All incoming fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students are to read the required books, listed by grade level. Follow the grade level requirements for reporting on the book. Please word process your essay or composition. The 8^th grade reading journal may be hand written but must be double spaced. For the essays, staple the title page to your essay. Be prepared to discuss the books you read the first week of school. These essays and presentations are your first grades for the school year. Do your best and have a great summer.

REQUIRED (2 books):

You will write an essay on The Cay and write a note card on The Secret Garden. Instructions for both are given below. The note card must be turned in the first week of class.

Use the following outline to write your composition. Your report needs to be word-processed, and double spaced in size 12 Times New Roman font. Please proofread your paper for spelling, capitalization and grammatical errors before you submit it to your teacher.

Paragraph One:
This paragraph begins with an opening sentence that works as an "attention getter" for the reader. This attention getter needs to be related to the book in some way. For example, if reporting on The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, I might begin with something like:

One of the most beloved characters of all literature is a young boy
whom many adults might think needs some lessons in proper behavior.

In addition to your "attention getter", you will need to state the title and author of the book you read, the setting and a sentence that states what the book is about. For example: The novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, is about the many mischievous events of a young boy and his friends as they learn some very important life lessons. These events occur in the late nineteen hundreds in the southern part of the United States. Finally, you will need a sentence that works to transition to the paragraph that follows this one.

Paragraph Two:
This paragraph introduces and explains the relationships of the main characters in the book you read. Try to describe each main character completely, as if they were someone I might meet. A good way to organize this paragraph is to introduce the characters in order of importance.

Paragraph Three:
This paragraph explains the conflict(s) of the story. This is the problem and how the problem is solved or dealt with. The events or plot of the book are also referred to in this paragraph since that is where the conflict(s) occurs. Often you can find the conflict by asking the following questions:

Do not merely state the conflict. Prove, through referring to events in the book, that this conflict really exists. It is not enough to say, the conflict is man versus society. Your claim must be proven through examples.

Paragraph Four:
This paragraph explains the theme of the book. The theme is different from what the book is about. To find it, you need to ask yourself, what did the main character(s) learn? This is the key to figuring out the theme. Theme is not stated directly, but must be inferred by the reader. For example, a possible theme for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer might be: The laws of society don't often seem fair or even logical. If this is a valid theme, then the events of the story will reinforce it as will the lesson(s) the main character learns.

Paragraph Five:

It is this final paragraph that you will also give your opinion of this theme and the book itself.

Your opinion of the book: Would you recommend it to your friends? Is the subject interesting? Would you want to read other books not just answer yes or no. by the same author? Explain your opinion.

• Title (underlined) Author
• Your name Date you finished the book
• Setting (time and place of action)
• Names of major characters
• Category (fiction or non-fiction)
• Type of book ( mystery, romance, adventure, biography, history, science fiction)

• Memorable line or sentence, and chapter or page where this can be found.
• Your reason for choosing this line.
• Explain what you like most about the book.
• Explain what you like least about the book.

Avi -- Romeo and Juliet: Together and Alive at Last
Ed becomes a matchmaker when he casts two of his reluctant friends as leads in the 8th grade production of Romeo and Juliet.

Banks, Lynn Reid --  Maura’s Angel
A 12-year-old Irish girl survives a bomb explosion in Belfast and finds her guardian angel.

While searching through a deserted mansion to find an eccentric tycoon’s will, Johnny accidentally discovers a mysterious and dangerous force.

A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare’s acting troupe in order to steal the script of  Hamlet, but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty.

 A legally blind seventh-grader has always lived in the shadow of his older brother.  Things change when the family moves to Tangerine County, where bizarre natural disasters occur.

A biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, an independent spirit of the Medieval world.

15-year-old Barry O'Neill, traveling from Ireland to America on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, finds his life endangered when the ship begins to sink.

Two dogs and a cat find their way home across the Canadian wilderness.

A boy performing at London’s modern Globe theater is suddenly transported back time to 1599, where he meets Shakespeare and the original cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

A book by the author of Chasing Redbird. Two orphans come to live in Ruby Holler, a beautiful, mysterious place, which will change their lives forever.

Two girls keep their friendship alive through letters when one of them moves away.

Meggie lives a quiet life alone with here father.  But her father has a deep secret-- he possesses an extraordinary magical power.  One day a mysterious stranger arrives from her father's past.  Suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of intrigue as her father's life is put in danger.

A 12-year old boy in Victorian London witnesses a murder and becomes a suspect himself.

During a summer spent at the beach in 1944, Lily’s friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.

The moving story of a farm boy’s relationship with his dog in the late 1860’s.

Hobbs, Will   Jason’s Gold (and others by this author)

An adventure story of the Alaska gold rush. Jason rescues a husky from a cruel master and also meets the young Jack London.

Very funny novel of a kid who is always in trouble.  The book chronicles Greg's attempts to navigate the hazards of middle school.

Four students develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition. (Newbery )

For expressing his true views of a classic dog story, eighth-grade football hero Wallace earns a detention and is forced to attend the school play.

Born in the north woods, White Fang grows up wary and smart. When food becomes scarce, he is forced to befriend some humans to survive.

Montgomery, Lucy Maud   Anne of Green Gables (and series)

The story of a young orphan, who is adopted by a farm family in the small Canadian town of Avonlea.

The story of a 14-year-old boy, who serves as a knight’s squire in King Arthur’s time.

A 14-year-old Native American girl sets out for a faraway island to rescue her aunt.  A sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Chronicles an orphan boy’s transformation from apprentice to artist in 12th century Korea. (Newbery Medal 2002)

Eager to enlist, fifteen-year-old Charley has a change of heart after experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War combat.

The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of 16 heirs.  To their surprise, the will turns out to be a contest.  (Newbery Medal)

Speare, Elizabeth George The Witch of Blackbird Pond
A high-spirited teenage girl rebels against the narrow-minded ways of Puritan Connecticut.

An African American family living in the south during the 1930's is faced with prejudice and discrimination. (Newbery Medal)

Fleeing from agents of the new communist government in Vietnam, an old man and three children begin an endless struggle for survival as boat people.

This classic novel follows the Time Traveler as he hurtles one million years into the future and encounters the childlike Eloi and the disgusting Morlocks.

Yep, Laurence   Dragonwings (and other books by this author)

Moon Shadow is 8 years old when he sails from China to join his father in America. Together they endure prejudice and poverty in order to make their dreams come true.