2011 Summer Reading List for Eighth Grade Social Studies
	REQUIRED READING AND WRITTEN ASSESSMENT DUE: First Day of School  REQUIREMENTS: Read one book, either fiction or nonfiction, from the following list. Write a paper based on the reading selection. Choose a method of writing the paper based on the choices given at the end of this list.  Paper must be word processed (300 - 500 words).  Each paper must have a cover page with the following: • Title of book • Author • Your Name • Date • Pledge (you have not used this book for another assignment). READING ASSESSMENT If you choose a NON-FICTION Book Review: You are to write a book review consisting of: a. author b. type of book c. setting - location, time, etc. d. identification of chief characters with a summary of each e. brief summary of important incidents f. historical reference g. a few reasons for recommending or not recommending the book   If you choose a FICTION: Options for the written summary of the book: a. Choose one of the suggestions below and write a written summary of the book you have chosen to read. Be sure to include historical information and ideas that you have gained from reading the book. b. Your paper must be 300 - 500 words in length. c. Your paper must be word processed with a cover page.   SUGGESTIONS for Fiction Reading Assessment:  Heroes and Superheroes: 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 to your character. Also, describe which characteristics your character would most want for himself/herself that the hero or superhero possesses.   College Application: Create the application that a character you have just read about could write and submit to a college. Use all the information you know about the character and infer and create the rest of it. Describe the areas of interest, personality, etc.   Talk Show Invitation: Select a character, think about his or her involvement and experiences, 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 three 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.   Awards: Create an award for each of the main characters based on their action in the novel. One might be awarded "most courageous: for fighting peer pressure, etc. For each award explain how and why the character should receive the award.   Current Events: Select five current news or feature stories from television or news magazines that you think your character would be interested in. Then explain how your character would respond to each of the stories and the opinions your character would have about what was happening in the story.   Academy Award: Pretend that the book you have read is to be filmed. You are to select the cast for the leading roles and you must justify your choices. You must also decide on possible locations for the shooting of various scenes. Explain which scenes in the book would be suitable or unsuitable for including in the movie and explain what changes you would need to make to make it appropriate for the movie.   Diary Writing: You are to invent a diary which might have been written by one of the characters. In the diary you must refer to the events that have occurred in the book. SUGGESTED READING LIST FICTION   Avi   Beyond the Western Sea This book is the story of three young Irish immigrants coming to the United States.  Avi     The Fighting Ground Thirteen-year-old Jonathan gets caught up in the Revolutionary War that changes his understanding of life and war.   Melba Pattillo Beals    Warriors Don’t Cry  (abridged version): In 1957 Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm.  Patricia Beatty       Charley Skedaddle Charley Quinn, age 12, a member of a New York City street gang is determined to avenge the death of his older brother at the Battle of Gettysburg.   Patricia Beatty and Phillip Robbins    Eben Tyne, Powdermonkey Eben Tyne, 13, is a powder carrier on the Confederate ironclad the Merrimack. Patricia Beatty     Jayhawker Elijah Tulley, 12, meets John Brown and is forever committed to abolishing slavery.  Patricia Beatty     Turn Homeward Hannalee This is the story of a strong young girl working in Georgia during the Civil War who is captured and sent to work in the North.  David Clary     Adopted Son The story of the friendship between Washington and Lafayette that saved the American Revolution. James L. Collier and Christopher Collier     The Blood Country The Revolutionary War is over, but boarder disputes and Indian and British attacks wreck havoc on the lives of families on the frontier. Someone is now trying to take the home and land of teenager, Ben Buck, and his family. The Bucks, however, won’t give up without a fight. James L. Collier and Christopher Collier   With Every Drop of Blood Johnny, 14, promises that he will not go off and fight for the South, but will stay and take care of his family.  Pam Conrad   Prairie Songs Louisa’s life in a loving pioneer family on the Nebraska prairie is altered by the arrival of a new doctor and his wife.    Karen Cushman   The Ballad of Lucy Whipple This is the story of 12-year-old Lucy Whipple who moves from Massachusetts to a California mining town. Deborah H. DeFord and Harry S. Stout   An Enemy Among Them This is a story of a young Hessian soldier fighting on the British side in the American Revolution.  Barry Denenberg      When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson This is the fictional diary of a 14-year-old girl living in Virginia during the Civil War.  Esther Forbes      Johnny Tremain This is a story of the turbulent times in Boston just before the Revolutionary War.  Ernest Gaines       The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman This book is a fictional account of the life of a Black woman from the end of slavery to the 1900’s.  John Howard Griffin        Black Like Me  In the Deep South of the 1950s, a journalist named John Griffin, decided to cross the racial line and record his experiences. Using medications to darken his skin, he exchanged his privileged life as a southern white man, for the world of an unemployed black man.   