Rising 10th Grade-- Summer Assignment
Choose ONE of the following delightful novels to read. Some are short, some are long. Some are hard,
some are easy. Some are really for 5th graders, and some are very mature in content. Please choose
books that are at YOUR reading level and interest level. That doesn’t mean picking the easy way out-,
nor does it mean trying to ‘impress’ the teacher. It means choosing books you will actually read and
finish.
Herman Melville: Typee
Herman Melville: The Confidence Man
Herman Melville: Billy Budd, Benito Cereno and Bartleby (copies available from Ms. Simon)
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
James Fenimore Cooper: Last of the Mohicans
Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer
Stephen Crane: Red Badge of Courage
Jack London: Call of the Wild
Jack London: White Fang
Louisa May Alcott: Little Women
Louisa May Alcott: Little Men
Kate Chopin: The Awakening (mature readers)
Howard Fast: April Morning
Elizabeth Speare: Calico Captive
Lois Lenski: Indian Captive
Scott O’Dell: Streams to the River, River to the Sea
Sarah Orne Jewett: The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Short Stories
James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier: My Brother Sam is Dead
Robert Lawson: Ben and Me
(assignment is on the next page)
ASSIGNMENT:
Now, you have to prove to me that you read the book. Choose the option that works for you and the
book you chose. (NOTE: If you are using one of the options with short stories you will have to find a way
to prove you read them all!)
Options:
1. You are a newspaper journalist, and you were there, in your book’s world/time. Write a series of
newspaper articles (5 per book) as you cover the story like a good journalist would. Articles must
be quite factual and written in the style of a current day newspaper. Articles need to be 200250 words each. Print them in column format, like they would be in a newspaper.
2. You are a photojournalist- set up miniature scenes for 10 important events in your book. Use
pipe cleaner people, dolls, stuffed animals, paper dolls (cut outs on cardboard- ask your
grandma, she’ll know what these are!), Lego etc. set up the scene, and take a photo.
3. Minecraft- using Minecraft, create and print illustrations for your book- Choose key moments. 510, depending on how fast you are. Other digital drawing tools are fine too.
4. Choose a character, and write his/her diary. Write 15-20 SHORT entries. Try to give the entries a
date based on the time frame of the story.
5.
Choose a troubled character from the book. You are his/her therapist. Write entries recording
the imaginary sessions you have with your patient. Meet with him/her for 5 weeks. At the end
of that time, review your notes, and write up a summary and proposal for continued care for
your patient. (All of this is of course made up- based on your ability to understand the character
and his/her personality as presented in the book)
6. Small group option: gather some friends, everyone reads the same book. Then, write a skit
based on the book. Act it out, and video the performance (20 minutes or so). This is a group
grade, and all must participate.
7. TWO person option: you both read the same book, and prepare a 15 minute presentation for
the class. Teach us about the author, the time period, the characters, the problems, etc.
8. MUSICAL: Compose, and perform 3-4 songs based on your book. Record your performance. You
must also submit the ORIGINAL lyrics to your songs.
9. RESEARCH: Research the time period of your book. This is especially interesting if you are
reading the Civil War/ Revolution/ or other historical novels. Write an essay in which you discuss
how well the author depicted the events and characters of that time. In some cases, the books
are about real people- how accurate is the representation? Use 4-5 sources, and of course use
quotes, and correct MLA citation. About 4-5 pages, double spaced, Garamond, 12 point font.
10. ILLUSTRATION: For the artistically gifted- illustrate your book—at least 10 illustrations from
different parts of the book. Be SURE to write/type a short excerpt from the book that you are
illustrating. Your illustrations must be original.