St. Rose Middle School Middle School Summer 2021 Assignments
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” – Albert Einstein
Hello Middle School Students,
We hope that you had an incredible 2020-2021 school year, we sure did! It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and we can’t wait to get to know you better next year! Throughout the summer, please work through the following assignment pages to prepare for the next school year. Hard work will be rewarded come the start of the 2021-2022 school year this September.
This year, we want to keep it simple! We have included checklists so that you can check your work off as it is completed and turn the packet into Mrs. Volkman (Miss Rosenkranz) at the start of the school year – don’t worry, I’ll get your checklist for each teacher to where it needs to go! All reflections, writing, and projects that are expected of you should be turned in with the packet to Mrs. Volkman.
There will be a sweet back to school surprise IF there is 100% compliance with these expectations!
We can’t wait to see you this September, have a lovely summer!
-The Middle School Teacher Team Math Expectations
Over the summer, to prepare for math in the coming school year, we will be completing some IXL practice. You can find your new grade level under “Math” at the top under the “Learning” tab, and scroll down until you see your new grade as listed below. These should all be review problems to keep our skills fresh over the summer. If you run into something you don’t know, don’t shy away! Do your best to push through and learn it, your hard work will pay off during the school year. This is worth 20 pts per topic that is completed to 100% (for example, topic A, all skills at 100% = 20 pts). This will be added as an assignment at the beginning of the school year (completion starts you off with an A)!
Incoming 6th Grade:
❏ 6th Grade IXL ❏ 100% on all skills under topics A-D
Incoming 7th Grade:
❏ 7th Grade IXL ❏ 100% on all skills under topics A-D
Incoming 8th Grade:
❏ We will be working on Algebra One Math ❏ 100% on all skills under topics A-D
Math Checklist:
Grade Level: ______
Skills:
❏ Section A ❏ Section B ❏ Section C ❏ Section D Science Expectations
We have spent a lot of time this year inside and on the computer, so this summer, I would like for you to get outside and make a mess (as much of a mess as your parents will allow, that is). Here are three fun experiments for this summer, if you have time to do one or three, that’s fine, each is worth 10 extra credit points if it has a reflection.
1. Oobleck: Create the non-Newtonian fluid on any scale/size that you like. Then take videos explaining what happens when different force is applied to the fluid (for example: blunt force with a hammer or your fist versus slowly pushing your hand toward the bottom) 2. Slime: What is the perfect formula for your slime? What did you add to it (write a recipe)? What resources did you use to find your formula? 3. A Classic – THE VOLCANO: Take a video and create the largest baking soda volcano you can! Think about the explosion, what will make it more explosive (i.e., not a slow overflow but some height)?
The following write up is due on the first day of school for each experiment and will not be accepted late; it is worth 10 extra credit points (per experiment) so completing this will start you out with an A+! Please limit your response to one page per experiment. Please use Times New Roman font size 12.
1. Name, Date, Experiment Number 2. Procedures 3. What did you learn related to chemical reactions?
Science Checklist
Grade Level: ______
❏ Oobleck ❏ Oobleck Reflection ❏ Slime ❏ Slime Reflection ❏ Volcano ❏ Volcano Video ❏ Volcano Reflection Social Studies Expectations
Please pick one activity from each column. Each completed activity earns 12.5 points of extra credit in the fall (maximum of 50pts)
Watch 1 documentary on Take a virtual tour of the 6th Grade: Record a video Write a letter to a family History (NOT ONE WE Metropolitan Museum of of your singing the 5 member you haven’t seen WATCHED IN CLASS.)45 Art in NYC Art at home Themes of Geography in a while to ask about your minute minimum duration: OR any virtual or in-person family tree The Story of India, The museum. Local and private 7th Grade: Make a Coat of Story of China, Ken Burns collections too. (ex: Arms for yourself with your Three skills in IXL Social Civil War, PBS American Huntington Library, Frick themes Studies (Economics or Marvels, etc) Museum) Civics only) Create one papier mâché, Watch 1 Historical Drama Visit the American or Air dry clay, artifacts Write and send an email to with your family. (NOT ONE Battlefield Trust and watch inspired by technology of me WE WATCHED IN 3 videos the Ancient World. ([email protected] CLASS.)(80/90 min ex The (irrigation, terrace farming, ) telling me about your Last of the Mohicans, Watch 3 82nd and Fifth aqueduct, water wheel, summer or something you Master and Commander, Web series of 2 min talks wheeled chariot/cart/war would like to learn about in Gods and Generals, How about an artifact in the wagon, trireme, viking long Social Studies next year the West Was Won, etc.) MET. (NOT ONE WE boat.) WATCHED IN CLASS.) 8th Grade: Read Animal Farm by George Orwell Paint something using a YouTube tutorial (ala Shibasaki) (NOT ONE WE WATCHED IN CLASS.)