Joyce Hanson      Which Way Freedom A young Black man, Obi, struggles to be a free man.  Dean Hughes          Missing in Action  While his father is missing in action in the Pacific during World War II, twelve-year-old Jay moves with his mother to a small town in Utah where he sees prejudice from both sides, as a part-Navajo himself and through an unlikely friendship with Japanese American Ken from the nearby internment camp. Irene Hunt          Across Five Aprils Jethro, age 9, has an idealized view of war until the Civil War breaks out and he is transformed from a boy to a man in the four long years. Newberry award winning book.  Alan N. Kay        Nowhere to Turn Set at the Battle of Antietam, Thomas Adams of Pennsylvania and his faithful dog, Blue, must decide to join the fight against Lee at Sharpsburg, or flee.  Harold Keith        Rifles for Watie Jeff Busey leaves his family farm to join the Union forces and is caught as a spy.  Jacqueline Kelly          The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate  In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.  David Kherdian        Bridger: The Story of a Mountain Man This is a fictionalized story of eighteen-year-old Jim Bridger.  Kirby Larson      Hattie Big Sky  Sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks inherits her uncle’s homesteading claim in Montana in 1917 and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war in Europe.  Maurine Liles   The Littlest Vaquero: Texas' First Cowboys and How They Helped Win the American Revolution This fictionalized account is of a young vaquero who is on a cattle drive to supply Longhorn cattle to troops in Louisiana fighting the American Revolution.    Albert Marrin       The Yanks are Coming  Exciting story of the U.S. “coming over” in World War I to aid the allies and turn the tide and the outcome of “the War to end all wars” in Europe.  Rosemary McDunn          The Green Coat   Twelve-year-old Tressa’s family is on the verge of losing the family farm during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and her parents are forced to make a horrible decision in order to survive. Follow the adventures of Tressa and her older brother Will, as they move 90 miles from home to become domestic servants.  Florence Means        The Moved-outers  Sue was a typical High School student until she became atypical after the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941. Sue and her family were interred in a prison camp with thousands of other Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Liza Ketchum Murrow         West Against the Wind Abigail Parker, age 14, sets out to find her father in the gold mines of Yuba City, California in 1850. Joan Lowry Nixon   A Family Apart The Kelly family struggles to stay alive in New York City following the death of their father. The children are put up for adoption and are taken to Missouri. Book one in the Orphan Train trilogy.  Joan Lowry Nixon     Caught in the Act Mike Kelly, 11, is adopted by the Friedrichs only because they want someone to work long hours for room and board. Book two in the Orphan Train trilogy.   Scott O’Dell   Sing Down the Moon This is the story of the conflict between the Navajos and the U.S. Army.  Gary Paulsen       Call Me Francis Tucket Francis, 15, separates from the one-armed trapper who taught him how to survive the wilderness of the Old West.    Gary Paulsen     Night John The story of a young slave, Sarny, whose life becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.  Gary Paulsen     Sarny Sequel to Night John.  Perez, N. A.      The Slopes of War: A Novel of Gettysburg This is the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of Summerhill family.    Reeder, Carolyn        Shades of Gray Will Page, age 12, loses his immediate family in the Civil War. He comes to understand the moral issues involved in the war. Rinaldi, Ann   A Stitch in Time This is the story of a New England family of three sisters who go their separate ways. Rinaldi, Ann      Broken Days The second volume of the quilt trilogy, the story is set in Massachusetts. Rinaldi, Ann        Cast Two Shadows Fourteen-year-old Caroline Whitaker is caught in the violent web of Revolutionary War in the south—her Patriot father is imprisoned, her Loyalist brother Johnny is wounded, her best friend is hanged by the British before her eyes, and her sister is fast becoming the doxy of the cruel British officer who has commandeered their house.  Rinaldi, Ann   Come Juneteenth Fourteen-year-old Luli and her family face tragedy after failing to tell their slaves that President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation made them free.  Rinaldi, Ann         The Fifth of March Rachel Marsh is an indentured servant in the household of John and Abigail Adams. Although she is not political herself, she worries about friends support rebellion. When she meets Matthew Kilroy, a young, argumentative British soldier who has been sent to Boston to keep the peace, she begins to question British domination of the colonies. Rinaldi, Ann          Finishing Becca: A Story about Peggy Shippen and Benedict Arnold Becca, a 14-year-old girl, takes a job as maid of a wealthy Philadelphian Quaker family. She is witness to events that lead to General Arnold's betrayal of the American forces during the Revolutionary War. Rinaldi, Ann         Having a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phyllis Wheatley This is the fictionalized biography of the eighteenth-century African woman who was brought to New England as a slave and published her first poem as a teenager. Rinaldi, Ann       In My Father’s House The book is written from the point of view of Osceola McLean who watches the Civil War begin and end on her family's farm. Rinaldi, Ann                A Ride into