5/19/09 - Trumbull Public Schools

Transcription

TRUMBULL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
TRUMBULL, CONNECTICUT
Regular Meeting May 19, 2009
Long Hill Administration Building
Lorraine R. Smith Assembly Room
—
7:00p.m.
AGENDA
*PPSELIMINARY BUSINESS
A.
B.
C.
D.
II.
Salute to the Flag
Correspondence
Comments and Questions
Recognition
1. CABE Student Leadership Award
PERSONNEL
A. Personnel Mr. lassogna
—
III.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval/Minutes- Regular Meeting 5/05/09
B. Approval/Financial Reports Mr. Sirico
C. Approval/Finance Committee of the Board of Education Transfers Mrs. Chory, Mrs. Labella
Mrs. Tyborowski, Mr. Wright, Mr. Sirico
REPORTS
A. Oral Reports
1. Teacher Board Representative
2. Student Board Representatives
B. Summer Reading Lists Mr. Kunschaft, Mrs. Spillane, Mrs. Ryan, Ms. Weiner, Mrs. Buckingham
—
—
—
IV.
—
V.
VI.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Approval! THS Trip to Ireland, Wales, England
OLD BUSINESS
A. Policies Second Reading/Approval
1. Drug Free Workplace, Policy 4118.231/GB
2. Student Network/Internet Policy 6141/IAA
B. RCA Placement Revisited— Mr. Jassogna
—
Mr. lassogna, Ms. Guadagnoli, Ms. Rubano
—
VII.
—
—
Dr. Vespe, Mr. Karpowich
Dr. Vespe, Ms. Guadagnoli, Mr. Nigrosh
RECEIVE AND FILE
A. Pending Litigation Dr. Cialfi
B. Negotiations Dr. Cialfi
—
—
VIII. OTHER
NOTE: *If needed, the Board may choose to hold an Executive Session upon a
two-thirds vote of members present and voting.
Report to the Board of Education
—
Agenda Item
—
I-D-1
Mr. lassogna
Recognition
CABE Leadership Awards
The Connecticut Association of Boards
of Education (CABE) Student
Leadership Awards program was
developed to give local Boards of
Education the opportunity to recognize
student achievement and potential.
The two Trumbull High School
students selected for this award by
their administration were chosen for
their achievement potential and
leadership.
Administrative Recommendation:
Recognize and commend the following
CABE Student Leadership Award
winners:
Daniel Connolly
Shelby Flynn
Regular Meeting. May 19. 2009
Mr. lassogna
Agenda Item Il-A
Personnel
A. Resignations
—
Certified
Napolitano, Barbara; kindergarten teacher at Daniels Farm School since
September 1966, retiring effective June 30, 2009.
Recommendation:
Accept
B. Appointments Certified
-
Cranston, Tracey; MA-i 1 guidance counselor at Trumbull High School,
effective May 1, 2009.
Recommendation:
Receive and file.
Mr. lassogna
Agenda Item
Approval/Minutes
—
—
Ill-A
Regular Meeting
—
5/5/09
Approve the minutes of the above
noted meeting.
Lorraine R. Smith Assembly Room
—
The Trumbull Board of Education convened in the Long Hill Administration Building for a Regular
Meeting.
Members present:
S. Wright, Chairperson
M. Ward, Vice Chairperson
J. Tyborowski, Secretary
D. Herbst, Board Member
L. King, Board Member
L. Labella, Board Member
Members absent:
L. Chory, Board Member
Agenda Item I Preliminary Business
A. Salute to the Flag The Public Session began at 7:08 p.m. followed by a salute to the Flag.
—
-
B. Correspondence
—
There was no correspondence this evening.
C. Comments and Questions
—
There were no comments or questions this evening.
D. Recognition—Hillcrest Middle School participated in We the People-the Citizen and the Constitution
competition, sponsored by the Connecticut Consortium for Law and Citizen Education (an
instructional program that enhances students’ understanding of the institutions of American
constitutional democracy), on April 1, 2009 and placed first. Team members being honored include:
Patrick Adams, Kimberly Arison, David Bruton, Brandon Capece, Michael Cydylo, Grace Forster,
Molly Glynn, Carly Goroff, Gabrielle Gotschall, Augustine Haam, Danielle Haight, Paul Leninger,
Quinn Lincoln, Christopher LoBosco, Alanna Lynch, Nailen Matschke, Ariana Matz, Erin Moore,
Sydney Morrison, Gerard Speigel, Ben Veres, Alexis Watcke, Nicole Wittstein. Their advisors,
Charles Callahan and Brian Hendrickson, were also honored.
th
At this time, Mr. Wright also recognized the following people: Jessica Remson, 8
grader at Hillcrest and
th
12
Leanna Waller,
grader at Trumbull High, for their award winning designs in the annual RYASAP
Anti-Tobacco poster contest; Vicki Tesoro, Trumbull High PTSA President, for being honored with the
RYASAP Above and Beyond Award; Hillcrest’s Odyssey of the Mind team (Brooke Hayden, Ellen
Carpenter, Aleksey Klimchenko, Max Graham and Jeremy Eckl) who have advanced to the World Finals;
FFA Regional Speech Competition award winners Rachael Munoz, Alyssa Zabin, Heather Dahlin,
Elizabeth Tomasco, Jana Iparraguirre who are moving on to the State FFA competition; and Jane Marella,
who was named FCIAC Cheerleading Coach of the Year. He also noted that the Trumbull High
Marching Band was featured on the front cover of the Spring CABE Journal with a picture showing their
participation in the Presidential Inaugural Parade. Lastly, he thanked the Rotary Club for their annual
Read Aloud Day for the elementary school students and Terry Buckingham and Judy Klein for their
efforts in facilitating this program.
Agenda Item II Personnel
A. Personnel There were no changes since the last meeting on April 21, 2009.
-
—
Agenda Item III Consent Agenda
A. Approval/Minutes Regular Meeting 4/21/09 By unanimous consent of members present at that
meeting, the minutes were approved as presented.
—
—
—
—
It was moved (Herbst) seconded (Tyborowski) to take Agenda Items V-A and V-B out of order. Vote:
Unanimous in favor.
Agenda Item V- New Business (out of order)
A. Approval/THS Trip to France Mrs. Perusi outlined a proposed trip to France for April 15 -23, 2010.
This trip will focus on French culture, history, and civilization, with students gaining insights into
cultural differences, language barriers, and communication. A brief discussion ensued. It was moved
(Tyborowski) seconded (King) to approve the trip to France as outlined with such approval contingent
upon parent(s)! guardian signing a waiver relieving the school district of any financial obligations due
to trip cancellations for any reasons. Vote: unanimous in favor.
—
B. Three Year Technology Plan—Mr. Kunschaft first gave a brief overview of the Tri-State Math visit
taking place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and invited Board members to attend. He then
presented a synopsis of Trumbull’s Technology Plan to be submitted to the State. It was noted that a
key piece to this technology plan is the expansion of the Smart Board in all classrooms. It was
emphasized that technology must become embedded in the curriculum. Discussion ensued. It was
moved (Herbst) seconded (seconded) to approve the Trumbull Public Schools Three Year Technology
Plan as presented. Vote: unanimous in favor.
Agenda Item IV Reports
A. Redistricting/Room Utilization Report—Mr. lassogna reviewed the topic of declining elementary
enrollment and its impact on school room utilization and the possibility of redistricting. Topics reviewed
included class size, declining elementary enrollment, overcrowding/under utilization, grade
reconfiguration and full/extended day kindergarten. He further noted that these scenarios are predicated
on the projected numbers remaining the same. Mr. lassogna noted that decisions should be made based
on what is best academically and advised that nothing should be done until 20 12-13 school year. His
recommendations include: avoiding “segmented” redistricting; monitoring enrollment; employing an
outside firm if considering redistricting; relocating programs and/or using art/music rooms; phasing out
portables; continuing with current grade configuration; and a full/extended day kindergarten. A lengthy
discussion ensued. Based on discussion, the Board directed to Superintendent to study/investigate these
recommendations by surveying area communities and involving district staff, community/parents and
elected officials, with the primary focus on full/extended day kindergarten.
—
Agenda Item V- New Business
C. RCA Report—Mr. lassogna reviewed the Regional Center for the Arts and the new tuition schedule.
Previously, CES assessed each district tuition for a maximum of 25 students and allowed any students
above that number to attend tuition free. CES is now charging for all students who attend and this is
impacting the number of students Trumbull will send. At present 46 students wish to enroll. He
noted that several options were discussed including a lottery system for the 25 openings; preference to
returning students; preference to incoming seniors, juniors, then sophomores, etc; instituting an
assessment fee for each student enrolled if more than 25 wish to attend; and an academic requirement
for student attendees. Before a final/long term recommendation is made, Mr. lassogna suggested a
one-year alternative for the 2009-10 school year. This proposal allows all students enrolled this past
year who wish to continue (31 students) to attend the program with the tuition paid from Board
appropriated monies (25 @ $2,350$58,759) and a one-time supplement from our student activity
account (6 @ $2,350=$ 14,100). Discussion ensued. It was moved (Ward) seconded (Tyborowski) to
send all students wishing to continue with RCA to the program for the 2009-10 school year and use
the student activity account to supplement the tuition for the 6 students above the Board appropriated
25 students. Vote: 5 in favor (Herbst, King, Tyborowski, Ward, Wright) 1 opposed (Labella). Motion
passes.
Agenda Item VI—Old Business
A. 2009-10 Budget Discussion—Mr. lassogna noted that the budget process has been completed and the
Board will receive a total budget of $84,042,628, reflecting a 3.57% increase from last year, as well as
a $100,000 reduction from the Board’s original request. A brief discussion ensued. It was moved
(Ward) seconded (Herbst) to reduce Account Number 01902520-52002, Medical Benefits, by
$100,000 to accommodate the Town’s reduction to the Board’s original request. Vote: Unanimous in
favor.
At this time, Ms. King shared with the Board her reasons for her absences at recent meetings and also
reaffirmed her commitment to serve on the Board and support both the Board Chair and the
Superintendent. It was moved (Labella) seconded (Tyborowski) to move into Executive Session at 9:27
p.m. to discuss the secretarial contract and to invite the Superintendent and Business Manager. Vote:
unanimous in favor.
It was moved (King) seconded (Ward) to move to Public Session at 9:58 p.m. Vote: unanimous in favor.
