Avi,
Something Upstairs
When
16 year-old Kenney moves to an Eighteenth century Rhode Island
house, he finds himself with a centuries-old locked-door mystery
and with the ghost of a young black slave who charges Kenney to
find his murderer or be trapped forever in time.
Avi,
S.O.R. Losers
South Orange River (S.O.R.) School is famous for its teams and
athletes until the dedicated non-jocks of the special seventh
grade soccer team make a new kind of sports history. A very
funny sports saga.
Cooney, Caroline The
Face on the Milk Carton
No
one ever really paid close attention to the faces of the missing
children on the milk cartons. However, Janie Johnson recognizes
her own face on the milk carton one day. Janie can’t believe
that her loving parents kidnapped her, but as she begins to
piece things together, nothing makes sense.
Ritter, John
The
Boy Who Saved Baseball
The
story of a boy named Tom who loves baseball and has to win a
game to save the baseball field from being destroyed. The story
is funny and delightful.
Spinelli, Jerry
Maniac Magee
The
class award winning story of a twelve-year-old boy who finds
himself when he escapes an unbearable situation. When Jeffrey
Lionel Magee wanders into Two Mills, Pennsylvania, the
stories begin to circulate about how fast and how far he can
run, and how he scores forty-nine touchdowns when he plays
football with the high school team. The story is told with
exaggeration, humor, and melodrama.
Spinelli, Jerry
Who
Put that Hair in My Toothbrush?
It’s
all out war between brother and sister who do everything to
sabotage each other.
Taylor, Mildred
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Young Cassie Logan endures humiliation and witnesses the racism
of the KKK as they embark on a cross burning rampage, before she
fully understand the importance of her family’s pride in having
land of their own.
Taylor, Theodore
The
Cay
All
his life Phillip had looked down upon black-skinned people. Now,
suddenly, he was a refugee from a fatal shipwreck, and dependent
on an extraordinary West Indian named Timothy. There were just
the two of them cast up on the barren little Carribbean island,
and a crack on the head left Phillip blind. An exciting moving
adventure story tells of their struggle for survival.
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Jared Eliot
Middle School
Grade 7 Book
Chat List
Ø
Students
entering Grades 7
must select one of their three book choices from the
following list.
Ø
Students
should take some notes on their selection so that they will be
prepared to discuss the book with a teacher in a small group in
the fall.
Ø
The book
chat will be counted as part of an English grade in the first
marking period.
Bloor, Edward
Tangerine
Legally blind, Paul Fisher wants to play soccer despite his
handicap. Through a series of unexpected twists and turns, Bloor
uses journal entries to tell a story about an adolescent who has
to adjust to a new school, make new friends, and confront a
problem.
Curtis, Christopher Paul
The
Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963
Enter the hilarious world of Kenny and his family, the Weird
Watsons of Flint, Michigan. The humorous interactions and
everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family,
are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in
Alabama in 1963.
Danzigar, Paula
The
Cat Ate My Gym Suit
Marcy hates school until Ms. Finney comes along, an English
teacher with innovative methods. When Ms. Finney gets
suspended, Marcy organizes a student protest on her behalf.
Hinton, S.E. The
Outsiders
Since his parents’ deaths, Ponyboy’s loyalty has been to his
brothers and his gang. However, when his best friend kills a
member of a rival gang, Ponyboy finds himself caught up in a
nightmare of violence.
London, Jack The Call of the Wild
This
is the story of a dog named Buck who was stolen from his home
and thrust into the merciless life of the Arctic to endure
hardship, bitter cold, and the savage lawlessness of man and
beast.
Paulsen, Gary Hatchet
After a plane crash, 13-year-old Brian spends 54 days in the
wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet
given to him by his mother.
Paulsen, Gary
The
Crossing
Manny Bustos is an orphan, sleeping in a cardboard box and
scrabbling for survival on the streets of Juarez, Mexico. One
night Manny dares to cross the Rio Grande in order to get to the
United States in hopes for a better life. This story is filled
with hardship, tension, and adventure.
Twain, Mark The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Tom
is an energetic and daring boy who lives with his Aunt Polly in
the quiet town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. Tom finds himself a
part of many escapades involving a murder, the framing of a
drunken man called Muff Potter, the villainous Injun Joe, and
being lost in a cave for three days.
