Gifted Civics
Book Projects
Name ______________________________
Procedures:
1. Select 4 books to read from the reading list. At least 1 must be nonfiction.
2. Every Friday, we will have a sign up sheet for presentations. I warn you, do not put all 4
off until the end of the semester!
3. For each book, complete the following:
a. create a diorama representing a scene in the book
b. write a book review that includes:
i. title, author, type of book in an introduction
ii. brief explanation of storyline
iii. theme (lesson learned)
iv. author’s purpose (why do you think he/she wrote the book)
v. how relates to Civics
vi. opinion
vii. recommendations
 typed, double spaced, 12 font, 1 inch margins
 use parenthetical citations when necessary
 work cited page
Rubrics:
Diorama
Creativity
15
Neatness
10
Factual
25
Total
50
Report
title, author, type of book
brief explanation of storyline
theme
author’s purpose
civics
recommendations
typed, double spaced, 12 font
parenthetical citations
work cited page
Total
10
20
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
100
Reading List
Title
Author
Fiction
Cat’s Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
I Am the Cheese
Fade
After the First Death
The Chocolate War
Other Bells for us to Ring
Robert Cormier
It Can’t Happen Here
Sinclair Lewis
The Jungle
Upton Sinclair
Les Miserables (counts as 2)
Victor Hugo
Luke and the Van Zandt County War
Judith MacBain Alter
Fail-Safe
Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler
Captains and Kings
Taylor Caldwell
Advise and Consent
A Shade of Difference
Capable of Honor
Preserve and Protect
Allen Drury
Quinn’s Book
William Kennedy
Legacy
James A. Michener
Burr
1876
Empire
Washington, D.C.
Gore Vidal
All the King’s Men
Robert Penn Warren
The Human Comedy
William Saroyan
The Pelican Brief
The Firm
A Time to Kill
The Rainmaker
The Brethren
The Chamber
Runaway Jury
John Grisham
A Civil Action
Jonathan Harr
The Handmade’s Tale
Margaret Atwood
Animal Farm
George Orwell
Patriot Games
The Sum of All Fears
Clear and Present Danger
Tom Clancy
Among the Hidden
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Deception Point
Dan Brown
The Postman
David Brin
The Cradle Will Fall
Mary Higgins Clark
Nonfiction
Principles of Nature; or, a Development
of the Moral Causes of Happiness and
Misery Among the Human Species
Elihu Palmer
The Prince
Niccolo Machiavelli
The Rights of Man
Common Sense
Thomas Paine
Today’s Isms: Communism,
Fascism, Capitalism, Socialism
William Ebenstein
The Struggle is My Life
Nelson Mandela
Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist
Backgound
Paul Avrich
Is There a Woman in the House or
Senate?
Bryna Fireside
Cesar Chavez: Leader for Migrant
Farm Workers
Doreen Gonzalez
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Michael A. Schuman
Colin Powell: Soldier and Patriot
Anne Schraff
The Dixiecrat Revolt and the
End of the Solid South
Kari Frederickson
United We Stand: How We Can
Take Back Our Country
Ross Perot
True Men and Traitors: From the OSS
to the CIA, My Life in the Shadows
David W. Doyle
The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story
Richard Preston
Disciples and Democracy: Religious
Conservatives and the Future of
American Politics
Michael Cromartie (editor)
Free Speech
Bruno Leone (editor)
The Dissent of the Governed
Stephen L. Carter
Putting People First
Bill Clinton
Overcoming Welfare: Expecting
More From Our Poor and Ourselves
James L. Payne
Hate Crimes
Paul A. Winters (editor)
The IRA and England
Heather Lehr Wagner
J.C. Watts
Norma Jean Lutz
John Adams (counts as 2)
David McCullough
Women’s Rights
Shasta Gaughen