2015-2016 Junior and Senior Summer Reading
Turning Reality into Fiction
The RRHS English Department is delighted to announce that­­thanks to the generous support of the Rocky River Education Foundation author Jodi Picoult will visit RRHS in December. In anticipation of her visit, we have included many Picoult titles for summer reading 2015. We’ve selected Jodi Picoult not only for her critically acclaimed novels, but also for her unique ​
process ​
in creating these masterpieces. We hope through our study of her works that students begin to understand and appreciate the creative writing process: ​
Where ​
do writers find their inspiration? ​
How ​
do writers turn everyday occurrences into captivating stories? ​
How​
do writers take an inspirational idea and transform it into a gripping narrative? “Picoult makes her characters real as reality.” - Concord Monitor
“Picoult is a skilled wordsmith, and she beautifully creates situations that
not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us.”
- Boston Globe
“The research [she does] really is extraordinary, and so fascinating”
- Katie Couric
ASSIGNMENT:
Select one Picoult title from the attached list to read over the summer. The summer reading assessment requires you to implement Picoult’s writing and researching techniques, culminating in the creation of your own original piece that you will write during the school year. After reading your selected novel: 1. ​
Create a Picoult “What­If?” Question​
: Research a controversial topic in today’s society that would make for an interesting central conflict/inciting incident in a novel. Your question must be preceded by a few sentences explaining WHY this conflict is relevant today. (For more information about Picoult’s “What If?” questions, watch her ​
interview with Katie Couric​
.) For example: Although police officers are armed, and shootings, unfortunately, take place on a regular basis, “police shooting” has become a hot button issue in recent years. The issue is complicated further by racial tensions: in several recent cases, the victims have been African American, and the shooters have been white, equating the shootings with hate crimes. A possible “What if?” question for this topic could be “What if a white racist was accused of a hate crime but didn’t do it?” If you’re having trouble coming up with a central conflict, look through a newspaper or news magazine, or surf the news outlets online for a current event. Refer to the following databases available through our high school’s Media Center: A​
BC­Clio Issue and Points of View Reference Center​
. On the RRHS Media Center’s home page, click on Databases. All passwords are included as a link at the top of the Database page. (see rubric) 2. ​
Create a Character Sketch using Google Presentation​
: Picoult creates novels told from multiple perspectives. When you return to school in the fall, you are going to begin a Picoult­type novel based on your chosen topic. For your summer reading assignment, consider who would tell your story. Create a character sketch of FOUR ​
original​
characters that align with your central conflict and from whose perspective your story will ultimately be told. (see rubric and sample character sketch) 3. ​
Deliver a Presentation on your Character Sketch:​
You will present your researched conflict and character sketch to the class the first week of school.Your presentation should include an explanation of your central conflict and detailed descriptions of each of your four characters. You may use notecards, but you will be penalized for merely reading to the class. You need to implement appropriate presentation skills AND be prepared to answer questions. (see rubric) 4.​
Participate in a Socratic Seminar on your Picoult Novel:​
You will participate in a Socratic seminar the first PLC of the school year based on the Picoult novel you chose to read. ​
Please bring three seminar questions to use as talking points​
. Use your knowledge of in­class Socratic seminars to come up with appropriate questions that facilitate discussion. Remember, a Socratic seminar question is one that doesn’t necessarily have a definite answer but can be discussed using references to the text. PLEASE NOTE: ​
Once you’ve selected your title (spring ‘15), you may NOT change! You’ve been assigned to a seminar, and you must show up to this seminar for points. CHARACTER SKETCH REQUIREMENTS
To get started, think about what types of people you want to be involved in your plot. Consider your targeted audience and what members of this audience would be interested in reading. The characters should have a unique appearance and personality. They need to have enough depth to keep the audience interested, yet they should also be factual enough that your audience takes them seriously. How to Organize Your Character Sketch ● Create a Google Slide presentation for your four characters ● Title your Google slide presentation: “Your Last Name_ Character Sketch”, i.e. Smith_Character Sketch ● Your “what­if” question goes on the first slide, followed by slides for the four individual characters ● Divide each character sketch into four categories: appearance, environment, unique traits, ​
and tie to the central conflict (“what­if” question) ● How many slides you have will be up to you, but be sure that the slides are neat, uniform, and readable by your audience (minimum 18­point font) ● See rubric for grading specifications Each character sketch must include the following information (see the attached sample sketch): Appearance: include four details ● Age ● Gender ● Hair and eye color, hair style, facial features, body type, etc. ● Unique physical traits (clothing, personal style, tattoos, birthmarks, scars, etc.) Environment: include four details ● Where does he/she live? ● How does this person live? (socio­economic status) ● Who makes up this person’s family and/or group of friends? ● Education and/or career? Unique Traits (choose at least four details from the list below) ● What is the character’s name? Nickname? ● Hobby/interests? What does he/she do in his/her free time? ● Personality traits? ● Pet peeves? ● Personal characteristics (habits, unique way of walking or speaking, catch phrase, etc.) ● Favorite possession/good luck charm? ● Favorite book, movie, band, food, place, etc. ● What song reminds you of this person? Why? Tie to the central conflict: what is the relationship between each character and the “What­If” question? Assessment: Character Sketch Rubric Grades 11 & 12 CATEGORY
Significant Development
5
Satisfactory
Development
4
Shows Potential,
But Needs Further
Development
3
Weak, Incomplete,
Lacking Development,
or Not Present
2/1/0
Question is succinct and clear
“What- If?”