Adjournment
Board Members gave unanimous consent to adjourn the Public Session at 9:59 p.m
Regular Meeting May 19. 2009
Mr. Sirico
—
Agenda Item III
B
I
Financial Reports
a) Board of Education Expense Report
for the 10 months ended 04 30 09
I
b) Grant Expense Report for the 10 months ended 04 30 09 ..4
c) Consolidated Financial Statement for the 10 months ended
04 30/09
5
d) BOE Programs Detail Report
Recommendation:
6
Accept the Trumbull Board of Education Financial reports
for the ten months ended 4 30 09
515/2009
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
195
Teachers
Custodians/Maintenance
Tech Support
Secretaries
Paras & Aides
Substitutes
Coaches & Advisors
Salaries Other
Misc Salary Items
220
280
290
FICA
Life Insurance
Benefits Other
Utilities
390
Other Prof Services
410
4Q
0
260,750
360
Consultants
2,095,957
975,512
(264,700)
(51,857)
(14,420)
0
177,422
340
Service Contracts
224,655
0
173,000
330
Legal
(346,536)
(37,437)
10,875,176
23,292
28,200
139,685
Total
Total
(9,776)
75,000
1,232,206
130,173
(435,052)
(65,453)
(194,854)
500
34,059
(60,000)
164,059
0
3,000
200,000
(233,850)
21,633
9,484,597
53,874,099
1,011,991
1,717,236
400,472
825500
1,896,299
2,187,969
521,447
3,191,090
38,552,858
3,569,237
Original
Budget—
Transfers
1,831,257
923,655
210,235
260,750
177,422
173,000
102,248
10,528,640
51,492
120,397
1,307,206
9,049,545
53,808,646
817,137
1,717736
434,531
765500
2,060,358
2,187,969
524,447
3,391,090
38,319,008
3,590,870
Revised
1,245,824
631,142
177,756
106,218
163,552
126,675
56,940
8,633,896
34,763
91,894
1,038,670
7,468,569
41,446,056
714,752
1,586,220
216,142
523,387
1,616,517
1,841,704
446,053
2,802,313
28,648,870
3,050,098
Expended
Trumbull Board of Education Expense vs Budget
Report for the 10 Months Ended 4/30/09
Professional Development 320
300
210
Health Insurance
ZQ
110
Admin./Supervisors
Total
Object#
Object Description
page 1
449,652
148,833
16,970
49,287
4,431
78,000
145
1,924,807
17,205
25,387
258,632
1,623,583
11 ,934,363
0
105,883
215,162
160,000
384,942
341,158
77,194
493,097
9,602,563
554,364
Committmentsl
Estimates
135,781
143,680
15,509
105,245
9,438
(31,675)
45,163
(30,063)
(476)
3,116
9,904
(42,607)
428,227
102,385
25,632
3,228
82,113
58,899
5,108
1,200
95,679
67,575
(13,592)
Available
92.59%
84.44%
92.62%
59.64%
94.68%
118.31%
55.83%
100.29%
100.92%
97.41%
99.24%
100.47%
99.20%
87.47%
98.51%
99.26%
89.27%
97.14%
99.77%
99.77%
97.18%
99.82%
100.38%
% Soent
Printed 5/05/09
5,243,577
445
450
Copiers
Building Improvements
Other Purch Prop Services 490
530
540
550
560
570
590
Postage
Advertising
Interns
Tuition
Printing
Other Purch Services
635
640
645
650
655
660
690
Supplies Maintenance
Text&Workbooks
Subscriptions
Testing Materials
Books & AN
Software
OtherSupplies
35,481
2,220
(2,671)
5,389
70,860
181,424
10,180
(3,262)
43,262
(49,496)
83,925
107,874
613,125
486,650
147,500
630
Supplies Custodial
(5,000)
(8,553)
204,436
857,610
620
Supplies Office
6,926,298
21,193
8,068
371,320
12,616
0
7,000
437,413
215,002
(7,000)
7,820
51003
23,268
Total
77,964
41,100
2,630,252
231,692
5,500
60,000
3,879,790
273,264
193,308
380,030
629,716
610
Supplies Teaching
600
510
Transportation
500
(463,398)
295,964
440
Communication
Total
(14,023)
181,000
430
(451,500)
Repairs & Service Fees
1,824,054
415
Energy
Original
Object#
—Budget
Transfers
37,701
178,753
76,249
94,105
104,612
656,387
437,154
142,500
195,883
652,984
7,783,908
99,157
49,168
3,001,572
244,308
5,500
67,000
4,317,203
4,780,179
281,941
396,002
266,264
201,128
431,033
1,372,554
Revised
13,195
164,649
66,079
88,883
85,435
632,670
269,419
87,514
148,448
556,428
6,193,603
52,812
32,801
2,725,650
244,308
2,308
52,905
3,082,820
3,377,666
173,878
327,220
216,429
152,080
279,780
982,454
Expended
Object Description
page 2
4,630
2,338
2,601
698
16,821
13,002
36,830
4,012
9,710
34,887
1,482,357
11,937
0
345,946
0
197
13,261
1111,016
843,297
57,489
56,858
41,797
26,662
33,989
176,850
Committments/
Estimates
19,876
11,766
7,569
4,524
2,356
10,715
130,905
50,975
37,725
61,668
107,948
34,408
16,367
(70,024)
1
2,995
834
123,368
559,216
50,574
11,924
8,038
22,386
117,263
213,250
Available
47.28%
93.42%
90.07%
95.19%
97.75%
98.37%
70.06%
64.23%
80.74%
90.56%
98.61%
65.30%
66.71%
102.33%
100.00%
45.55%
98.76%
97.14%
88.30%
82.06%
96.99%
96.98%
88.87%
72.79%
84.46%
% Soent
Printed 5/05/09
750
790
Building Equipment
Other equipment
$422.958
343,064
$81.124.365
0
29,600
205,025
Report total
900
Misc
0
73,000
343,064
890
Other Objects
30,000
30,000
0
825
Unemployment
(400)
104,591
463,687
102,025
0
7,021
5,171
38,000
47,006
31,600
93,412
0
(1,013)
15,337
Total
810
Dues, Fees and
Memberships
Total
740
Classroom Furniture
800
730
Classroom Equipment
Total
1,500
720
Office Furniture
334,721
10,860
2,560,991
Original
710
ZQ
Total
Obiect#
Budaet
Transfers
$81.547.323
343,064
343,064
234,625
73,000
60,000
101,625
568,278
38,000
54,027
36,771
428,133
1,500
9,847
2,576,328
Revised
$63.023.302
0
0
188,265
73,000
36,429
78,836
439,954
32,623
32,789
34,701
337,909
-0
1,931
2,112,721
ExDended
Office Equipment
Object DescriDtion
page 3
$16.523229
0
0
16,000
0
16,000
0
48,044
3,318
2,036
887
41,546
0
257
125,528
Committments/
Estimates
$2.000.791
343,064
343,064
30,360
0
7,571
22,789
80,280
2,058
19,201
1,183
48,678
1,500
7,659
338,079
Available
97.55%
0.00%
0.00%
87.06%
100.00%
87.38%
77.58%
85.87%
94.58%
64.46%
96.78%
88.63%
-0.00%
22.22%
86.88%
% SDent
Printed 5/05/09
Grant Summary Budget Report
for the 10 Months Ended 4/30/09
page 4
Printed 5/05/09
jj
Budget
Eti
Budgeti
XL
Q1
268,508
197,455
71,053
71,053
0
0
268,508
197,455
71053
71,053
0
0
110,050
79,488
30562
30,562
0
0
110,050
79,488
30,562
30,562
0
0
38,896
28,924
9,972
8,519
718
735
1,233,066
1,101,373
131,693
82,913
30,255
18,525
Immigrant & Youth
24,757
4,005
20,752
16,127
0
4,625
Perkins
42,898
42,898
18,033
0
24,865
Grants Ending
—This Year—
Exoended Encumbered
Available
9130/08
Headstart ABCD
9/30/08 Totals
Grants Ending 3/31/09
USDE Crisis Management
3/31/09 Totals
Grants Ending
6/30/09
IDEA Pre-K
IDEA-B
Title 1
151,315
124,325
26,990
26,990
0
0
Title 2-A
119,168
109,312
9,856
9,856
0
0
915
142
773
142
0
631
Title 3-A
16,062
1,429
14,633
4,452
0
10,182
Title 4-A
16,120
5,821
10,299
8,824
0
1,475
6,387
4,750
1,637
934
0
703
1,649,584
1,380081
269,503
176,789
30,972
61,741
268,508
139,694
51,247
77,567
Title 2-D Tech
Title 5
6/30/09 Totals
Grants Ending
9/30/09
Headstart ABCD
268,508
Underage Drinking
196,226
125,304
70,922
48,281
0
22,641
464,734
125,304
339,430
187,975
51,247
100,208
38,033
0
38,033
16,918
6,143
14,972
1,246,238
0
1,246,238
794,955
236,425
214,859
9/30/09 Totals
Grants Ending 6/30/10
IDEA Pre-K
IDEA-B
Immigrant & Youth
26,508
26,508
0
0
26,508
Planetarium Grant
25,000
25,000
25
8,780
16,195
Title I
172,380
172,380
76,306
28,401
67,673
Title 2-A
123,211
123,211
51,425
6,958
64,828
891
891
0
0
891
Title 3-A
13,642
13,642
2,142
0
11,500
Title 4-A
13,696
0
13,696
1,100
0
12,596
1,659,599
0
1,659,599
942,870
286,707
430021
$2,370,147 $1,409,249
$368,927
$591,971
Title 2-D Tech
6/30/10 Totals
Report total
$4,152,475 $1,782,328
_
_
_
_
_
_
TrUmb’ Board of Education Consojdated FinanciB
i_S
tatemts
,S39
0I
10
----J
Trust FUndS
Student
ACVY
BOE Program I
•
Assets:
Cash
ReceiVa
s
invefltO
Liabiiities:
Total
s
$
ovhi€
$
773,679
59498
59,583
$
418,605
$
162,078
129,956
448,778
$1 ,3,140
59,583
892,761
418,605
292,0
86,706
78,752
605
51,822
129,956
165,458
52,427
129,956
727,303
$
$
366,178
$
443,778
2,052,178
443,773
87,311
260,530
443,778
448,778
796,619
162,078
$1,255
eSBF’
$
1,621,869
172,941
$
$2,894,32
3
172,941
I ,272A
increases
125
I
1 ,272,4
691,946
320,132
46,47
60,772
927,356
13,925
125
356,676
356,676
3,450,153
I
ges a F
nd iea
MedCai
ps,Schoia
SupPlies
C
st of FOOd
_oj
oita
i
1,807,098
356,676
rsh%PS
FxOefl
228,673
87,546
34,218
49,406
59,472
1,373,230
djtshle
e
1,619,302
320,132
1,852
1,327,200
1,852
$
(66,133) $
(54,746) $
$
793,436
•,‘,7 ‘O3
420,924
$
17
331,094
728,653
108,873
331,094
331,094
3,533,376
I
$
$
12,073
150,006
Ii
I
I60
I
I
0
l
r
O
td
t
gU
ra
m
s
3,2.15
64128
458
6,413
30684
48327
13967
418
2750
110,98
2
-
2,482
96,468
12565
6
230
12,356
34,218
2,089
34,679
21,396
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—
Agenda Item III C
-
-
Mrs. Chory, Mrs. Labella, Mrs. Tyborowski,
Mr. Wright. Mr. Sirico
Approval of Transfers
The Finance Committee of the Trumbull Board of
Education convened in the office of the Business
Administrator for a regular meeting on May 5, 2009.
Mrs. Labella will discuss the substance of the
meetings this evening.
A report of transfers discussed at the meetings is
attached.
Minutes from the May meeting are attached.
Review, discuss, and approve transfers.
Budget Transfers For Trumbull BCE
Operating Account for Apr—09
aae I
Inc/Dec
CC-Function-Description
Printed 5/01/09
Amount
Description
Transfer# 662X
01852647-53300
Plant-Building Improvement-Other Prof
Services
Decrease
87,000 Architect’s fee to be part of JR Roof
project
01912520-59000
Buss Ad-Admin Office-Anticipated Surp
Increase
87,000 Architects fee to be part of JR Roof
project
Transfer total
0
Transfer # 673X
01852647-53300
Plant-Building Improvement-Other Prof
Services
Decrease
10,000 to cover needed supplies
01852639-56134
Plant-HVAC-Supplies
Increase
10,000 to cover needed supplies
Transfer total
0
Transfer# 660
01852622-57307
Plant-Snow Removal-Equipment
Decrease
279 repair parts for Ariens snowblower
01852622-56134
Plant-Snow Removal-Supplies
Increase
279 repair parts for Ariens snowblower
Transfer total
Transfer#
0
1
01422214-53300
Tech-Location Wide-Other Prof
Services
Decrease
2,000 to cover present & future P0’s for
acct 54300 for remaining of fiscal
year
01422214-54300
Tech-Location Wide-Repairs & Service
Fees
Increase
2,000 to cover present & future P0’s for
acct 54300 for remaining of fiscal
year
Transfer total
0
Transfer# 663
01011000-56110
PPS-TECEC-Office Supplies
Decrease
250 to cover costs for printing TECEC
Parent Handbooks.
01011000-55906
PPS-TECEC-Printing
Increase
250 to cover costs for printing TECEC
Parent Handbooks.
Transfer total
0
Transfer# 664
01581001-56411
TSE-Classroom-Text & Workbooks
Decrease
510 for kindergarten tables to replace
worn out tables
01581001-57308
TSE-Classroom-New Furniture
Increase
510 for kindergarten tables to replace
worn out tables
Transfer total
X-requires board approval
0
aye 2
Inc/Dec
CC-Function-DescriDtion
Printed 5/01/09
Amount
Descnotion
Transfer#
01512400-56110
BHE-Admin Office-Office Supplies
Decrease
60 to cover payment for upcoming
workshops
01512400-55800
BHE-Admin Office-Professional
Development
Increase
60 to cover payment for upcoming
workshops
Transfer total
0
Transfer#
01392130-56118
PPS-Classroom-Software
Decrease
5,621 to cover cost of partitions for FT
01032130-57303
PPS-Location Wide-Equipment Inst.
Increase
5,621 to cover cost of partitions for FT
Transfer total
Transfer#
0
Z
01552400-54900
JRE-Admin Office-Other Purch Services Decrease
400 to cover deficit for purchases till
end of year
01552400-56110
JRE-Admin Office-Office Supplies
400 to cover deficit for purchases till
end of year
Increase
Transfer total
0
Transfer#
01552400-54900
JRE-Admin Office-Other Purch Services Decrease
200 to cover deficit in supply account
01551001-56111
JRE-Classroom-Classroom Supplies
200 to cover deficit in supply account
Increase
Transfer total
Transfer#
0
Z1
01581001-56411
TSE-Classroom-Text & Workbooks
Decrease
510 to replace worn out tables
01581001-57308
TSE-Classroom-New Furniture
Increase
510 to replace worn out tables
Transfer total
Transfer#
0
Z4
01402320-56110
Asst. Super-Admin Office-Office
Supplies
Decrease
2,547 purchase ELL supplies
01 541001-56111
MBE-Classroom-Classroom Supplies
Increase
2,547 purchase ELL supplies
Transfer total
0
Transfer#
0171 3201-55900
Sports-Athletics-Other Purch Services
Decrease
7 to cover invoices received
01713201-54200
Sports-Athletics-Cleaning Services
Increase
7 to cover invoices received
Transfer total
0
oage 3
Budget Transfers For Trumbull BOE
CC-Function-Descriotion
Inc/Dec
Printed 5/01/09
Amount
DescriDtion
Transfer#
01412210-51119
Curr Dir-Admin Office-Curriculum
Writing
Decrease
4,000 to cover on line increase in price of
Teacher Web
01412214-56426
Curr Dir-District Wide-On-Line
Subscriptions
Increase
4,000 to cover on line increase in price of
Teacher Web
Transfer total
0
Transfer# 678
01552400-55800
JRE-Admin Office-Professional
Development
Decrease
57 to cover deficit
01552400-54900
JRE-Admin Office-Other Purch Services Increase
57 to cover deficit
Transfer total
0
Transfer#
01552220-56420
JRE-Library-Books & Media
Decrease
9 to cover deficit
01552220-56901
JRE-Library-Supplies
Increase
9 to cover deficit
Transfer total
0
Transfer# 680
01532400-55800
DFE-Admin Office-Professional
Development
Decrease
1,399 to purchase a laptop
01531 001-57301
DFE-Classroom-Equipment Inst.
