Middle School Summer Reading & Writing 2015-2016 Directions:

Reading: All students are required to read two novels over the summer. One novel has been selected for your class and the second novel is your choice from two novels that have also been selected for your class. A required learning guide, which is available on Veracross, should be completed for the required novel.

Summer Reading English Class Please read the listed novel and Please select and read one novel from the complete the learning guide pair and be prepared for an assignment in available on Veracross. class during the first week of school.

6/7th Grade Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Classes: Applegate Mr. Field -or- Mrs. Poulos Wonder by R.J. Palacio Dr. Reynolds Mrs. Stobs

8th grade The Red Pony by John Steinbeck Treasure Island by Robert Louis Classes: -and- Stevenson Mr. Field The Taming of the Shrew graphic -or- Mrs. Poulos novel by William Shakespeare (no The Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang Dr. Reynolds packet) Mrs. Stobs ISBN-10: 1599051559 ISBN-13: 978-1599051550

8th grade Old Man and the Sea by Ernest In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Honors Hemingway -and- Winters Classes: The Taming of the Shrew graphic -or- Mr. Field novel by William Shakespeare (no Bloomability by Sharon Creech Mrs. Poulos packet) ISBN-10: 1599051559 ISBN-13: 978-159905155 th th 6 & 7 Grade Reading Selections:

The One and Only Ivan Having spent twenty-seven years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see his home, and his art, through new eyes.

Maniac Magee Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee might have lived a normal life if a freak accident hadn't made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run--and not just run away, but run. This is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.

Wonder August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school―until now. He’s about to enter fifth 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?

8th Grade Reading Selections:

The Taming of the Shrew No one shall marry Bianca, claims Baptista Minola, until her older sister Katherina is wed. Bianca is sweet and gentle, while her older sister, Kate, is an unruly shrew. Will anyone be able to stand Katherina long enough to marry her, allowing Bianca to be happily wed herself? A plan to win Bianca’s love leads to a match for Katherina. But can a shrew be tamed?

The Red Pony Raised on a ranch in northern California, Jody is well-schooled in the hard work and demands of a rancher's life. He is used to the way of horses, too; but nothing has prepared him for the special connection he will forge with Gabilan, the hot-tempered pony his father gives him. With Billy Buck, the hired hand, Jody tends and trains his horse, restlessly anticipating the moment he will sit high upon Gabilan's saddle. But when Gabilan falls ill, Jody discovers there are still lessons he must learn about the ways of nature and, particularly, the ways of man.

Treasure Island Set in the eighteenth century, Treasure Island spins a heady tale of piracy, a mysterious treasure map, and a host of sinister characters charged with diabolical intentions. Seen through the eyes of Jim Hawkins, the cabin boy of the Hispaniola, the action-packed adventure tells of a perilous sea journey across the Spanish Main, a mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver, and a lethal scramble for buried treasure on an exotic isle.

Red Scarf Girl It's 1966, and twelve-year-old Ji-li Jiang has everything a girl could want: brains, friends, and a bright future in Communist China. But it's also the year that China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launches the Cultural Revolution—and Ji-li's world begins to fall apart. Over the next few years, people who were once her friends and neighbors turn on her and her family, forcing them to live in constant terror of arrest. When Ji-li's father is finally imprisoned, she faces the most difficult dilemma of her life.

The Old Man and the Sea The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Bloomability Kidnapped! The kidnappers are actually her Aunt Sandy and Uncle Max, but that doesn't matter to Domenica Santolina Doone, better known as Dinnie. She feels as if she's being taken out of the country against her will. Certainly no one asked her opinion. Dinnie is used to change-with her family constantly moving from state to state while her father searches for one new "opportunity" after another. But when her aunt and uncle whisk her away to an international school in Lugano, Switzerland, Dinnie feels that this might be one "opportunity"that isn't right for her. Suddenly Dinnie's surrounded by kids from many different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. Home, and her first life, seem so far away. Can she adapt to a new country, a new home, and new friends? Or will it just be easier to close herself off-just survive-and never realize all the "bloomabilities" that are possible?

In the Shadow of Blackbirds In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. At her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her? Featuring haunting archival early-20th-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

6th, 7th & 8th Grade Summer Writing Assignment

Theme: How did an author’s work change your view of the world or yourself?

1. Select a fiction or nonfiction book, a poem or play you have read and about which you have strong feelings. It might be a book that helped you through a difficult time or it might be a book that simply touched your heart or inspired you. 2. Reflect! Think before you write. How did this author’s work change you or your view of the world? How do you know it did? How and why are you different now than you were before you read this work? Why choose this book and author and not another? 3. Persuade! Write a personal letter to the author, stating how reading his or her work changed you. Be persuasive! Support your ideas with specific details, including details from the work itself. 4. Bring your letter to school the first week. This is a draft but will be graded as a project, so make sure your best effort has been demonstrated by using creativity and following all conventions of the English language. 5. Remember, a letter is less formal than an essay or research paper. Write honestly and in your own voice as if you were having a conversation with the author. Those are the best letters to read and the most fun to write! 6. The national contest opens up in the fall and if your parents allow you to enter your work, we will work hard to make sure your letter is the best it can be. Even if you choose not to enter the contest, try your best because this counts as a project grade for your English class. 7. 6th graders should have a minimum of 100 words and no more than 500 words. 7th and 8th graders should have a minimum of 300 words and no more than 1,000 words. 8. You can find more information and examples of previous winners on the wesbite http://www.read.gov/letters/ 9. Have fun!