Social Studies Checklist:
❏ Yellow ❏ Green ❏ Red ❏ Blue 8th Grade Family Immigration Story Summer Project
Dear Students, Willa Cather once wrote, “The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.” All of us are Americans because of the heartfelt journey of our families. As we begin looking at the history of our country, let us look at our own ancestral trek to this particular point in our personal history. I will start you off by relating part of my own story. My ancestors come from Europe; I am Swedish, English, Scottish and Dutch. My great-great grandfather came to this country to escape the coal mines of England, where he claimed he only saw the sun on Sunday because he went into the mines before it rose and didn’t leave until after sunset. He was also seeking religious freedom and the ability to own his own land; after reaching America, he pulled his belongings in a handcart across the plains – twice, the second time pulling a cart with his mother. My great grandmother, at the age of five, was brought against her will from Scotland. Her mother abandoned her husband and other children to become the second wife of a Mormon missionary and my great-grandmother never saw her father or siblings again. Another great-grandparent came from Amsterdam, Holland. On my father’s side of the family, my great-grandparents came from a small island off the coast of Sweden. My maternal families settled in the West, they went to Utah, Idaho, and Canada and became farmers. My paternal family came from Michigan and points east. A great-grandfather who fought for the Union army during the Civil War was held prisoner and escaped from a Southern prison camp. One was a photographer, one a WWI fighter airplane mechanic, and another, a Vaudeville song and dance man. My parents became part of the post WWII migration to Southern California and moved into a suburb of Los Angeles where this baby-boomer was born. I went to college at UCLA studying Theatre Arts and Cal State LA College of Education. I married, had two sons, and my family and I became “urban refugees” from Los Angeles eleven years ago. We came to southwest Washington to visit relatives and stayed. The rest, as they say, is history. Some traditions that came to the United States from Europe are food related. My father used to make Ugnspannkaka, Swedish pancake, because that is what his grandmother made. All brought their “work ethic”; they had to work hard to immigrate and they brought this ability to the U.S. We are a nation of immigrants, a melting pot of cultures and religions. The history of the United States of America really did begin in the heart of a man or woman; please tell me about the men and women in your history. Relate your own immigration story with a minimum of 400 words. This assignment is due the first day of school, so this should give you enough time to do your research. -Mrs. Swift Grading information: Rough Draft of Written Report /15 Diagram of Family Tree: Information clearly and logically presented, aesthetics /15 Written Report (30 pts): ❏ English Conventions: Spelling, grammar, clear and concise composition /10 ❏ History of the First Immigrants: Place of birth, what brought them to the U.S. /20 ❏ Summary of their life in their original country and in the U.S. (Think: customs, dress, music, religion), and a short history of the country that they came from with emphasis on the time period they immigrated
Presentation (15 pts): ❏ Oral /10 ❏ Artifacts /5
Total /75 Extra Credit is available if you create a companion digital presentation for this project in addition to the regular written report, family tree and oral report. Assignment Directions:
Students will: 1. Interview a family member 2. Gather documents and records about their immigrant ancestors (U.S. Census reports are available for free online) 3. Research country/countries of origin and write a brief history of the country at the time of their ancestors’ immigration Parts: I. Family Tree A. Students are to trace their family tree as far back as possible or at least as far as their ancestors who were immigrants to America. The emphasis will be on these individuals. However, the story needs to continue till present day. Some family history is lost so there may be gaps in your story, which is understandable. If you are adopted, you may research your adoptive family tree. II. Report Will Include A. Diagram of Family Tree B. History of First Immigrants 1. Place of Birth 2. Pictures (if available) 3. What brought them to the U.S.? 4. Summary of their life in their country of origin and in the U.S. 5. Examples of customs, dress, music, and religion they brought to the U.S. C. Short description of the country that they came from with emphasis on the time period they immigrated during III. This Report will be Written and Oral A. The written and oral are to be combined for a short presentation – DO NOT READ YOUR REPORT VERBATIM B. The presentation will contain visual aids. English Language Arts Expectations
