9th Honors Lit. Summer Reading 2015—Centennial High School
Welcome to your first taste of high school and, more specifically, 9th Grade Honors Literature and Composition!
We want you to be successful next year, which starts with completing these assignments in an effective and timely
manner. You need to have ALL assignments completed and ready to turn in the first day of school. Those
assignments will be collected and an assessment given within the first two weeks of classes. This is the first
impression we will have of you—so make it a good one and don’t start off behind!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Mr. Manny at mannys@fultonschools.org. He will try to answer
you at his earliest convenience by checking his email daily; sometimes he forgets, though, because he is caught up in
the excellence of summer and the sweet, sweet nectar that is the beach. Please forgive him.
The focus of the summer assignment will be “The Portrayal of Children.” You will read two novels and watch one
film, all of which portray children in a certain light. You will be dissecting those portrayals. Buckle up.
 Novels: the local library is your friend; if you have a brother and/or sister in college, their inter-college
library loan program is your second friend; used copies on Amazon is your third friend; Amazon Prime your
fourth; local bookstore your fifth; big box bookstore your sixth. In other words, don’t spend more money
than you have to and/or support local economy!
o A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (the first 50 pages are slow, but then it picks up. Stick
with it. Children are kidnapped by pirates.)
o The Bad Seed by William March
***Assignment: do separately for EACH novel; TYPE BOTH PARTS.
1. Read thoroughly.
2. Write down 15 interesting/important quotations (with page number)
a. Explain 5 of them. What makes them interesting? How do they tie into the novel’s theme(s)?
3. Write an analysis of the novel, focusing more on answering the question “What does the author’s portrayal
of a child or children show? Why would he choose to represent a child or children in this manner?”
a. Notes of importance: don’t use I, me, or you; don’t just retell the story—use the events of the story
to back up YOUR ideas. Your analysis should cover the entire novel, not just one part.
b. How long should these analyses be? Great question. They need to be as long as it takes you to fully
analyze and dissect the entire novel…

Films: pick ONE of the films below to watch and analyze. Again, use your free resources FIRST. Libraries
have a great collection of older and newer films. NOTE: some of these films are rated “R” and/or have
suggestive themes or events. Ask your parents for permission before viewing them.
o Beasts of the Southern Wild
o A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
o Stand by Me
o Moonrise Kingdom
o Life is Beautiful
o Billy Elliot
o Hugo
***Assignment: looking at the main child in the film (in A.I. it would be David), write an analysis on how the
character develops throughout the film. What does he or she experience that causes him or her to grow as both
a character and a child? How does this growth mirror your own growth? What have you experienced that has led
you to make those same discoveries about yourself, if not the world? TYPE THIS. You can, obviously use I and
me in this portion, but NEVER say “I think…” Clearly it’s what you think—you’re writing it.