Mark Twain Intermediate School for the Gifted & Talented Karen Ditolla, Principal

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1 Mark Twain Intermediate School for the Gifted & Talented Karen Ditolla, Principal Dear Parent / Guardian. Your child has a 25 book reading goal to complete this year. While books read for school courses count toward this goal, the majority of the books will come from your child s independent reading. As it is important for your child to be exposed to a variety of literature, the following lists are sorted by genre in order to facilitate a broader choice. Please encourage your child to explore the different genres. One list is for Academic classes and the other is for the Accelerated class. Students in the Academic classes may choose to read books from either list and respond accordingly using the Be A Critic Blog on my faculty page. Students in the Accelerated class are to select books from the Accelerated Reading List and respond accordingly using the Be A Critic Blog. Please go over the lists with your child. Be aware that some books are more advanced than others and you may want to discuss and guide your child s choices accordingly. I encourage you to participate in the Scholastic Book Club throughout the year. Many books from the reading list will appear throughout the year at a reduced rate and your purchases from Scholastic allows me to continue to expand the classroom library Please contact me via with any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Ms. Robles Be a Critic Blog Each month, one Be a Critic Blog must be posted about a book read independently. Blogs may be posted online at any time during the month but are due by 9pm on the last day of each month. Late blogs will not be accepted. No exceptions. At least four books used for blog posts over the course of the year must come from the independent reading lists. Please return by Friday, September 15, 2017 I am aware that my child has a 25 book reading goal to complete by the end of the year. I am aware that my child has to complete and turn in an assigned number of Be a Critic Blogs before the end of each semester. I have reviewed the appropriate reading list(s) with my child. Parent Signature Please print student s name HR/ID

2 Reasons to Read: Mental Stimulation Keeping your brain active prevents it from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy. Knowledge Everything you read fills your head with new pieces of information. The more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to tackle a challenge. Vocabulary Expansion The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and the more you will use them in your writing and everyday vocabulary. Better Writing Skills Exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. Memory Improvement Reading a novel requires you to keep track of characters, plot, setting, and more. As your brain does this, new synapses are forged and existing ones are strengthened. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills Critical and analytical thinking skills are put to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them. Improved Focus and Concentration Reading allows the brain to focus on fine details which will then extend to other tasks. Reading minutes before school or tackling work will help your focus throughout the day. Improved Empathy Literary fiction improves a reader s capacity to understand what others are thinking and feeling. This in turn improves interpersonal skills and communication. Stress Reduction The stresses of daily life can slip away when engaged in reading. Modified from 10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day by Lana Winter-Hebert

3 Academic Reading List (ID 1 & ID 4 English) Choose books you have not already read and explore different genres!!! KEY CL available in the classroom library ^ - any book by this author counts for this list # - part of a series * - both books count as one Adventure The Call of the Wild Jack London CL The Cay Theodore Taylor CL The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Rick Yancey Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne CL Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson CL Classics The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain CL Jacob Have I Loved Katherine Paterson CL The Pearl - John Steinbeck ^ CL Sounder William H. Armstrong When the Legends Die Hal Borland CL Where the Lilies Bloom Vera Cleaver Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls CL The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Fantasy The Blue Sword Robin McKinley CL Boneshaker Cherie Priest CL # The Dark is Rising Susan Cooper ^ CL # The Forest of Hands and Teeth Carrie Ryan CL # The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman CL The Hobbit JRR Tolkien ^ CL The Last Unicorn Peter S. Beagle CL Leviathan Scott Westerfeld CL # The Neverending Story Michael Ende CL Historical Fiction Across Five Aprils Irene Hunt CL Code Talker Joseph Bruchac CL Fever 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson CL Girl in a Cage Jane Yolen CL Kira-Kira Cynthia Kadohata CL continued