Increase
1399 to purchase a laptop
Transfer total
0
Transfer#
01542220-56425
MBE-Library-Periodicals
Decrease
632 Buy more books
01542220-56420
MBE-Library-Books & Media
Increase
632 Buy more books
Transfer total
Transfer#
0
Z
01542220-56425
MBE-Library-Periodicals
Decrease
106 Volunteer program
01 542220-56901
MBE-Library-Supplies
Increase
Transfer total
0
Transfer# 683
01542220-57302
MBE-Library-Equipment Inst.
Decrease
01542220-56901
MBE-Library-Supplies
Increase
Transfer total
0
paae 4
Ac#
CC-Function-Description
Inc/Dec
Printed 5/01/09
Amount
DescnDtion
Transfer# 686
01422220-54300
Tech-Dist AV/Chan 17-Repairs &
Service Fees
Decrease
1,000 cover purchase order for AV parts
01422220-56900
Tech-Dist AV/Chan 17-Parts
Increase
1,000 cover purchase order for AV parts
Transfer total
0
Increases
$116,645!
Decreases
$116,6451
TRUMBULL, COMJECTICUT
Finance Committee of the Board of Education
Minutes of Meeting —May 5, 2009
Office of the Business Administrator
The Finance Committee of the Trumbull Board of Education convened in the office of the
Business Administrator.
Members present: Lisa Labella, Committee Chair
Steve Sirico, Business Administrator
Joann Tyborowski, Board Member
Steve Wright, Board Chair
Members absent: Loretta Chory, Board Member
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m.
Agenda Item I
—
Review of Budget Transfers for April
The are two transfers needing full Board approval. 662X comes as the result of a special
appropriation from the Board of Finance/Town Council. At a recent BOF meeting, it was agreed
that the funding for this entire project will be put in a capital project account outside of the BOE
operating budget. Therefore, the amount of $87,000 previous approved by the BOF and put into
the operating budget will be placed in the “Anticipated Surplus” account and revert back to the
Town General Fund at the end of the fiscal year.
The other transfer, 673X, covers additional funds required to repairs of HVAC equipment at
various schools. Steve Kennedy will provide us with more detail prior to the upcoming Board
meeting.
Agenda Item 2— Approval of Minutes from meeting of 4/2/09
The minutes of the above meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
Adjournment
The Committee gave unanimous consent to adjourn the meeting at 6:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Labella
Committee Chair
TRUMBULL, CT
Mr. Kunschaft, Mrs. Ryan, Mrs. Weiner.
Mrs. Spillane, Mrs. Buckingham
Agenda Item
Summer Reading Lists
—
—
IV-B
Based on evidence that reading during the
summer months can have a significant
impact on student retention of skills, the
District provides lists of recommended
summer reading materials to students and
parents.
Our summer reading lists reflect two beliefs:
summer belongs in the hands of the
students; and good books
belong in the
hands of students.
The reading lists were developed for the
elementary, middle school and high school
levels by committees representing the
appropriate levels. Committee members
include teachers, media specialists, the town
librarian, elementary reading consultants,
the Elementary Program Leader for
Language Arts, the Middle School
Instructional Chairs for Language Arts, and
the High School English Department.
Recommendation:
Review and discuss.
Trumbull Public Schools
2009 Summer Reading List
Dear Parents,
Helping your children create a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts you can give
them. Establishing this habit is a shared responsibility between the home and school.
We want students to become lifelong readers. A child who sees reading as a pleasant and
relaxing activity is likely to enjoy it. The key is enjoyment!
This year, each child will receive a bookmark with suggested titles. The complete list,
along with reading levels, is on the Trumbull website, www.trumbullps.org. It would be
most beneficial for students to read as many books as possible throughout the summer.
On this bookmark are suggestions that represent literature written on a variety of levels.
Reading widely from this list will give students a range of experiences with many good
titles. While these books are recommended, students may read any book that is
appealing to them. The listed books will be available through a cooperative effort with
the Trumbull Public Library and local bookstores.
In September, school activities will focus on sharing summer reading experiences.
Therefore, an accurate list of the books read will be very helpful in recalling titles,
authors, and story lines. Your child can record these on the Governor’s Summer Reading
Challenge Journal.
The complete book listing, with reading level, is on the Trumbull website along with the
strategy sheets. Strategy sheets are provided to strengthen the reading/writing
connection. The four comprehension strategies are Making Connections; Visualizing;
Questioning; and Determining Importance. These sheets are located on the Trumbull
website, www.trumbullps.org, and in the offices of the elementary schools.
Ideas for Reading with Young Children
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Read aloud to your children, even when they begin to develop the ability to read
independently.
Have children read to you or other children in the family.
Find books on topics your child will enjoy: pets, sports, and outdoor activities.
Reread favorite titles.
Be a reader yourself children often follow the example of parents.
Help your children begin their own library.
Help your children get their own library cards from the public library and take
them to the library often.
Set aside a special time for reading each day. This time should be seen as fun, not
a chore or summer homework.
Bring many books and magazines along on car trips and vacations.
Visit local bookstores and watch for children’s author visits to these stores.
Explore reading links on the internet including Newbery, Caldecott, and Nutmeg
award winners.
Happy reading!
Terry Buckingham
Language Arts Program Leader
Concept Books
The Icky Bug Counting Book
Pallotta, Jerry
Children count their way through this fact-filled collection of new and interesting bugs.
(Reading Level M)
—.
-i.—
-‘
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Christelow, Eileen
book
This is a counting
in which one by one the little monkeys jump on the bed only to
fall off and bump their heads. (Reading Level E)
HOP6
Eating Fractions
MacMillian, Bruce
Bananas, corn on the cob, rolls, pizza, a pear salad, and strawberry pie are used to
introduce the concept of fractions. Few words, concept of fractions.
(Grade level interest 1-3)
6
MathStart (Series)
Murphy, Stuart J.
Pictures do more than tell stories in MathStart books; they teach math.
(Reading Level ranges H-M)
.
iEN I.IrTLE RBIUT$
Ten Little Rabbits
Grossman, Virginia
This is a counting rhyme with illustrations of rabbits in Native American costume
depicting traditional customs such as rain dances, hunting, and smoke signals. A glossary
with additional information on the customs is included. (Counting book)
‘
0.
-,
-
26 Letter, 99 cents
Hoban, Tanya
Color photographs of letters, numbers, coins, and common objects introduce the alphabet,
coinage, and the counting system. (Picture book)
Summer Reading List
Entering Grade 1
Information, Folktales, and Poetry Books
%
) Spiders
Simon, Seymour
How do spiders make their beautiful webs? What do spiders eat? The answers to these
questions and more are combined with dramatic photography. Children will be
fascinated with this up-close view of spiders in their natural habitats.
(Higher level concepts. A good book to read to your child.)
From Seed to Plant
Gibbons, Gail
This book explores the intricate relationship between seeds and the plants which they
produce. (Reading Level M)
Mo,-Cavc,a4 Rock
••
..,,%‘,
•:
Anansi (Series)
Kimmel, Eric
This series is about Kimmel’s retellings of the fabled African spider and his escapades.
(Reading Level ranges K N)
—
Lemonade, Sun and Other Summer Poems
Dotlich, Rebecca
This book is a collection of poems celebrating summer sights and sounds.
(Reading Level KJL)
Bad Boys
Bad Boys Get Cookie
Palatini, Margie
Wolves Willy and Wally try to satisfy a sweet-tooth craving by dressing up as private
eyes and chasing down a runaway cookie. (Reading level not rated)
Schoolyard Rhymes
Sierra, Judy
Boys and girls will enjoy this complete collection of children s rhymes for rope skipping,
hand clapping, and ball bouncing fun. (Reading Level not rated)
Summer Reading List
Entering Grade 1
Picture Books
U,%UmT
JM1U
Halibut Jackson
Lucas, David
Halibut Jackson is shy. He likes to blend in with his surroundings. How will he attend the
King and Queen’s Grand Birthday Party? (Reading Level L)
.
A Chair for my Mother
Williams, Vera
A child, her waitress mother, and her grandmother save dimes to buy a comfortable
armchair after all their furniture is lost in a fire. (Reading Level 0)
;
1?Sca
-sw k
Seven Sffly Eaters
Hoberman, Mary Ann
This rhyming and rollicking story follows a growing family of children and their peculiar
eating habits. (Reading Level L)
Jimmy’s Boa (Series)
Jimmy and his pet boa create hilarious havoc wherever they go.
(Reading Level ranges K-M)
Noble, Trinka Hakes
A Birthday Basket for Tia
Mora, Pat
With the help and interference of her cat, Chica, Cecilia prepares a surprise gift for her
great-aunt’s ninetieth birthday. (Reading Level L)
iisMrns
When Dinosaurs Came with Everythmt
Broach, Elise
Running errands with Mom is such a bore until a boy discovers that today dinosaurs
come with everything. With each purchase, the boy gets more ecstatic and his mother
more frazzled. Eventually, the pair has quite a herd of dinosaurs heading back home with
them. (Reading Level J)
The Flower Garden
Bunting, Eve
An African-American girl and her father prepare a birthday surprise. (Reading Level J)
Summer Reading List
Entering Grade 1
Picture Books
(continued)
LDOG
‘c
Letters from a Desperate Dog
Christelow, Eileen
Poor Emma is a pup with a problem. Her human, George, constantly misunderstands her.
No matter how hard she tries to please him, it’s just “Bad! Bad! Bad!” all day long. Tired
of feeling unappreciated, Emma finally writes to “Dear Queenie.” (Reading level not
rated)
r1
APt.
H
Madlenka
Sis, Peter
A city girl finds that she has a loose tooth and travels “around the world” to share her
news. (Reading Level C)
e
r
S
Wild about Books
Sierra, Judy
Molly McGrew, the librarian, accidentally drives into the zoo. The animals end up
devouring her books. (Reading Level J)
“Mister Seahorse
Carle, Eric
After Mrs. Seahorse lays her eggs on Mr. Seahorse’s belly, he drifts through the water,
greeting other fish fathers who are taking care of their eggs. (Reading Level K)
Duck Soup
Urbanovic, Jackie
Max, the duck, is cooking up an amazing soup. But what’s this? A feather floating in the
soup! And where’s Max? Brody, the dog, Dakota, the cat, and Bebe, the bird, race about
in their hilarious search for the missing Max. (Reading Level L)
Summer Reading List
Entering Grade 1
Beginning Readers to Read Aloud Books
My Brother Ant
A big brother is entertained by his younger brother who’s full of laughs.
(Reading Level J)
Byars, Betsy
Ølgciit
to%
Biscuit (Series)
Capucilli, Alyssa
Biscuit, the puppy, makes friends with two kittens. (Reading Level ranges F H)
—
t.II..
J..
Little Danny Dinosaur
Palazzo, Craig
A little boy is surprised and pleased when one of the dinosaurs from the museum agrees
to play with him. (Reading Level ranges H 3)
Henry and Mudge (Series)
Rylant, Cynthia
Henry, feeling lonely on a street without any other children, finds companionship and
love in a big dog named Mudge. (Reading Level J)
F
Frog and Toad (Series)
Lobel, Arnold
Frog and Toad are at it again. They are flying kites, having birthdays, and being friends.
(Reading Level K)
Nicholson, Sue
A Day at Greenhifi Farm
Beginning readers will enjoy the photography and simple text in this book.
(Reading Level I)
CI
‘.
DiCamillo, Kate
Mercy Watson to the Rescue
After the pig, Mercy, snuggles to sleep with the Watsons, all three awaken with the bed
teetering on the edge of a big hole in the floor. (Reading Level K)
Summer Reading List
Entering Grade 1
Name
bate
Book Title________________
Author
—
MAKING CONNECTIONS
(Connecting)
(brow a picture.)
This book reminds me of
Entering Grade I
Name
bate_
Title
Author
VISUAliZING
(Picturing)
(braw a picture.)
If I close my eyes, I have a good picture of this sentence
from the story:
Entering Grade 1
Name
bate
Title
Author
—
QUESTIONING
(Wondering)
(braw a picture.)
After listening to the story, my question is
Entering Grade 1
Name
bate
Title
Author
—
-
bETERMININ& IMPORTANCE
(Noticing)
(brow a picture.)
After listening to the story, I learned
Entering Grade 1
Picture Books
4?
Kapow! Ker-splash!
O’Connor, George
Do you have what it takes to be a superhero? In both of these titles, superhero “American
Eagle” and trusty sidekick “Bug Lady” have comic adventures. (Reading Level L)
eityWd
Wemberly Worried
Henkes, Kevin
A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list
of things to worry about when she faces the first day of nursery school.
