WEST HEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT

WEST HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL

400 NASSAU BOULEVARD

WEST HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK 11552

(516) 390 - 3255

THOMAS J. LEE CAROL EISENBERG, Ed.D.

Principal Superintendent of Schools

MARY SKINNER

Director of English and Library Services

Regents Level Summer Reading Assignment – 2007

YOUR CHANCE TO START THE YEAR OFF WITH EXTRA CREDIT !!

Directions: Below is a list of several activities designed for you to complete during or after completing your summer reading. As discussed in class, you will determine your own extra credit grade on this assignment.

3 Assignments = 100

2 Assignments = 90

1 Assignment = 80

ANYTHING LESS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR EXTRA CREDIT.

1. Define 20 words from your book and use each one in a grammatically correct sentence.

2. Upon the completion of your novel, write a business letter to the editor of your book (you can

find the editor’s name and address on the title page), and tell him what you thought of it. If

you say you didn’t like it be sure you give a specific example as to what you didn’t like. I will

be grading this for two things: content of the letter and how well you remember and use

proper business letter format.

3. Upon the completion of the book, creatively rewrite the ending. If it was up to you, how would this book have ended? Make sure you use many descriptive words, and dialogue where

necessary.

4. For you artists, draw a scene from the novel as you picture it in your mind. Instead of drawing, you may use magazine or news clippings to illustrate your scene. You can even

use clay or other objects to put together this assignment.

5. Pretend that you are the main character in the novel. Write a letter to Dr. Phil about a

problem that you are having in the novel. It could be a problem with your parents, a friend,

or simple a tough decision that you have to make. Please be sure to include all appropriate

information from the novel in your letter so that Dr. Phil can send you a speedy reply.

6. Write an essay of approximately 100 words explaining what you think is the author’s main

purpose in writing this novel. Was he trying to teach you a lesson? Basically. I’m asking

you what the main theme of the novel is. Some examples of author’s message might be:

“drugs are bad”, friendships are hard to find, broken hearts mend, what its like to be new in

town, antiwar books, or how stupid fights really are. These are just a few examples. Once

you decide on what the theme is, then write it down using a specific example from the novel

to support your idea.

7. Every generation has certain expressions that have special meaning to them. For example,

kids today say something is “bad”, when it is really good. From the novel, pick out 5

expressions like this. Copy the sentences from the book in which each is contained. Then

tell what the expression means.

8. Write 2 – 3 journal entries. Pretend you are one of the characters in the novel and that you

are writing in your diary. Remember this should include the characters private thoughts since

no one else reads your diary.

9. If you read a non fiction book, make a chart on the book that includes the following:

Title, author, Author’s purpose, 20 facts that you learned from reading the book.

