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S U M M E R
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R E A D I N G
GRADE IX: PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Reading requirements for ninth graders
are more traditional and are designed
to push adolescents into adult literature.
In the summer before their
ninth grade year, every student reads
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak,
and Latin students read Virgil’s
Aeneid (in translation!), which is
supplied for them by Latin teacher
Greg Grote.
In addition to tying into the
ninth grade English curriculum,
which examines the style and
structure of the memoir, The
Book Thief, a multi-award winning book that is
set in Nazi Germany and narrated by Death, also has direct links to
the social studies curriculum. The ninth grade course, which is based on
the materials and methods of Facing History and Ourselves, uses the rise
of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust as a springboard to confront the
origins and persistence of anti-democratic ideas and events in Europe.
For their first assignment in the fall, ninth graders are asked to write a
passage analysis about The Book Thief.
A “passage analysis” is a paragraph that focuses on a passage
extrapolated from a text. It is a close examination! The passage
usually has a good deal of importance when looked at on its
own and can shed light on the text as a whole, as well.
Some tips:
1. Convey immediately why you chose your passage and make
this a creative and energetic sentence.
2. Use compelling phrases and words right from the passage in
your paragraph.
3. Type out your passage and them skip some lines and write
your analysis. This way you can keep looking at it closely as
you write!
4. Think of this as a paragraph that digs down deep and presents
this passage under a microscope. You are the expert!
I find reading in the summer much easier than during the school year.
There is a lot more free time to sit down in the sun and read in the summer because there is
much less work and pressure. Summer is a great opportunity to read some amazing books.
—Emily Hoyt (Grade IX)
R E A D I N G L I S T S (continued)
GRADE VIII
Summer Reading Choices:
One historical novel from this list
and one book from any source
(including this list, which features
popular favorites, classics, and
books that will enliven and extend
your school studies.)
A Northern Light by Jennifer
Donnelly (Historical Fiction)
For Grades VIII and IX
Mattie has a talent for writing and has
won a scholarship to Barnard, but her
ambition conflicts with loyalty to
family and courtship with the boy next
door. Mattie’s African-American friend,
Weaver, has similar ambitions and
faces different challenges. Their story
is interwoven with a celebrated
murder case of 1906.
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary
Sutcliffe (Historical Fiction)
For Grades VII, VIII, and IX
Roman Centurion Marcus Flavius
Aquila tries to solve the mystery of the
disappearance in Britain of his father
and the Ninth Legion Hispana, last
heard from near Hadrian’s Wall. Aquila
also hopes to locate the Ninth Legion’s
military standard, the missing Eagle,
and return it safely to Rome.
My Mother the Cheerleader by
Robert Sharenow (Historical Fiction)
For Grades VIII and IX
Every morning Louise’s mother
dresses up and goes to stand with a
group of neighborhood women known
as the Cheerleaders, who taunt sixyear
old Ruby Bridges as she enters
the elementary school. Louise never
questions the situation in the Ninth
Ward of New Orleans until a likable
New Yorker with radical views
becomes a boarder in their house.
Revolution is Not a Dinner Party
by Ying Chang Compestine (Historical
Fiction)
For Grades VI, VII, and VIII
Ling, the only daughter of two
doctors, leads a happy and
comfortable life in the city of Wuhan
until the beginning of the Cultural
Revolution in 1972. The family is
forced to share their apartment with
an official of the Communist Party,
food and supplies become scarce, and
worse hardships follow.
The Snows by Sharelle Byars
Moranville (Historical Fiction)
For Grades VII, VIII, and IX
In each of these four interwoven
stories, a member of the Snow family
of Jefferson, Iowa, makes a pivotal
decision at the age of sixteen. The
events take place over four
generations, spanning the Great
Depression, the World War II and
Vietnam War eras, and a time close
to the present.
28 The Park Bulletin | Fall 2009