8 th
Grade Summer Reading List
Ms. Arredondo darredondo@harmonytx.org
Students will read 2 books this summer and create a project for each book read. Students can earn 50 points for each project that is turned in by Tuesday, August 26, 2014
While you’re flying, sunning or waiting; read some of these and earn you first grade for the next school year. All of these great books are entertaining and fun to read. Check Amazon.com or your favorite bookstore for an overview before you start.
Make sure you choose wisely, select a genre that you enjoy! You may select books that are not on the list; however, you must email me for approval. Make sure that your parents approve as well.
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American Library Association (ALA) Award Winners
 Kit’s Wilderness

The Compound

Under the Mesquite
 Beneath My Mother’s Feet

Downsiders

Lockdown

Under the Persimmon Tree

The Thirteenth Tale

The World Made Straight

Black Swan Green

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

The Floor of the Sky

Color of the Sea

Eagle Blue

The Book of Lost Things

Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon

Small Steps

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea
 To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v. 1: The Pox Party

Water for Elephants

An Abundance of Katherines
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Copper Sun
David Almond
S. A. Bodeen
Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Amjed Qamar
Neal Shusterman
Alexander Gordon Smith
Suzanne Fisher Staples
Diane Setterfield
Ron Rash
David Mitchell
Michael Lewis
Pamela Carter Joern
John Hamamura
Michael D’Orso
John Connolly
Catherine Thimmesh
Louis Sachar
Sy Montgomery
Siena Cherson Siegel
M. T. Anderson
Sara Gruen
John Green
Sharon Draper
Anything by Rick Riordan (The Kane Chronicles, Heros of Olympus, etc.)
My Brother Sam is Dead
Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn)
Ender’s Quintet (Ender’s game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, etc.)
The Shadow Series (Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, etc.)
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
Heros, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths
October Sky
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine
Now is Your Time: The African-American Struggle for Freedom
The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War
Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry
Close to Shore: Shark Attack
Divergent Series (Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant)
Rick Riordan
Christopher Collier
Stephanie Meyer
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card
Peter Sis
Bernard Evslin
Homer Hickam
Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Walter Dean Myers
Howard Bahr
Mildred D. Taylor
Michael Capuzzo
Veronica Roth
NOTE TO PARENTS: This list is based on recommendations from teaching colleagues and ALA and NCTE, and I have not read them all. Some deal with adolescent/young adult situations .

After you read the books of your choice (from the reading list on the opposite side or one of your choice and approve by me, your teacher), you will need to create a project for each book -- a total of 2 projects.
Choose from the following projects:
1.
Create a Diary or Journal for the protagonist or antagonist; it must be 200-300 words in length. Create day-by-day diary or journal entries for the character of your choice.
2.
Pick an important quote from the story and create a poster or photo-journal to illustrate the importance of the quote
(draw, paint, color or create a collage from magazine or newspaper clippings.) Include the quote, book title, author’s name, and page number on the poster.
3.
Write a well-organized 300-400 word essay about the book. Explain if the author uses literary devices such as foreshadowing, irony, personification, similes and/or metaphors. Explain how author uses the literary device(s) to convey his/her message, reveal the characters, describe the setting, reveal the conflict or set the tone. Remember to stay on topic and get your point across with examples.
4. Create a comic strip with 6- 8 panels that illustrates the plot of the book. Your comic can be in the 1 st
person perspective or 3 rd
person perspective. Include the book title, author’s name and which point of view you used (1 st
person or 3 rd person)
5. Write 4 poems about the book. Each poem must be different; pick 4 different forms (types) of poem. Each poem must be of different content such as plot, setting, antagonist, protagonist or a particular character.
Form Purpose Common Characteristics
Elegy Mourns the dead Length, rhyme scheme and meter can vary
Epic
Lyric
Tells a story of mythic or national heroes. Long and serious in tone; usually doesn’t rhyme; regular meter.
Expresses poet’s feelings Short stanzas and rhyming lines; heartfelt
Ballad Tells a popular folk story, often about a local hero
Short stanzas and couplets, often with a refrain; like a song
Ode Speaks directly to an idea, thing or person Uses lofty, grand language to describe the subject of the poem
Sonnet Varies; often a love poem
Haiku An un rhymed verse
14 lines long; ends in a couplet (2 successive lines that rhyme and have the same meter.)
3 lines long; a total of 17 syllables. 1 st
line is 5 syllables, 2 nd line is 7 syllables and 3 rd
line is 5 syllables .
Plagiarism:
Webster’s dictionary defines PLAGIARISM as “[using] the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own words or ideas.” If you copy straight from the internet or a book without quoting and correctly citing it, you are plagiarizing. DO
NOT use someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarizing can lead to consequences punishable in accordance with the Student
Handbook.
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