(Reading Level H)
KEVIN HENKES
Rc
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother
Polacco, Patricia
After losing running, climbing, throwing, and burping competitions to her obnoxious
older brother, a young girl makes a wish on a falling star. (Reading Level M)
Perfect the Pi
A tiny pig is granted his wish and becomes the world’s only flying pig!
Reading Level L)
Jeschke, Susan
Martha (Series)
Meddaugh, Susan
Martha, an adventurous, quick thinking dog, does what other dogs can’t-TALK.
(Reading Level ranges K M)
Summer Reading List
Entering Grade 2 Grade 3
Picture Books
(Continued)
“
WItU
14hS
“
11
What’s with this Room?
Lichtenheld, Tom
A discussion between a boy and his parents about a bedroom that is so dirty he would
“have to clean up just to call it a mess” ends with a blast. (Reading Level Not Rated)
Voic s
Voices in the Park
Browne, Anthony
Four people enter a park; and through their eyes, we see four different visions.
(Reading Level L)
Beginning Readers
Aunt Eater (Series)
Cushman, Doug
Aunt Eater loves mystery stories so much that she sees mysterious adventures wherever
she looks. (Reading Level ranges J K)
•th
Sb
Arthur (Series)
Hoban, Lillian
Arthur, the chimp, and his sister have fun and adventures while problem solving.
(Reading Level mostly K)
George and Martha (Series)
Marshall, James
Short stories depict the experiences of two hippopotamuses who find that friendship has
its own problems and rewards. (Reading Level L)
Summer Reading List
Beginning Readers
(Continued)
N
Th
6
Nate the Great (Series)
Sharmat, Marjorie
Nate the Great finds clues to solve mystery after mystery. (Reading Level ranges J L.
Most Titles K)
*W*.$1 HG
Amanda Pig (Series)
Van Leeuwen, Jean
Amanda Pig, her brother Oliver, and friend Lollipop experience many things. They like
going to school, visiting grandmother, and snowstorms.
(Reading Level ranges K L)
Amelia Bedelia (Series)
Parish, Peggy
Wacky misadventures occur as Amelia Bedelia, that hapless maid, interprets her
instructions very literally. (Reading Level ranges K L)
Inspector Hopper
Cushman, Doug
Inspector Hopper and his perpetually hungry assistant, McBugg, solve three mysteries for
their insect friends. (Reading Level K)
Minnie and Moo (Series)
Cazet, Denys
Minnie and Moo are two enterprising cows who get into scrapes trying to engage in
human activities such as dressing up, dancing at a party, and driving a tractor.
(Reading Level ranges K L)
Summer Reading List
Chapter Books
&wio Bc Ca.c4
inibeTh,dGzada
.__q_
.
How to be Cool In the Third Grade
Robbie plans to become cool but his plans fail. (Reading Level N)
.,•.‘
Duff’, Betsy
it.’
a.. rh-..
‘t
L
L
Cam Jansen (Series)
Adler, David
Cam, short for Camera, Jansen and her faithful companion, Eric Shelton, solve many
mysteries while finding adventure! (Reading Level L)
p
lb
Winning Season (Series)
Play-by-play action will engage young sports fans. (Reading Level
irccI
Wallace, Rich
Q)
—
p
Baseball Pals (Series) Soccer Cats (Series)
Christopher, Matt
These two series of Matt Christopher titles will get children ready to read other sports
titles by him. They are fun fiction! (Reading Level M)
Pinky and Rex (Series)
Howe, James
School age friends and neighbors, Pinky and Rex, share many milestones of growing up.
(Reading Level L)
Summer Reading List
Chapter Books
(continued)
Martin Bridge (Series)
Kerrin, Jessica Scott
Martin Bridge, a most special and ordinary boy whose well-meant plans sometimes go
awry, usually has a scheme or project under way. (Reading Level ranges L N)
—
Jigsaw Jones (Series)
Preller, James
Missing hamsters, lost coins, and haunted houses Jigsaw Jones has seen it all before.
With his top secret detective journal, eye for detail, and ace partner, Mila, Jigsaw is
always ready to take on a new case. (Reading Level N)
-
Horrible Harry (Series)
Kline, Suzy
Funny, easy-reader stories about friends, school adventures, and a creative non
conformist boy named Harry. (Reading Level L)
Other series by Suzy Kline:
Song Lee (Series) (Reading Level L)
Herbie Jones (Series) (Reading Level 0)
Mary Marony (Series) (Reading Level L) Orp (Series) (Reading Level L)
—
Judy Moody (Series)
McDonald, Megan
The mercurial Judy Moody will delight any kid who’s known a bad mood or a bad day
and managed to laugh anyway. (Reading Level ranges L N)
-
Stink (Series)
McDonald, Megan
The pesky little brother in McDonald’s popular Judy Moody series gets his own books
and tells his own stories. Little is the word for James (“Stink”) Moody; he’s short, the
shortest kid in his second-grade class. (Reading Level ranges L N)
Summer Reading List
Chapter Books
(continued)
Magic Tree House (Series)
Osborne, Mary Pope
The brother and sister team of Jack and Annie go on many time traveling adventures
through their magic tree house. (Reading Level mostly M)
A
Flat Stanley (Series)
Brown, Jeff
Poor Stanley, he’s a perfectly normal boy until one morning he wakes up flat. After his
parents peel the incriminating bulletin board off of him, Stanley must adjust to life as a
pancake. (Reading Level ranges M P)
Marvin Redpost (Series)
Sachar, Louis
Marvin Redpost is a third-grader who overcomes many social issues accompanied with
going to school, bullying, birthdays, and making and keeping friends. (Reading Level L)
,—
‘.
Secrets of Droon (Series)
Abbott, Tony
Eric and his two friends, Neal and Julie, discover a secret doorway in Eric’s basement that
leads to the rainbow stairs. The stairs reach down into the wondrous world of Droon, a
land where all kinds of amazing things occur. (Reading Level ranges M N)
Jennie Archer (Series)
Conford, Ellen
Jenny Archer, a feisty heroine, uses her creativity and smarts to tackle each challenge that
comes her way in these fun chapter books. (Reading Level M)
Summer Reading List
Chapter Books
(Continued)
EWR1Y,
RA1WWQU171B1ACI8
‘S
Ramona Quimby (Series)
Cleary, Beverly
The adventures and misadventures of Ramona Quimby feature the heroine as she copes
with her family, friends, and turning eight. Through it all Ramona remains a sometimes
pesty, sometimes brave, sometimes blunderful, but always wonderful Ramona.
(Reading Level 0)
Other titles by Beverly Cleary:
Henry Huggiiis (Reading Level 0)
Henry and Beezus (Reading Level 0)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (Reading Level 0)
Ellen Tebbits (Reading Level 0)
Ribsy (Reading Level 0)
Ralph S. Mouse (Reading Level 0)
Runaway Ralph (Reading Level 0)
IAI
and
I”.\(. II
James and the Giant Peach
Dahi, Roald
A motherless boy who lives in a gypsy caravan behind his father’s filling station records
the adventures he shares with his beloved parent. (Reading Level Q)
Other titles by Roald Dahi:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Reading Level R)
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Reading Level R)
The Twits (Reading Level S)
Summer Reading List
Information Folktales., and Poetry Books
Fireworks Picnics and Flags
Giblin, James
This book traces the social history behind America’s celebration of Independence Day
and explains the background of such national symbols as the flag, the bald eagle, the
Liberty Bell, and Uncle Sam. (Reading Level P)
(G
p
Chameleons Are Cool
Jenkins, Martin
This book describes the different kinds of chameleons by examining their physical
features, their behavior, and their ability to change color. (Reading Level J)
Splish. Splash
This book has poems about water in its many forms
(Reading Level M)
Graham, Joan
rain, snow, ice, and oceans.
L
Why Do Horses Neigh? (Series)
Holub, Joan
Questions and answers present information about the origins, behavior, and
characteristics of the topic of each title. (Reading Level K. Series Level range K 0)
-
laugh.eteria
Florian, Douglas
Laugh-eteria
Here is a collection of more than 100 humorous poems on such topics as ogres, pizza,
fear, school, dragons, trees, and hair. (Reading Level 0)
Other titles by Douglas Florian:
Beast Feast (Reading Level P)
Insectiopedia (Reading Level Q/R)
Bing Bang Bomg (Reading Level 0)
Mammalabifia (Reading Level P)
Comets. Stars. The Moon. and Mars
On the Wing (Reading Level 0)
Summer Reading List
Information. Folktales, and Poetry Books
(continued)
fich
Under the Sea (Series)
Lindeen, Carol K.
Simple text and photographs present sea life, their body parts, and their behavior.
(Reading Level J)
PL N
AD
See More Readers (Series)
Simon, Seymour
These books discuss the nature, causes, and destructive capabilities of earthquakes,
volcanoes, super storms, and more. (Reading Level ranges I N)
*.r. 7t7IO
S
Let’s Try it Out (Series)
Simon, Seymour
These cheerful picture books encourage children to learn some basic principles of science
and engineering through play. (Reading Level L)
.-
,fl
;
-
-
Spacebusters: The Race to the Moon
Wilkinson, Philip
This book describes the voyage of Apollo 11, its three astronauts, and details of the 1969
mission that put the first man on the moon. (Reading Level P)
—.
AN MAU
NOBODY LOVES
-
Ou
Animals Nobody Loves
Simon, Seymour
This book is the truth about twenty of nature’s most misunderstood animals.
(Reading Level Q)
.-
Recess at 20 Below
Aillaud, Cindy Lou
A girl describes dressing for and enjoying recess in Alaska, even when it is twenty
degrees below zero. (Reading Level J K)
-—
Summer Reading List
Information, Folktales, and Poetry Books
(continued)
Fka
anae
nimals in Danger (Series)
Theodorou, Rod
This series explains the habitat and behavior of the various animals, why they are
endangered, and how children can help save them. (Reading Level ranges L N)
—
Gra
Grass to Milk (Beginning to End Series)
Follow how something gets made from the beginning to the end.
(Reading Level J)
Murray, Julie
lACK PfltLflln
IT’S RktdG
Pus
P4OODLE5
It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles
Prelutsky, Jack
Enjoy more than 100 poems with zany creatures, unforgettable children, universal
situations, and poems of wordplay and shape play.
(A great book to read to a child)
Summer Reading List
___
Name
bate
Title
Author
MAKING CONNECTIONS
(Connecting)
i can make a connection between something I read and:
Something in my own life
Something in another book
Something in the world today
In the story I read about
It made me think about
It helps me better understand the story because
Entering Grade 2/ Grade 3
_____
________
Name
Title
bate
Author
VISUALIZING
(Picturing)
(Draw a picture.)
If I close my eyes, I have a good picture of this sentence
from the story:
Entering Grade 2 / Grade 3
Name
bate
Title
Author
QUESTIONING
(Wondering)
(braw a picture.)
After reading the story, this is what might happen next.
Name
bate
Title
Author
—
bETERMINING IMPORTANCE
(Noticing)
(braw a picture.)
After reading the story, I learned
Nutmeg Favorites
BABE
Babe and Me (Baseball Card Series)
Gutman, Dan
Joe Stoshack and his father travel back in time to meet Babe Ruth and find out if he really
predicted his home run in the 1932 World Series. (Reading Level S. Series ranges R T)
I[iOI
OLI[11 \[?I
Gregor the Overlander
Collins, Suzanne
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange
underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and
spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.
(Reading Level T. Series ranges S—U)
Joshua’s Song
Harlow, Joan Hiatt
Needing to earn money after his father’s death during the influenza epidemic of 1918,
thirteen-year-old Joshua works as a newspaper boy in Boston. One day he finds himself
in the vicinity of an explosion that sends tons of molasses coursing through the streets.
(Reading Level R)
scaping the Giant Wave
Kehret, Peg
On a trip to the Oregon coastline, a dream vacation quickly turns into a nightmare for
Kyle and his family. Kyle will have to use his wits if he and his sister are to survive an
earthquake, a tsunami, and a hotel fire. (Reading Level S)
The Lightning Thief
Riodan, Rick
l century kid, Percy Jackson,
2
discovers he is the secret son of one of the mythical
Greek gods of Mount Olympus. After this discovery, Percy is sent to a summer camp for
children of the gods where he learns to fight monsters and survive against unnatural odds,
handy skills for his first quest. (Reading Level S)
Sequel: The Sea of Monsters
Summer Reading List
Nutmeg Favorites
(continued)
The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine
Stanley, Diane
Noticing that a popular series of horror novels is having a bizarre effect on the behavior
of its readers, Franny and Bearner set out to find the mysterious author.
(Reading Level 0)
The Monsters of Morley Manor
Coville, Bruce
Anthony finds miniature brass monsters at Morley Manor; and when he spills water on
one, it comes to life! Adventures abound as Anthony and his sister Sarah race to help the
monsters save the world from alien invaders. (Reading Level 5)
WHITE
STAg
White Star: A Dog on the Titanic
Crisp, Mary
Imagine you are lucky enough to be on the cruise of a lifetime. While on the trip, you
explore the ship, meet a wonderful, heroic dog, and end up fighting for your life.
