Independent+Study+Project

January 18-21, 2008 Br. Tom Murphy**
 * Sophomore Independent Study/Reading Project

PLEASE CHOOSE one of the following books to read over the weekend of January 18-21. If you cannot find any of these exact titles, you may read another novel by any of these authors AS LONG AS it is age- and level appropriate (some of these authors have also written children’s books that would be unacceptable for this project). If you have any doubts about the book you choose, please contact me in person or via email (tmurphy@carmelhs.org).

Accountability: Please have your parent or guardian sign the Reading Verification Statement. Come to class on Wednesday 23 January with that signed statement and prepared to write IN DETAIL about the book you have read.

An asterisk indicate that the book is still available only in hardback.

Make your selection from:

Exploring Indian identity, both self and tribal, Alexie's first young adult novel is a semi-autobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian from Wellpinit, WA. The bright 14-year-old was born with water on the brain, is regularly the target of bullies, and loves to draw.
 * The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie (quite a few copies available at B&N Vernon Hills, 1.19)

When he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret. How can Kip tell anyone that he really is--or was--a murderer?
 * Right Behind You - Gail Giles (two copies of another title available at B&N Vernon Hills, 1.19)

In a prologue, readers learn that in 1981, three teenagers died while joyriding on frozen Mistik Lake in Manitoba. Sally was the sole survivor. The story then alternates between Odella, Sally's oldest daughter, beginning when she is nine; Sally's Aunt Gloria, Odella's beloved great-aunt; and, later, Odella's boyfriend, Jimmy.
 * Mistik Lake - Martha Brooks

Young Octavian is being raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers. After he opens a forbidden door he learns the hideous nature of their experiments and his own chilling role in them
 * The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson

Feed - M.T. Anderson This brilliantly ironic satire is set in a future world where television and computers are connected directly into people's brains when they are babies. The result is a chillingly recognizable consumer society where empty-headed kids are driven by fashion and shopping and the avid pursuit of silly entertainment--even on trips to Mars and the moon--and by constant customized murmurs in their brains of encouragement to buy, buy, buy.

Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher (at least one copy available at B&N Vernon Hills, 1.19) T. J. Jones assembles a swim team (in a school with no pool) made up of the most outrageous outsiders and misfits he can find and extracts a conditional promise of those sacred letter jackets from the coach. After weeks of dedicated practice at the All Night Fitness pool, the seven mermen get good enough not to embarrass themselves in competition.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Chris Crutcher (several copies available at B&N Vernon Hills, 1.19) A social outcast in junior high due to his excessive weight, narrator Eric Calhoune found a kindred spirit in Sarah Byrnes, whose face and hands were hideously disfigured in a childhood accident. Now a senior and considerably slimmed down through competitive swimming (though still aptly called "Moby"), Eric remains fiercely devoted to his friend, whose caustic tongue is her only protection from life's inequities.

Breathing Underwater - Alex Flinn Other teen novels have shown dating violence from the point of view of a young girl trapped in an abusive relationship, but in Breathing Underwater, Alex Flinn tackles the difficult task of making us understand, if not sympathize with, the motivation of a violent young man.

Tribes - Arthur Slade Ever since the death of his famous anthropologist father three years ago, Percy has blocked his grief by becoming an aloof observer of his classmates' odd rituals instead of an active player. But lately, it's gotten harder to classify his feelings as just biological responses to outside stimuli.

The Killer's Cousin - Nancy Werlin Ever since David Yaffe was acquitted of murder in the accidental death of his girlfriend, he has felt that "for the rest of my life, over and over, I would have to convince everyone--including me--of my harmlessness." To escape media attention and the prying stares of the curious, he is sent to finish his senior year of high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Heroes - Robert Cormier (other titles available at B&N Vernon Hills, 1.19) Eighteen-year-old Francis Cassavant has returned from World War II an unwilling hero. Although he can still see and hear, a grenade has blown away his nose, his ears, his teeth, and his cheeks, leaving him faceless. Hiding his ghastly wounds with bandages and a white silk scarf, Francis welcomes the anonymity his mutilation brings him, for he has returned to his hometown with a secret mission--a plot for revenge.

Godless - Pete Hautman Jason is a smart 15-year-old, an agnostic-leaning-toward-atheism, who resists following in the footsteps of his devoutly Catholic father. Getting clocked under the water tower by the nasty and unpredictable Henry leads Jason and his friend Shin to combine their talents to posit a new religion.

January Independent Study Project English 121 English Department Br. Tom Murphy

READING VERIFICATION STATEMENT

I affirm that (student name) has spent at least six hours reading (book title).

Signed,

(parent or guardian)

(student)