Optional Summer Reading Selection and Assignments Dover Middle School
Optional Summer Reading Selection Choose one book to read! WarCross (Marie Lu) For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn t just a game it s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty-hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. To make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation. Ghost (Jason Reynolds) Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. Running. That s all Ghost has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems and running away from them until he meets Coach, an ex-olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7n6hl2iioy Scrawl (Mark Shulman) Tod Munn is a bully. He's tough, but times are even tougher. The wimps have stopped coughing up their lunch money. The administration is cracking down. Then to make things worse, Tod and his friends get busted doing something bad. Something really bad. Lucky Tod must spend his daily detention in a hot, empty room with Mrs. Woodrow, a no-nonsense guidance counselor. He doesn't know why he's there, but she does. Tod's punishment: to scrawl his story in a beat-up notebook. He can be painfully funny and he can be brutally honest. But can Mrs. Woodrow help Tod stop playing the bad guy before he actually turns into one. Read Tod's notebook for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-umeugfj8 Matched (Ally Condie) In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Cassia has always trusted their choices. It's hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one...until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Matched is the first novel in a trilogy. The novel is a dystopian young adult novel about a tightly-controlled society in which young people are "matched" with their life partners at the age of 17. https://www.goodreads.com/videos/32339- book-trailer-video-for-matched-by-ally-condie
Hideout (Watt Key) In this riveting middle-grade adventure from Watt Key, the son of a Mississippi policeman finds a boy living on his own in the wilderness. Twelve-year-old Sam has been given a fishing boat by his father, but he hates fishing. Instead he uses the boat to disappear for hours at a time, exploring the forbidden swampy surroundings of his bayou home. Then he discovers a strange kid named Davey, mysteriously alone, repairing an abandoned cabin deep in the woods. Not fooled by the boy s evasive explanation as to why he s on his own, Sam becomes entangled in his own efforts to help Davey. But this leads him to telling small lies that only get bigger as the danger increases for both boys and hidden truths become harder to conceal. The Bar Code Rebellion (Suzanne Weyn) Note: This is the second book in a series. Only choose this book if you have read the first book. They want your identity. They want your freedom. They can't have them. Kayla has resisted getting the bar code tattoo, even though it's meant forfeiting a "normal" life. Without the tattoo, she's an exile. But she can't stay an exile for long... For reasons she doesn't completely understand--but will soon discover-- Kayla is at the center of a lethan conspiracy that will soon threaten the very notion of freedom. Kayla can either give in to the bar code, or she can join the resistance and fight it. The choice, to her, is clear: It's time to fight. They want your identity. They want your freedom. They can't have them.
Optional Summer Reading Assignments In order to earn extra credit for the first marking period, after reading the book, choose two assignments: one from A-D, and one from E-G. You will need to turn in both assignments in the first week of school. CRITERIA 1: Written Project A. Character Trait Organizer: What character traits do you notice about the main character of your novel? Choose one character, and identify at least five traits. Then provide evidence that shows he/she exhibits these traits. Finally, write an explanation in your own words. Suggested Format: (Copy this format on a separate sheet of paper, and complete it for at least five traits.) Character Trait Explanation Trait: Quote: Page # Trait: Quote: Page # B. Double-Entry Journal: Provide at least five journal entries, which are evenly spaced throughout the novel. Provide a quotation on the left side of the journal, and then your own personal response on the right. Your response could be what you think about the quotation, a question you have, or a connection you can make. Suggested Format: (Copy this format on a separate sheet of paper, and complete it for at least five entries.) Quote Response Quote: Page # Quote: Page #
C. Current Event: Find a current news article that is similar to the novel you read in some way. It could have a similar topic, location, or perhaps the character in your novel is similar to the newsworthy individual. Provide a copy of the article, and then write a two-paragraph summary. One that describes the article, and a second that describes how the article is similar to the novel. Finally, reflect upon the article. D. Author Research: Research the author of your novel. What else has s/he written? Is the novel you read the first in his or her career? Are there any similarities between the author s life and the life of any character? Write a paragraph about the author, and then a follow-up paragraph about the similarities and differences to a character in his/her novel. Criteria 2: Creative Project E. Brochure: Create a brochure in which you provide a visual and written summary of the novel. The six panels of the brochure must include the following: title and author, characters, setting, conflict, resolution, and theme. F. Movie Poster: Create a movie poster based on the novel you chose to read. Place current celebrities in the roles of all major characters. Be sure to include show dates and times. Create a catchy description of the movie, designed to draw in your audience. Be as neat, colorful, and creative as possible. On the back of your poster, explain how each of these actors you chose fit the characters for which you have placed them. Do not only go by the appearance of the character, but also by their personality traits and appeal to the public. Your poster must be a poster-board size 22 x 28. G. Comic Strip: Create a comic strip of one complete scene in the novel. Each scene must be completely colored and include dialogue or captions briefly explaining each frame. You must have a minimum of 8 frames.
Sample Responses A. Character Trait Organizer. The following shows one trait for this assignment. If you choose this assignment, be sure to choose at least five traits. Character Trait Trait: Kindness Quote: He probably would have accidentally put water in my ears, but not me. I gently poured a little stream of water over the mirror. Explanation In this part of the book, Kenny shows kindness. He knows his brother is suffering. He also is aware that his brother would not be kind to him in the reverse situation, but chooses to do the right thing anyway. Page #11 B. Double-Entry Journal. The following shows one double-entry journal for this assignment. If you choose this assignment, be sure to include at least five entries. Quote Quote: "I wander from one room to another, downstairs and up again, feeling like a songbird whose wings have been clipped and who is hurling himself in utter darkness against the bars of his cage." Page #144 Response I think Anne has spent a lot of time in the annex at this point, and seems to be truly feeling isolated and alone. I wonder if she felt like this everyday or if this was limited to the days when she writes in this way. Some days her writing makes it seem like she isn t feeling too poorly.
C. Current Event. D. Author Research. Response should contain more information than this sample contains. Sample Response: Christopher Paul Curtis lived in Flint, Michigan for much of his life. He was a family man, who wanted to write a book about the life of a family living in Flint, Michigan, much like his own. He was also passionate about the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for equality in America. Although the Civil Rights Movement is something he is passionate about, he does not have first hand experience with it. In the novel, the protagonist is Kenny Watson. Like Christopher Paul Curtis, Kenny grows up in Flint, Michigan. Also similar to Curtis, Kenny has strong family support in his life. However, he begins to hear about the Civil Rights Movement, which is occurring in 1963. This is something that Kenny experiences firsthand, when he travels to Alabama to visit his grandmother.
E. Brochure Sample. F. Movie Poster G. Comic Strip