Reading Level U)
A I)G LI
Saving Lffly
Kebret, Peg
Em finds out that the elephant in the visiting circus is being abused. But what can one
girl do to save an elephant? (Reading Level T)
City of Ember (Series)
DuPrau, Jeanne
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger
to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown
Regions. (Reading Level U. Series ranges R U)
—
Summer Reading List
Nutmeg Favorites
(continued)
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Morpurgo, Michael
When Michael is swept off his family’s yacht, he washes up on a desert island where he
struggles to survive until he finds he is not alone. (Reading Level V)
Gifts from The Sea
Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie
Quila and her father, living alone in a remote Maine lighthouse in the 1850’s, find their
lives profoundly changed when a baby washes ashore, and they decide to keep her as part
of their family. (Reading Level X)
NDER
n tue
Thunder from the Sea
Harlow, Joan Hiatt
Just when his dreams of being part of a family and having a dog seem to be coming true,
Tom wonders if trouble with neighbors on his new island home and the impending birth
of a new baby will change everything. (Reading Level S)
Some of the 2009 Nutmeg Book Nominees
The Homework Machine
Gutman, Dan
Who wouldn’t love a machine that does homework for you? Can four unlikely friends
keep the biggest secret of their lives? (Reading Level Q)
-
-
MVP* Magellan Voyage Project
Evans, Douglas
Adam Story is chosen as a player in the MVP challenge. To win the four million dollar
prize, Adam must circle the world in forty days no flying allowed. Competing against
other players through time zones and across continents, he faces danger and unknown
risks. Get ready for the trip of a lifetime! (Reading Level S)
Summer Reading List
Some of the 2009 Nutmeg Book Nominees
(Continued)
Free Baseball
Corbett, Sue
Desperate to connect with his absent father, eleven year-old Felix becomes the batboy for
a minor league baseball team in the hope of learning more about his famous father’s
game. (Reading Level T)
Shakespeare’s Secret
Broach, Elise
When Hero starts sixth grade a new school, she meets Danny Cardova, the most popular
boy. They work together to solve the mystery of the missing million dollar diamond
that’s hidden somewhere in Hero’s house. (Reading Level W)
CLOSE EN-DOJNTERS
TH1RO-WO?.L riND
Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind
Stewart, Jennifer J.
12 year-old Annie’s world is turned upside down when her father agrees to move the
entire family to Nepal on a medical mission. She makes new friends, learns some
important lessons, and has adventures that change her life. (Reading Level T)
-
Summer Reading List
Fabulous Fiction
L
—
S.O.R. Losers
Avi
Each member of the South Orange River seventh grade soccer team has qualities of
excellence, but not on the soccer field. (Reading Level N)
JIIDYBLLINE
Fudge Books (Series)
Blume, Judy
Whether Fudge is swallowing a turtle, digging up worms, or vowing to marry his
neighbor Sheila, he’ll definitely be driving his older brother Peter crazy. One thing’s for
sure, anything is possible when Fudge is around! (Reading Level Q)
O.bOG
LLOWCBJ
No Dogs Allowed!
Wallace, Bill
Twelve-year-old Kristina, still struggling to come to terms with the death of her beloved
horse, finds it difficult to accept the new dog she receives for her birthday(Reading Level 0)
Other titles by Bill Wallace:
The Backward Bird Dog (Reading Level P)
A Dog Called Kitty (Reading Level R)
Ferret in the Bedroom, Lizards in the Fridge (Reading Level T) Beauty (Reading Level V)
‘
ONJAN
I
-
Boston Jane: An Adventure
Holm, Jennifer L.
Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of
Philadelphia, while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of
Washington Territory, finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the
Pacific Northwest. (Reading Level U)
Paint the Wind
Ryan, Pam Munzo
After her overprotective grandmother has a stroke, Maya, an orphan, leaves her
extremely restricted life in California to stay with her mother’s family on a remote
Wyoming ranch. While on the ranch, she discovers a love of horses and encounters a
wild mare that her mother once rode. (Reading Level Q-R)
“
Summer Reading List
Fabulous Fiction
(continued)
F
Charlie’s Raven
George, Jean Craighead
Charlie Carlisle’s grandfather is ill. Charlie’s friend, Singing Bird, a Teton Sioux, tells
him that ravens have curing powers, so Charlie steals a baby bird from its nest. Granddad,
a retired naturalist, encourages Charlie to record his observations of the bird and study
the effect it has on humans. Charlie just hopes that the raven will make Granddad well.
(Reading Level U)
No More Nasty
MacDonald, Amy
When Simon’s Great Aunt Matilda becomes the substitute teacher for his unruly fifthgrade class, her unique way of looking at things gives the students a new perspective on
learning. (Reading Level Q)
Quick
Get Rich Quick Club
Gutman, Dan
Summer vacation in their small Maine town does not look too promising until twelveyear-old Gina and four of her friends make a pact to become millionaires before school
starts in September. (Reading Level U)
Other titles by Dan Gutman:
Abner and Me (Reading Level T)
The Homework Machine (Reading Level Q)
The Million Dollar Putt (Reading Level S)
Virtually Perfect (Reading Level 0)
Week in the Woods
Clements, Andrew
Mark did not ask to move to New Hampshire, and he certainly did not request Mr.
Maxwell as his new teacher. Mr. Maxwell doesn’t like Mark, and now the whole fifth
grade is headed out for a week of camping, Hardy’s famous Week in the Woods.
(Reading Level T)
Summer Reading List
Fabulous Fiction
(continued)
The Report Card
Clements, Andrew
Nora Rowley is very smart. When she comes home with a shocking report card, her
parents and the entire school set out to determine what went wrong. (Reading Level R)
OAD
y
Danny the Champion of the World
Dahi, Roald
A young English boy describes his relationship with his father and the special adventure
they share together. (Reading Level T)
Island (Series)
Korman, Gordon
Four children are involved in a shipwreck and are stranded on an island.
(Reading Level Q)
F—.
1*
t Everest (Series)
Korman, Gordon
Four children are prepared to go into thin air in order to become the youngest ever to
climb Everest; however, they are not prepared for the challenges that await them as they
get closer to the summit. (Reading Level R)
=
-
Dive (Series)
Korman, Gordan
Four children are on a marine expedition for the summer, diving to explore an underwater
habitat that’s just been altered by a seismic event. What they find is much more than fish.
It’s sunken treasure! (Reading Level R)
Summer Reading List
Fabulous Fiction
(continued)
rr
‘
The Trolls
Horvath, Polly
Eccentric Aunt Sally comes from Canada to baby-sit the Anderson children while their
parents are on a trip to Paris. Every night the bedtime story adds another piece to a very
suspect family history. (Reading Level U V)
Stand Tall
Bauer, Joan
Tree, a six-foot-three-inch twelve-year-old, copes with his parents’ recent divorce and his
failure as an athlete by helping his grandfather, a Vietnam vet and recent amputee, and
Sophie, a new girl at school. (Reading Level W)
Boys Start the War (Series)
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Disgusted that a family with three girls moves into the house across the river, nine-yearold Wally and his three brothers declare a practical joke war on the girls.
(Reading Level S)
-.
-
-
101 Ways to Bu2 Your Parents
Wardlaw, Lee
When his parents call off the family vacation and enroll their son in a creative writing
class instead, twelve-year-old Steve comes up with a wacky moneymaking project.
(Reading Level 5)
..
Summer Reading List
Fantasy and Beyond
The People of Sparks (City of Ember Series)
DuPrau, Jeanne
Having escaped to the Unknown Regions, Lina and the others seek help from the village
people of Sparks. (Reading Level ranges R U)
The other title in City of Ember Series:
The Prophet of Yonwood
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Collins, Suzanne
In his second adventure, eleven-year-old Gregor returns to the world beneath New York
City to rescue his kidnapped sister, Boots, and fulfill a prophecy that will restore peace to
the people, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders who populate the underworld.
(Reading Level ranges S U)
1
.‘
II
Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
Edwards, Julie
With help from an eccentric professor in giving their imaginations special intensive
training, three children succeed in locating the last of the great Whangdoodles and
granting his heart’s desire. (Reading Level X)
1.
Dragon of Lonely Island
Rupp, Rebecca
Three children spend the summer with their mother on a secluded island where they
discover a three-headed dragon living in a cave and learn what it means to be a dragon
friend. (Reading Level S)
11I I’5L
Over Sea Under Stone
Cooper, Susan
Three children on a holiday in Cornwall find an ancient manuscript. It sends them on a
dangerous quest for a grail that would reveal the true story of King Arthur.
(Reading Level ranges W X)
Summer Reading List
Fantasy and Beyond
(continued)
Favorite Greek Myths
Osborne, Mary Pope
This is a retelling of twelve tales from Greek mythology, including the stories of King
Midas, the Golden Apples, and Cupid and Psyche. (Reading Level T)
Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Series)
Wrede, Patricia
These hilarious adventure stories are about Cimorene, the princess who refuses to be
proper. (Reading Level ranges Q R)
ii
-
P,
The Doll People
Martin, Ann
This book is about adventures of a one-hundred-year-old dolihouse family who hunt for a
doll family member who has been missing for many years. (Reading Level O/P)
Sequel: The Meanest Doll in the World (Reading Range Q)
Magici’
-
-
Magic By the Lake
Eager, Edward
This family vacation finds the children overwhelmed by a lakeful of magical adventures
after one of them captures an ancient turtle that seems to have extraordinary powers.
(Reading Level U, V, W)
Half
Magic
Half Magic (Series)
Eager, Edward
Instead of a dull summer, a family of four children suddenly finds themselves involved in
a series of extraordinary adventures after discovering a coin that seems to grant wishes.
(Reading Level ranges R S)
i:
Summer Reading List
Fantasy and Beyond
(continued)
COOE1IER
PARK
Gooseberry Park
Rylant, Cynthia
You will not want to put down this book about a gentle and fimny story of friendship
among a group of animals. (Reading Level P)
Time Warp Trio (Series)
Scieszka, Jon
Whether the gang’s fighting off the Black Knight in the middle of Camelot, practicing
magic tricks on Blackbeard and his pirates, stampeding cattle in the Old West, or running
from a woolly mammoth, one thing is for sure, no one is ever bored when the Time Warp
Trio is around! (Reading Level ranges L P. Most titles P)
Tales from Dimwood Forest (The Poppy Series)
Avi
Poppy, the deer mouse, urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to
feed them all forever. However, Mr. Ocax, a terrifying owl, has other ideas.
(Reading Level ranges P S)
The Chronicles of Narnia (Series)
Lewis, C.S.
Narnia is the land of enchantment, glory, and nobility. It is the home of the magnificent
Aslan, the cruel White Queen, Jadis, heroic Reepicheep, and kind Mr. Tumnus.
(Reading Level T)
Summer Reading List
Chifiers and Thrifiers
Spiderwick Chronicles (Series)
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly
This is the story of thirteen-year-old Mallory Grace and nine year old twins, Jared and
Simon Grace. They move into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate with their mother only
to quickly find themselves sucked into a dark and fascinating world of faeries.
(Reading Level ranges Q R)
—
Chet Gecko Mystery (Series)
Hale, Bruce
Chet Gecko, the best lizard detective at Emerson Hicky Elementary, saves his own skin
by solving the schools’ wacky mysteries. (Reading Level 0)
The Ghost of Fossil Glen
DeFelice, Cynthia
Allie knows it is not her imagination when she hears a voice and sees in her mind’s eye
the face of a girl who seems to be seeking Allie’s help. (Reading Level T)
Sammy Keyes (Series)
Van Draanen, Wendelin
Thirteen-year-old Sammy’s penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she
involves herself in investigations and mysteries. (Reading Level ranges T X)
—
The Dolihouse Murders
Wright, Betty Ren
A dollhouse filled with a ghostly light in the middle of the night and dolls that have
moved from where she last left them lead Amy and her sister to unravel the mystery
surrounding grisly murders that took place years ago. (Reading Level S)
Summer Reading List
Chifiers and Thrifiers
(continued)
Ghost in Room 11
Wright, Betty Ren
When his family moves to a small town near Milwaukee, Matt’s efforts to fit into his new
fourth-grade class are complicated by his poor spelling and his encounter with the ghost
of one of the school’s former teachers. (Reading Level P)
COASWIATCH
The Coastwatcher
Weston, Elise
It is 1943, and Hugh and his family escape a polio epidemic by leaving Charleston for the
South Carolina seashore for the summer. While there, the eleven-year-old considers it is
his duty to watch for any signs of enemy activity. He becomes suspicious after seeing
what he believes to be a periscope off the coast, finding German cigarettes, and
stumbling across an unreadable map. (Reading Level 0)
Charlie Bone (Series)
Nimmo, Jenny
Charlie Bone’s life with his widowed mother and two grandmothers undergoes a dramatic
change when he discovers that he can hear people in photographs talking.
(Reading Level ranges Q T)
1I lttO’.IIWAM
th
The 13
Floor
Fleischman, Sid
After his older sister disappears, twelve-year-old Buddy follows her back in time and
finds himself aboard a seventeenth century pirate ship captained by a distant relative.