English Language Arts Checklist:
❏ Take a virtual tour of The Globe Theatre in London: Virtual Tour ❏ Take a virtual tour of Chawton Cottage, where Jane Austen lived, and Chawton House Library. Explore other aspects of Jane Austen’s England ❏ Discover more about Jane Austen and her life and work with this virtual exhibit at the Morgan Library in New York City ❏ Explore the American World War II Museum in New Orleans with this web page and resources: Home | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans ❏ Explore the resources about the Holocaust and World War II at the National Museum of the Holocaust in Washington, D.C. : https://www.ushmm.org/information/visit-the-museum/plan-your-visit
Summer Reading Checklist:
❏ Book One: ______❏ Book Two: ______❏ Book One Reflection (25 pts) ❏ Book Two Reflection (25 pts)
Book Lists are on the following pages Summer Reading List Introduction
“When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.” Maya Angelou
Reading over the summer is an important part of preparing for the next school year, as well as becoming a life-long learner. Please choose at least two books that you have not read before from the list for your grade below to read over the summer. Of course, you can always read more books from any of the grades listed, but you are required to read at least two books from your incoming grade or higher, unless you pick Gone With the Wind, which has more than 800 pages. Enjoy reading and have a great summer!
Tips for better summer reading:
1. Write down each major character’s name as he or she is introduced and describe each one. 2. Summarize what happens in the book. What are the important conflicts? 3. Write down a few statements or ideas from the books that are especially noteworthy or meaningful. 4. Analyze the ending of the book. What are the implications of the ending and its effect on the main characters? Was the main character successful in overcoming a difficulty? Why or why not? 5. Was the book worthwhile to you? Did it help you gain some insight or understand something better? 6. Remember to keep your Active Reading techniques learned in class in mind as you read.
Reading/Writing Assignment:
For each of the two required books you read (you may also wish to do this with additional books), write the following information on no more than one sheet of paper to be turned in on the first day of school: 1. Student name 2. Grade 3. Book title 4. Author 5. Setting – where and when the story takes place 6. Theme or major point the author makes 7. Summarize what the book is about in no more than two paragraphs. 8. Did you like the book? Would you encourage others to read it? Why or why not?
Each report is worth 25 points, so students who complete this assignment start the school year with an A+ in Language Arts!
See below for lists organized by grade level: Incoming 6th Grade Reading List
Wonder – R.J. Palacio (Fiction): August, nicknamed Auggie, is a 10-year-old boy with a facial deformity that causes others to avoid and even shun him. After being homeschooled until fifth grade, he enters a mainstream school and must learn to cope with difficult new situations and people. The story is told from the point of view of Auggie, his new friends, his sister and her boyfriend.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain (Fiction): The classic story of young boy growing up in a town of the banks of the Mississippi River. Tom is a young boy full of curiosity and doesn’t hesitate to take a chance. He finds himself pulled into many adventures.
The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stuart (Fiction): After Reynie Muldoon responds to an advertisement recruiting "gifted children looking for special opportunities," he finds himself in a world of mystery and adventure. The 11-year-old orphan is one of four children to complete a series of challenging and creative tasks, and he, Kate, Constance, and Sticky become the Mysterious Benedict Society.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling (Fiction): Book One in the now classic series about Harry Potter, who gets a letter saying he is, in fact, a wizard. He is enrolled in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and he, along with his new friend, the giant Hagrid, go to Diagon Alley, a magical bazaar. From there he is thrust into the magical universe that has captured the imagination of millions.
