2013 Letter to Students and Parents

Fairview Tenth Grade Honors English

Summer Reading Program 2013 

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians:

As a note of introduction, I am Mrs. Pamela Stevens and will be facilitating the tenth grade honors communication summer reading program this year. I have worked at Fairview High School for twenty-five years, teaching honors, college-prep, and applied communication courses; public speaking; Creative Productions, and SAT prep courses to our juniors. Additionally, I have been Fairview’s instructional technology coach. I am an enthusiastic “digital bridge,” which means that although I did not grow up with technology, I love to use it! I hope your children will have just as much fun with the different web tools we will use this summer.

I look forward to working with you and your students and hope to create a classroom of independent learners, analytic and creative thinkers, and positive and kind people. The students will respond this summer on the class blog: http://pstevensfhs.blogspot.com/ .

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Thus begins the summer reading for 2013. Students this summer will choose one novel from three selections and also read non-fiction pieces from Elements of Literature: World Literature.

• One novel in the FHS sophomore summer reading options is Laure Halse Anderson’s novel Speak. This first person narrative shares the story of one young girl’s struggle and courage in dealing with being raped. The novel, a 2000 Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award winner, provides readers with a story about an event rarely discussed and often hidden by the victims. Below you will find a review of the novel.

• A second novel your son or daughter might choose to read is Never Fall Down. Based on the life of Cambodian advocate Arn Chorn-Pond, Never Fall Down is the story of how one Cambodian boy survived the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. Read more below.

• A third novel the students might choose is Patricia McCormick’s The Age of Miracles, a science-fiction story that posits what might happen if Earth experiences a change in its rotation.

• The selections from the World Literature anthology provide students with non-fiction essays, interviews, articles, and memoirs written by numerous world authors, both contemporary and ancient.

The students will be using two online tools for the summer reading program. The first is one with which they already may be familiar: a class blog (http://pstevensfhs.blogspot.com/ ). A blog allows members of that space to publish to a large audience. Non-members can view the posts and can read the comments, but only members of the blog can comment on the posts. Several features that I like about the blog offer teachers much peace of mind. The author of the log invites specific members, can delete any posting or remove any member, can search each member’s postings or revisions, and can view the comments before they are posted. The second online tool we will use is our Google Drive. Students can log in to Google with the Fairview Schools account (16 lastname first initial @ fairviewschools.org). I will share a folder with them, which they will find in the “Shared with Me” section of their Google Drive.

We also will meet face-to-face in one of two book talks on July 24 (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) or August 22 (6-8 p.m.) in the Fairview High School library. An alternative assignment exists if your child is unable to attend either, or if he or she is tech savvy, Skyping in to the discussion is a second alternative.

Please contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Happy summer,

Pamela Stevens

email: pstevens@fairview.iu5.org or stevensp@fairviewschools.org
Work: 814.474.2600 X9-3201

Skype: pamela.j.stevens

Review of Laure Halse Anderson’s Speak by Robin Robinson Kapavik of BooksR4Teens.com

Summary and Critique

Melinda Sordino begins her ninth grade year as the total outcast of the school because Melinda called 911 at the end-of-the summer party, resulting in the police arriving to break up the bash. As the novel continues, the reader is given more hints about that night when Melinda refers to a senior jock, Andy Evans, as IT. Melinda is not quite ready to recall the night in which she had too much to drink. That was the night IT raped her in the woods while everyone at the party, including the police, remained clueless about the attack. This state of isolation for Melinda continues at home, where her parents are so engrossed in work and life, they hardly seem to notice the signs of depression expressed by their daughter, who is refusing to speak, biting her lips until they bleed and scab over, and cutting school regularly. All the while, Melinda's grades are plummeting and her reputation as "weird" is growing. It is only in art class where she feels she can truly express herself through her art. When Andy attempts to attach her again, Melinda fights back and is able to overpower her attacker, whose true side is finally revealed to the rest of the school.

Speak is powerful. Anderson's use of symbolism is brilliant and fills the pages with many ideas for the reader. The protagonist is fourteen years of age, which suggests that the novel is appropriate for anyone aged 12 and up. Although it is written for a young adult audience, adults should also find this novel unforgettable for its honest portrayal of life in an American high school. Every individual has had to face the reality of cliques. Unfortunately, many adult women can also relate to issues associated with teen rape and violence. It reminds both the young and the not so young that in order to live, everyone needs to have a voice and speak.

Awards

2000 Printz Honor Book Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
1999 National Book Award Finalist Booklist Top Ten First Novel of 1999
Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
Winner of the Golden Kite Award SLJ Best Book of the Year
ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults Horn Book Fanfare Title
ALA Quick Pick

Summary of The Age of Miracles

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.

Never Fall Down Summary

Only eleven when the Khmer Rouge invade his hometown, Arn is forced into slave labor, and his life for the next four years (1975–1979) is a nightmare of suffering, deprivation, and death. National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick has seamlessly interwoven fact and fiction to create a powerfully unforgettable story of war and survival. (About Arn Chorn-Pond: Arn Chorn-Pond has dedicated his life to humanitarian causes around the world, and he has received several human rights awards for his work. He founded Children of War, an organization that aids children held hostage by war and violence. He is the founder of Cambodian Living Arts, a group that helps preserve the traditional arts of Cambodia. He also started Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development, which provides education and computer and job skills to those in need. Arn lives in Cambodia and spends part of the year speaking in the United States.) This novel graphically describes the violent events Arn Chorn-Pond experienced during the Khmer-Rouge regime.