10. Create a story board on which you illustrate (draw) the main parts of the book.

Chapter 1

The end

DUE DATE : SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

REGENTS LEVEL SUGGESTED SUMMER READING 2007

TITLE AUTHOR GENRE SUMMARY

After the Death of Anna Gonzalez	Fields, Terri	Novel in Poems	Poems written in the voices of 47 people record the aftermath of a high school student’s suicide.
All-American Girl	Cabot, Meg	Teen	A sophomore girl stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed teen ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son.
American Born Chinese	Yang, Gene Luen	Graphic Novel	Through three interconnected stories, this graphic novel explores racism and self-hatred as a Chinese American adolescent struggles to come to terms with his heritage.
An Abundance of Katherines	Green, John	Realistic Fiction	After the 19^th girl named Katherine breaks his heart, Colin and his friend Hassan hit the road. Can a mathematical formula help a former child prodigy find the new love of his life?
Antarctica: Journeys to the South Pole	Myers, Walter Dean	Non-Fiction	A chilling record of the dangerous exploration of this frozen continent throughout history.
Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing	Anderson, M. T.	Historical	He was raised as an experiment and considered a piece of property. Now that revolution has come to America, will Octavian find freedom?
Before We Were Free	Alvarez, Julia	Historical	In the early 1960s in the Dominican Republic, 12-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator, General Trujillo.
Body of Christopher Creed	Plum-Ucci, Carol	Mystery	Three classmates implicate themselves while trying to solve the mystery of the class outcast’s disappearance.
Book Thief	Zusak, Markus	Historical	Death colors (and narrates) this complex, devastating story set in Nazi Germany, in which orphaned Liesel befriends a Jew hidden by her guardians and finds solace in stolen books.
Born Confused	Desai Hidier, Tanuja	Realistic Fiction	Dimple, whose family is from India, discovers that she is not Indian enough for the Indians and not American enough for the Americans.
Breathing Underwater	Flinn, Alex	Teen	Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, and ordered to keep a journal, 16 year old Nick examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.
Cirque du Freak	Shan, Darren	Horror	Two boys who are best friends visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices. (Book 1 in the Saga of Darren Shan series)
Clay	Almond, David	Horror	The relationship between teenager Davie and a mysterious new boy in town morphs into something darker and more sinister when Davie learns firsthand of the boy’s supernatural powers.
Code Orange	Cooney, Caroline	Suspense	While conducting research for a high school biology report, a teenage boy unwittingly puts himself and others in danger
Color of Water	McBride, James	Biography	Ruth McBride Jordan, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, married an African-American man here and successfully raised 12 children from her 2 marriages despite poverty and racism.
Copper Sun	Draper, Sharon	Historical	Two 15 year old girls, one a slave and the other an indentured servant, escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Haddon, Mark		Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically gifted, autistic 15-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor’s dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
Cut	McCormick, Patricia	Realistic Fiction	While confined to a mental hospital, Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation and gradually gets better.
DaVinci Code	Brown, Dan	Suspense	Symbologist Robert Langdon works to solve a murder, a case that leads to clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci and an ancient secret society.
Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a High School Basketball Season …	D’Orso, Michael	Non-Fiction	Life in a remote Alaskan village is transformed by the championship aspirations of the high school basketball team.
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini	Fleischman, Sid	Biography	In a spellbinding biography that details Houdini’s rise to fame and his continual self-reinvention, the enthusiasm of fellow magician Fleischman proves infectious.
First Part Last	Johnson, Angela	Realistic Fiction	Bobby’s carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.
For One More Day	Albom, Mitch		This is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond and the “ordinary” day so many yearn for, a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain family secrets and to seek forgiveness.
Girl With a Pearl Earring	Chevalier, Tracy	Historical	A 17^th century servant girl knows her place in the household of a famous painter, but when he begins to paint her, nasty whispers and rumors circulate throughout the town.
Golden Compass	Pullman, Philip	Fantasy	Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming subjects of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
Grease Monkey: A Tale of Growing Up in Orbit	Eldred, Tim	Graphic Novel	In this hilarious graphic novel, a teen spaceship mechanic learns to adjust to his crotchety new boss, who happens to be a gorilla.
Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales From History to Astonish, Bewilder & Stupefy	Beyer, Rick	Non-Fiction	Features surprising stories and little-known historical facts from history, such as the Pilgrims decision to land in Plymouth because they ran out of beer.
Half-Moon Investigations	Colfer, Eoin	Mystery	From the author of the Artemis Fowl series comes a mystery involving a boy named Fletcher Moon who has 12 hours to find the guilty party or he is the guilty party.
Hanging on to Max	Bechard, Margaret	Realistic Fiction	When his girlfriend wants to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam decides to keep him and raise him on his own.
Hidden Evidence: Forty True Crimes & How Forensic Science Helped Solve Them	Owen, David	Non-Fiction	The evolution of forensic science and crime investigation from Jack the Ripper to today’s serial killers.