My Side of the Mountain – Jean Craighead George (Fiction): A young boy runs away from home to live on his great-grandfather’s land, where he learns to survive.
Crash - Jerry Spinelli (Fiction): The activities of a school bully as told from the bully’s perspective. Shallow, vain, and arrogant seventh-grader Crash Coogan has been bulldozing over people his entire life but his most consistent victim is Penn Webb – a Quaker who lives down the street from Crash.
Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliett (Fiction): This mystery involves two sixth-graders who are drawn into solving the theft of a Johannes Vermeer painting en route from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to Chicago when it disappears.
The Boy Who Saved Baseball – John Ritter (Fiction): This story is about Tom Gallagher and his Wildcats baseball team. The team is woefully unprepared for a must-win game – until a mysterious recluse comes to town and gives Tom and the team advice.
Hoot - Carl Hiaasen (Fiction): This book chronicles the adventures of Roy Eberhardt as he enters yet another middle school as “the new kid.” He meets a series of quirky characters and learns to confront bullies with humor. But his biggest achievement comes when he and a group of new friends combine to prevent development of a pancake restaurant house on a lot with burrowing owls. A Newbery Honor winner.
The Black Stallion – Walter Farley (Fiction): While returning from a trip to India, Alec Ramsay’s ship is wrecked and he and a black stallion are the only survivors on a deserted island. They form a bond and, after they are rescued, they go to New York and enter the world of horse racing.
The Yearling – Marjorie K. Rawlings (Fiction): This book is set in the Florida scrub country during the 1870s. A 12-year-old boy named Jody Baxter tames a fawn, which becomes his companion. What happens after that show how Jody moves from boyhood to manhood.
The Magician’s Nephew – C. S. Lewis (Fiction): In this story we get our first look into Narnia. Two children Polly and Digory are transported to other worlds when they put on rings belonging to Digory’s uncle. The children meet Aslan, the lion and a witch in Narnia. The Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson (Fiction): Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone. That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales – Jacob Grimm (Fiction): When the Grimm brothers collected folklore and published it as Grimms' Fairy Tales, it became extremely popular. Today, the Grimms are among the best-known storytellers of European folktales, and their work popularized such stories as "Cinderella," "The Frog Prince," "Hansel and Gretel." "Rapunzel," "Rumpelstiltskin.” and "Snow White.” But these original stories don’t necessarily have happy endings.
Old Yeller – Fred Gipson (Fiction): A universal tale about a boy and his dog in the Texas hill country.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – Robert C. O’Brien (Science Fiction): when the lab rats at the National Institute of Mental Health are able to increase their learning ability, they use their intelligence to escape and set up their own society. Newbery Award.
Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie (Fiction): Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A mischievous boy who can fly and never ages, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang, the Lost Boys, interacting with mermaids, Indians, fairies, pirates, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside of Neverland.
Honus and Me – Dan Gutman (Fiction): First in a series of time-travel stories about Joe Stoshack, who lives for baseball. He knows everything there is to know about the game -- except how to play well. Stosh feels like a real loser, but when he takes a low-paying job his neighbor's attic, he comes across a little piece of cardboard that takes his breath away. Stosh has stumbled upon a T-206 Honus Wagner -- the most valuable baseball card in the world! And he's about to find out that it's worth a lot more than money.
Holes – Louis Sachar (Fiction): This book is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day digging holes. Stanley realizes the boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this ironic tale of crime and punishment—and redemption. Incoming 7th Grade Reading List
Where the Red Fern Grows – Wilson Rawls (Fiction): This is a classic story of a young boy of Appalachia and his special relationship with his two hunting dogs. We read this in 7th grade when we have time, but since we added Pride and Prejudice, we haven’t had time to read this during the school year.
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban – Malala Yousafzai (Non-fiction): This is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, and of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school. Malala is the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
42: The Jackie Robinson Story – Aaron Rosenberg (Non-fiction): The story of Jackie Robinson, No. 42, who integrated Major League Baseball and changed the game forever.
