ELA Summer Reading Assignment
for
Incoming 6th graders
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can make the transition from fifth to sixth grade really difficult. Harmony
students can start strong in the fall if their reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more students read,
the stronger their skills are in all subject areas.
Students must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Don’t forget that summer should still be fun! Summer reading is the opportunity for students to relax and enjoy
themselves. If you get to pick your books, you will be more likely to spend more time reading, not because you have to,
but because you want to. You can read any books you want this summer, but if you want some suggestions, look at the
Suggestions for Summer Reading list.
Readers should pick books that appeal to them, not books that frustrate them. If you have to check the dictionary
every 5 minutes, how can you get lost in a book? Use the five-finger rule: find a book that looks good, open it to any
random full page, and hold up a finger every time you find a word you don’t know. At the end of the page, if you have 4
or 5 fingers up, you’re in the wrong book.
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. When you finish a book this summer, you can write about it in any of the following
ways:
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check
newspapers, in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk
about your favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or
why she chose to develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the
book relates to your own life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Option D: 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.
Option E: Create a multi-media presentation about the book. This can be a PowerPoint presentation, a digital
story, a series of film clips, or any other multi-media form, and it can document any of the ways the text
connects with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
Some Suggestions for Sixth Grade Summer Reading
(see http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html for even more suggestions)
Series
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer—fantasy, action, humor
The Alex Rider Adventure series by Anthony Horowitz—action, spy thriller
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—fantasy, magic, action
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan—fantasy, action
The Books of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau—futuristic, action
The Candle Man series by Glen Dakin—fantasy, action, historical
The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan—action, history
The Gods of Manhattan series by Scott Mebus—action, fantasy, history
The Magic Thief series by Sarah Prineas—fantasy, action
The Theodore Boone series by John Grisham—mystery, action
The Books of the Beginning series by John Stevens—action, fantasy
Realistic Fiction
The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid
Fleischman
Phenomena: Secrets of the Senses by Donna M. Jackson
Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party by Ying Chang
Compestine
Fantasy
Mockingbird: (Mok’ing-burd) by Kathryn Erskine
The Seer of Shadows by Avi
Powerless by Matthew Cody
Graphic Novels and Manga
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection by
Matt Dembicki
Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O’Connor
Action and Sports
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Holes by Louis Sachar
Scat by Carl Hiassen
Nonfiction
Harriet Tubman, Secret Angent by Thomas B. Allen
The Word Snoop by Ursula Dubosarsky
How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush by Tod
Olson
ELA Summer Reading Assignment
for
Incoming 7th graders
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can make the transition from sixth to seventh grade really difficult. Harmony
students can start strong in the fall if their reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more students read,
the stronger their skills are in all subject areas.
Students must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Don’t forget that summer should still be fun! Summer reading is the opportunity for students to relax and enjoy
themselves. If you get to pick your books, you will be more likely to spend more time reading, not because you have to,
but because you want to. You can read any books you want this summer, but if you want some suggestions, look at the
Suggestions for Summer Reading list.
Readers should pick books that appeal to them, not books that frustrate them. If you have to check the dictionary
every 5 minutes, how can you get lost in a book? Use the five-finger rule: find a book that looks good, open it to any
random full page, and hold up a finger every time you find a word you don’t know. At the end of the page, if you have 4
or 5 fingers up, you’re in the wrong book.
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. When you finish a book this summer, you can write about it in any of the following
ways:
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check
newspapers, in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk
about your favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or
why she chose to develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the
book relates to your own life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Option D: 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.
Option E: Create a multi-media presentation about the book. This can be a PowerPoint presentation, a digital
story, a series of film clips, or any other multi-media form, and it can document any of the ways the text
connects with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
Some Suggestions for Seventh Grade Summer Reading
(see http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html for even more suggestions)
Series
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer—fantasy, action, humor
The Alex Rider Adventure series by Anthony Horowitz—action, spy thriller
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—fantasy, magic, action
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan—fantasy, action
The Books of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau—dystopia, politics
The Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke—fantasy, action
The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley—drama, horses
The Gone series by Michael Grant—supernatural, action
The Gatekeepers series by Alex Horowitz—supernatural, action
The Children of the Lamp series by P.B. Kerr—supernatural, actions, international
Realistic Fiction
Fat Cat by Robin Brand
The Postcard by Tony Abbot
Sir Charlie Chaplin: The Funniest Man in the World by
Sid Fleischman
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for
Freedom by Margarita Engle
Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant
Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Fantasy
Graphic Novels and Manga
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Richard
Yancey
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Dragon’s Keep by Janey Lee Carey
Coraline by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection by
Matt Dembicki
Action and Sports
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Nonfiction
The Real Benedict Arnold by Jim Murphy
The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell
Freedman
Holes by Louis Sachar
Hoot by Carl Hiassen
The Brain Finds a Leg by Martin Chatterton
ELA Summer Reading Assignment
for
Incoming 8th graders
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can make the transition from seventh to eighth grade really difficult. Harmony
students can start strong in the fall if their reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more students read,
the stronger their skills are in all subject areas.
