Cherry Hill School District 9 th Grade Summer Reading

The Task Every student is required to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Honors students are also to read The Book Thief. As you read your summer reading you will identify and analyze specific episodes, patterns, and quotes to complete the dialectical journal for two given topics.

Cherry Hill School District 9 th Grade Summer Read Grade 9 All Students All Levels (H,A,R) Grade 9 All Honors Students Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Summer Reading Assignment As you read your summer reading book(s) you will identify and analyze specific episodes, patterns, and quotes to complete dialectical journals for two topics for each book.

Topic 1: Character Development Chapter / Page # Summary of the Episode (3-4 sentences) Relevance/Analysis (3-5 sentences that answers 1 or more of the guiding criteria) Significant Quotation (supports character development) Quotation Page Number Identify 5 episodes from the text that answer any of the following questions in relation to character development: 1.What does the episode tell you about the personality of the character? 2.What does the episode indicate about any character changes that have taken place over the course of the story? 3.What does the episode indicate about the character’s role in the story or position in society? 4.What does the episode show about the character’s interactions with other characters.

Topic 2: Thematic Development Chapter / Page # Summary of the Thematic Pattern (3-4 sentences) Relevance/Analysis (3- 5 sentences that answers 1 or more of the guiding criteria) Significant Quotation (to support thematic development) Quotation Page Number Identify 2 thematic patterns from the text that answer any of the following statements or questions in relation to thematic development: 1.Identify how multiple central ideas in a text interact, build on, and, in some cases, conflict with one another. 2.Trace in detail the development and refinement of a theme or central idea in a text, including how it emerges and how it is shaped and refined by specific details. 3.What big ideas or concepts does the author introduce into the book? 4.What message(s) might the author want the reader to take away from the reading?