(Reading Level U)
Summer Reading List
The World Around Us and Poetry
U
T MAT
lIT
t
The Pot that Juan Built
Andrews-Goebel, Nancy
A cumulative rhyme summarizes the life’s work of renowned Mexican potter Juan
Quezada. Additional information describes the process he uses to create his pots after the
style of the Casas Crandes people. (Reading Level Z)
The Bone Detectives
Jackson, Donna
This book explores the world of forensic anthropology and its applications in solving
crimes. (Reading Level Y)
The Dragon in the Cliff
Cole, Sheila R.
A twelve-year-old English girl discovers an Ichthyosaurus skeleton in 1811. This leads
her to a life-long interest in fossils. (Reading Level Not Rated)
Accidents May Happen
Jones, Charlotte Foltz
This book describes how a wide variety of things such as nursery rhymes, the national
anthem, anesthesia, cellophane, raisins, and dynamite came into being.
(Reading Level V)
Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis & Clark
Karwoski, Gail
Seaman, a Newfoundland, proves his value as a hunter, navigator, and protector while
serving with the Corps of Discovery when it explores the West under the leadership of
Lewis and Clark. (Reading Level U-V)
Summer Reading List
(continued)
Surviving Jamestown
Karwoski, Gail
Sam Collier, a twelve-year-old, serves as page to John Smith during the relentless
hardship experienced by the founders at the first permanent English settlement in the
New World. (Reading Level V, W)
\I.J
Quake
Karwoski, Gail
It is 1906, and thirteen year old Jacob Kaufman, who lives in San Francisco with his
father and little sister, is outside when a major earthquake shakes the city cracking streets
and toppling buildings. (Reading Level R)
Stowaway
Hesse, Karen
fictionalized
A
journal relates the experiences of a young stowaway from 1768 to 1771
aboard the Endeavor which sailed around the world under Captain James Cook.
(Reading Level W)
Leonardo. Beautiful Dreamer
Byrd, Robert
Illustrations and text portray the life of Leonardo da Vinci. He gained fame as an artist
through such works as the Mona Lisa. As a scientist, he became famous by studying
various subjects including human anatomy and flight.
(Reading Level T)
-
Backyard Detective
Bishop, Nic
What’s in your back yard? Explore the life-size photographs of backyard scenes inside
this book and you’ll be a backyard detective. You can spot and describe more than one
hundred twenty-five tiny animals that are there. (Reading Level R)
Summer Reading List
(continued)
I1
Hannah of Fairfield
Van Leeuwen, Jean
For almost nine-year-old Hannah Perley of Fairfield, Connecticut, growing up means
facing new challenges. The challenges are both great and small, from saving the life of a
baby lamb to helping the family prepare to send her brother Ben to join the colonial
soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. (Reading Level P)
Science Verse
If you love science, you will love these poems. (Reading Level P)
fl
E Cr i.
Scieszka, Jon
DI $
Insectiopedia
Florian, Douglas
This presents twenty-one short poems about such insects as the inchworm, termite,
cricket, and ladybug. (Reading Level Q)
BEi51
The Beauty of the Beast
Prelutsky, Jack
This is an illustrated collection of poems about animals, insects, and birds by poets from
different parts of the world. (Reading Level P)
I .31
Liberty
Curlee, Lynn
All the planning and efforts that went into the construction of one of the most famous
symbols of the United States, the Statue of Liberty, is discussed in this book.
(Reading Level Z)
Ballpark: The Story of America’s Baseball Fields
Curlee, Lynn
The histories and cultural significances of America’s most famous ballparks, including
Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, and Wrigley Field, are explored in this book.
(Reading Level Z)
Summer Reading List
Name
bate
Title
Author
MAKING CONNECTIONS
(Connecting)
I con make a connection between something I read and:
Something in my own life
Something in another book
Something in the world today
In the story I read about
It made me think about
It helis me better understand the story because
Name
bate_
Author
Title
VISUALIZING
(Picturing the Vocabulary)
Please use these words from your reading to complete
the activity below:
The word:
The meaning:
The picture in my mind:
The word:
The meaning:
The picture in my mind:
Name
bate
Title
Author
—
QUESTIONING
(Wondering)
Things I can wonder about as I read
1. What are some questions that this story answers?
2. What questions do I have after reading that are not
answered right in the story’
3. What was confusing to me in this story? It could be
a word, paragraph, or idea.
4. At what point(s) in the story did I make a
prediction? What did I think would happen?
5. What is it about the author’s style that I like or
dislike?
Name
bate
Title
Author
bETERMINING IMPORTANCE
(Noticing)
“BEST QUOTE”
Find a quote from this story that seems very important.
It might be important because it shows good description,
helps you understand a character, foreshadows a
problem, or represents an important moment in the story.
What is the page number?
Write the quote here, and remember to use quotation
marks.
Why do you think this quote is important?
*
.1
r
0
/4
:
SUMMER 2009 REAbING LIST
TRUMBULL MIbbLE SCHOOL
TO
)
Enjoy a wonderful summer of reading!
Your child should record on the Governor’s Summer
Reading Journal the titles he/she has read and return the
journal to his/her teacher during the first week of school.
Your child is required to read two books this summer. While
the books on the list are recommended, you may
supplement the selections with books you and your child
enjoy.
The curriculum department recommends that you review this
list and make your own decisions based on the suitability of
the books for your individual child.
Reading is an enjoyable pastime during the summer.
Research shows that reading just a few minutes a day
significantly increases a child’s reading ability. Your support
is essential. Encouraging your child to participate is
important for a rewarding summer reading program.
Dear Parents,
Trumbull Public Schools
Summer 2009 Reading List
Middle School
1i
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever
Epidemic of 1793
Jim Murphy
History, science, politics, and public health come together in this account of the
yellow fever epidemic.
American Revolutionaries
Milton Meltzer
Young people at the time of the American Revolution describe historical events.
Gizmos and Gadgets: Creating Science Contraptions that Work and
Knowing Why
J. Hauser
Besides providing instructions for making contraptions, this book explains how to think
like an inventor.
Chew on This
Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson
Read about the fast-food industry’s growth, practices, and effects on public health.
The author lays out the details behind the tasty burgers and sandwiches of fast food
restaurants.
Girls and Their Horses
American Girl Library
Text and photographs present stories of girls who ride in rodeos, train miniature
horses and wild ponies, and live on a horse farm.
Kindred Spirit
Catherine M. Andronik
Discover the personal and literary career of the Canadian writer best known for her
novels about Anne of Green Gables.
Mistakes That Worked
Charlotte Foltz-Jones
Learn about forty familiar inventions and how they came to be.
Bonanza Gold
Pierre Berton
Discover the characters and stories about the beginning of Canada’s great Klondike
gold rush.
Bushnell’s Submarine
Arthur Lefkowitz
This book relates the story of America’s first submarine, the American
Turtle, used during the Revolutionary War.
laire Rudolf Murphy
Gold Rush bogs
Read about the notable dogs of the Gold Rush era.
Keeper of Lime Rock
Lenore Skomal
This is the remarkable true story of Ida Lewis, America’s most celebrated
lighthouse keeper.
internment camp during WWII.
A Night to Remember
Walter Lord
This classic time-travel tale drawn from survivors’ accounts remains the best
Titanic story after all these years.
bear Miss Breed
Joanne Oppenheim
This book chronicles the true stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during
WWII and a librarian who made a difference.
Revenge of the Whale
N. Philbrick
Read this true story of the sinking of the whale ship Essex.
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
J. Armstrong
This story follows Shackleton and his crew on their 1914 Antarctic
Expedition.
Muckrakers
Ann Bausum
Hold the presses! Here’s the sensational story of the birth of investigative journalism
in America.
Children of the bust Bowl
Jerry Stanley
Read about the plight of the migrant workers who traveled from the bust Bowl to
California during the bepression.
Phineas &age
John Fleischman
The story of a construction foreman, who, in 1848, survived ten years after a 13 pound
iron rod shot through his brain.
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius
bava Sobel
Read how John Harrison developed a clock that measured longitude.
The Invisible Thread
Yoshiko Uchida
The author of such accomplished children’s works as The Brace/etand The
Jar of breams offers a firsthand account of life in a Japanese American
NONFICTION
Matthew Skelton
The Orphan of Ellis Island
Elvira Woodrow
Read about bominic Canton who travels back in time to 1908 Italy and
accompanies two young emigrants to America.
Thunder from the Sea
Joan Hiatt Harlow
Just when his dreams of being part of a family and having a dog seem to be
coming true, Tom wonders if trouble with neighbors and a new baby will
change everything.
On the Wings of Heroes
Richard Peck
A boy in Illinois remembers the home-front years of WWII, and his two
heroes, his brother and his father.
Ella Enchanted
Gail Levine
Based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against a childhood curse.
Traveling Team
Mike Lupica
A boy comes to understand his dad while playing the game of basketball.
Read about twelve-year-old Blake Winters who stumbles across an ancient and magical
book leading to a most dangerous journey.
Summer Ball
Mike Lupica
banny heads to basketball camp. Old rivals and new battles leave banny
wondering if he really does have what it takes to stand tall.
Endymion Spring
biscover the adventures of Cornelia and her love of words, an unforgettable cast of
characters and a mischievous French bulldog.
Satch and Me
ban Gutman
Thirteen-year-old Joe Stosh travels back in time to clock the fast ball of famous
pitcher Satchel Paige.
Perloo the Bold
Avi
Perloo’s quiet life is interrupted by a mysterious summons from the Montmer leader.
What follows is an incredible journey.
King of Shadows
Susan Cooper
biscover how Nat finds himself transported back in time as a Shakespearean actor.
Lesley M. M. Blume
Cornelia Audacious and the Escapades of the Somerset Sisters
FICTION
I
The Callahan Cousins: Summer Begins
E. Carey
In this first book of the series, the Callahan cousins share a summer of
excitement while staying at Grandma’s home.
Hit the Road
Caroline Cooney
Sixteen-year-old Brit is illegally driving her Nannie and two other elderly
th
women to their 65
college reunion.
The Last Shot
John Feinstein
Two middle school students become reporters for the Final Four NCAA
basketball tournament.
Al Capone boes My Shirts
Gennifer Choldenko
Twelve-year-old Moose grows up in 1935 on Alcatraz where his father works
as a prison guard.
Shadows in the Sea
Joan Hiatt Har low
In the summer of 1942, Jill solves the mysteries surrounding the German Uboats on the shores off the coast of Maine.
Wild Man Island
Will Hobbs
After fourteen-year-old Andy slips away from his kayaking group, a storm
strands him on an island where he must survive.
Trouble River
Betsy Byars
When he builds his raft, a twelve-year-old boy never dreams that it will
serve as the sole means of escape for him and his grandmother when hostile
Indians threaten their prairie cabin.
Heat
Mike Lupica
Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat. But that
firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day
life.
---
Old Yeller
Fred Gipson
Enjoy the adventures of a boy and his dog in the wilderness.
Black Beauty
Anna Sewell
When Black Beauty is ,just a young colt, his mother warns him that a horse’s
life is often difficult. This strong, handsome horse meets with many
adventures and all types of people.
Anne of Green Gables
L. M. Montgomery
Eleven-year-old Anne Shirley wins the heart of her foster mother in the
first of this well-known series.
The Hobbit
J.RJ. Tolkien
biscover the adventures of dwarf-like creatures, the Hobbits, living in
Middle Earth.
The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain
A prince and a pauper, identical in appearance, change places as a prank.
National Velvet
Enid Bagnold
A fourteen-year-old girl rides her piebald horse in the Grand National.
Fantastic Voyage
Isaac Asimov
Journey with four men and a woman into the living body of a man as told in
this classic science fictional tale.
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
gth
Share the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters in 1
century New
England.
Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan boyle
Sherlock Holmes sets out to solve the mystery that haunts the Baskerville
family.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jules Verne
Geologist Professor Liedenbrock can’t resist setting out with his 16-year-old
nephew to go where only one man has gone before
the core of the Earth.
Kontiki
Thor Heyerdahl
Six men on a small raft sail four thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean,
from Peru to the Polynesian Islands.
Johnny Tremain
Esther Forbes
This story of a tragically injured young silversmith who ends up hip-deep in
the American Revolution.
The Incredible Journey
Sheila Burnford
A young Labrador Retriever, an aging Bull Terrier, and a feisty Siamese cat
embark on a dangerous journey home through the Canadian wilderness.
CLASSICS
Uprising
The author draws on extensive historical research to bring the tragedy of
the Triangle Shirtwaist fire to life through her story of Yetta, Bella, and
Jane.
Miss Spitfire
Sarah Miller
This book traces Annie Sullivan’s first experiences with her famous pupil,
Helen Keller.
The Glory Field
Walter bean Myers
Read the saga of an African-American family over five generations.
Backwater
Joan Bauer
Ivy Breedlove treks into the wilderness to interview her reclusive aunt.
Lizzie at Last
Claudia Mills
Lizzie, who has always been considered a nerd by the other kids, begins the
seventh grade determined to change her image so that she can blend in
better with the popular crowd.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Trenton L. Stewart
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected to
go on a secret mission at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened,
where the only rule is that there are no rules.
Cover-Up
John Feinstein
Mystery awaits Susan Carol Anderson and Steve Thomas as they find
themselves together again at the Su er Bowl.