Students must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Don’t forget that summer should still be fun! Summer reading is the opportunity for students to relax and enjoy
themselves. If you get to pick your books, you will be more likely to spend more time reading, not because you have to,
but because you want to. You can read any books you want this summer, but if you want some suggestions, look at the
Suggestions for Summer Reading list.
Readers should pick books that appeal to them, not books that frustrate them. If you have to check the dictionary
every 5 minutes, how can you get lost in a book? Use the five-finger rule: find a book that looks good, open it to any
random full page, and hold up a finger every time you find a word you don’t know. At the end of the page, if you have 4
or 5 fingers up, you’re in the wrong book.
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. When you finish a book this summer, you can write about it in any of the following
ways:
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check
newspapers, in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk
about your favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or
why she chose to develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the
book relates to your own life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Option D: 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.
Option E: Create a multi-media presentation about the book. This can be a PowerPoint presentation, a digital
story, a series of film clips, or any other multi-media form, and it can document any of the ways the text
connects with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
Some Suggestions for Eighth Grade Summer Reading
(see http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html for even more suggestions)
Series
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer—fantasy, action, humor
The His Subtle Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman—fantasy, action
The Alex Rider Adventure series by Anthony Horowitz—action, spy thriller
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—fantasy, magic, action
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan—fantasy, action
The Books of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau—dystopia, politics
The Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke—fantasy, action
The Wrinkle in Time quartet by Madeline L’Engle—parallel universe, action, drama
The Heist Society series by Ally Carter—action, intrigue, spies
The Incarceron series by Catherine Fisher—fantasy, action
The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld—steam punk, fantasy, action
Independence Hall by Roland Smith—action, spies, politics
The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley—drama, horses
The Gone series by Michael Grant—supernatural, action
Realistic Fiction
Chains by Lauria Halse Anderson
Fat Cat by Robin Brand
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline Cooney
Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne
Graphic Novels and Manga
Mouse Guard by David Peterson
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Coraline by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Nonfiction
The Real Benedict Arnold by Jim Murphy
The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman
Sir Charlie Chaplin: The Funniest Man in the World by Sid Fleischman
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
Fantasy
The Stars Like Dust by Isaac Asimov
The Keeper’s Tattoo by Gill Arbuthnott
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Richard Yancey
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigulpi
Action and Sports
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Holes by Louis Sachar
Hoot by Carl Hiassen
Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series by John Feinstein
ELA Summer Reading Assignment
for
Incoming 9th graders
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can make the transition from eighth grade to ninth grade really difficult.
Harmony students can start strong in the fall if their reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more
students read, the stronger their skills are in all subject areas.
Students must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Don’t forget that summer should still be fun! Summer reading is the opportunity for students to relax and enjoy
themselves. If you get to pick your books, you will be more likely to spend more time reading, not because you have to,
but because you want to. You can read any books you want this summer, but if you want some suggestions, look at the
Suggestions for Summer Reading list.
Readers should pick books that appeal to them, not books that frustrate them. If you have to check the dictionary
every 5 minutes, how can you get lost in a book? Use the five-finger rule: find a book that looks good, open it to any
random full page, and hold up a finger every time you find a word you don’t know. At the end of the page, if you have 4
or 5 fingers up, you’re in the wrong book.
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. When you finish a book this summer, you can write about it in any of the following
ways:
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check
newspapers, in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk
about your favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or
why she chose to develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the
book relates to your own life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Option D: 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.
