Download Book Talks for Summer Reading - 9 th Grade

Dear Honors Freshmen:
Welcome to Maryvale! We’re so happy that you have chosen to be an honors English
student. Each year our honors freshmen are required to complete summer reading
projects and assignments.
This year you will be reading two novels. Attached to this packet you will find a
recommended list of authors and novels provided by the Grand Canyon Reader Award.
You may either check out the novels from your local library, or purchase the novel(s) at
a used bookstore or a regular bookstore.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS: You will need to complete the following
assignments and have everything ready to turn in on the first of school:
Novel #1
1. Choose one of the novels you are reading and complete the following Literary
Element worksheets for that novel:
a. Literary Element: Plot;
b. Literary Element: Setting;
c. Literary Element: Point-of-view;
d. Literary Element: Characterization; and
e. Literary Element: Theme and Tone.
2. For each one of these worksheets, you must fill in the entire space with
wonderful variety in sentence structure and vivid descriptions. Use quotes from
the text to support your reasoning and provide page numbers for those quotes.
Novel #2
1. You will give a Book Talk in class on your second novel. Please use the
attached guidelines to help you prepare for the Book Talk.
2. PLEASE NOTE you cannot give the Book Talk on the novel you completed the
Literary Element worksheets. The Book Talk must be on the second novel you
read.
Good luck and happy reading! If you have any questions please contact either Mrs.
Maxwell at [email protected], Ms. Alonzo at [email protected], or
Ms. Cassidy at [email protected]. We will be happy to answer any of your
questions.
If you lose this packet, you can find it on the Maryvale web site
http://www.phxhs.k12.az.us . Click on “schools” and open “Maryvale.” Go to
“Honors” and you will see the summer readings for all honors and AP English
classes.
See you in August!
Sincerely,
Ms. Maxwell
Ms. Alonzo
Ms. Cassidy
9th Honors English
Grand Canyon
Reader Award List
This is a list of recommended authors and novels you can choose from for your summer reading
requirement.
Teen Recommended 2012 Winners
The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel by Garth Stein (2008)
By The Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead by Julie Ann Peters (2010)
The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (2009)
Foiled by Jane Yolen (2010)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (2009)
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide by Nicholas
Kristof (2009)
Hate List by Jennifer Brown (2009)
Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars Volume 1 by Frank Beddor (2008)
The Heretics Daughter: A Novel by Kathleen Kent (2008)
Hero by Perry Moore (2007)
If I Stay by Gayle Forman (2009)
Impossible by Nancy Werlin (2008)
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (2009)
The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor (2010)
Out of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg (2008)
Pop By Gordon Korman (2009)
Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick (2009)
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (2009)
Wake by Lisa McMann (2008)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green (2010)
Teen Recommended 2013 Nominees
Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne (2008)
After by Amy Efaw (2009)
Annexed by Sharon Dogar (2010)
Ballistics: Poems by Billy Collins (2008)
The Berlin Boxing Club by Rob Sharenow (2011)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (2011)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (2009)
Bruiser by Neal Shusterman (2010)
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (2010)
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (2010)
Into the Beautiful North: A Novel by Luis Alberto Urrea (2009)
The Lost Gate: A Novel of the Mither Mages by Orson Scott Card (2010)
Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco X. Stork (2009)
Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray (2008)
The Painted Boy by Charles De Lint (2010)
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (2010)
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura
Hillenbrand (2010)
We Were Here by Matt de la Pena (2009)
Willow by Julia Hoban (2009)
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (2008)
Literary Element: Plot
Student Name______________________________________________Date___________Period_______
Title of Novel__________________________________________________________________________
Author_______________________________________________________________________________
This entire space MUST be filled with wonderful variety in sentence structure and vivid descriptions.
Use quotes from the text to support your reasoning and provide page numbers for those quotes.
Plot: All fiction is based on conflict and this conflict is presented in a structured format called PLOT.
Exposition – The introductory material which gives the setting, creates the tone, presents the
characters, and presents other facts necessary to understanding the story.
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Foreshadowing – The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the story.
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Inciting Force – The event or character that triggers the conflict.
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Conflict – The essence of fiction. It creates plot. The conflicts we encounter can usually be identified as
one of four kinds. (Man versus…Man, Nature, Society, or Self)
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Rising Action – A series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends
with the climax.
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Crisis – The conflict reaches a turning point. At this point the opposing forces in the story meet and the
conflict becomes most intense. The crisis occurs before or at the same time as the climax.
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Climax – The climax is the result of the crisis. It is the high point of the story for the reader. Frequently,
it is the moment of the highest interest and greatest emotion. The point at which the outcome of the
conflict can be predicted.
