J-Town Reads 2012
One Book, OneSchool
One Book
That’s right! Students and staff members will be reading the SAME book. In an effort to engage not just students, but parents, teachers, and administration in our classroom discussions we are requiring all students to read just one book for summer reading.
This summer, our school will read:
The Color of Water by James McBride
What do I do?
1. Read one book!! Yes, it’s that simple!
2. You will be required to conduct an interview (either written or digital recording) with ONE (1) family member from an older generation (parents, aunts, uncles, or grandparents).
- This assignment will be referred to during class discussions in the first few weeks of school. Please see attached sample questions.
- The goals of this interview are to:
- Discover your family’s heritage.
- Identify your family’s values.
3. You are provided with a basic reading guide to assist in note-taking during reading. We encourage students to keep notes in a journal or notebook while they read; you will be able to use these notes in class discussions about the book in the fall. Completing a reading guide is optional.
How do I obtain a book?
- High School:
- Sign up in the main office; there will be multiple copies available. When a copy of the book becomes available, you will get a phone call to come by to pick up a book. Simply pick it up during normal summer hours. Please return it when you are done so that we can get a copy to the next student on the list.
- ebooks or digital books are available through the high school media center website for a two week lending period.
- Local Library: JeffersonTownship Library will have multiple copies to lend.
- Barnes and Noble
- Barnes and Noble in Ledgewood will have copies stocked on their “Summer Reading Table” for purchase.
- ($13.98 paperback $12.99 NookBook)
- Amazon
- (10.88 paperback $12.99 Kindle)
- Used at Amazon.com for $.01 and pay $3.99 shipping and handling
- Big Noodle Books - paperback, $25.25 hardcover)
Questions?
Email English Department Supervisor at or your English teacher.
J-Town Reads: One Book, OneSchool
The Color of Water Reading Guide
The following questions will help guide your reading and prepare you for class discussion and assessment in the fall. You are encouraged to keep reading notes in a journal or notebook; you will be able to use these notes on tests in the fall. You will NOT be able to use notes from any outside source on school assessments.
Consider the key question from each of the chapters listed by title below. The italics differentiates the “speaker” of the chapter.
1. Dead
Ruth says, “Rachel Shilsky is dead as far as I’m concerned. She had to die in order for me, the rest of me, to live” (2). What does she mean?
2. The Bicycle
How does McBride perceive his mother when he is a young boy?
3. Kosher
Describe Ruth’s family life when she was a child. How did she react to this lifestyle?
4. Black Power
McBride describes the effect black power has on his neighborhood, and he suggests his appreciation for aspects of it, but he has fears for his mother in relation to this movement. Why is he afraid for his mother?
5. The Old Testament
How would you characterize the life Ruth has with her family in Suffolk?
6. The New Testament
When McBride asks his mother about the color of God, she says “God is the color of water. Water doesn’t have a color” (51). What does this mean? How does it guide Ruth’s life?
7. Sam
What experience does Ruth have with the KKK?
8. Brothers and Sisters
Describe the relationship between McBride and his siblings.
9. Shul
What is the difference between the “Jewish school” and the “white school”?
10.School
In this chapter, McBride describes himself and suggests, “Yet I myself had no idea who I was” (91). Why doesn’t he know who he is?
11. Boys
With whom does Ruth first fall in love? How would the people of Suffolk have reacted to this relationship with Peter if they had discovered it?
12. Daddy
How does McBride feel about his stepfather? What is his stepfather like?
13. New York
What happens in New York when Ruth goes there?
14. Chicken Man
How does McBride react to his stepfather’s death?
15. Graduation
Describe Ruth’s graduation from high school and her feelings about leaving Suffolk.
16. Driving
How does Ruth feel about driving? What distinction is there between Rachel and Ruth in terms of driving?
17. Lost in Harlem
What role does Andrew McBride (Dennis) play in Ruth’s life?
18. Lost in Delaware
How is Wilmington different from New York, and how does that influence McBride’s family?
19. The Promise
Describe Dennis’ family.
20. Old Man Shilsky
What did McBride and his friends think would happen to racism when they graduated from college? What really happened?
21. A Bird Who Flies
Describe Ruth’s departure from Suffolk.
22. A Jew Discovered
Who is Aubrey Rubenstein, and what does McBride learn from him?
23. Dennis
What effect does Dennis have on Ruth’s life?
24. New Brown
Describe the 40th-anniversary gala of the NewBrownMemorialBaptistChurch.
25. Finding Ruthie
Describing the variety of people in his family, McBride says his mother “created her own nation” (277). What does he mean?
Epilogue
Who is David Lee Preston, and what role does he play in McBride’s life?
Afterword
What does McBride say about love?
J-Town Reads: One Book, OneSchool
The Color of WaterSample Interview Questions
Using at least twenty (20) of the questions below or twenty (20) questions of your own, conduct an interview with one (1) family member. You must document this interview in writing or digital recording.
●What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?
●When and where were you born?
●How did your family come to live there?
●What is your earliest childhood memory?
●Describe the personalities of your family members.
●What was your favorite toy and why?
●What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
●Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?
●Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?
●What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?
●What school activities and sports did you participate in?
●Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
●Who were your childhood heroes?
●What was your religion growing up?
●Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
●Who were your friends when you were growing up?
●What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?
●Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?
●How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
●How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
●Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
●What do you know about your family surname?
●What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
●Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
●When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
●What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen?
●What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
●What was your proudest moment as a parent?
●What did your family enjoy doing together?
●What was your profession and how did you choose it?
●Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?
●What accomplishments were you the most proud of?
●What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?