West Ashley High School
Honors English I summer reading assignment, summer 2012
Students enrolled in honors English I are required to complete the following assignments for summer reading. Students are asked to read one fiction selection of their choice (from the 2011-2012 Young Adult Book Award Nominees list). They will complete a double entry journal to accompany this selection and complete an essay the first week of class (details below). They will also read an informational text titled, Reading like a Writer: A guide for people who love books and those who want to write them by Francine Prose. For this text students will complete a learning log (see below for instructions) while reading and complete a group assignment the first week of class.
Fiction options: SC Young Adult Book Award nominees list
Angry Management by Chris Crutcher
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Brutal by Michael B. Harmon
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Diary of a Witness by Carol Ryan Hyde
Dirty Little Secrets by Cynthia JaynesOmololu
The Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI by Ryan Smithson
Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
Gray Baby: A Novel by Scott Loring Sanders
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern
King of the Screwups by K.L. Going
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Muchacho: A Novel by LouAnne Johnson
Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldier: A Memoir by Dean Ellis Kohler
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Unsigned Hype: A Novel by Booker T. Mattison
Double entry journal expectations
The double entry journal should include a variety of quotes from the novel. The selected quotes should allow the reader the opportunity to comment on the plot and characters, to analyze the use of literary devices in the quote, to interpret what the quote means in the context of the novel, and to make a connection between his/her life and the novel.
Example:Reading Journal for The Age of Aquarius
Page Numbers / Critical Quotes From the Novel / Reader’s Response1-15 / “The first time that I saw Ellis I was standing beside my grandfather’s grave.” / The beginning of the novel illustrates a first person point of view. This lets me know what is going on inside the narrator’s mind.
17-18 / “He was as sour as a jug of milk left on the doorstep for three days.” / The author uses a simile in this quote to describe the extent of the character’s mean temper.
19-25 / “While Mazie worked in the barn, the children ran down the back lane to try and catch a glimpse of the vegetable man who always carried a box of candies on the front seat of his truck.” / This description of what the children did shows that they did not realize how hard Mazie had to work.
26-37 / “Winston had never seen such a beautiful lady in all his life. He was dumbstruck.” / I remember seeing a guy/girl one time who I thought was the most beautiful person in the world.
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Informational Text: Reading like a Writer: A guide for people who love books and those who want to write them by Francine Prose
Learning Log expectations:
Example:Learning Log for Double Helix
Page Number / Words, facts, observations / Comments, questions, thoughts1-10 / DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the hereditary material in humans and most other organisms. / I wonder how much my DNA is like my brother’s DNA.
11-12 / James D. Watson and Francis Crick discovered the spiral staircase or double helix structure of the DNA molecule in 1953.Watson and Crick'sarticle "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids" appeared in Nature magazine onApril 25, 1953. / This discovery over fifty years ago has led to many scientific advances, even cloning.
etc
Assignments adapted from LHS (Spartanburg) summer reading
A note on texts:
Students do not have to purchase a hard-copy of the text. The public library will have many of the titles above and all are available for purchase via Nook or Kindle. Students will not be required to bring the texts to class however, if a student is using an electronic edition or library edition it is vital that they record quotes and additional information carefully so that they are able to properly cite their essays. Below are a few suggestions of reduced price bookstores.
Ebay ( in the title of your book and bid on copies available from individual sellers around the country.
Half.com ( in the title of your book and directly purchase new or used copies directly from individual sellers at up to90% savings. No bidding required
Amazon.com marketplace ( ‘books’ in the menu and type in the title of your book. You can purchase the book new fromamazon.com or click on ‘buy used and new’ and purchase a copy directly from individual sellers at up to 90% savings. No bidding required.
Book Closeouts.com ( - This site sells books at bargain prices. They have a limited selection of titles but those they docarry are very inexpensive.
Alibris.com (
Enjoy exploring literature this summer and I look forward to meeting you in August!
Mary Anne Miller