Masterpiece
Elise Broach
lives
with
James, a boy who
his family in a grand apartment on the Upper
East Side of Manhattan, and Marvin,a beetle whose extended family resides
behind James’ mother’s kitchen, find themselves embroiled in a plot to steal
a bUrer drawing from the Metropolitan Museum, They must find creative
ways to communicate to foil the thieves and protect the masterpiece.
Go Big Or Go Home
Will Hobbs
In the Black Hills of South bakota one dark summer night, a meteor crashes
down to Earth and into Brady’s bedroom. While days go by, strange and
weird things start happening to Brady.
A bog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray
Ann M. Martin
In this “autobiography” of a dog named Squirrel, a stray, separated from its
family in puppyhood, finds its way in the world.
Eleven
Patricia Reilly Giff
Sam doesn’t know why he fears the number eleven, but as his 11th birthday
approaches, he feels a need to explore his past. When he discovers a locked
box and a newspaper clipping in the attic, he
a missing child.
Race for the Sky: The Kitty Hawk Diaries of Johnny Moore ban Gutman
Among those who saw the first flight at Kitty Hawk was a teenager named
Johnny Moore. &utman imagines Moore’s journal, in this novel, which includes
an eyewitness account of the attempt to get the first plane off the North
Carolina dunes.
Every Soul A Star
Wendy Mass
Three young teens witness a total solar eclipse and are changed forever.
The Great Number Rumble
Cora Lee & Gillian O’Reilly
When Jeremy and Sam’s school district decides to eliminate mathematics
from the curriculum, most of the students and teachers are thrilled.
However, Sam is devastated and takes on the birector of Education.
Complete with dozens of amusing real-life math examples, brief bios of
seven famous mathematicians, and fun illustrations and diagrams, this
innovative introduction to all things arithmetic will win over even the most
math-phobic readers.
The Penderwicks
Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwick sisters enjoy a wonderful summer on the grounds of a beautiful
estate filled with magic and mystery.
Brooklyn Bridge
Hesse, Karen.
Joe, fourteen, is the first member of his Russian-Jewish family born in the
United States. He wonders if he will ever get to go to Coney Island, but in
1903, his life changes when his parents turn their apartment into a teddybear factory.
The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed
H.V. Frederick
Patience Goodspeed finds herself in the midst of mutiny aboard her father’s
whaling ship.
The Rising Star of Rusty Nail
Lesley M. M. Blume
Franny Hansen, a piano prodigy, lives in Rusty Nail, Minnesota. A mysterious
woman arrives in town. Could this stranger be Franny’s ticket out of Rusty
Nail?
Trouble bon’t Last
Shelley Pearsall
Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave
who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground
Railroad.
4
- Mc
1’
it
J1j..
Feather
Jacqueline Woodson
Franny grows up in the 1970s and learns that faith, hope, and friendship
bring people together.
Liftle Audrey
Ruth White
It’s 1948, and Audrey lives in a Virginia coal-mining camp with her family.
There is great trauma for the White family before the family is able to live
a better life.
Kensuke’ s Kingdom
Michael Morpurgo
A young boy is stranded on a small island with a man from a much different
background who helps him survive.
The Winter War: Russia’s Invasion of Finland
Robert Edwards
The November 1939 Soviet invasion of Finland provokes worldwide outrage.
For 105 days, the underequipped Finnish forces fight the Red Army to a
standstill. By March 1940, the Finns have nothing left and are short of food,
ammunition, and people, but they refuse to surrender.
I
i.sIi!
a mysterious word and embarks on a cross-country journey to uncover its
meaning.
Becoming Naomi Leon
Pam Munoz Ryan
Naomi travels to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in
search of her father.
Ashes of Roses
Mary Jane Auch
The Nolan family travels to America in the early 1900s. Rose, the oldest
daughter, finds inner strength as she faces her new life in America working
at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
So B.It
Sarah Weeks
A young girl, living in Reno with her mentally disabled mother, is haunted by
May 2009
Greetings students, parents and readers,
Happy summer! This year’s THS summer reading list introduces you to a host of new
titles and continues the format introduced last year which encourages our community to
share reading experiences. We are very excited for this program that brings together
teenagers, adults and good books in an atmosphere of exploration, discovery and the
sharing of ideas. Several years ago, the THS English Department moved from the
traditional format of students reading from a limited list of assigned books to students
choosing from a much wider list of suggestions. It also moved from the much-dreaded
summer reading essay to in-class book talks in which students shared and critiqued their
selections. The thinking behind this nationally-recognized program was that “summer
belongs in the hands of students and good books belong in those hands.” We still couldn’t
agree more! But in keeping with THS’s revitalized commitment to reading and literacy,
its embracing of the “Got Reading” program and the desire of more adults at THS to
share books with kids, it was time to grow and change. Hence, the new list and new
format.
As you peruse the new list, you’ll find choices from all genres, all reading levels, all
subject matters. How did we arrive at these titles? Adults and students from every corner
of THS suggested them as ones they’d like to share with others; they are books that have
inspired them, enraged them, guided them, challenged them, and changed their lives.
These are books that they care about and want to share with you.
Students, before leaving school in June, you will sign up for one book you would like to
read over the summer and discuss in a book chat in September. Prior to making your
choice, spend time reviewing the list and researching the titles. Visit amazon.com,
bamesandnoble.com or other bookstore websites that will provide you with extensive
background information and customer reviews. Wander the aisles at local bookstores and
libraries. Please note that this is a change from the previous program—you will commit
to a specific title from the list and will need to stick with that title. What’s the next step?
Obtain a copy of the book. It’s great to have your own copy that you can keep forever,
mark up with thoughts and reread again and again—several local bookstores have a copy
of our list and will be able to help you out.
As you read over the summer, make note of ideas that provoke thought or confuse you,
that use language in ways you’ve never seen before, that speak to you in some way. Talk
to friends and family about what you’re reading and encourage them to read along and
discuss with you. In early September, our Summer Reading Celebration Day will allow
you the opportunity to come together with other students and adults who read the same
book that you did. Your book chat will be facilitated by the faculty member or
community leader who recommended the book but really this is your discussion—your
ideas, thoughts and interests will guide the direction. You should come to the celebration
with the “bookmark” containing at least two quotes that struck you and at least two
thought-provoking questions you had, questions that spark discussion, not just “yes” or
“no” answers. At the end of the day, you will have the opportunity to rate the book—
would you recommend it to a friend? Did you feel it was a worthwhile read?
Please note that while the book chats will focus on the one book you signed up for, you
are encouraged to read as many books from the list and other titles as you wish over the
summer. Summer is that great time of freedom to read what you choose, at your own
pace.
In closing, welcome to Trumbull High’s revitalized community of readers! We are so
excited to share these works with you and cannot wait to share in your thoughts and
reactions in September.
On behalf of the entire THS faculty and community, happy reading and have a great
summer,
Mrs. Spillane,
English Department
Mr. Neenan,
Media Center
Note: Titles that are marked with an asterisk* contain content that requires maturity and
may not be suitable for all readers. Parents, we encourage you to communicate with your
children about their choices and to read the books along with them.
“I prays for deliverance,” confides Mary Faber, orphaned at eight years old by a pestilence that relegates
her to a life of begging and petty crime on the streets of London. After her gang’s leader is killed, she
dons his clothing, trading in the name Mary for Jack, and takes to the high seas aboard the HMS Dolphin.
Meyer evokes life in the 1 8th-century Royal Navy and seamlessly weaves into Jacky’s first-person
account a wealth of historical and nautical detail at a time when pirates terrorized the oceans.
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel—a young German
girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are
hiding, as well as their neighbors. Many books have memorable first lines. This one has a memorable
last line which will stay with you longfter you finish the book.
Cat’s Cradle travels from the home turf of Vonnegut’s imagination, Ilium, N.Y. to a Caribbean banana
republic where an illicit religion called Bokononism is practiced, while the ultimate doom (in the form of
icenine) overtakes mankind.
This investigation of an ancient murder takes on the quality of a hallucinatory exploration, a deep, groping
search into the gathering darkness of human intentions for a truth that continually slithers away.
Willie Weaver used to be a hero. Now he’s nothing. Willie is a top athlete, the star of the legendary game
against Crazy Horse Electric. Then a freak accident robs him of his once-amazing physical talents.
Betrayed by his family, his girlfriend, and his own body, Willie’s on the run, penniless and terrified on the
streets, where he must fight to rebuild both his body and his life.
A young boy’s reaction to the divorce of his parents. Written by local Easton author famous for his non
fiction books on fishing.
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Charlie Huston
Heinrich Boll
S.A. Harazin
Anita
Amirrezvani
Kurt Vonnegut
Gabriel Garcia
Marquez
Chris Crutcher
James Prosek
Blood Brothers
Blood of Flowers
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of L.A. Meyer
the Curious Adventures of Mary
‘Jack” Faber, Ship’s Boy
Markus Zusak
Billiards at Half Past Nine
Book Thief, The
Cat’s Cradle
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Crazy Horse Electric Game, The
Day My Mother Left, The
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
A hard-boiled vampire detective searches for a missing girl in a dangerous, gritty underworld filled wfth
supernatural and “real world” terrors.
In its searing examination of the moral crises of postwar Germany, the novel resembles Boll’s other
fiction; its interior monologues and flashbacks, however, make it his most complex work. The novel
examines the lives of three generations of architects and their responses to the Nazi regime and its
aftermath. The present-day action takes place on the 80th birthday of patriarch Heinrich Fahmel, who
built St. Anthony’s Abbey. At the end of World War II, his son Robert destroyed the abbey to protest the
church’s complicity with the Nazis; Robert’s son, Joseph, is serving his apprenticeship by helping to
restore St. Anthony’s. All three characters confront their relationship to building and destruction, as well
as their personal and historical past.____________
Clay puzzles through the events of the last few days, and years, to figure out how his best friend, a
promising eighteen-year-old, ends up in a coma instead of at Duke University. All signs point to a drug
overdose, but Clay knows that Joey wasn’t into drugs.
At the age of fourteen, a young woman in 17th-century Persia believes she will be married within the
year. But when her beloved father dies, there is no hope for a dowry. Alone and penniless, she and her
grieving mother are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven, meant for her
married life, to pay for their journey to Isfahan. There they will work as servants for her uncle Gostaham,
a rich rug designer in the court of the Shah, and be lorded over by Gostaham’s wife. Despite her lowly
station, the young woman blossoms as a brilliant weaver of carpets, a rarity in a craft dominated by men.
But while her artistic gift flourishes, her prospects for a happy marriage grow dim. Forced into a secret
marriage with a man who will never take her as his first wife, the young woman is faced with a daunting
decision: forsake her own dignity, or risk everything she has in an effort to maintain it.
(pnrp
Author
Title
Already Dead
TRUMBULL HIGH SCHOOL
Summer Reading List 2009
*
-—_______
Liparulo expkres the grim possibilities of germ warfare with an interesting twist: this Ebca virus can seek
and destroy specific individuals by matching their DNA. Ten thousand people are on the list for infection,
and it’s up to special agent Julia Matheson to stop the horrific drama that’s about to unfold. As she tracks
the source of the virus, she finds a touch of romance with physician Dr. Allen Parker, who, with Julia, is
fleeing a seemingly invincible assassin.
!iiiljiction
Fiction
Germ
I
I
I
I
Laurel Corona
Fours Seasons: A novel of
Vivaldi’s Venice, The
I
I
I
I
I
Fiction
Mitch Albom
Five People You Meet in Heaven,
The
-—__________
Fiction
Robin Cook
—
Fever
—
Meet Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-hisluck private investigator. Chet might have flunked out of police school (“I’d been the best leaper in K-9
class, which had led to all the trouble in a way I couldn’t remember exactly, although blood was
involved”), but he’s a detective through and through. In this, their first adventure, Chet and Bernie
investigate the disappearance of Madison, a teenage girl who may or may not have been kidnapped, but
who has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters. A well-behaved, gifted student,
she didn’t arrive home after school and her divorced mother is frantic. Bernie is quick to take the case
something about a cash flow problem that Chet’s not all that clear about and he’s relieved, if vaguely
suspicious, when Madison turns up unharmed with a story that doesn’t add up. But when she disappears
for a second time in a week, Bernie and Chet aren’t taking any chances; they launch a full-blown
investigation.
This tale centers around a twelve year old girl who has developed a form of leukemia. Her father, a
doctor/scientist who has studied and searched for a cure for cancer for the past nine years following the
death of his wife to leukemia, is suddenly having to deal with his nightmares again.
From the author of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, a novel that
explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place; it’s an
answer.Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job
is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to
save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a
destination. It’s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew,
others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie’s five
people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his “meaningless” life, and
revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: “Why?s I here?”
The music students who inspired Vivaldi and the city where they performed the great composers works
come to life in Corona’s adult fiction debut. In 1695, three-year-old Maddalena and her infant sister,
Chiaretta, are abandoned on the doorstep of Venice’s Pieta foundling hospital. Groomed for the Pieta’s
renowned music academy, Chiaretta, with her pretty blonde looks and beautiful voice, earns a place as
celebrated soloist and marriage to an aristocrat. Dark, quiet Maddalena remains in the shadows until she
takes up the violin, and a controversial musician and cleric, Antonio Vivaldi, becomes her teacher.