Travel Team and/or Summer Ball – Mike Lupica (Fiction): These two books tell the story of Danny Walker, a small 13-year-old and his basketball buddies, who compete in a national championship in Travel Team, and then face new challenges in a summer camp in Summer Ball.
A Long Walk to Water – Linda Sue Park (Fiction): Based on a true story, this novel tells the story of two young people, Nya and Salva, who live in war-torn Sudan and who must make the best of their lives in a country at war.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics – Daniel James Brown (Non-fiction): With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The Mozart Season – Virginia Euwer Wolff (Fiction): Allegra’s school is out for the summer, but instead of lazing around, she finds out that she is a finalist in an Oregon state violin competition. As she practices Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4, she faces vexing questions about her Jewish/gentile identity, as well as the challenges of Mozart.
The Wanderer – Sharon Creech (Fiction): Thirteen-year-old Sophie hears the sea calling, promising adventure and a chance for discovery as she sets sail for England with her three uncles and two cousins. Sophie's cousin Cody isn't sure he has the strength to prove himself to the crew and to his father. Through Sophie's and Cody's travel logs, we hear stories of the past and the daily challenges of surviving at sea as The Wanderer sails toward its destination—and its passengers search for their places in the world.
The Secret Garden – Frances Hidgson Burnett (Fiction): When orphaned Mary Lennox, lonely and sad, comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire moors, she finds it full of secrets. At night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors. Outside, she meets Dickon, a magical boy who can charm and talk to animals. Then, one day, with the help of a friendly robin, Mary discovers the most mysterious wonder of all -- a secret garden, walled and locked, which has been completely forgotten for years and years. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?
My Story – Rosa Parks (Autobiography): This is the story of Rosa Parks's life, including her well-known seat choice on a city bus. This book chronicles the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
Heaven is for Real – Todd Burpo: (Non-fiction): A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven. Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery (Fiction): As soon as Anne Shirley arrived at the snug, white farmhouse called Green Gables, she knew she wanted to stay forever... but would the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne was not like anybody else - she a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreamed of the day when she could call herself Anne of Green Gables. This book is the first in the famous series.
Hatchett – Gary Paulsen (Fiction): On a trip to the Canadian oilfields to spend the summer with his dad, Brian learns to confront living in the wild after the pilot of his plane suffers a heart attack and he lands the plane in the wilderness.
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson (Fiction): The young hero, Jim Hawkins, sets sail with two dangerous pirates, Long John Silver and Blind Pew, on a hair-raising search for buried treasure.
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkein (Fiction): A great modern classic and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings series. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure.
Out of My Mind – Sharon M. Draper (Fiction): Eleven-year-old Melody can’t walk, talk or write because of cerebral palsy, but she has a photographic memory and a brilliant mind that breaks through when she is given an assisted speech device. Melody refuses to be defined by her disability, and she will let everyone know it, too.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Fiction): Venture back in time to Victorian London to join literature's greatest detective team — the brilliant Sherlock Holmes and his devoted assistant, Dr. Watson — as they investigate a dozen of their best-known cases.
The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Fiction): Terror stalks the Devonshire moors as a long-forgotten horror reawakens to haunt the last remaining heir of Baskerville Manor. Widely considered to be Conan Doyle's finest work, The Hound of the Baskervilles features the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful colleague Dr. Watson as they grapple with a mysterious power from the unseen world. Incoming 8th Grade Reading List
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford (Fiction): Henry Lee, a 12-year-old boy in Seattle during World War II, falls in love with a fellow student named Keiko, whose family will be interned during the war. The narrative skips back and forth between the war and 1986 as the adult Henry comes to terms with his wife’s death from cancer and his conflicting emotions about what happened in the past. His memories are triggered by the discovery of a cache of belongings owned by Japanese families that was stored in a long-shuttered hotel.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – John Boyne (Fiction): This story is about a young German boy, Bruno, who finds that his father has received a promotion, and that the family must move to a new house. The new house is near a large group of buildings surrounded by a high fence. Bruno makes friends with another boy at the camp who wears striped pajamas, something Bruno doesn’t understand. This is not a children’s book, but it is one students who have had the Holocaust unit will understand.