Option E: Create a multi-media presentation about the book. This can be a PowerPoint presentation, a digital
story, a series of film clips, or any other multi-media form, and it can document any of the ways the text
connects with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
Some Suggestions for Ninth Grade Summer Reading
(see http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html for even more suggestions)
Series
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer—fantasy, action, humor
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien—fantasy, action, classic
The His Subtle Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman—fantasy, action
The Alex Rider Adventure series by Anthony Horowitz—action, spy thriller
The Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan—dark fantasy, vampires
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis—fantasy, action, classic
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—fantasy, magic, action
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins—dystopia, action
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan—fantasy, action
The Books of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau—dystopia, politics
The Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke—fantasy, action
The DriftX series by Todd Strasser—action, car chase
The Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer—vampires, action
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto—manga, action, mythology
Nonfiction
Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel
Warriors Versus Warriors: Ten Fighters, Five Battles, ONE
WINNER by Catherine Brereton, Philip Steele, and
Hannah Wilson
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Eat This, Not That! By David Zinczeko
How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending the Earth
Against Alien Invaders by Daniel H Wilson
Fantasy
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Plain Kate by Erin Bow
The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Action and Sports
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Dying to Win by Patricia Rushford
Losing is Not An Option by Rich Wallace
Summerland by Michael Chabon
Travel Team by Mike Lupica
Slam! by Walter Dean Myers
Realistic Fiction
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Graphic Novels and Manga
Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt
Green Monk by Brandon Dayton
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez
ELA Summer Reading Assignment
For
Incoming 10th graders
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can ruin all the hard work you did this year and set you back next year. Harmony
students can start strong in the fall if their reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more students read,
the stronger their skills are in all subject areas.
Students must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Don’t forget that summer should still be fun! Summer reading is the opportunity for students to relax and enjoy
themselves. If you get to pick your books, you will be more likely to spend more time reading, not because you have to,
but because you want to. You can read any books you want this summer, but if you want some suggestions, look at the
Suggestions for Summer Reading list.
Readers should pick books that appeal to them, not books that frustrate them. If you have to check the dictionary
every 5 minutes, how can you get lost in a book? Use the five-finger rule: find a book that looks good, open it to any
random full page, and hold up a finger every time you find a word you don’t know. At the end of the page, if you have 4
or 5 fingers up, you’re in the wrong book.
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. When you finish a book this summer, you can write about it in any of the following
ways:
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check
newspapers, in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk
about your favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or
why she chose to develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the
book relates to your own life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Option D: 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.
Option E: Create a multi-media presentation about the book. This can be a PowerPoint presentation, a digital
story, a series of film clips, or any other multi-media form, and it can document any of the ways the text
connects with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
Some Suggestions for Tenth Grade Summer Reading
(see http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html for even more suggestions)
Here’s some lists of popular books you could read. Remember, though, that you can read any four books you want,
even if they’re not on the list.
Series
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien—fantasy, action, classic
The His Subtle Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman—fantasy, action
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis—fantasy, action, classic
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—fantasy, magic, action
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins—dystopia, action
The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer—romance, action, vampires
The Wrinkle in Time series by Madeline L’Engle—science fiction, fantasy, action
The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld—dystopia, romance
The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy by Carrie Ryan—dystopia, zombies, romance
The Solitary series by Alexander Gordon Smith—prison, action, dystopia
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto—manga, action, mythology
The Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer—vampires, action
Nonfiction
This is Why You're Fat: Where Dreams Become Heart
Attacks by Jessica Amason and Richard Blakeley
Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri
and Randy DuBurke
Ghosts: Caught on Film by Melvyn Willin
Fantasy
Matched by Allie Condie
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Reckless by Cornelia Funke
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Graphic Novels and Manga
The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Gene Luen
Yang
Green Monk by Brandon Dayton
Action and Sports
Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
Saturday Night Dirt by Will Weaver
Iceman by Chris Lynch
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Offsides by Eric Esckilsen
Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Marcus Zusak
Summerland by Michael Chabon
Realistic Fiction
Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu
Nothing but the Truth by Avi
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez
Tex by S.E. Hinton
ELA Summer Reading Assignment
For
Incoming 11th graders
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can get in the way of your education. Harmony students can start strong in the
fall if their reading habits don’t slide away during the summer. The more students read, the stronger their skills are in
all subject areas.
Students must read at least 4 books this summer to complete the assignment, but more books = extra credit!
Don’t forget that summer should still be fun! Summer reading is the opportunity for students to relax and enjoy
themselves. If you get to pick your books, you will be more likely to spend more time reading, not because you have to,
but because you want to. You can read any books you want this summer, but if you want some suggestions, look at the
Suggestions for Summer Reading list.
