During the summer, Seventh Graders are required to read The Pigman by Paul Zindel and two other books chosen from the list below. In response to The Pigman, students should respond in writing to one of the following questions. Responses should be typed, double-spaced, and at least two pages long.  Use a 12-point Times New Roman font. You need not respond to the other two books in writing, but you should be prepared to discuss your books the first several days of school.

1.  In The Pigman, the first person point of view is shared by John and Lorraine.  Each of these characters has a unique perspective on the events of the story.  Each makes excuses for his or her behavior but ultimately takes responsibility for Mr. Pignati’s death.  Write a short chapter (a couple of pages) about what happens at the party from Norton’s viewpoint. Make clear through specific details how he feels about not being invited. Does he like John and Lorraine?  What destruction does he cause?  Does he feel justified in his actions?  Answer these questions in your chapter.

2.  John and Lorraine both have problems in their relationships with their parents.  Write an interview between a school psychologist and Lorraine’s mom or between a psychologist and either John’s mother or father. Include details from the story in the interview about problems at school and at home.  Make the parent’s response reflects his or her personality and relationship with his or her child.

3.  Write a character sketch of one of the main characters in the story.  What is important to this person?  Who are the friends of this person and what do these friends reveal about the character’s personality?  What is the character’s relationship with family members?  Ultimately, does this person change in some significant way?  Would you want to be this person’s friend?  Why or why not?  Give specific reasons for your response.

Required Reading: The Pigman by Paul Zindel, Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN#0-06-075735-3 (pbk.). Students should read this book as close to the beginning of the school year as possible to help remember all the important events in the novel when it is discussed in class. Please be sure to take a copy of this book to English class on the first day of school.

Choice of two of the following:

Alcott, Little Women; Eight Cousins

Anderson, Speak

Armstrong, Sounder

Avi, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Barry et al., Peter and the Starcatchers

Bloor, Tangerine

Burch, They Cage the Animals at Night

Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

Bruchac, The Winter People

Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Cather, My Antonia

Christie, And Then There Were None

Cleaver, Where the Lillies Bloom

Colfer, Artemis Fowl

Collier and Collier, With Every Drop of Blood; Jump Ship to Freedom; War Comes to Willy Freeman

Collodi, Pinocchio

Cooper, King of Shadows

Cormier, The Chocolate War

Creech, Walk Two Moons

Crutcher, Whale Talk

Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Eliot, Silas Marner

Fleischman, Whirligig

Funke, Inkheart; Inkspell

Funke and Burmingham, The Thief Lord

Gaiman, Coraline

Hesse, Out of the Dust

Howe, The Misfits

Johnson, The Key to the Golden Firebird

Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare

L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

London, The Call of the Wild

Maguire, Son of a Witch

Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Myers, Monster

Paterson, Lyddie; Bridge to Terabithia

Paolini, Eragon; Eldest

Pullman, The Golden Compass

Rawlings, The Yearling

Riordan, The Lightening Thief

Sage and Zug, Magyk

Shute, On the Beach

Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Spinelli, Stargirl; Loser

Sone, Nisei Daughter

Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Steinbeck, The Pearl; Grapes of Wrath

Stevenson, Kidnapped; Treasure Island

Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve

Tolan, Surviving the Applewhites

Tolkien, Lord of the Rings

Trueman, Stuck in Neutral

Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court; The Prince and the Pauper; Tom Sawyer

Wharton, Ethan Frome

Yep, Dragonwings

Voigt, Homecoming; Izzy-Willy Nily

Yolen, The Devil’s Arithmetic

Westerfeld, Uglies

NONFICTION

Bruchac, Joseph. Bowman’s Store: A Journey to Myself (memoir)

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project (history)

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl (diary)

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher.  A Midwife’s Tale  (history)

Strauch, Barbara. The Primal Teen (science)

Schlosser, Chew on This (science)

Especially for Eighth Graders (sequels and other books related to 7th grade curriculum)

Collier and Collier, My Brother Sam is Dead

Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Taylor, Let the Circle Be Unbroken; The Land

Zindel, The Pigman’s Legacy