New Leadership Charter School: Grade 6

Each essay must be at least three paragraphs long: hand written or typed.
Each paragraph should be at least five sentences long.
Your writing must identify and discuss characters, theme, plot, conflict, and resolution of the novel.
You must express one of the following: your personal opinion of the novel, connections you made to the novel or a lesson you learned.

Extra Credit

There are two ways you may earn extra credit (to be applied to your ELA class):

Read more than one book from the summer reading list and complete the written assignment.
Complete one of the projects listed below.

Your work should be:

Neat/organized
Pleasing to the eye (for example, use colorful illustrations)
Creative/Original
Accurately related to book events, characterization, theme etc.

Choose from one of the projects below. Don't forget to have fun!

Create a Book Jacket : Accurately recreate a book jacket but use your own original artwork and written ideas. Include a description, of the setting, name of the main character(s) and introduce the problem of the story (no ending, please!). On the "spine" put the book title and the author's name.
In the News! Create the front page of a newspaper that tells about events and characters in your book. Include weather reports, an editorial or editorial cartoon, ads, etc. which relate to the book. The title of the newspaper and headlines should be appropriately related to topics/themes from the book.
Create a comic book! Turn a scene from your book into a comic book, complete with comic-style illustrations and dialogue bubbles.
Characters Come to Life! Create life-size "portraits" of one of the characters from your book. The portrait should include a written piece that tells about the character including information about events, traits, or conflicts in the book that involve your character. Try adding and labeling objects from sections of the story.
Jackdaw. A jackdaw is a crow-like bird known for picking up various brightly colored objects to add to its nest. Create a jackdaw by choosing important aspects of your novel and placing them in a container representative of your character and the times. Example: Based on the book Holes, you might choose a suitcase to hold your items. Include in your container such things as letters, maps, diary entries, drawings, newspaper articles, pictures and any other item significant to the main character. Attach a note to each item describing the significance of each item.

New Leadership Charter School

2009 Summer Reading List: Incoming Grade 6


A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park: Set in 12th century Korea, this is the story of Tree-ear who lives under a bridge with his disabled older friend Crane-man. Tree-ear becomes fascinated with the potter's craft and longs to create celadon ceramics. A Newberry Award Winner.
Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech: A summer journal of Mary Lou Finney, includes stories about her "boy-crazy" best friend Beth Ann, her annoying cousin Carl Ray, and her crush on Alex Cheevey.
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko: When Moose's family moves to Alcatraz so his father can work as a guard and his sister can attend a special school in San Francisco, Moose has to leave his friends and his winning baseball team behind. But it's worth it, right? If his sister, Natalie, can finally get help, maybe his family will finally be normal.
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix: The Population Police allow two children per family, no more. As a third child in this future society, Luke has spent his life in hiding – until he meets Jen whose plan to free these "shadow children" draws Luke into the adventure of a lifetime.
Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis: Set in Michigan during the Great Depression, the Newberry Award Winner tells the story of an orphan who sets out to find his real father. Buddy's convinced that the musician on an old poster his mother has saved is the man he's looking for.
Cousins by Virginia Hamilton: Cammy loves her family except for her cousin Patty Ann, who is too perfect. One day something terrible happens, something that can't be changed, and Cammy learns the truth about Patty Ann, and about family love and forgiveness.
The Island Keeper by Harry Mazer: Longing to disappear after the death of her beloved younger sister, 16-year-old Cleo runs away from her overprotective and oppressive family and goes to a remote island where she is the only human inhabitant.
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass: One month before his 13th birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a mysterious box in the mail. It is securely locked and has the engraving "The Meaning of Life." It is a truly optimistic look at the world and the people who inhabit it.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen: Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor -- which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can't prove it, though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement.
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli: Maniac Magee has no home and no family, but he is an athlete, a brain, and a great friend who is destined to be a hero and a legend.
The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John: The night Martine Allen turns eleven years old is the night her life changes completely. Martine's parents are killed in a fire, so she must leave her home to live on an African wildlife reserve with a grandmother she never knew she had.
The River by Gary Paulsen: Two years ago, Brian Robeson was stranded alone in the wilderness for fifty-four days with nothing but a small hatchet. He survived.
Rules by Cynthia Lord: Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life, which is nearly impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She spend years creating list of "rules" for her brother. The novel is filled with warmth and humor.
Schooled by Gordon Korman: When Cap's grandmother has to go into the hospital, Cap has to move to town to live in a normal house and go to a normal school (he has always been homeschooled by his grandmother). He has never watched television, or used a telephone or a computer. The bullies at the Claverage Middle School think Cap will be an easy target.
Sounder by William Armstrong: The story of a poor black sharecropper family living in the Deep South during the Depression.
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz: Fourteen-year-old Alex has always been told that his uncle was killed in a car accident. But Alex starts to unravel the mysterious truth when he discovers that his uncle's windshield was riddled with bullet holes.
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan: Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent to the arty Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he becomes involved in a very unusual staging of "The Sound of Music." A cast of eccentric characters makes this Newberry Book funny and memorable.
The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler: Twelve-year-old Emily Windsnap lives on a houseboat in Brightport Harbor, but she has never learned to swim. When Emily hits the water, she gets the surprise of her life. Her long skinny legs have turned into a tail. That's right --- Emily is a mermaid!
Travel Team by Mike Lupica: Twelve-year-old Danny Walker is an average kid who loves basketball. Despite his small stature he hopes to someday play on the same travel team as his dad.
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements: Bobby wakes up to find himself invisible – which can be kind of cool, but with the police involved thinking he's been kidnapped or murdered, Bobby needs all the help he can get. His new friend Alicia, who is blind, may be able to see a solution.

Call the Reference Desk at 413-263-6828 ext. 213, your branch library, or use our Askalibrarian service to reserve a book today!