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Falling Action – The events after the climax which close the story.
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Resolution (Denouement) – Rounds out and concludes the action.
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Literary Element: Point-of-View
Student Name____________________________________________Date____________Period________
Title of Novel__________________________________________________________________________
Author_______________________________________________________________________________
This entire space MUST be filled with wonderful variety in sentence structure and vivid descriptions.
Use quotes from the text to support your reasoning and provide page numbers for those quotes.
Point of View: There are four different types of point-of-view for fiction (novels or short stories). Choose
which point of view is used in your novel and describe how you know this is the correct point-of-view.
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First Person – The narrator is a character in the story who can reveal only personal thoughts and
feelings and what he or she sees and is told by other characters. He can’t tell us thoughts of
other characters.
Third-Person Objective – The narrator is an outsider who can report only what he or she sees
and hears. This narrator can tell us what is happening, but he can’t tell us the thoughts of the
characters.
Third-Person Limited – The narrator is an outsider who sees into the mind of one of the
characters.
Omniscient – The narrator is an all-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of more than one
of the characters.
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Literary Element: Setting
Student Name___________________________________________Date________Period____
Title of Novel_________________________________________________________________
Author______________________________________________________________________
This entire space MUST be filled with wonderful variety in sentence structure and vivid descriptions.
Use quotes from the text to support your reasoning and provide page numbers for those quotes.
Setting: The time and place of a literary work. The setting may also include the climate and even the
social, psychological, or spiritual state of the participants.
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Literary Elements: Characterization
Student Name______________________________________Date____________________Period______
Title of Novel__________________________________________________________________________
Author_______________________________________________________________________________
This entire space MUST be filled with wonderful variety in sentence structure and vivid descriptions.
Use quotes from the text to support your reasoning and provide page numbers for those quotes.
Major Characters: Almost always are round and three-dimensional. They have good and bad qualities.
Their goals, ambitions and values change. A round character changes as a result of what happens to him
or her. A character who changes inside as a result of what happens to him is referred to in literature as
a DYNAMIC character. A dynamic character grows or progresses to a higher level of understanding in
the course of the story.
Protagonist
The main character in the story
Antagonist
Foil
The character or force that
A character who provides a
opposes the protagonist.
contrast to the protagonist.
Minor Characters: Almost always are two-dimensional characters. They have only one or two striking
qualities. Their predominant quality is not balanced by an opposite quality. They are usually all good or
all bad. Such characters can be interesting or amusing in their own right, but they lack depth. Flat
characters are sometimes referred to as STATIC characters because they do not change in the course of
the story.
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Literary Elements: Theme and Tone
Student Name________________________________________Date_________________Period_______
Title of Novel__________________________________________________________________________
Author_______________________________________________________________________________
This entire space MUST be filled with wonderful variety in sentence structure and vivid descriptions.
Use quotes from the text to support your reasoning and provide page numbers for those quotes.
Theme: It is important to recognize the difference between the theme of a literary work and the subject
of a literary work. The subject is the topic on which an author has chosen to write. The theme,
however, makes some statement about or expresses some opinion on that topic. For example, the
subject of a story might be war while the theme might be the idea that war is useless.
Tone: The author’s attitude, stated or implied, toward the subject. Some possible attitudes are
pessimism, optimism, earnestness, seriousness, bitterness, humorous, and joyful. An author’s tone can
be revealed through choice of words and details.
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Book Talks for Summer Reading - 9th Grade
Directions: You must choose one of your summer reading novels to give a Book Talk the first few weeks
of Freshmen Honors English. The novel you choose for the Book Talk cannot be the novel you
completed the Literary Elements packet on.
The following is a student-generated list of possible items you might include in your Book Talk. Only
select a few of the ones you think are most important and might be effective for your particular novel.
You will have a maximum of 2 minutes for your Book Talk.
Prepare an outline of what you are going to say and have it firmly in your mind. You must practice
before you make your presentation since this will be part of the your grade.
Voice must be enthusiastic! You have selected your favorite novel from the list, so be sure you conclude
with why you thought it was so wonderful. The purpose of these Book Talks is to encourage reading for
all students of all levels and abilities. Good luck!
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Title and author (Everyone must bring their book to hold and begin with the title and author)
Brief descriptions of the main characters
Genre (category, e.g. fantasy, sci-fi, historical, teen problems, multi-cultural, mystery,
psychological, horror, graphic novel, etc.)
Major conflict
Setting
Reading level
What you liked best about the novel
What drew you to the novel in the first place?
A weakness?
Recommendation
Theme
Benefits of reading this novel
Is the beginning fast or slow? If slow, what makes it worth staying with it and not abandoning
it?
Insightful quote