Hole in My Life	Gantos, Jack	Autobiography	The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.
If You Come Softly	Woodson, Jacqueline	Romance	After meeting at their private school in New York, 15 year old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people’s reactions.
Imani All Mine	Porter, Connie Rose	Realistic Fiction	Fifteen-year-old Tasha is trying to grow up in a bleak housing project, get good grades and take care of her daughter without help from her mother.
In the Forests of the Night	Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia	Supernatural	Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time to the year 1684 when she died and was transformed against her will.
Incantation	Hoffman, Alice	Historical	Secrets are dangerous during the Spanish Inquisition, especially for Estrella and her family, who have hidden their Jewish heritage.
It’s Not About the Bike	Armstrong, Lance	Autobiography	Lance Armstrong was ranked as the top bicyclist in the world, until cancer struck and changed his life forever.
Just Ella	Haddix, Margaret Peterson	Fantasy	In this continuation of the Cinderella story, 15-year-old Ella finds that accepting Prince Charming’s proposal ensnares her in a suffocating tangle of palace rules and royal etiquette, so he plots to escape.
Keeping the Moon	Dessen, Sarah	Realistic Fiction	Colie, a former “fat girl,” spends the summer with her overweight Aunt Mira and works as a waitress while trying to figure out who she really is.
Killing Mr. Griffin	Duncan, Lois	Teen	A group of students kidnaps their teacher to “teach him a lesson,” but their plans go awry when he dies.
King Dork	Portman, Frank	Teen	High school loser Tom Henderson discovers that “The Catcher in the Rye” may hold the clues to the many mysteries in his life.
Kite Runner	Hosseini, Khaled		The unforgettable story of two boys growing up in Kabul, and their friendship, betrayal and the price of loyalty.
Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice…	Nelson, Peter	Non-Fiction	A school project eventually led to the truth about the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy’s cover-up, and the Captain’s court martial.
Life of Pi	Martel, Yann	Adventure	Pi Patel, a zookeeper’s son, sets sail for America. When the ship sinks, he escapes on a lifeboat and is lost at sea with a dwindling number of animals until only he and a hungry Bengal tiger remain.
Love Curse of the Rumbaughs	Gantos, Jack	Horror	Loving your mother is a blessing; loving her so much that you perform taxidermy on her is a curse.
Lovely Bones	Sebold, Alice	Supernatural	A teenager who is brutally murdered looks down with great interest on what happens as life goes on for her family, her friends and her murderer.
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment	Patterson, James	Adventure	After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the “bird kids,” who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.
Monster	Myers, Walter Dean	Teen	While on trial as an accomplice to murder, 16-year-old 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.
Off Road	Murphy, Sean	Graphic Novel	In this hilarious graphic novel that captures the essence of tough-guy camaraderie, three friends get stuck while off-roading.
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies	Sones, Sony	Novel in Poems	Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother’s grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.
Perks of Being a Wallflower	Chbosky, Stephen	Teen	It’s not easy being a teenager, and Charlie tells us all about it in a series of letters written to an unknown friend.
Phineas Gage: a Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science	Fleischman, John	Biography	In 1848, Phineas Gage, a 26-year-old explosives expert, had an accident that should have killed him. A 13-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived.
Prep	Coburn, Jake	Realistic Fiction	Nick tries to come to terms with the death of a friend, to protect the brother of his would-be girlfriend, to escape the violence of wealthy NYC prep-school hoods, and to figure out who he really is.
Prom	Anderson, Laurie Halse	Teen	Ash wants nothing to do with senior prom, but when disaster strikes and her desperate friend, Nat, needs her help to get it back on track, Ash’s involvement transforms her life.
Rebecca	Du Maurier, Daphne	Mystery	Rebecca has been dead for months, but her sinister influence is still very much alive.
Rebound	Krech, Bob	Sports	Most Polish guys go out for wrestling, but basketball is in Ray’s blood. He knows his game, but can he make the squad?
Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex	Philbrick, Nathaniel	Non-Fiction	Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whaleship “Essex” by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds.
Rules of the Road	Bauer, Joan	Realistic Fiction	Jenna learns valuable life lessons while driving the owner of Gladstone’s Shoes from Chicago to Texas.
Samurai Shortstop	Gratz, Alan	Historical/Sports	In the year 1890, a Tokyo teen uses traditional bushido training to improve his baseball game and comes to understand the place of samurai values in Japanese culture.
Secret Life of Bees	Kidd, Sue Monk	Realistic Fiction	A young girl runs away from an unhappy home and finds shelter with a family of black beekeepers. The rhythm of working with the bees restores her balance.
Shattering Glass	Giles, Gail	Teen	When the charismatic leader of the senior class turns the school nerd into Prince Charming, his actions lead to unexpected violence.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants	Brashares, Ann	Teen Fiction	Four friends share a pair of magical jeans during their first summer apart.
Small Steps	Sachar, Louis	Teen	Three years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is trying to keep his life on track, but when his old pal shows up with a tempting plan to make some easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit goes along.
Sold	McCormick, Patricia		Lakshimi is sold into prostitution in order to help her poor family. Written in evocative vignettes, this powerful novel describes a girl in an unimaginable world, a girl who not only survives but also triumphs.