Summer Reading for Incoming CIBA Freshmen:
Choose one of the selected novels & compose one essay response
Welcome, Entering Freshmen!
Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Sawyer eagerly await the first day of school when we are able to meet you. But before that momentous occasion, we would like you to put on your reading goggles and dive into some enticing literature.
Your summer reading assignment is to read any ONE of the novels listed in this packet. These titles are some of the recognized award winning books of 2009 and 2010 from YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, an organization that prides itself on scouring the literary world to discover the stories that appeal to today’s youth. A few years ago, several of our CIBA students participated in a conference that helped to select some of the titles that made the Top Ten List of 2005. Perhaps yours will be one of the voices that helps to narrow down the list of nominees for 2011!
After you finish reading the novel that you selected from the list, perform the following assignment, addressing the 3 Focus Correction Areas:
WRITE THESE FCA’S AT THE START OF YOUR ESSAY; INCLUDE THEIR POINT VALUES
FCA1: Identify the novel you read by it Title and the full name of its author. In 3 sentences, summarize what the book was about. ____ / 10 pts
FCA2: What kind of lingering taste or final thoughts and impressions did the book leave for you? Why? How did you feel when it was over, and what made you feel this way? Provide specific information from the novel as a whole that influenced your opinion of it. ____ / 20 pts
FCA2: How did the novel end? Were you satisfied with the ending? Why or why not? What kinds of issues were resolved for you, and what kinds of issues left you wanting more? Provide specific information from the end of the novel that influenced your reaction to it. ____ / 30 pts
FCA3: What kind of message or theme did the conflict of the novel and its resolution convey? What was the main problem the characters faced, and what lesson or moral did you learn from their experiences? How? Is this a valuable lesson? Why or why not? ____ / 30 pts
Technical Expectations: The response must be at least 500-words in length (yes, you must count each word and include word count—or just use the word counting tool on Microsoft!). As well, it must be typed, double-spaced, size 12 Arial or Times New Roman font. If you must handwrite your assignment, it must still adhere to the prescribed word count, be written in blue or black ink, double-spaced, with 1” margins on the right and left; write only on one side of the page. ______/ 10 pts
Try to showcase your best writing, and be specific to the WHY and HOW parts of the prompt so that you record key aspects of the book before they slip away into the recesses of your mind. These assignments are due Friday, September 2, 2011. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. You will be performing an assignment that later grows off of this first response, so do not treat this summer reading task lightly.
We look forward to seeing you and diving into the wonderful world of literature together! Until then, have a great summer! J
Sincerely,
Ryan Campbell Jennifer Sawyer
English Teacher English/TOK Teacher
The first selections are taken from the Alex Awards of 2009 and 2010, which are given to books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.
City of Thieves, by David Benioff, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670018703) Two teenage boys encounter cannibals, murderers, prostitutes, and assassins as they struggle to complete an impossible task during the freezing Siege of Leningrad in this funny, shocking, and briskly written tome.
Finding Nouf, by Zoë Ferraris published by Houghton Mifflin Company (9780618873883) After a 16-year-old girl from a wealthy Saudi family is found dead in the middle of the desert, a devout Muslim guide and a young medical examiner seek to unravel the mystery while facing the sanctions of Middle Eastern society.
The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti, published by Dial Press, a division of Random House (9780385337458) In this suspenseful and unpredictable adventure, Ren, a one-handed eighteenth-century orphan, becomes apprenticed to a con man. Surprisingly, Ren seems born to it.
Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan, published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (9781565125698) At the close of WW II, two soldiers return to their home in the South to find racial tensions as explosive as the battlefields of Europe. This beautifully written story casts a spell as inescapable as the mud fields of the Mississippi Delta.
Three Girls and Their Brother, by Theresa Rebeck, published by Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (9780307394149) This witty satire of show-biz politics, told from the perspective of four New York teenage siblings in the eye of a publicity tornado, provides a fascinating insider’s look at the world of the rich and famous.
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr., published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020928) On the day that Junior Thibodeau is born, he learns the exact moment when the world will end: 36 years, 168 days, 14 hours, and 23 seconds into the future--pretty heavy news for a newborn. Knowledge of the pending apocalypse--revealed by an omniscient, unnamed "we"--colors Junior's existence from day one and leaves him wondering: "Does anything I do matter?"
The Magicians by Lev Grossman, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020553) Quentin Coldwater lives in a state of perpetual melancholy, privately obsessed with his childhood books about the enchanted land of Fillory. When he’s admitted to the surreptitious Brakebills Academy for an education in magic, Quentin finds mastering spells is tedious. He also discovers his power has thrilling potential--though it's unclear what he should do with it once he's moved with his new magician cohorts to New York City.
My Abandonment by Peter Rock, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (9780151014149) A thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water's edge, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.
Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger, published by Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group (9780316056632) Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, and everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing?
The final selections are the 2009 and 2010 winners of the Michael L. Printz Award, an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchett (a published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) Haunted by the past, Taylor Markham reluctantly leads the students of the Jellicoe School in their secret territory wars against the Townies and the Cadets. Marchetta’s lyrical writing evokes the Australian landscape in a suspenseful tale of raw emotion, romance, humor and tragedy.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray, published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House (0385733976) Cameron, a 16-year-old slacker whose somewhat dysfunctional family has just about given up on him, when his diagnosis of "mad cow" disease reunites them, if too late. The heart of the story, though, is a hallucinatory—or is it?—quest with many parallels to the hopeless but inspirational efforts of Don Quixote, about whom Cameron had been reading before his illness. Just like the crazy—or was he?—Spaniard, Cam is motivated to go on a journey by a sort of Dulcinea. . . . It's a trip worth taking!