/73) and a place in all fiction collections, especially those
serving Chicano populations.”
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas written by John Boyne
(SGL:9 & up Lexile: 1080 – M)
This novel, set in Germany during World War II, “is a harrowing Holocaust story with an excruciating ending. It is told through the
eyes of nine-year-old Bruno, whose family moves from Berlin after his father gets a promotion to Commandant. When the family
arrives at their new home, Bruno is disheartened. The new place, which the boy calls Out-With, is desolate, with a large camp on the
other side of a big fence, behind which all of the people, except the soldiers, wear gray-striped pajamas. After starting classes with a
tutor, who advocates history over art, Bruno explores his new surroundings and meets Shmuel who is living in the fenced-in area. […]
A unique addition to Holocaust literature.–Jo-Ann Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY” from the School Library Jounrnal.
Farewell to Manzanar written by Jeanne W. Houston
(SGL:7 & up Lexile: 1010)
From the back cover: “Jeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old in 1942 when her family was uprooted from their home and sent to live
at Manzanar internment camp with ten thousand other Japanese Americans. Along with searchlight towers and armed guards,
Manzanar ludicrously featured cheerleaders, Boy Scouts, sock hops, baton-twirling lessons, and a dance band called the Jive Bombers,
who would play any popular song except the nation’s number one hit ‘Don’t Fence Me In’. Farewell to Manzanar is a true story of
one spirited Japanese American family’s attempt to survive the indignities of forced detention… and of a native born American child
who discovered what it was like to grow up behind barbed wire in the United States.”
The Help written by Kathryn Stockett
(SGL: 10-12 Lexile: 730 – E,M)
From Scholastic.com Teacher’s Resource page: “Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders
quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep
secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without
a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a
black maid in the South that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town.”
The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini
(SGL: 9-12 Lexile: 840 – M,V)
From Scholastic.com Teacher’s Resource page: “In this shattering story of betrayal and redemption set in war-torn Afghanistan,
childhood friends grow up as close as brothers, but face dramatically different fates when one flees to America after the Soviet
invasion and the other is left behind.
In The Kite Runner, history and personal responsibility come together in the story of Amir, an Afghan boy who is haunted by the guilt
of betraying his childhood friend Hassan, the son of his father’s servant. In the background loom the many tumultuous changes that
have gripped Afghanistan in the years since Amir’s carefree kite-flying childhood. From the fall of the monarchy through the Soviet
invasion to the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States to the rise of the Taliban regime, the story of Amir and
Hassan emerges as the story of Afghanistan itself.”
House Rules written by Jodi Picoult
(Lexile: 880 – E,M)
From Amazon.com Review: “Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or
expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject--in his case, forensic analysis.
He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to
do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions.
All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's--not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect--can look a lot
like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on
them.
Emotionally powerful from beginning to end, House Rules looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a
family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way--and fails those who don't.”
Nectar in a Sieve written by Kamala Markandaya
(SGL: 9-12 Lexile: 900 - M)
This novel tells the story of Rukmani, an Indian woman, who is married at twelve to a tenant farmer – Nathan. Through her
experiences, Markandaya explores the struggles of farming, poverty, and providing for a family in a rural Indian setting. She
addresses the impact of industrialization on the lives of the farming community as well as drawing attention to the roles available to
women in this society – specific focus on the importance placed on fertility and building a family. There is an overall emphasis on the
importance of family and need for compassion for others. This classic novel was named the Notable Book of 1955 by the American
Library Association.
Wonder written by R. J. Palacio
(SGL:5-7 Lexile: 790)
“August, nicknamed Auggie, is a 10-year-old with a facial deformity that causes others to avoid and even shun him. When he enters a
mainstream school, Auggie must learn to cope with difficult new situations and new people. The narrative is told from the
perspectives of Auggie, his new friends, his sister, and her boyfriend. α(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.”