Academics

 Click here for a "Printable" copy of the Honors Summer Reading Assignment 2011

Honors Summer Reading Assignment 2011 

Choose any novel that meets the following requirements: 

       •     Is at least 200 pages 

       •     Is fiction 

       •     British author is recommended (Look for an asterisk by the author’s name in the list below.)   

Choose one of the following.  This is a 300 point assignment that will be collected the first day of school.   

       •    Make a mixed tape/CD for the protagonist in your novel.  For each song you choose, write a 100 word 

             explanation for why you chose it. 

       •    Write a resume for one of the main characters.  (500 words) 

       •    Write a debate between the protagonist and antagonist in your novel.  Choose a topic about which your 

             characters would be passionate.  (500 words) 

       •    Clip 5 current events from the newspaper that could have occurred in the novel you read.  Provide a 100                word explanation for each clipping. 

       •    Write a dialogue between your protagonist and a talk-show host.  (400 words.)  Be purposeful in the talk 

             show you chose, and provide a 100 word explanation for why you choose that particular talk show. 

       •    Make a scrap book for you character.  (At least 5 pages.)  Provide a 100 word explanation for each age. 

       •    Select five characters from your novel and write an answering machine/voice mail message for each.                    Provide a 100 word explanation for each. 

       •    Clip 5 advertisements that would appeal to a main character in your novel.  Provide a 100 word                            explanation for each. 

       •    Nominate 5 characters in your novel for awards that demonstrate something about their character.  

             Provide a 100 word explanation for each. 

Great Books for Teenagers.  (All books with an asterisk are written by British authors.) 

Abbott, Ellen Jensen. Watersmeet 

Born into a colony of religious fanatics, Abisina is persecuted for her appearance and kept alive only

because her mother is the healer. When a new leader arrives and rids the colony of the "outcasts," Abisina 

escapes and sets out with a dwarf named Haret to seek the father she has never met in a place called 

Watersmeet. (YA Fic SF Abbott) 

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls

Lia sees her eating disorder as a way to avoid so much: her stepmother's pressure to be a role model for her new 

stepsister, her parents' divorce, her mother's constant hounding over her eating habits. Most importantly, she sees it as a means to escape the death of her best friend, the one she ignored the day she died from the same disease Lia is fighting herself. (YA Fic Anderson) 

* Bennett, Sofia.  Secrets, Sequins, and Silver Lining (The story of 3 unlikely friends in the high-fashion world of 

  modern London.) 

* Brooks, Kevin.  Being (During a routine exam, Robert Smith discovers he is not entirely human.) 

Burgess, Melvin.  Doing It.  (Three teenage boys talk about sex.) 

Chbosky, Stephen.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Ms. Humbarger’s favorite YA novel!  This tells the story of 

Charly, a sweet but deeply troubled teenager and the friends he makes. 

Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron

In a distant future, criminals are dumped in a vast, living prison called Incarceron, with live forests and mechanical animals, climate-controlled weather and everlasting dark walls that stretch to nowhere. To free herself from an upcoming arranged marriage, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden, decides to help a young prisoner escape. (YA Fic SF Fisher) 

Fitzpatrick, Becca. hush, hush

Nora has always been cautious in her relationships, but when Patch, who has a dark side she can sense, enrolls at her school, she is mysteriously drawn to him, despite warnings from her best friend, the school counselor and her own instincts. (YA Fic M Fitzpatrick)

Forman, Gayle. If I Stay

After a drive with her family, Mia wakes up to find the car in pieces and the bodies of her family by the side of the road. Although she is in a coma, she can see everything happening around her, almost as if she were a ghost. With her family gone, Mia has to decide if she should stay among the living or the dead. (YA Fic Forman)

* Henderson, Lauren.  Kiss Me, Kill Me (When Scarlett has her first kiss, the boy drops dead.  She travels to   Scotland with her friend Taylor to unravel the mystery of his death.) 

*  Honrby, Nick  Slam  (At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones’ girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam’s life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically.) 

Jordan, Dream.  Hot Girl.  (Kaie struggles being raised in Brookly and being lost in the foster care system.  She meets Naleejah, who is headed for even more trouble than herself.) 

Meyers, Walter Dean.  Lockdown  (The story of a teenager named Reese stuck in the juvinelle detention system and in danger of heading to prison.) 

Ockler, Sarah. Twenty Boy Summer

While on a beach vacation in California. Frankie and Anna make a bet to attract 20 boys in 20 days. Once Anna meets Sam, she isn't sure she can finish their bet. (YA Fic Ockler)

Peters, Julie Anne. By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead 

Daelyn Rice is determined to succeed in killing herself this time. Using a website for "completers," she reveals a 

history of bullying and torment that started in kindergarten. One day, though, a boy sits with her as she is waiting to be picked up from school. While she makes it known that she wants to be alone, he won't give up on her. (YA Fic Peters)

*  Rennison, Louise Angus Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging  (Funny!  Diary entries of a quirky young British 

teenager.)

*  Updale, Elanor  Thief, Liar, Gentleman  (In Victorian London, a life used his knowledge gained in prison and from lectures to become a professional thief.) 

*  Ward, Rachel.  Num8ers  (When Jem looks at someone, she sees a date on his or head that tells her the day that person will die.  When Jem and her friend Spider are accused of a mass murder, they go on the run.) 

Click on the link below for a "Printable" PDF copy.

http://daytondunbar.org/documents/contentdocuments/doc_23_5_1171.pdf

School Counselor - Laura Lewis  Phone: 542-6818

Counselors Notes

Students are encourage to begin to prepare for spring graduation.  

If you haven't already begun this is the time to start investigating colleges and

universities you wish to attend.  See Ms. Lewis, who has many college catalogues

and websites available for your use.  Don't wait until the last minute and possibly lose

out on valuable financial aid and opportunities.