Morning The Revolutionary War is raging and the American soldiers are freezing, underpaid, and resentful. Mutiny seems imminent. Near the camp of General Wayne’s troops, Tempe Wick is waging her own battle for survival. Food and firewood are scare, her mother is ailing, and she can’t maintain the farm much longer. As whispers of mutiny increase, she must face a gut-wrenching decision: Should she join the revolt? Rinaldi, Ann      Time Enough for Drums Fourteen-year-old Jemima Emerson struggles to sort out her feelings about the Revolutionary War. Rinaldi, Ann      The Blue Door Amanda Videau, 14, is sent from South Carolina to live with her grandfather in Massachusetts. Rinaldi, Ann      The Last Silk Dress This is the story of a teenage girl in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War who discovers family secrets as she grows up. Rinaldi, Ann      The Secret Life of Sarah Revere Thirteen-year-old Sarah Reveres’ father is famous, but he guards a secret about the start of the Revolutionary War. He’ll tell no one what he has seen, not even his trusted daughter. Sarah knows secrets can be dangerous and she’s even got one of her own- and it’s tearing her apart. Roberts, Kenneth         Arundel Steven Nason, a soldier in the Continental Army, joins Benedict Arnold's doomed march to Quebec in 1775. Through Nason's eyes, learn about the bravery of Arnold (Washington's trusted and heroic officer at that time) and the trials and tribulations of the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. Roberts, Kenneth      Rabble in Arms Beginning in 1776, this novel follows the adventures of Peter and Nathaniel Merril as they are drawn into the northern battles of the American Revolution. Robinet, Harriet Gillem       If You Please, President Lincoln Moses, a 14-year-old slave runs away and befriends a blind free black who is enticed into a ship with promises of work. Ruby, Lois      Steal Away Home This is the story of a Quaker family and how they helped slaves on the Underground Railroad. Shore, Laura Jan       The Sacred Moon Tree This is the story of two inventive young people who see the danger, death and devastation of the Civil War become real. Tunnell and Chilcoat      Children of Topaz This non-fiction book was based on a diary kept by Miss Yamauchi’s third-grade class at a Japanese relocation center in Utah during World War II.  Williams, Ben Ames        A House Divided This is a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War.   NON-FICTION  Banfield Susan    James Madison This book tells of Madison’s contributions to the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Presidency. Bentley, Judith    Harriet Tubman The story of the famous conductor of the Underground Railroad. Bishop, Jim     The Day Lincoln Was Shot This book is the hour by hour account of the events surrounding Lincoln’s assassination. Bower, Claude      The Tragic Era: The Revolution After Lincoln This is the story from the President’s point of view by portraying him as a victim of a self-interested Congress. Catton, Bruce    Never Call Retreat This book is one in a series about the Civil War. Catton, Bruce    Stillness at Appomattox This is the story of the surrender at Appomattox. Coolidge, Olivia    Woman's Rights: The Suffrage Movement in the United States, 1848-1920 The history of women voting in the U.S. is the theme of this book. DeVoto, Bernard      Across the Wide Missouri This book describes the story of mountain men and the Rocky Mountain fur trade. DeVoto, Bernard       1846: Year of Decision This book explains how President Polk’s maneuvers led to the War with Mexico. Freedman, Russell    Lincoln: A Photobiography This is a detailed and balanced account of the life and career of Abraham Lincoln. Heidish, Mercy     A Woman Called Moses This book is the biography of Harriet Tubman. James, Marquis     The Raven This book is the biography of Samuel Houston. Johnson, William           The Birth of Texas This book describes the leadership of Stephen Austin, Texas independence, and the Battle of the Alamo. Keller, Mollie      Alexander Hamilton This is the story of the first Secretary of Treasury who started life as a poor person with no advantages. Knight, Michele    In Chains to Louisiana: Solomon Northrup’s Story This is the story of a free Black who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Lee, Martin    Paul Revere This biography provides a look at Paul Revere’s life in the context of the American Revolution. Lester, Julius     Day of Tears A dialogue about slaves on Southern plantations. McCurdy, Michael      Escape From Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words Excerpts from Douglass's autobiography paint a vivid portrait of a great abolitionist. McClung, Robert M.     The True Adventures of Grizzly Adams This is the story of one of the Old West’s most famous frontiersmen during the mid-1800s. McKissack, Patricia and Fred      The Story of Booker T. Washington This book provides a brief overview of the life of Booker T. Washington. McKitrick, Eric       Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction The book sympathizes with Moderate Republicans and blames the President's errors on Radicals in Congress. Meltzer, Milton      George Washington and the Birth of Our Nation This biography covers Washington’s childhood in Virginia to his death at Mount Vernon. Murphy, Jim       The Boys’ War This book is an account of young soldiers who fought on both sides of the war. Oates, Stephen      To Purge This Land With Blood This is a book that tells the story of John Brown. Reisch, Dana       Patrick Henry This is the story of how Patrick Henry contributed political leadership to the emerging nation. Taylor, M.W.      Harriet Tubman This book tells the story of the architects of the Underground Railroad. Washington, Booker T.      Up From Slavery This book is the autobiography of Booker T. Washington in his own words.