Night – Elie Wiesel (Non-Fiction): This book is a candid, horrific and deeply poignant autobiographic account of the author’s survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps and the questions he struggled with as an adult. He wrote this book to bear witness for those who died in the Holocaust,
The Pearl – John Steinbeck (Fiction): Based on a Mexican folk tale, this story is about a poor pearl diver named Kino who discovers and large, perfect pearl one day when he is diving. The story raises questions about whether riches can bring happiness – or something else.
Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom (Fiction): Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret. Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.
The Blind Side – Michael Lewis (Non-Fiction): Michael Oher is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Oher becomes a player of the size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.
The Sherwood Ring – Elizabeth Marie Pope (Fiction/Fantasy): After the death of her father, Peggy Grahame must live with her eccentric uncle at a rambling Revolutionary War-era estate in upstate New York. She discovers the house is haunted by the ghosts of her 18th-century ancestors. In order to make peace, she must unravel a centuries-old mystery with the help of a young Englishman doing research in the area.
Esperanza Rising – Pam Munoz Ryan (Fiction): Esperanza Orgeta possesses all a young girl could want until a sudden tragedy forces her and her mother to leave their ranch in Mexico and go to a farm labor camp in California during the Depression. Esperanza learns to give up her past and embrace the future.
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (Fiction): Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (Fiction): This is a story of Scarlett O’Hara at the time of the Civil War. While the South as it had been for a century didn’t survive the conflict, Scarlett survives and finds inner resources to save her ancestral plantation. This book plays an important role in the book The Outsiders, which we read in 7th grade. Note: Because of its length, students who select this book will only have to read one book from the list. Little Women – Louise May Alcott (Fiction): This is the story of the March girls and how they came of age during the Civil War. This is a fiction book, but it has strong biographical connections with Alcott’s own life.
The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Fiction): This story, influenced by To Kill a Mockingbird, which we read in 8th grade, tells the story of a journalist who grew up in the South who wants to tell the stories of the African-American maids who raised her and other young women of her age.
The Call of the Wild/White Fang – Jack London (Fiction): Classic stories of life in the Alaskan frontier at the turn of the 20th Century.
Dunk – David Lubar (Fiction): While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend’s serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (Fiction): Bronte’s classic Victorian tale of an orphan who grows up to work as a governess for the ward of a mysterious man named Mr. Rochester.
Monuments Men – Robert M. Edsel (Non-Fiction): At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. Hitler had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect, as well as the art he would destroy: "degenerate" works he despised. In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture.
The Fault in Our Stars – John Green (Fiction): The Fault in Our Stars is the story of two 16-year-olds who meet at a cancer support group. Hazel Lancaster, the narrator, is afflicted with terminal thyroid cancer, which has ravaged her lungs enough to necessitate the use of an oxygen tank wherever she goes. It is during a support meeting that she is introduced to Augustus Waters, whose leg was claimed by a malignant bone tumor and who soon becomes the object of her affection. (Parental guidance for language/situation.)
Hope Was Here – Joan Bauer (Fiction): Sixteen-year-old Hope has grown used to the nomadic life she has built with her aunt Addie, a talented diner cook. When Addie accepts a new job that takes the pair from Brooklyn to the Welcome Stairways diner in Mulhoney, Wis., Hope never could have imagined the big changes ahead of her.
Pope Francis: Life and Revolution: A Biography of Jorge Bergoglio - Elisabetta Piqué (Non-Fiction): Since Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis in 2013, countless books have been written to help the world understand this deeply complex yet simple servant of God. This biography is the best one so far.
The Wednesday Wars – Gary D. Schmidt (Fiction): Holling Hoodhood, the only Presbyterian in a class otherwise split between Catholic and Jewish children, must find something else to do on Wednesday afternoons when his classmates go to their respective religious studies. His teacher, Mrs. Baker, makes him read Shakespeare and . . . . Read it to find out what happens!