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Jared
Eliot Middle School
Grade 8
Book Chat List
Ø
Students
entering Grades 8
must select one of their three book choices from the
following list.
Ø
Students
should take some notes on their selection so that they will be
prepared to discuss the book with a teacher in a small group in
the fall.
Ø
The book
chat will be counted as part of an English grade in the first
marking period.
.
Avi
The
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
In
1832, thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle finds herself the only
passenger and only female aboard a sailing ship bound from
England to Rhode Island and is drawn into danger when she joins
the crew in a revolt against the captain.
Christie, Agatha
And
Then There Were None
Considered by many to be the best mystery novel ever written.
This is the story of ten strangers each lured to Indian Island
by a mysterious host. Once his guests have arrived, the host
accuses each one of murder.
Duncan, Lois
Don’t Look Behind You
April Corrigan feels like her life is over when she learns that
her father has been working undercover for the FBI, and the
family must relocate.
Hiaasen, Carl
Hoot
Roy,
who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in
another boy’s attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a
proposed construction site. The quirky characters and comic
twists make this story memorable.
O’Brien, Robert C.
Z
for Zachariah
This
is a gripping, thought-provoking story about life after a
nuclear holocaust. Sixteen year-old Ann Burden must not only
fight to stay alive in a place destroyed by radiation, but also
outsmart an evil scientist who has the only radiation proof
suit.
Myers, Walter Dean
Monster
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, Steve Harmon
records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the
form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the
course his life has taken.
Stevensen, Robert Louis Treasure Island
Jim
Hawkins, the hero, discovers a map of Captain Flint’s treasure
and delivers the map to Squire Trelawney. Together they set off
for Treasure Island in the Squire’s schooner. The crew, a
company collected by Long John Silver, tries to mutiny and get
hold of the treasure themselves. The race for the buried
treasure has begun.
Yolen, Jane
The
Devil’s Arithmetic
Hannah is tired of hearing about the Nazis during the Holocaust,
but when she opens the door for Elijah at the Passover Seder,
she is transported in time to 1940’s Poland where she is
captured and put in a death camp.
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Jared
Eliot Middle School
Book Chat
Notes
Please jot down notes on your book that will help you during the
book chat. These notes should include characters, setting (time
and place), problem, events, solution to the problem,
conclusion. Please review the book chat question
sheet
Jared
Eliot Middle School
Book Chat
Questions
(Sample
List Only)
-
-
Did you
like the book? Why or why not? Give an example
of something that happens in the book to
illustrate your point.
-
Who was
your favorite or least favorite character? What
was he/she like? Give an example from the book
that shows one of his/her traits.
-
What
was a conflict in the story? How was it
resolved? What did this show about the
character involved?
-
How was
friendship shown in the book? Talk about the
relationship, whether friendly or not, between
any two people in the book.
-
What
was the author’s purpose in writing this book?
What message was he/she trying to tell us.
-
Who
would you recommend this book to? Why?
-
What
was the setting (time and place)? Was it
important to the story? Could this story have
happened anywhere and/or anytime?
-
Describe the conclusion of the story. Were all
conflicts resolved? Did the story have a
satisfying ending? Suggest a different type of
ending.
-
What is
the significance of the book title? Suggest
another title.
Jared Eliot
Middle School
Summer
Reading Questions
Name of Student:_____________________________
Date: ___________
Title of Book Read:
____________________________________________
Author:
_____________________________________________________
Check
One: ¨
Fiction
¨
Non-Fiction
Answer all 5
questions. Write a neat 5-7 sentence paragraph for each.
INITIAL UNDERSTANDING:
1.
(20 PTS) Summarize the story
according to Who... What... Where... When...How… Why?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
2.
(20 PTS)
State the main problem giving specific details or information
from the text to support your answer.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
MAKING READER/TEXT CONNECTIONS
3. (20
PTS) Make a connection to a similar situation or event in your
life, in your school, or in the world. Elaborate with details
and examples.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
EXAMINING THE CONTENT AND
STRUCTURE
4.
(20 PTS)
Think about the way the book ended and write what you think
could happen next. Use information from the text to support
your answer.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
DEVELOPING
INTERPRETATION
5.
(20 PTS)
What is the author’s purpose for writing this story? Support
your answer with details from the text.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
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