Junior Tech Summer Reading
Radel/Schramm
From the list below, choose one novel and complete the following assignment for summer reading.
The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
Description: The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.
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The Eye of Minds – James Dashner
Description: Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?
But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.
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Stung – Bethany Wiggins
Description: There is no cure for being stung. Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered—her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right hand—a black oval with five marks on either side—that she doesn’t remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. She’s right. Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded while a select few live protected inside a fortress-like wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark. Now Fiona has awakened branded, alone—and on the wrong side of the wall.
You are expected to complete three journals. Each journal should be at least three paragraphs in length. We recommend you complete the journal as you read the novel instead of waiting until the end. In addition, you will be assessed on the novel the first day of class.
Journal Options
1) Choose a character and discuss their personality, relationship to other characters, physical appearance, and your personal likes/dislikes of this character.
2) Identify and discuss any cultural or historical incidents in the novel and their relevance to the plot.
*Do you see any similarities between the society in the novel and our own society?
3) Identify and explain a conflict that is occurring in the novel--predict a possible outcome.
(Examples include: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Society, etc.)
4) Locate any memorable quote from the novel and explain its significance to the story or to a character(s).
5) Identify a theme (big idea)within the novel and explain it with evidence from the work.
(Possible examples include: circle of life, loss of innocence, oppression, isolation, individual vs. society, love and sacrifice, overcoming obstacles, etc.)
6) Choose a scene from the novel and discuss its significance.
*How might this scene impact the characters later in the novel?
*How might this scene change the course of events?
*How do you personally feel about the scene? Are you upset or happy with its outcome?
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