Diman Special Needs ELA Summer Reading List for 2007
Click here for the regular education reading list.
Overview
It is a requirement for all Diman students, including the Special Needs students, to complete a summer reading and take a test upon returning to school in September. The test will be counted as TWO TEST GRADES in first trimester. TESTS will be GIVEN on FRIDAY of the FIRST FULL WEEK of ACADEMICS. Special Needs students have a specific book list from which to select their reading and have signed a form acknowledging their receipt of this list. No extra time will be given when school starts in September.
To aid the students in recalling details, sequencing events, understanding what they have read, and organizing their thoughts, a data form has been provided for their use (PDF). This form will be collected in September. It is strongly recommended that the Special Needs students keep a journal (written account) as they read. It will be at the teachers' discretion to use these journals as part of the test or as extra credit for the test.
There are approximately 10 weeks of summer vacation to read one book. Students should not wait too long to get the book and begin reading!
Notice:
Young adult literature often deals with subjects that are controversial and realistic. Many of these books do not contain easy answers to problems and the characters do not "live happily ever after." Teens struggling with the issues and pressures of modern society often find these novels can be of help in dealing with their own problems because they are able to identify with the characters in the stories.
Parents are encouraged to review the recommended selections prior to their son/daughter reading the book.
All questions concerning the summer reading assignments can be directed to Mrs. Michelle Letendre, Academic Coordinator, at 508-678-2891 x1320.
The following books from the summer reading list are all highly recommended. Several of the selections may contain subject matter or language that might be disturbing to some readers and/or parents.
Entering Grade 9
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.
Please read the incoming freshmen cover letter and information before continuing.
Freshmen students must print and fill out this document (PDF) as they read the book. It is due on the first day of school. In addition, a data sheet has been provided to help them (PDF).
Entering Grade 10
The River by Gary Paulsen
"We want you to do it again." These words, spoken to Brian Robeson, will change his life. Two years earlier, Brian was stranded alone in the wilderness for 54 days with nothing but a small hatchet. Yet he survived. Now the government wants him to go back into the wilderness so that astronauts and the military can learn the survival techniques that kept Brian alive. Soon the project backfires, though, leaving Brian with a wounded partner and a long river to navigate. His only hope is to build a raft and try to transport the injured man a hundred miles downstream to a trading post-if the map he has is accurate.
That Was Then. This Is Now by S.E. Hinton
That was Then, This Is Now presents two foster brothers, Bryon and Mark, moving apart as one becomes more involved with school and girlfriends while the other moves deeper into a career of crime and drugs. That Was Then, This Is Now shows teenage life and the many decisions and choices teenagers make. It also shows many things that could happen to a teenager. This book shows how people change during their teenage years and how easy it is for friends to grow apart. It also shows many things that could happen to a teenager. This book shows how people change during their teenage years and how easy it is for friends to grow apart.
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (243 pages)
During the summer of 1793, Mattie lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the coffee shop to the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out! Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather only to find the sickness is everywhere! She must learn quickly how to survive in a city frantic with disease.
A data sheet has been provided for their use.
Entering Grade 11
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer (104 pages)
They rowed hard, away from the battleships and the bombs. Water sprayed over them. The rowboat pitched one way and then the other. Then, before his eyes, the Arizona lifted up out of the water. That enormous battleship bounced up in the air like a rubber ball and split apart. Fire burst out of the ship. A geyser of water shot into the air and earn crashing down. Adam was almost thrown out of the rowboat. He clung to the seat as it swung around. He saw blue skies and the glittering city. The boat swung back again, and he saw black clouds, and the Arizona, his father's ship, sinking beneath the water.
Angels Watching Over Me by Lurlene McDaniel (176 pages)
Happy Holidays! Bah humbug. "Happy" is not the way Leah Lewis-Hall would describe herself at the moment. She's spending her twelve days of Christmas in an Indianapolis hospital, while her mother is thousands of miles away on a honeymoon with husband number five. Leah went to the doctor with nothing more than a broken finger, but he ordered her to undergo some tests. Now she's stuck in the hospital, alone.
Then Leah meets her hospital roommate, a young Amish girl named Rebekah, and her big family. Cynical sixteen-year-old Leah has never known people like this before. From Rebekah's handsome brother, Ethan, who can barely look Leah in the eye, to her kind older sister, Charity, the Amish family captivates Leah with its simple, loving ways. When Leah receives frightening information about her condition, her new friends show her that miracles can happen. And that sometimes angels appear in the most unexpected places.
Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen (128 pages)
This is the story of Charley's enlistment and Civil War experiences. Charley Goddard was eager to enlist in the first Minnesota volunteers even though he was only fifteen-years-old. He left his farm to enlist because he didn't want to miss out on a great adventure. He found out that war was full of terrible physical and mental horrors. He was lucky to survive. Charley entered the war a boy and came horne a man with a "solder's heart". The book was based on the life of a real boy.
A data sheet has been provided for their use.
Entering Grade 12
Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac
"Ever since Molly woke up one morning and discovered that her parents had vanished, she has had to depend on herself to survive - and find the reason for their disappearance. Social Services has turned her over to the care of a great-uncle, a mysterious man Molly has never met or even heard of before. Then Molly starts having dreams about the Skeleton Man from a spooky old Mohawk tale her father used to tell her… dreams that are trying to tell her something…dreams that might save her, if only she can understand them."
Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
"If things hadn't changed, their parents would still be alive. Charlie would have never gotten busted and sent to Rahway Correctional. Ty'ree would have gone to college instead of having to work fulltime to support them. And Lafayette wouldn't have all of these questions, these whys, whens, and hows clattering around in his head. Why did Mama have to die? Why does Charlie hate him so much now, and when did he turn into such a stranger? And how are the three of them - Miracle's sons, her boys - supposed to survive these times together when so much seems to be against them?"
A Boy No More by Henry Mazer (sequel to A Boy At War)
No matter where Adam goes, he can't get away from the effects of the war. His best friend, Davi, has asked for help. Davi is Japanese American, and his father has been arrested, taken to Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp.
Adam isn't sure what to do. If he goes to Manzanar and starts asking questions, he could be risking his own life. But can he simply do nothing and risk losing Davi's friendship forever? Are Davi, his father, and all the other Japanes Americans taken from their homes responsible for wht happened at Pearl Harbor?