Readers should pick books that appeal to them, not books that frustrate them. If you have to check the dictionary
every 5 minutes, how can you get lost in a book? Use the five-finger rule: find a book that looks good, open it to any
random full page, and hold up a finger every time you find a word you don’t know. At the end of the page, if you have 4
or 5 fingers up, you’re in the wrong book.
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. When you finish a book this summer, you can write about it in any of the following
ways:
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check
newspapers, in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk
about your favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or
why she chose to develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the
book relates to your own life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Option D: 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.
Option E: Create a multi-media presentation about the book. This can be a PowerPoint presentation, a digital
story, a series of film clips, or any other multi-media form, and it can document any of the ways the text
connects with you, with other texts, or with the world around you.
Some Suggestions for Eleventh Grade Summer Reading
(see http://www.haisln.org/recommendedreadinglists.html for even more suggestions)
Series
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien—fantasy, action, classic
The His Subtle Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman—fantasy, action
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis—fantasy, action, classic
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—fantasy, magic, action
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins—dystopia, action
The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer—romance, action, vampires
The Wrinkle in Time series by Madeline L’Engle—science fiction, fantasy, action
The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld—dystopia, romance
The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy by Carrie Ryan—dystopia, zombies, romance
The Solitary series by Alexander Gordon Smith—prison, action, dystopia
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto—manga, action, mythology
Nonfiction
Set to Sea by Drew Weing
World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored and Explained
by John Bowker
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Gene Luen
Yang
Drive by Daniel Pink
Action and Sports
Romance
Saturday Night Dirt by Will Weaver
Matched by Allie Condie
Iceman by Chris Lynch
Dark Song by Gail Giles
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Jinx by Meg Cabot
Offsides by Eric Esckilsen
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Marcus Zusak
Summerland by Michael Chabon
Fantasy
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Realistic Fiction
The Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Nothing but the Truth by Avi
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Graphic Novels and Manga
Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez
Chew Volume 1 by John Layman and Rob Guillory
Tex by S.E. Hinton
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Example Write-Ups
Option A: Write a book review. Do you recommend this book to other readers? Why or why not? (Check newspapers,
in print or online, and magazines like Time for examples of book reviews.)
Every single human being on the planet should read Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008); however,
fans of dystopia are the only potential readers who have no excuse for skipping out on this series. The basic
premise of The Hunger Games is not entirely unique and ground-breaking in the dystopian genre: Each of the
oppressed states of futuristic Pan-Em must select by lottery two teenagers to participate in a deadly reality
show, and the last two survivors win. On a literal level, The Hunger Games is a lot like Blade Runner and
Shirley Jones’s classic “The Lottery.” Dystopia junkies will recognize and appreciate The Hunger Games for
growing from solid roots in the genre. The novel appeals to all sorts of readers for the same reason that it will
outlast the recent trendy profusion of Young Adult post-apocalyptic fodder not because it conforms totally to
the genre, but because of its protagonist, Katniss Everdeen.
Katniss rings uncomfortably, uncannily true. She
makes utterly terrible decisions motivated mostly by anger and misunderstanding. Her world has scarred her
so deeply that her heart doesn’t always communicate effectively with her head and her mouth, so her words
seldom reflect her inner strength. Most compellingly, her teenage sense of righteous indignation and her
hard-won rough exterior sharply contrast with the deep love and self-sacrifice for the people she has to fight, to
the death, for her own survival. The stunning ending of this novel makes its readers demand the sequel,
Catching Fire. This book and its two sequels will endure with series by Madeline L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R.
Tolkien, and E.B. White as Young Adult fantasy with truly literary depictions of truth and beauty in
humanity’s darkest hours.
Option B: Do some creative writing. 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.
Windows by Beulah McGiblet
She climbs into your lap as you stare
Out into the woods past the barrier.
I look to your eyes to see what’s out there,
But your eyes reflect nothing, so I pick her up, carry her
Back to her bed, but I know she won’t sleep,
Just like I won’t sleep, not with the hollow
Gnawing in my belly, gnawing deep
Into my bones. In the pre-dawn, I follow
The last stars’ descent into the woods. I know
You can see me there from your window.
And I know that you know that I can’t go, but must go.
Because you won’t.
