Cyrus Peirce Middle School 2007 Summer Reading Packet and ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Messenger by: Lois LowryMatty, who has lived in Village with the blind Seer since running away from an abusivechildhood, is looking forward to receiving his true name, which he hopes will be Messenger.But he is deeply unsettled by what is going on. He has discovered his own power to heal othersand learned of disturbing changes within his community. Under the gentle guidance of Leader,who arrived in Village on a red sled as a young boy and who has the power of Seeing Beyond,the citizens have always welcomed newcomers, especially those who are disabled. But a sinisterforce is at work, which has prompted them to close admission to outsiders. Also, it seems thatMatty's beloved Mentor has been trading away parts of his inner self in order to become moreattractive to Stocktender's widow. When the date for the close of the border is decided, Mattymust make one more trip through the increasingly sinister Forest to bring back Seer's daughter,the gifted weaver Kira. On the return journey, Matty must decide if he should use his healingbut self-destructive power to reverse the inexorable decline of Forest, Village, and its people.The Ear, The Eye and The Arm by: Nancy FarmerIn Zimbabwe in the year 2194, the military ruler's 13-year-old son and his younger brother andsister leave their technologically overcontrolled home and find themselves on a series ofperilous adventures. Tendai and his siblings encounter mile-high buildings and other miraclesof scientific advance; they also find fetid slums and toxic waste dumps. As they're kidnapped bygangsters, forced to slave in a plastic mine, and accused of witchcraft, they're pursued by mutantdetectives, who are both bumbling and sensitive and who always seem to be just one stepbehind rescuing the children. In the best section, the siblings find themselves in a traditionalShona village that at first seems idyllic but turns out to also encompass fierce sexism, ignorance,and disease. Throughout the story, it's the thrilling adventure that will grab readers, who willalso like the comic, tender characterizations, not only of the brave, defiant trio and the absurddetectives, but also of nearly every one the kids meet, from street gangsters and spiritual healersto the English tribespeople with their weird customs.The House of The Scorpion by: Nancy FarmerThis is the empire of Matteo Alacran, a feudal drug lord in the country of Opium, which liesbetween the United States and Aztlan, formerly Mexico. Field work, or any menial tasks, aredone by "eejits," humans in whose brains computer chips have been installed to insure docility.Historical FictionBreadwinner by: Deborah EllisBecause the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women's freedomand behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family cansurvive after her father's arrest.Fever, 1793 by: Laurie Halse AndersonIt's the late summer of 1793 in Philadelphia, and fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook helps herwidowed mother and her grandfather run a coffehouse. Mattie resents her strict mother anddreams of expanding the coffeehouse and becoming wealthy. But her mother seemsdetermined to find a wealthy young man to marry Mattie off to. But all of Mattie's concernssoon seem petty when an epidemic of yellow fever begins to spread throughout the city.Mattie's own mother falls ill and sends Mattie and her grandfather to stay on a farm in thecountryside, where she hopes they will be safe. But they are turned away and forced to returnto Philadelphia when a doctor mistakes her grandfather's cough for yellow fever. Mattie comesdown with the fever and nearly dies, but is nursed back to health in a temporary hospital. Butshe and her grandfather return to the coffeehouse to find that Mattie's mother has vanished.
They try to settle back into a normal routine, but a sudden tragedy soon leaves Mattie on herown. Now, in a world turned upside down, in a ghost city a shadow of its former self, Mattiemust keep herself alive and care for a little girl orphaned by the epidemic. This was an excellenthistorical novel that brought to life the epidemic.I am David by: Anne HolmDavid's entire twelve-year life has been spent in a grisly prison camp in Eastern Europe. Heknows nothing of the outside world. But when he is given the chance to escape, he seizes it.With his vengeful enemies hot on his heels, David struggles to cope in this strange new world,where his only resources are a compass, a few crusts of bread, his two aching feet, and somevague advice to seek refuge in Denmark. Is that enough to survive?David's extraordinary odyssey is dramatically chronicled in Anne Holm's classic about themeaning of freedom and the power of hope.Journey to the River Sea by: Eva IbbotsonSent in 1910 to live with distant relatives who own a rubber plantation along the Amazon River,English orphan Maia is excited. She believes she is in for brightly colored macaws, enormousbutterflies, and "curtains of sweetly scented orchids trailing from the trees." Her Britishclassmates warn her of man-eating alligators and wild, murderous Indians. Unfortunately, no onecautions Maia about her nasty, xenophobic cousins, who douse the house in bug spray andforbid her from venturing beyond their coiffed compound. Maia, however, is resourcefulenough to find herself smack in the middle of more excitement than she ever imagined, from amysterious "Indian" with an inheritance, to an itinerant actor dreading his impendingadolescence, to a remarkable journey down the Amazon in search of the legendary giant sloth.Jump Ship to Freedom by: Collier and CollierThe second book in the Arabus family saga finds young Daniel trying to retrieve the notes thatensure his and his mother's freedom, until he is forced aboard a boat and headed for certainslavery in the West Indies.Streams to the River, River to the Sea by: Scott O’DellA young Indian woman, accompanied by her infant and cruel husband, experiences joy andheartbreak when she joins the Lewis and Clark Expedition seeking a way to the Pacific.The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by: Christopher Paul CurtisThe year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny'sexistence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening his hair into a"conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finallypushes his family too far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or stealchange one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to thedeep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother. Soon the whole family ispacked up, ready to make the drive from Flint, Michigan, straight into one of the most chillingmoments in America's history: the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with fourlittle girls inside.Trouble Don’t Last by: Shelley PearshallFirst time novelist Shelley Pearsall has woven a remarkable tale about a pair of runaway slavesand their flight to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Slavery is the only reality that elevenyear-oldSamuel has ever known. His mother was sold away from his Kentucky homestead whenSamuel was just a toddler. Since then, it has just been Samuel and his elderly guardians, Harrisonand Lily. When Harrison steals him away in the middle of the night, Samuel is sure that troublewill come from it. Through spine tingling close calls and hair-raising adventures, old Harrisonand Samuel creep closer to elusive Freedom. Along the way, they are aided by colorful
Page 2 and 3: Summer Reading Assignments for Inco
Page 7 and 8: subtle play of light and texture, h
Page 9 and 10: and revenue men? How can the hero,
Page 11 and 12: and the emperor's champion will bat
Page 13 and 14: Ella Enchanted by: Gail Carson Levi
Page 15: adventure that will make you not wa
Page 19 and 20: Civil Rights Movement are the focus
Page 21: PoetryHeartbeat by: Sharon CreechTw

Cyrus Peirce Middle School 2007 Summer Reading Packet and ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?