Question has a clear, well-explained
Question &
Central Conflict tie to current social issues
Character 1
x2
Clearly and thoroughly addresses
sketch requirements (min. 4 traits)
Clearly and thoroughly explains
relationship to central conflict
(what-if q) and other characters
Character is plausible, life-like, and
“round”
Character 2
x2
Clearly and thoroughly addresses
sketch requirements
Clearly and thoroughly explains
relationship to central conflict and
other characters
Character is plausible, life-like, and
“round”
Character 3
x2
Clearly and thoroughly addresses
sketch requirements
Clearly and thoroughly explains
relationship to central conflict and
other characters
Character is plausible, life-like, and
“round”
Character 4
x2
Clearly and thoroughly addresses
sketch requirements
Clearly and thoroughly explains
relationship to central conflict and
other characters
Character is plausible, life-like, and
“round”
Presentation:
Content
Student clearly addresses all
aspects of the project and
responds ably & confidently to
questions
Presentation:
Speaker
Presence
Speaker is appropriately dressed,
appears prepared, makes eye contact
with audience (speech is not read),
speaks confidently and clearly, and
engages the audience
Visual Appeal /
Layout
Slides are neatly done and uniform
(min. 18 pt font); Follows
organization pattern
Total ________ 60
Rubric for Socratic Seminar Discussion
Strong
5
Satisfactory
4
Developing/
Shows Potential
3
Weak
Not present
2-0 pts
Quantity of
Participation
x3
Student
participates
numerous times
and​
more
frequently​
than
his/her peers
Student participates
as frequently​
as
his/her peers
Student participates
less frequently ​
than
his/her peers
Student simply
restates or agrees
with other students
OR
Student does not
participate
Quality of
Participation
x3
Student
participation
consistently
reflects
sophisticated
knowledge of the
text; student may
ask insightful
questions to move
the discussion
forward
Student
participation
reflects sufficient
knowledge of the
text
Student
participation
reflects knowledge
of the text but is
often a restatement
or agreement with
others and lacks
original thought
Student
participation is
superficial and
non-specific—does
not reflect
knowledge of the
text
Student does not
participate
Student
participation is
consistently
original and
thoughtful—not
just a restatement
or agreement with
other students
Seminar
Questions
X2
Student brings 3
seminar questions
that are
thoughtful and
add to a
meaningful
discussion.
Student brings 3
seminar questions
that are
appropriate for a
discussion.
- Student brings 1-2
questions.
- Questions are not
“Socratic” in nature
and do not promote
discussion
Student does not
bring questions (0).
Student Score_________/40
English 11 & 12 Summer Reading Titles
Choose ONE title.
Please note that books noted with an * require signed parental permission.
(Title summaries adapted from Amazon.com.)
Between the Lines What happens when happily ever after…isn’t? Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular: ​
Between the Lines​
. The book may be a fairy tale, but to Delilah, it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah....Really. He ​
actually speaks to her. As it turns out, Oliver is more than a one­dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom. Change of Heart One moment June Nealon was happily looking forward to years full of laughter and adventure with her family, and the next, she was staring into a future that was as empty as her heart. For Shay Bourne, life holds no more surprises. The world has given him nothing, and he has nothing to offer the world. In a heartbeat, something happens that changes everything for him. Now, he has one last chance for salvation, and it lies with June's eleven­year­old daughter, Claire. Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish? Handle with Care* When Willow is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, her parents are devastated—she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. Willow’s parents, ​
Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe, face sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of “luckier” parents, and maybe worst of all, the what­ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what­ifs of all. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow’s illness? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life? Harvesting the Heart Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who abandoned her at five years old. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence and shameful memories of her past force her to doubt whether she could ever be capable of bringing joy and meaning into the life of her child, gifts her own mother never gave. House Rules Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject—forensic analysis. When Jacob’s small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob’s behaviors are hallmark Asperger’s, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. For Jacob’s mother, Emma, it’s a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it’s another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob. Is Jacob guilty? Keeping Faith In the small town of New Canaan, N.H., 33­year­old Mariah discovers that her husband, Colin, is having an affair. Years ago, his cheating drove Mariah to attempt suicide and Colin had her briefly committed to an institution. Now Mariah's facing divorce and again fighting depression, when her eight­year­old daughter, Faith, suddenly acquires an imaginary friend. Soon this friend is telling the girl how to bring her grandmother back from the dead and how to cure a baby dying of AIDS. As Faith manifests stigmata, doctors are astounded, and religious controversy ensues, in part because Faith insists that God is a woman. An alarmed Colin sues for custody of Faith, and the fear of losing her daughter dramatically changes meek, diffident Mariah into a strong, protective and brave woman. Leaving Time For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts. Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and a private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. Lone Wolf On an icy winter night, a terrible accident forces a family divided to come together and make a fateful decision. Cara, once protected by her father, Luke, is tormented by a secret that nobody knows. Her brother, Edward, has secrets of his own. He has kept them hidden, but now they may come to light, and if they do, Cara will be devastated. Their mother, Georgie, was never able to compete with her ex­husband’s obsessions, and now, his fate hangs in the balance and in the hands of her children. With conflicting motivations and emotions, what will this family decide? And will they be able to live with that decision, after the truth has been revealed? What happens when the hope that should sustain a family is the very thing tearing it apart? Mercy* Police chief of a small Massachusetts town, Cameron McDonald makes the toughest arrest of his life when his own cousin Jamie comes to him and confesses outright that he has killed his terminally ill wife out of mercy. Now, a heated murder trial plunges the town into upheaval, and drives a wedge into a contented marriage. And when an inexplicable attraction leads to a shocking betrayal, Allie faces the hardest questions of the heart: when does love cross the line of moral obligation? And what does it mean to truly love another? Nineteen Minutes* Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens­­until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes­­or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show­­destroying the closest of friendships and families. ​
Nineteen Minutes​
asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be. Perfect Match How far would you go in the name of love ­­ and justice? In the course of her everyday work, career­driven assistant district attorney Nina Frost prosecutes child molesters and works determinedly to ensure that a legal system with too many loopholes keeps these criminals behind bars. But when her own five­year­old son, Nathaniel, is traumatized by a sexual assault, Nina and her husband, Caleb, a quiet and methodical stone mason, are shattered, ripped apart by an enraging sense of helplessness in the face of a futile justice system that Nina knows all too well. In a heartbeat, Nina's absolute truths and convictions are turned upside down, and she hurtles toward a plan to exact her own justice for her son ­­ no matter the consequence, whatever the sacrifice. Picture Perfect* What if something terrible has happened to you...but you can’t remember what it is? To the outside world, Cassie and Alex seem to have it all. Cassie Barrett, a renowned anthropologist, and Alex Rivers, one of Hollywood's hottest actors, met on the set of a motion picture in Africa. They shared childhood tales, toasted the future, and were quickly wed in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. But when they return to California, something alters the picture of their perfect marriage. A frightening pattern is taking shape—a cycle of hurt, denial, and promises, thinly veiled by glamour. When Cassie wakes up in a graveyard and can’t remember why she’s there, or who she is, the veil begins to fall away as Cassie desperately searches for the truth ­ and a way out. Plain Truth* The discovery of a dead infant in an Amish barn shakes Lancaster County to its core. But the police investigation leads to a more shocking disclosure: circumstantial evidence suggests that eighteen­year­old Katie Fisher, an unmarried Amish woman believed to be the newborn's mother, took the child's life. When Ellie Hathaway, a disillusioned big­city attorney, comes to Paradise, Pennsylvania, to defend Katie, two cultures collide ­­ and for the first time in her high­profile career, Ellie faces a system of justice very different from her own. Delving deep inside the world of those who live "plain," Ellie must find a way to reach Katie on her terms. The Storyteller Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t. Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long­buried and shame​
ful secret and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With this news, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. What lengths will we go to in order to keep the past from dictating the future? Vanishing Acts* How do you recover the past when it was never yours to lose? Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her beloved, widowed father, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search­and­rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can’t recall…until a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret about herself that changes the world as she knows it—and threatens to jeopardize her future. Please note: ​
Alternate summer reading titles may be requested. Please contact your English teacher for more information. Permission Slip for Summer Reading Book Choice notes with an *
DUE: May 6 The RRHS English Department is delighted to announce that­­thanks to the generous support of the Rocky River Education Foundation author Jodi Picoult will visit RRHS in December. In anticipation of her visit, we have included many Picoult titles for summer reading 2015. We’ve selected Jodi Picoult not only for her critically acclaimed novels, but also for her unique ​
process ​
in creating these masterpieces. We hope through our study of her works that students begin to understand and appreciate the creative writing process: ​
Where ​
do writers find their inspiration? ​
How ​
do writers turn everyday occurrences into captivating stories? ​
How​
do writers take an inspirational idea and transform it into a gripping narrative? I give my student, ________________________________________________(student’s name), permission to read the Jodi Picoult book he/she has chosen, ________________________________________________________, (book title) for summer reading. I understand that this book contains mature language and issues. Each novel has been reviewed by an RRHS teacher and has received approval for use by administration. Please contact your student’s current English teacher if you have any questions. _______________________________________________ _______________________ Signature of Parent/Guardian
Date