This poem was inspired by Katniss’s early description of her feelings about her mother. Katniss says that when she looks
at her mother, “all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and
bones. I try to forgive her for my father’s sake. But to be honest, I’m not the forgiving type” (Collins 8). When Katniss’s
father died, her mother was so depressed that she did not work for the food to feed her family. The poem presents an
image of a mother ignoring and neglecting her children while she stares out the window. In the poem, the speaker
describes the hunger as a “hollow” feeling “gnawing at her belly” so she can’t sleep. In the novel, Katniss had to break
the rules and go past the fence into the woods to hunt and gather food to feed her family and to exchange for the
other things they needed to survive. Her mother must have known that Katniss was breaking the rules and risking her
life to support the family while she was locked in her own mourning, and Katniss resents her mother for letting her
take that risk and responsibility. In the poem, she says she “must go” into the woods “because you won’t.” If Katniss
had not been the provider for her family, she would never have entered the Hunger Games in the first place; she would
also probably have been better at loving and trusting people if she had been able to love and trust her mother after her
father died.
Option C: Write a letter to the author about the book. The content of the letter is up to you. You can talk about your
favorite parts of the book. You can ask the author how he came up with the idea for the book or why she chose to
develop the plot or characters or theme in a certain way. You can explain ways you think the book relates to your own
life, or you can make connections between the book and the real world.
Dear Ms. Collins,
Your book The Hunger Games changed the way I think about politics and the media. Before I read your book, I only
watched the news or read the newspaper if I had to for a class assignment. When I watched T.V., I watched reality
shows like Survivor and The Bachelor , and I assume that everything I saw in those shows actually happened just like
that in real life. After all, why else would they call it reality television? I never cared about what went on in the
outside world because I didn’t think it mattered to me personally. I never questioned the messages in the shows I
watch for fun because I didn’t realize that anything fun could even have a deeper meaning behind it.
But then I read The Hunger Games. In the novel, Katniss gets to know a whole team of people whose job it is to make
her look a certain way and act a certain way just to keep people watching the show. Of course I knew that in real life,
nobody looks the way they look on television. I realized that everybody on television probably has to have their hair
and makeup done and their clothes picked out, and they probably have to practice talking and think about what they
say before they say it, but I never really thought about how all that planning and primping actually changes the
television show into kind of a lie, or at least not the whole truth the way it happened in real time. The novel depicts
the stylist team as stupid but well-meaning, except for Cinna. You made Cinna a real artist who cared about Katniss
and Peeta very much. I think the way you characterized him would help your novel appeal to people who care about
image for all the right reasons.
After I read the novel, I started watching reality shows and news shows much more carefully. I’m trying to figure out
when I might be lied to. I have to consider the source now, and I have to think about bias and slant. What issues in
the world today made you imagine a society where the government uses the media to spread lies and control the
people? It reminds me a lot of how some leaders of different countries have restricted their people’s internet access.
Thank you so much for writing this fantastic novel. I hope you have another series after this one, and I can’t wait to
watch the movie they’re making of The Hunger Games.
Sincerely,
Your fan, Beulah McGiblet
Option D: 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.
In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen was named after the katniss plant, a generic term for the
Sagitarria plants, also called duck potato, arrowhead, and kuwai. Katniss grows in the water. The three
points of its leaves are shaped like arrows, and its flowers are white with pink centers. The katniss plant
grows wild in Central, South, and North America, and although it is edible, no one has ever cultivated it
as a food crop. Although its flowers are quite beautiful, they are not commonly grown as ornamental
plants in water gardens, although it is sometimes grown in aquariums. Its occasional use in aquariums
is the likely explanation for katniss’s introduction into the non-native ecosystems of Southern England
and Northern Italy, where it apparently thrives (“Sagittaria”.) The plant, then, is a lot like the
character: Katniss runs wild in the forest, breaking rules to keep her family fed. The District moves her to
an environment that is very different from what she is used to, but she thrives there anyway. The District
tries to use her, but when she decorates Rue with flowers in one of the most tragic scenes in the novel,
Katniss proves that she can’t be tamed and cultivated.
Work Cited :
“Sagittaria.” 24 Feb 2011. Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Katniss> 18 April 2013.
Summer Assignment Evaluation Rubric
Mastery
Sustained focus
Explicit and implicit
connections with the text
read
Fulfills its established
purpose
Fully developed and
supported (shows as well
as tells)
Proceeds smoothly and
logically from one point to
the next
Strong command of
language and conventions
Developing
Mastery
Competence
Developing
Competence
Developing