Independent Reading Novel Two
There are four novels to choose from (see below); you only need to pick one. As you work your way through the novel and the course, you will complete a variety of assignments; for a handy list of the assignments, click here.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Set in 1963, Byron Watson, a "juvenile delinquent" of sorts, finally pushes his parents far enough to make good on their threat to send him to the deep south to live with his no-nonsense grandma for the summer. Byron sees first-hand what it means to be black in the Deep South in 1963.
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
On Wednesday afternoons when all of his peers are either at their Catholic or Jewish religious education classes, Holling Hoodhood, a Presbyterian, is stuck with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, who he is convinced hates his guts. After all of the work that Mrs. Baker makes him do, like read Shakespeare, he is even more convinced she hates him, until he starts to see what Mrs. Baker is really trying to do...make him a better person.
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Enter a futuristic world where, at sixteen, every teenager undergoes a compulsory operation which wipes out all physical differences and turns everybody "pretty" by adhering to a universally accepted ideal of beauty. Sounds perfect...but not everybody goes along with the surgery so easily.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has gone missing. This novel follows her as she delves into her Native American heritage through the art of story-telling as she travels in search of her missing mom with her grandma and grandpa.