Robert T. Hill 7Th Grade Summer Reading Project

Robert T. Hill 7th Grade Summer Reading Project

PART 1: Choose any ONE of the following books to read over the summer. Most of the following books can be found at your local public library and rented for free with a free library card, purchased at a bookstore, or used for free as an eBook (links are next to each book). For a list of local public libraries, hours, and directions, please visit http://dallaslibrary2.org/hours.php

PRE-AP PART 1: Choose any TWO of the following books to read over the summer. Most of the following books can be found at your local public library and rented for free with a free library card, purchased at a bookstore, or used for free as an eBook (links are next to each book). For a list of local public libraries, hours, and directions, please visit http://dallaslibrary2.org/hours.php See the synopsis of each book listed below before making your selection(s). Fiction: 1. “The Giver” by Lowis Lowry (eBook) http://www.acecharterhigh.org/english2/theGiver.pdf 2. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne (higher level) (eBook) http://www.anderson5.net/cms/lib02/SC01001931/Centricity/Domain/222/The %20Boy%20in%20the%20Striped%20Pajamas.pdf 3. “The Skin I’m In” by Sharon Flake 4. “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green (eBook) http://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/stvarraso/The-Fault-In-Our- Stars/TFIOS_JG_English.pdf 5. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins (eBook) http://www.extralargeprint.org/Hunger-Games-18.pdf 6. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams (higher level) (eBook) http://f3.tiera.ru/other/DVD- 011/Adams_D._The_Hitchhicker[ap]s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(2001)(en)(227s).pdf 7. “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak (higher level) (eBook) http://mrsehimmy.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/the-book-thief-markus-zusak.pdf Nonfiction: 1. “Facing the Lion” by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton 2. “Iqbal” by Francesco D’Adamo and Ann Leonori 3. “Always Running: La Vida Loca” by Luis J. Rodriguez 4. “Hiroshima” by John Hersey (higher level) (eBook) http://www.eflclub.com/10books/hiroshima.pdf 5. “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser (higher level)

Synopses: “Because of Winn The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal Dixie” goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket--and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar.

Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship--and forgiveness--can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm. “Wonder” I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school - until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels. “The Secret Life of The Secret Life of Bees is the story of Lily Owens, a girl who has shaped her Bees” life around one devastating memory—the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Besides her harsh and unyielding father, Lily’s only real companion is Rosaleen, a tender, but fierce-hearted black woman who cooks, cleans and acts as her "stand-in mother."

Set in 1964 in South Carolina, a place and time of seething racial divides, violence explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten. Lily is desperate, not only to save Rosaleen, but to flee from a life she can no longer endure. Calling upon her colorful wits and youthful daring, she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two escape, into what quickly becomes Lily’s quest for the truth about her mother’s life.

They are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters, May, June, and August, and Lily is consumed by their secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Lily’s journey is one of painful secrets and shattering betrayals but that ultimately helps her find the thing her heart longs for most. “An Abundance of Katherines” “A Light in the Attic” “The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963”

“Barack Obama: Son Ever since he was a young boy, hope lived inside Barack Obama. Learn about of Promise, Child of the many places he lived as a child – from the beaches of Hawaii to the Hope” streets of Chicago, from the jungles of Indonesia to the plains of Kenya – and how he held on to hope through it all.

Even as a child, Barack knew he wasn’t quite like anyone else. Through his many journeys, he found the ability to listen to hope, follow his dreams and become what he was meant to be: a bridge to bring people of all races, religions and cultural background together in peace and freedom.

This is the moving story of an exceptional man who has motivated not only Americans, but people all over the world to believe with him that ever one of us has the power to change ourselves and change the world. “Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl” “Sports Science for Young People” “Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini” “We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March” “Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem

PART 2: Complete any ONE of the following projects for the book you read. Be sure to include your name, the title, and the author on your choice of assignment. Create a “soundtrack” for the book. On a poster or large sheet of paper, Create a children’s picture book based What 5 songs would you choose? Give draw 10 objects or symbols to on your book. Draw or create pictures an explanation for why you chose each represent the book. Using complete that illustrate the important concepts of song and how it connects to the events sentences, explain what each object or the story line of your book and be sure or characters in the book. Include the symbol represents and explain how the to tell the main points in your picture title, artist and lyrics for each song. symbol is important to the book. book. Write a 2-3 paragraph proposal to have Complete each of these eight ideas with In a Power Point or Windows Movie the book you’ve read made into a words or ideas from the book you read: Maker presentation, create a book talk movie. Include which actors will play This book made me wish that…, realize that explains what the book is about, the main characters in the movie and that…, decide that…, wonder about…, the theme, the author, and information why, and the location where the movie see that…, believe that …, feel that…, from the book. Use pictures and/or will be filmed and why. Create a movie and hope that… In an essay, explain video that accurately shows the poster for the book. It should include whether or not you would recommend contents of the book. Presentation elements from a real movie poster such this book to others. should be no longer than 3-5 minutes. as slogan, the actors and the rating.

Using materials like clay, wood, or soap, Write a diary that one of the story’s Stories are based on conflicts and make 3-D models of three objects main characters might have kept solutions. Choose three conflicts which were important in the book you before, during, or after the book’s (problems) that take place in the story read. On a card attached to each model, events. Remember that the character’s and give the solutions. Pick one that explain why that object was important thoughts and feelings are very you wish had been handled differently in the book. important in a diary. The diary should and explain how it should have been contain at least 15 entries. handled. Write a one sentence summary of each Do research on a topic brought up in Create a mural containing at least four chapter and illustrate the sentence. your book. Write a one page paper on scenes from the book using paints, your topic. Explain why that topic is markers, or watercolors. important. Create a timeline of 15 events for the Find the top 10 web sites a character in Select one character from the book you book, including an illustration and a your book would most frequently visit. read who has the qualities of a heroine caption for each event. Include 2-3 sentences for each on why or hero. List 6 qualities and tell why your character likes each of the sites. you think they are heroic. PRE-AP PART 2: Complete any TWO of the following projects for the book you read. Be sure to include your name, the title, and the author on your choice of assignment.

PART 3 (PRE-AP INCLUDED): Make sure your project is turned in by the third day of school, Wednesday, August 30 th , 2014. You will be given a reading test on your book the first week of school. Please come to school prepared.