Grade 9 Summer Reading & Math 

(for students entering grade 9)

Summer Reading

Directions and Resources

Summer Reading Questions (responses should be hand written, not typed)

Short Stories and Novels 

Short Stories


Novels

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver 

It's Chop Wood Carry Water: How to Fall in Love With the Process of Becoming Great by Joshua Medcalf

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 

Summaries/Interviews and Reviews

Steel Skin: Author Interview: Lori M. Lee

What role did Hmong folktales play in your childhood? Who shared these stories with you?

Thank you! Folktales and storytelling in general were my favorite parts of our culture as a child (and now!). We didn’t have a written language until around 60 years ago, so our stories were told through oral traditions and through beautifully stitched story cloths called paj ntaub. Because I couldn’t remember anything of where I was born, these stories were my primary way of connecting to my roots. Like I said above, I went through rough identity issues, which included wanting to distance myself from my skin color and my culture, but the folktales were one of the few things I wholly embraced because they spoke to the fantasy lover in me. Although my mother told us stories, most of what I know was told to me by my brothers. Since we did have a written language by the time I came around, I was also given a booklet of common Hmong folktales–that’s where I was first introduced to the Woman and the Tiger, which is what inspired “Steel Skin.” 

richincolor.com

Goodreads Review:        Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee- 4 stars

Fascinating scifi reimagining of Hmong folk tale. The ending of Steel Skin was rather predictable but it didn’t prevent me from enjoying the story so much. Androids and AIs are my gem. 

The Land of the Morning Calm: Author Interview: E. C. Myers

What sparked the inspiration behind the anthology’s short story – The Land of The Morning Calm – and its mixture of MMO video gaming and Korean culture?

For a while I had been thinking about writing a story about someone reconnecting with their dead mother through a video game; however, initially, I thought it might be through a haunted cartridge or a game save file or something like that. When I began planning a story for this anthology, I researched to find just the right fable or myth to focus on, and I discovered a Korean MMO called NEXUS: The Kingdom of the Winds that was loosely based on Korean history. That seemed a perfect way to engage with an old myth in modern times, especially since MMOs are so popular in Korea, and when I brought in the idea of a trapped spirit, it all just clicked.-litcelebrasian.wordpress.com

Goodreads Review:  ★★★★☆  The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Meyers

“What do you think Mom did this time?” I ask.

“She hid my cigarettes,” Harabeoji says.

“Right. It can’t be that you forgot where you left them. Again.”

This was another really creative reinvention of Asian folk lore: the Korean gwisin mashed up with gaming culture. One of my favorite parts was how the mother was clearly a flawed person in herself, a little too invested in the make believe and not enough in her real life daughter in many ways. I think often in short stories “dead parent” is characterization enough for the character as they are more of a plot device to develop the main character, but this story does a good job showcasing the complex relationship the main character has with her mother and the different ways the whole family is moving on from the mother’s death.

A Speck in the Sea 

New York Times piece

Summary: A tale of survival, perseverance, and community, A Speck in the Sea tells of one man's struggle to survive as friends and strangers work to bring him home. Aldridge's wrenching first-person account intertwines with the narrative of the massive, constantly evolving rescue operation designed to save him. 

Goodreads Review:  A gently told story of the power of love, of how the families we make are as important as the ones we're born into. Each of us can make a difference with our compassion. 

Summary: “Ramen Shop” is not all as sweet or insubstantial as that summary suggests. It also deals, heavy-handedly, with the legacy of Japan’s occupation of Singapore during World War II — a past that weighs on Masato’s family history. But this gentle film doesn’t linger on horrors too long. It demands only your appetite.- New York Times 

Summary: "The Birds" is a horror story by the British writer Daphne du Maurier, first published in her 1952 collection The Apple Tree. The story is set in du Maurier's home county of Cornwall shortly after the end of the Second World War. A farmhand, his family and community come under lethal attack from flocks of birds.

The story was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds, released in 1963, the same year that The Apple Tree was reprinted as The Birds and Other Stories. In 2009, the Irish playwright Conor McPherson adapted the story for the stage at Dublin's Gate Theatre.

-Wikipedia

Goodreads Review:  "The birds kept coming at him from the air, silent save for the beating wings. The terrible, fluttering wings. He could feel the blood on his hands, his wrists, his neck. Each stab of a swooping beak tore his flesh. If only he could keep them from his eyes. Nothing else mattered." 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic—both poignant and funny—about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world.


“Disorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.... Suspenseful and harrowing.” —The New York Times Book Review


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. And he detests the color yellow.


This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years. 

-Amazon

Goodreads Review:  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. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years. 

It's Chop Wood Carry Water: How to Fall in Love With the Process of Becoming Great by Joshua Medcalf

Summary: Guided by "Akira-sensei," John comes to realize the greatest adversity on his journey will be the challenge of defeating the man in the mirror. This powerful story of one boy's journey to achieve his life long goal of becoming a samurai warrior, brings the Train to be Clutch curriculum to life in a powerful and memorable way. -Amazon

Goodreads Review:  Guided by “Akira-sensei,” John comes to realize the greatest adversity on his journey will be the challenge of defeating the man in the mirror.

This powerful story of one boy’s journey to achieve his life long goal of becoming a samurai warrior, brings the Train to be CLUTCH curriculum to life in a powerful and memorable way.

Some things you will learn…

“So many valuable stories and lessons!”—Nick Ahmed, Arizona Diamondbacks 

Please reach out to Jenn Beermuender at jbeermuender@rsd17.org with any questions.

Summer Math

Students entering grade 9 may benefit from online review of key concepts and math practice.  This would be great for students who are feeling like they need some review. 

One place for video lessons, practice and checks for understanding is Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/. One thing we like about their program is that it provides immediate feedback. As the student does each set of practice problems, the system tells if the answer is correct or incorrect. When incorrect, they can try again, see how the math is worked out and why their answer is incorrect or move on.  

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/get-ready-for-algebra-i 

Students taking Geometry in Grade 9 should use the course "Get Ready for Geometry." https://www.khanacademy.org/math/get-ready-for-geometry


Please reach out to Heather Rigatti at hrigatti@rsd17.org with any questions.