|
A new twist on the STEPS Talent
Dollars (T$s) for book reports has just been designed. Here's how it
goes - Every month there will be a few new books added to the
"Recommended Reads" here on the Learning Corner. If you
read one of these current books and send Kris your book report, you earn
double the T$s (10T$s)! If you cannot find the
book available in your school or public library, contact us and we will
check it out for you. So, check in monthly,
and read! We
encourage you to send in one book report each month for a maximum per year
of 12 - unless Kris sends out a special challenge! Be sure to
read the Guidelines below:
Happy
Reading!
|
This month's
Recommended Reads are: |
STEPS
Book Report Guidelines (click here) |
|
Monkey Island
by Paula Fox
Eleven-year-old Clay Garrity is on his own. His father lost his job and
left the family. Now Clay’s mother is gone from their welfare hotel. Clay
is homeless and out on the streets of New York. In the park he meets two
homeless men. Buddy and Calvin become Clay’s new family during those harsh
winter weeks. But the streets are filled with danger and despair. If Clay
leaves the streets he may never find his parents again. But if he stays on
the streets he may not survive at all. |
7th & 8th grade reading level
|
|
|
The Big Empty
by J.B. Stephens
One year ago, a devastating
plague called Strain 7 killed three quarters of the human race. Around the
world, power systems failed and supply chains screeched to a halt. The
surviving population of the United States has been relocated to the coasts;
the heartland is now a wasteland called The Big Empty. But seven teens
trying to put their lives back together will learn that the abandoned zone
holds danger, secrets, and above all, hope. |
7th - 12th grade reading level |
|
|
9th - 12th grade reading level |
Homecoming
by Cynthia Voigt
"IT'S STILL TRUE." That's the first thing
James Tillerman says to his sister Dicey every morning. It's still true that
their mother has abandoned the four Tillerman children somewhere in the
middle of Connecticut. It's still true they have to find their way, somehow,
to Great-aunt Cilla's house in Bridgeport, which may be their only hope of
staying together as a family.
But when
they get to Bridgeport, they learn that Great-aunt Cilla has died, and the
home they find with her daughter, Eunice, isn't the permanent haven they've
been searching for. So their journey continues to its unexpected conclusion
-- and some surprising discoveries about their history, and their future.
|
|
|
11th & 12th grade reading
level |
ZigZag
by Ellen Wittlinger
Robin
can’t believe it when her boyfriend, Chris, tells her that his parents have
enrolled him in a summer program in Rome. It’s their last summer together
before he goes away to college, and now they won’t even have that time
together. It feels like the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. Since
Chris is leaving, Robin agrees to join her aunt and cousins on a
cross-country road trip, in spite of her reservations. She and her younger
cousins have never really gotten along, and since their father’s death
they’ve become even more problematic than before. Soon the four of them are
zigzagging through the West on an eye-opening journey. They explore parts
of the country Robin never dreamed existed—and she discovers inner resources
she never imagined she had. |
|
|
Former "Recommended Reads" |
The Ancient One by T. A. Barron
Amazing Gracie
by A.E. Cannon
Great Expectations By Charles Dickens
Yolanda's Genius by Carol Fenner
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
M. C. Higgins, The Great by Virginia Hamilton
|
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly
Willis Holt
Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
All Alone in the Universe
by Lynn Rae Perkins
Head Above Water by S. L. Rottman
The Harry Potter Series by H. K. Rowling
Wise Girl by Jamie Lynn Sigler
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
|
