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Mrs. Iverson Seventh Grade Novel Reading List
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Optional Reading |
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The House of the Scorpion is set in a future where cloning is possible yet clones are despised by humans. In fact, clones have their brains destroyed shortly after their creation. Young Matt, however, is the unaltered clone of a drug lord known as El Patrón, the evil but aging ruler of Opium, the strip of land that separates Mexico and the United States. Matt's existence switches between different varieties of captivity - from a peaceful but secluded childhood raised by the kind Cecilia, to living like a caged animal at the hands of the malevolent Rosa, to a life as the subject of contempt by El Patrón's family. Even when Matt leaves the estate he is held in another kind of captivity as a member of the "lost children" who work the salt mines.
Throughout the story, Matt is trying to understand what his place is in society. On the one hand, just about everyone he comes in contact with treats him worse than an animal. The only exceptions are Cecilia the cook, and Tam Lin, one of El Patrón's bodyguards. If clones are so despised by everyone, why is it done? The chilling answer to that question is one of the mysteries that Matt must solve.
Review by John DeNardo, SF Signal Book Review
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Optional Reading |
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
The book is set in Zimbabwe, in the year 2194. That alone makes it stand out. Nor does the setting stagnate. We travel from a walled-in compound to a radioactive waste dump to a village of the past to a swaying hotel a mile in the air.
A second fascinating element are the mirrored triplets of characters that we follow through the book. There are the detectives: the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Whilst still in their mother's wombs, they were exposed to nuclear radiation and each developed a special sensitivity that made them effective detectives. The Ear has an ear the size of an elephant and super-sensitive hearing. The Eye has extra strong vision and can see even minute objects at great distances. The Arm, definitely the central character of the trio, has long spider-like limbs. His special ability is an over-keen sensitivity to the emotions of others.
The book wraps up with a glossary that defines many of the unusual words used and gives it origin (Shona, English, French, etc.). There is also an appendix that discusses concepts such as Ndaro, the spirit world of the Shona, witchcraft, slavery, praise singing, tribalism, Great Zimbabwe, Monomatopa, and the Vlei people.
http://book.consumerhelpweb.com/authors/farmern/0140376410.htm
Review posted on Consumer help web.com |
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Optional Reading |
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Until he was thirty-two, Charlie Gordon --gentle, amiable, oddly engaging-- had lived in a kind of mental twilight. He knew knowledge was important and had learned to read and write after a fashion, but he also knew he wasn't nearly as bright as most of the people around him. There was even a white mouse named Algernon who outpaced Charlie in some ways. But a remarkable operation had been performed on Algernon, and now he was a genius among mice. Suppose Charlie underwent a similar operation...
http://www.danielkeyesauthor.com/algernon.html |
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Required Reading |
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Customer Review:
The narrator is Ponyboy, sensitive with a tough exterior. Since his parents are deceased, he and his laid-back older brother Soda are taken care of by Darrel, the eldest, who is a bossy perfectionist (really only worried that he might lose his baby brothers). There's Johnny Cade, whose family life is insufferable. There's Dallas Winston, mean and gruff (but has a soft spot for Johnny). And then there are the Soc's, the spoiled kids who like to pick on the greasers for fun (the "fun" runs out when their buddy is killed). And let's not forget Cherry Valence, who though dating a Soc has a heart and a mind all her own.
While Pony and Johnny hide out after the murder, with Dallas coming to their aid and rescue, the 3 "greasers" temporarily clean the slate of all stereotypes and somehow wind up as heroes! If you're wondering how these events occur, go read the story! You won't be disappointed!
http://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-S-E-Hinton/product-reviews/014038572X/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
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Required Reading |
Whirligig by Paul Fleischman
When sixteen-year-old Brent Bishop inadvertently causes the death of a young woman, he is sent on an unusual journey of repentance, building wind toys across the land.
In his most ambitious novel to date, Newbery winner Paul Fleischman traces Brent's healing pilgrimage from Washington State to California, Florida, and Maine, and describes the many lives set into new motion by the ingenious creations Brent leaves behind.
Paul Fleischman is the master of multivoiced books for younger readers. In "Whirligig "he has created a novel about hidden connections that is itself a wonder of spinning hearts and grand surprises.
http://books.google.com/books?id=sLTD_lulsYoC&dq=whirligig+by+paul+fleischman&source=gbs_navlinks_s
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Required Reading |
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Thirteen very different voices -- old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful -- tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.
Chosen as a state and citywide read in communities across the country:
Vermont
Racine, WI
Tampa, FL
Newburgh, NY
Boca Raton, FL
http://books.google.com/books?id=cGDnGt-wV5MC&dq=seedfolks+by+fleischman&source=gbs_navlinks_s |
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Required Reading |
NIGHTJOHN by Gary Paulsen
A riveting story that pits the power of literacy against the inhumanity of the slave system in the pre-Civil War South.
Travel to the Waller plantation and meet 12-year-old Sarny, a slave whose mother was sold away when she was four. Sarny first sees Nightjohn when he is brought to the plantation with a rope around his neck, his body covered with scars from many beatings. Sarny is drawn to Nightjohn when she learns that he had escaped North to freedom, only to voluntarily return to the South. Nightjohn has a self-imposed mission--to teach slaves how to read and write. He believes knowledge is the key to helping slaves break out of bondage. Sarny is willing to take the risk, even knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment.
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385308380&view=tg |
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