THEME: Ask big questions.
This year, Archimedean Middle Conservatory’s summer reading assignments will be focused around an idea of asking big questions. Asking big questions, such as who we are and where we came from, sets one on a path to connect with others, to discover different points of view, and even to discover one’s own innovative answers to these complex questions, which have intrigued even the most studied thinkers. As we embark on our summer reading journey, we would like for you to consider these “big questions” before, during, and after reading. The key is to take time to annotate and really think about what you are reading. Consider your own views on these “big questions,” as the young philosophers you are!
This summer Sophie’s World will be a required reading for all A.M.C. students, independent of their grade level. Not only does this novel serve as a great springboard for encouraging our students to ask deeper questions, but it will also allow us to expose our students to interdisciplinary work next school year between their English Language Arts and their Philosophy classes.
Besides Sophie’s World, A.M.C. students will need to read a second novel based on the grade level they will be in this fall (see details below).
Grade 6
For your summer assignment, you will read 1 required novel AND a 2nd novel selected from the provided list.
(Graded assignments for your chosen book will be made available in Archie along with the assignment for Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder.)
Your required book is Sophie’s World, a Novel about The History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder.
ISBN: 9780374530716
Your required book is Sophie’s World, a Novel about The History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder.
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder is a captivating blend of philosophy and fiction. It takes readers on a journey through the history of philosophy, challenging us to question the world around us and reflect on the meaning of life.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
ISBN: 9780812504323,0812504321
The Call of the Wild is the classic novel of wilderness adventure from one of the first American writers to achieve international fame, Jack London. Kidnapped from his safe California home. Thrown into a life-and-death struggle in the frozen Arctic wilderness.
Half St. Bernard, half shepard, Buck learns many hard lessons as a sled dog: the lesson of the leash, of the cold, of near-starvation and cruelty. And the greatest lesson he learns from his last owner, John Thornton: the power of love and loyalty. Yet always, even at the side of the human he loves, Buck feels the pull in his bones, an urge to answer his wolf ancestors as they howl to him.
Refugee by Alan Gratz (fiction)
ISBN: 9780545880879, 0545880874
A tour de force from acclaimed author Alan Gratz (Prisoner B-3087), this timely — and timeless — novel tells the powerful story of three different children seeking refuge. A New York Times bestseller!JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe . . .All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers — from drownings to..
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (fiction)
ISBN: 9780440412670, 0440412676
Read the beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man’s best friend. This edition also includes a special note to readers from Newbery Medal winner and Printz Honor winner Clare Vanderpool. Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks. Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region, and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn, Little Ann’s brains, and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters—now friends—and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair, and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (non-fiction)
ISBN: 9781984816122, 1984816128
This is a gripping memoir of survival and perseverance about the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village. When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba’s tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season’s crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family’s life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William’s windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land.
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Got Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb (non-fiction)
ISBN: 9780316322409, 031632240
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York.
Grade 7
For your summer assignment, you will have one required novel AND a second novel of your choice from the provided list.
(Graded assignments for your chosen book will be made available in Archie along with the assignment for Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder.)
Your required book is Sophie’s World, a Novel about The History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder (Historical Fiction/Philosophy).
Paperback: 978-0374530716
From the Cover: “One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?” From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning―but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
From your Teacher: There will be a graded assignment in Archie for you to complete as you read the book focusing on important vocabulary and literary elements the author uses to help readers ask the big questions just like those who came before.
The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Adaptation): The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown (Biography)
Kindle: 978-0451475923
Paperback: 978-0147516855
Hardcover: 978-0451475923
From the Cover: “Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant. With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler.”
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
(Autobiography).
Kindle: 978-0440228653
2010 Paperback: 978-0385740074
2001 Paperback: 978-0440228653
From the Cover: “A Chinese proverb says, ‘Falling leaves return to their roots.’ In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to paint an authentic portrait of twentieth-century China, as well as to tell the story of her painful childhood and her courage and ultimate triumph over despair.
After her mother dies giving birth to her, Adeline’s affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to their stepmother’s disdain, while her half brother and half sister are thoroughly spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for — the love and understanding of her family.“
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Historical Fiction)
Kindle: 978-0689848919
Paperback 2002: 978-0689848919
Paperback 2001: 978-0439355254
From the Cover: In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
Peak by Roland Smith (Adventure Fiction)
Kindle: 978-0152062682
Paperback: 978-0152062682
Hardcover: 978-0545038133
From the Cover: “When fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello’s long-lost father presents the opportunity for them to summit Everest together, Peak doesn’t even consider saying no- even though he suspects there are a few strings attached. And if he makes it to the top before his birthday, he’ll be the youngest person ever to stand above 29,000 feet. It’s not a bad turn of events for a guy who’s been stuck in New York City with only skyscrapers to (illegally) scale.
Here, in Peak’s own words, is the exhilarating, gut-wrenching story of what happened on that climb to the top of the world- a climb that changed everything. Welcome to Mount Everest.
Grade 8
For your summer assignment, you will have one required novel AND a second novel of your choice from the provided list.
(Graded assignments for your chosen book will be made available in Archie along with the assignment for Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder.)
Your required book is Sophie’s World, a Novel about The History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder.
ISBN: 978-0374530716
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder is a captivating blend of philosophy and fiction. It takes readers on a journey through the history of philosophy, challenging us to question the world around us and reflect on the meaning of life.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
ISBN-10 : 9781451673319
Nearly seventy years after its original publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before.
Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.
The Summer assignments are in Archie. We will have a Zoom Book Talk to review the “Hero’s Journey” and the assignment due Friday, August 11th in Archie.
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
ISBN: 9780553380163
A landmark volume in science writing by one of the great minds of our time, Stephen Hawking’s book explores such profound questions as: How did the universe begin—and what made its start possible? Does time always flow forward? Is the universe unending—or are there boundaries? Are there other dimensions in space? What will happen when it all ends?
Told in language we all can understand, A Brief History of Time plunges into the exotic realms of black holes and quarks, of antimatter and “arrows of time,” of the big bang and a bigger God—where the possibilities are wondrous and unexpected. With exciting images and profound imagination, Stephen Hawking brings us closer to the ultimate secrets at the very heart of creation.
Interesting Facts For Curious Minds: 1572 Random But Mind-Blowing Facts About History, Science, Pop Culture And Everything In Between By Jordan Moore
ISBN: 979-8887680026
Interesting Facts For Curious Minds gives you the answer to all these and many, many more questions that I know have crossed your mind from time to time. This book is divided into 63 chapters by topic for your convenience, bringing you a nice mix of science, history, pop culture, and all sorts of stuff in between. Each chapter contains 25 concise yet engaging factoids that are sure to make you think and at times laugh. How you read this book is entirely up to you. I’m sure most of you will read it cover to cover at some point, but when you’re with friends and family you can pick the chapters out that most appeal to all of you.