4 Historical Fiction continued A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder Richard Peck * CL Milkweed: A Novel Jerry Spinelli CL My Brother Sam is Dead James Lincoln Collier, et al CL Night John and Sarny Gary Paulsen * CL Out of the Dust Karen Hess CL The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano Sonia Manzano CL Rifles for Watie Harold Keith Memoirs Bad Boy: A Memoir Walter Dean Myers CL Death Be Not Proud John Gunther Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter Adeline Yen Mah CL This Boy s Life: A Memoir Tobias Wolff CL Mysteries The Arm of the Starfish Madeleine L Engle ^ # Hound of Baskervilles Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Death on the Nile Agatha Christie The Ruby in the Smoke Philip Pullman CL # Realistic Fiction Bang! Sharon Draper The Circuit Francisco Jimenez CL Confetti Girl - Diana Lopez CL Cuba 15 Nancy Osa Darius and Twig Walter Dean Myers CL Good Enough Paula Yoo CL Homecoming Cynthia Voigt CL ^ # House Arrest K.A. Holt CL Husky Justin Sayre CL Let the Circle Be Unbroken Mildred D. Taylor CL A Mango-Shaped Space Wendy Mass CL Miracle s Boys Jacqueline Woodson CL Monster Walter Dean Myers CL Parrot in the Oven Victor Martinez CL The Pigman Paul Zindel CL Rumble Fish S.E. Hinton ^ Sleeping Freshman Never Lie David Lubar CL# Taking Sides Gary Soto CL There Will Be Bears Ryan Gebhart CL Twerp Mark Goldblatt CL When the Black Girl Sings Bil Wright CL Science Fiction Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes CL Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne Matched Ally Condie CL # War of the Worlds H.G. Wells CL A Wrinkle in Time Madeline L Engle ^ CL #

5 Accelerated Reading List (ID 2 & ID 3 English) Choose books you have not already read and explore different genres!!! KEY CL available in the classroom library ^ - any book by this author counts for this list # - part of a series * - both books count as one Adventure The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway ^ CL Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe Terrier Tamora Pierce ^CL # 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne CL Classics The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain CL Animal Farm George Orwell CL Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya CL A Day No Pigs Would Die Richard Peck CL Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Great Expectations Charles Dickens ^ CL Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte CL Lord of the Flies William Golding CL Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck ^ CL The Once and Future King T.H. White Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen ^ CL Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith CL Uncle Tom s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte CL Fantasy Bonegap Laura Ruby CL The Golden Compass Phillip Pullman CL # Howl s Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones ^ CL # Love in the Time of Global Warming Francesca Lia Block CL Inkheart Cornelia Funke # CL The Little Prince Antoine de Saint Exupery CL The Princess Bride: S. Morgentern s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure William Goldman CL Sabriel Garth Nix CL # Watership Down Richard Adams CL The Wee Free Men Terry Prachett ^ CL # continued

6 Historical Fiction All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque CL The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Earnest J. Gaines CL The Book Thief Markus Zusak CL Catch 22 Joseph Heller CL Code Name Verity Elizabeth Wein CL The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck ^ CL In Darkness Nick Lake The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane The Jungle Upton Sinclair CL Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers CL Horror Dracula Bram Stoker CL Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley CL Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury ^ CL Memoirs Angela s Ashes Frank McCourt ^ Brown Girl Dreaming Jacqueline Woodson CL The Color of Water James McBride The Diary of Anne Frank Anne Frank CL The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy Gary Soto CL Farewell to Manzanar - Jeannette Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston CL The Glass Castle: A Memoir Jeannette Walls A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Marjane Satrapi CL Travels With Charley John Steinbeck Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand CL When I Was Puerto Rican Esmerelda Santiago CL Mysteries The Body of Christopher Creed Carol Plum-Ucci Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan CL Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie ^ CL Realistic Fiction A Time to Dance Padma Venkatraman CL The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker CL All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven All the Right Stuff - Walter Dean Myers CL Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secret of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz CL Bronx Masquerade - Nikki Grimes CL The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong L. Tam Holland CL The Crossover Kwame Alexander CL Does My Head Look Big in This Randa Abdel-fattah CL Girl in Translation Jean Kwok CL Handbook for Boys Walter Dean Myers CL The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros CL The Housekeeper and the Professor Yoko Ogawa The Last Leaves Falling Sarah Benwell CL A Lesson Before Dying Earnest J. Gaines CL Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) Justina Chen Headley CL continued

7 Realistic Fiction continued Ordinary People Judith Guest CL A Separate Peace John Knowles CL Shine Lauren Myracle CL Speak Laurie Halse Anderson CL Underwater Marisa Reichardt CL Wintergirls Laurie Halse Anderson CL A Woman of Her Tribe Margaret A. Robinson Science Fiction Ancillary Justice Ann Leckise # Ender s Game Orson Scott Card ^ # CL Dune Frank Herbert # Foundation - Isaac Asimov CL A Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams CL # The Invisible Man H.G. Wells Rook Sharon Cameron CL 1984 George Orwell CL