Parkview High School 2015-2016 Freshman Summer Reading & Assessments
Congratulations on successfully completing your eighth-grade year! Your upcoming freshman
English teachers have selected a wide range of books for your summer reading in order to allow
you to choose a novel that will pique your interest. There are three selections that are for
college prep students only; however, college prep students can choose from any of the other
selections if desired.
Summer reading is REQUIRED for all freshmen at Parkview High School. Assignments will be
due by September 15, 2015. Freshman teachers will discuss how to submit the assignment
during the first week of school; however, you are strongly urged to begin the process of
choosing an assignment and developing a rough draft before school begins.
PLEASE NOTE: Some of the books may contain adult/mature situations. We urge you to choose
a book with a parent’s or guardian’s guidance. If a book makes you uncomfortable, then make
another book selection.
ALSO NOTE: While watching a film can help you process basic plot, the assignments are specific
to the books and designed to assess students for having read, not for having watched a movie.
A Child Called “It” ~Dave Pelzer
College Prep Students Only
This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the
most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story
of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his
emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played
tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead.
He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to
survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave;
and no longer a boy, but an "it."
I am Malala~Malala Yousafzai
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke
out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her
right to an education. Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has
taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in
Northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York.
At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest
and the youngest ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Lost Boy~Dave Pelzer
College Prep Students Only (ONLY if you have already read A
Child Called “It”)
This is Dave Pelzer's long-awaited sequel to A Child Called "It". In
The Lost Boy, he answers questions and reveals new adventures
through the compelling story of his life as an adolescent. Now
considered an F-Child (Foster Child), Dave is moved in and out of
five different homes. He suffers shame and experiences
resentment from those who feel that all foster kids are trouble
and unworthy of being loved just because they are not part of a
"real" family. Tears, laughter, devastation and hope create the
journey of this little lost boy who searches desperately for just
one thing -- the love of a family.
The Mole People~Jennifer Toth
Thousands of people live in the subway, railroad, and sewage
tunnels that form the bowels of New York City. This book is about
them, the so-called "mole people" living alone and in
communities, in the frescoed waiting rooms of long-forgotten
subway tunnels and in pick-axed compartments below busway
platforms. It is about how and why people move underground,
who they are, and what they have to say about their lives and the
treacherous "topside" world they've left behind.
Every Day~David Levithan
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin
and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the
rules by which A has been living no longer apply. With his new
novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights.
He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as
they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s
world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love
someone who is destined to change every day.
Flowers for Algernon~Daniel Keys
Daniel Keyes's powerful and highly original story of a young man
whose quest for intelligence and knowledge parallels that of
Algernon (the mouse who is an earlier subject of a similar
experiment) remains unique in imaginative literature. We follow
Charlie Gordon's mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. We
watch with excitement as he becomes the focus of attention by
the scientific world, his intellectual capacities far surpassing those
of the psychologists and neurosurgeons who engineered his
metamorphosis.
Paper Towns~John Green
When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the
middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an
ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always
planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo.
After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally
looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished.
Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there
are clues. And they’re for Q.
Seedfolks~Paul Fleischman
College Prep Students Only
Thirteen very different voices and perspectives—old, young,
Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful—tell one amazing
story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood. One by
one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds
transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and
beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves
transformed.
Summer Reading Assessment Options
Students will be assessed on ONE of the following options:
CP-College Prep Student Option
H/G-Honors/Gifted Student Option
1. Heroes and Superheroes (H/G): Select two or three people your character would think of as a
hero or superhero. Describe the characteristics of the hero and why those characteristics would
be important for your character. Also describe which characteristics your character would most
want for himself/herself that the hero or superhero possesses.
2. College Application (H/G): Create the application that a character you have just read about
could write and submit to a college. Use all of the information you know about the character
and infer and create the rest of it. The application should include the following: name, academic
class rank, high school courses taken for each year with grades, extracurricular activities, and
work experience. Choose one of the following questions to answer in a one-page essay from the
character’s point of view: 1) what experience, event, or person has had a significant impact on
your life? 2) Discuss a situation where you have made a difference. 3) Describe areas of interest,
your personality, and how they relate to why you would like to attend college.
3. Talk Show Invitation (CP): Select a character, think about his or her involvements and
experiences, and then figure out which talk show would most want your character as a guest.
What would they want the character to talk about? Who else would they invite on the show to
address the issues the character is involved in? Write up the correspondence between the talk
show host and the character in which the host explains what the character should focus on
while on the show.
4. Movie Recommendations (CP): From all the movies you have seen in the last couple of years,
pick five you would recommend your character to see. Give a brief summary of each movie and
explain why you think the character should see it.
5. Music (CP & H/G): After reading a novel, figure out you would divide the book into sections.
Then select a piece of music that you think captures the feel (tone) of each section. Record the
pieces and if possible do voice-overs (must be written if voice-over is not possible) explaining
what is happening in the novel during the piece of music and why you felt this piece of music fit
the section of the novel. **Minimum of four sections**
6. Poetry (CP & H/G): Write three (CP)/five (H/G) original poems in response to the novel. The
poems can be about the characters, setting, themes, or symbols in the novel.