Fiction
Spencer Quinn
Fiction
Summer Readin. List 2009
Content
After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, 18-year-old Ben Wolf elects to forgo
treatment and keep his illness secret from his family and friends in an attempt to have a “normal” senior
year at his small Idaho high school. Free from long-term consequences, he connects with his crush,
frustrates his biased U.S. Government teacher, and tries out for football. However, Ben’s illness slowly
exacts its toll on him, and he begins to realize the consequences of keeping his condition hidden.
Dog on It
_________________
_____
Author
Chris Crutcher
______
Title
Deadline
______
——
Ethnicity
Joan Bauer
Hope was Here
Fiction
Fiction
Arthur Golden
Memoirs of a Geisha
Fiction
Fiction
Gabriel Garcia
Marquez
Joanne
Greenberg
Cory Doctorow
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Genre
Fiction
Love in the Time of Cholera
Little Brother
-________
Nick Hornby
High Fidelity
-—_____________
Jodi Picoult
Harvesting the Heart
In this Sign
Author
Jodi Picault
Title
Handle with Care
-
—______
—
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney,
Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the
diner owner’solitical campaign to oust the town’s corrupyor.
The Highly Acclaimed Novel of a Family Whose Love and Courage Enable Them to Survive in the Silent
World of the Deaf
Marcus, a.k.a ‘wln5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system
works—and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no
trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.But his whole world changes
when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San
Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the
Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly
interrogated for days.When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a
police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his
story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.
While delivering a message to her father, Florentino Ariza spots the barely pubescent Fermina Daza and
immediately falls in love. What follows is the story of a passion that extends over 50 years, as Fermina is
courted solely by letter, decisively rejects her suitor when he first speaks, and then joins the urbane Dr.
Juvenal Urbino, much above her station, in a marriage initially loveless but ultimately remarkable in its
strength. Florentino remains faithful in his fashion; paralleling the tale of the marriage is that of his
numerous liaisons, all ultimately without the depth of love he again declares at Urbino’s death. In
substance and style not as fantastical, as mythologizing, as the previous works, this is a compelling
exploration of the myths we make of love.
Nine-year-old Chiyo, sold with her sister into slavery by their father after their mother’s death, becomes
Sayuri, the beautiful geisha accomplished in the art of entertaining men, is the focus of this fascinating
first novel. Narrating her life story from her elegant suite in the Waldorf Astoria, Sayuri tells of her
traumatic arrival at the Nitta okiya (a geisha house), where she endures harsh treatment from Granny and
Mother, the greedy owners, and from Hatsumomo, the sadistically cruel head geisha. But Sayuri’s chance
meeting with the Chairman, who shows her kindness, makes her determined to become a geisha.
Content
Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, was born with brittle bone disease, a condition that
requires Charlotte to act as full-time caregiver and has strained their emotional and financial limits.
Willow’s teenaged half-sister, Amelia, suffers as well, overshadowed by Willow’s needs and lost in her
own adolescent turmoil. When Charlotte decides to sue for wrongful birth in order to obtain a settlement
to ensure Willow’s future, the already strained family begins to implode. Not only is the defendant
Charlotte’s longtime friend, but the case requires Charlotte and Sean to claim that had they known of
Willow’s condition, they would have terminated the pregnancy, a statement that strikes at the core of their
faithandfamily_____________
A young woman, previously abandoned by her own mom, marries a professional man, has a child and
then leaves her home in order to find herself.
It has been said often enough that baby boomers are a television generation, but the very funny novel
High Fidelity reminds that in a way they are the record-album generation as well. This funny novel is
obsessed with music; Homby’s narrator is an early-thirtysomething English guy who runs a London
record store. He sells albums recorded the old-fashioned way—on vinyl--and is having a tough time
making other transitions as well, specifically adulthood. The book is in one sense a love story, both sweet
and interesting; most entertaining, though, are the hilarious arguments over arcane matters of pop music.
*
Ethnicity
Fiction
Fiction
Kathi Appelt
Tony Abbott
Curtis Sittenfeld Fiction
Poems from Homeroom
Postcard, The
Prep
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:
The Classic Regency Romance
Now with Ultraviolent Zombie
Mayhem!
Fiction
Fiction
Jodi Picoult
Nineteen Minutes
Jane Austen
and Seth
Grahame-Smith
Fiction
Jodi Picoult
My Sister’s Keeper
-
Genre
Fiction
Author
Chaim Potok
Title
My Name is AsherLev
Content
Asher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day and believes in the Ribbono
Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. Asher Lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the
world he sees and feels even when it leads him to blasphemy.ln this stirring and often visionary novel,
Chaim Potok traces Asher’s passage between these two identities, the one consecrated to God, the other
subject only to the imagination.Asher Lev grows up in a cloistered Hasidic community in postwar
Brooklyn, a world suffused by ritual and revolving around a charismatic Rebbe. But in time his gift
threatens to estrange him from that world and the parents he adores. As it follows his struggle, My Name
Is Asher Lev becomes a luminous portrait of the artist, by turns heartbreaking and exultant, a modern
classic.
The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored
with pathos and understanding in this 11th novel by Picoult (Second Glance, etc.). The author, who has
taken on such controversial subjects as euthanasia (Mercy), teen suicide (The Pact) and sterilization laws
(Second Glance), turns her gaze on genetic planning, the prospect of creating babies for health purposes
and the ethical and moral fallout that results.
Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack
with four • uns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes.
Since the very beginning of the human race, we’ve been gathering in circles and telling stories because,
beyond physical needs, one of our most basic yearnings is to express ourselves. Recognizing this
yearning, Kathi Appelt has written a series of insightful poems that strike at the heart of adolescent
longing. The characters are unforgettable—whether they are a flirtatious couple passing notes in History
class, a boy tenderly erasing bathroom graffiti about someone he secretly loves, or an invisible fat girl
whose name nobody remembers. Divided into two sections--the first containing Appelt’s transcendent
poems and the second exploring how they were written and how readers can begin poems of their own—
this uni.ue book offers teen writers a ‘lace to start.
When Jason’s grandmother dies, he is sent to Florida to help his father clean out her things. At first he
gripes about spending his summer miles away from his best friend, doing chores, and sweating in the
Florida heat, but he soon discovers a mystery surrounding his grandmother’s murky past. An old,
yellowed postcard.. .a creepy phonecall with a raspy voice at the other end asking, “So how smart are
you?”.. .an entourage of freakish funeral goers...a bizarre magazine story. All contain clues that will send
him on a thrillin. ourneyto uncover famil secrets.
A self-conscious outsider navigates the choppy waters of adolescence and a posh boarding school’s
social politics in Sittenfeld’s A-grade coming-of-age debut. The strong narrative voice belongs to Lee
Fiora, who leaves South Bend, Ind., for Boston’s prestigious Ault School and finds her sense of identity
supremely challenged. Now, at 24, she recounts her years learning “everything I needed to know about
attracting and alienating people.” Sittenfeld neither indulges nor mocks teen angst, but hits it spot on: “I
was terrified of unwittingly leaving behind a piece of scrap paper on which were written all my private
desires and humiliations. The fact that no such scrap of paper existed... never decreased my fear.” Lee
sees herself as “one of the mild, boring, peripheral girls” among her privileged classmates. Her
reminiscences, still youthful but more wise, allow her to validate her feelings of loneliness and misery
while forgiving herself for her lack of experience and knowledge.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with all-new
scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens a mysterious plague has fallen upon the
quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is
determined to wipe out the zombie menace but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and
arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring
between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as
Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. A rollicking good read for Austen devotees
and sci-fi fans alike.
*
Ethnicity
Vince Flynn
Protect & Defend
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Slightly Single
Slightly Settled
She’s Come Undone*
Shack, The
Tatiana de
Sarahs Key
Wendy
Markham
See, Lisa
Markham
Wendy
-________
Wally Lamb
—
-
-______________________
outlets in
37
states, from
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
province.
-
-
Tracey Spadolini has slimmed down and ditched her arrogant, selfish boyfriend, Will, and now she’s on
the rebound. She suspects her friend Buckley would be perfect for her, but he’s dating_Sonj_________
See’s engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong,
intimate friends. Most impressive is Seeps incorporation of nu shu, a secret written phonetic code among
women—here between Lily and Snow Flower—that dates back 1,000 years in the southwestern Hunan
and the rules of life.
Fiction
-
DeRosriay’s U.S. debut fictionalizes the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations, in whkth thousands of
Jewish families were arrested, held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver outside the city, then transported to
Auschwitz. Forty-five-year-old Julia Jarmond, American by birth, moved to Paris when she was 20 and is
married to the arrogant, unfaithful Bertrand Tézac, with whom she has an 11-year-old daughter. Julia
writes for an American magazine and her editor assigns her to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél’
d’Hiv’ roundups. Julia soon learns that the apartment she and Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by
Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She
resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents
of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers—especially about Sarah, the
only member of the Starzynski family to survive—the more she uncovers about Bertrand’s family, about
France and. finally, herself.
Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and
evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon
wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note,
apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he
arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there
will change Mack’s world forever.
Through one thousand and one television nights, Dolores feeds herself the fantasies of melodramas and
sitcoms and tries to understand the many faces of love and betrayal: her father, driven by lust and
longing to leave his family; her mother, an emotionally fragile woman who battles mental illness;
Grandma Holland, lace-curtain decent, peppery and proud, aching with unspoken feelings; and Jack
Speight, the handsome upstairs neighbor whose ultimate betrayal will throw Dolores’ life severely, nearly
permanently, off-course.
Slightly Settled, the sequel to Slightly Single, has its moments of wit and insight on being single. Despite
her struggles in the first installment, which included losing weight and working on her relationship with the
wayward Will, Tracey’s life hasn’t changed as much as she had thought. And so, further efforts to climb
the corporate heap and find to true love in New York City are again in store for the frustrated heroine.
adventure that will teach them both the rules of the road
salesperson is about to become a shoe-store spy as she joins her crusty old employer for an eye-opening
hiring Jenna to drive her cross country in a last ditch effort to stop Elden Gladstone from taking over his
mother’s company and turning a quality business into a shop-and-schlock empire. Now Jenna Boiler shoe
176
for all the wrong reasons. But
that doesn’t stop Madeline Gladstone, the president of Gladstone’s Shoes
years old, Jenna is the kind of girl most likely to stand out in the crowd
‘ger-blistering
political thriller arena”, Vince Flynn has created a flesh-and-blood hero that readers can cheer for and a
page-turner” they won’t dare put down.
Meet Jenna Boiler, star employee at Gladstone’s Shoe Store in Chicago. Standing a gawky 5’l 1” at 16
A tour de force of action-packed suspense, Protect and Defend delivers an all-too-realistic and utterly
compelling vision of nations navigating the minefield of international intrigue. A true “heavyweight in the
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Gee
William P Young Fiction
Rosnay
Joan Bauer
Rules of the Road
-
Author
IltI?
Ethnicity
Fiction
Mary Higgins
Clark
Gregory
Maguire
Laurie Halse
Andersen
Where Are You Now
Wintergirls
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Martin Wilson
What They Always Tell Us
Wicked
Fiction
Sara Gruen
Water for Elephants
--
—______
From America’s Queen of Suspense comes a gripping tale of a young woman trying to unravel the
m ste of a family tragedy a guest with terrifying repercussions.
This re-creation of the land of Oz retells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn’t
so wicked after all. Taking readers past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with
imagination and allegory, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters
in literature. This book inspired the smash hit Broadway musiç_________________
Lia and Cassie are best friends and competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But
what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia
feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit. Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent
into the eowerful vortex of anorexia and her .ainful .ath toward recove
Fiction
Alden Chambers Fiction
This is All
Hosseini,
Khaled
Cordelia Kenn is 19 and happily expecting a baby girl. She writes a series of pillow books—Japanese
diaries of total disclosure—to her unborn daughter. First, she describes her courtship with Will, her first
love. The lengthy second book tells two stories, one on every other page. The remaining books describe
her affair with a married man, an intimate friendship with a female teacher, and her reunion with her
beloved.
The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two
women. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are
agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their
sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical
evocation of the lives and endunn • ho. es of its resilient characters.
The novel, told in flashback by 90 year old Jacob Jankowski, recounts the wild and wonderful period he
spent with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus he joined during the
Great Depression. When 23-year-old Jankowski learns that his parents have been killed in a car crash,
leaving him penniless, he drops out of Cornell veterinary school and parlays his expertise with animals
into a job with the circus, where he cares for a menagerie of exotic creatures.
James and Alex have barely anything in common anymore—least of all their experiences in high school,
where James is a popular senior and Alex is suddenly an outcast. But at home, there is Henry, the
precocious 10-year-old across the street, who eagerly befriends them both. And when Alex takes up
running, there is James’s friend Nathen, who unites the brothers in moving and unexpected ways.
Fiction
Sharon M.
Draper
Tears of a Tiger
Thousand Splendid Suns, A
Katie Wilkinson’s boyfriend Mail dumps her but he leaves her a gift, a diary kept by Suzanne, his first
wife, for their son Nicholas. Though it’s not exactly the diamond ring Katie was hoping for, she’s unable to
make herself destroy the diarygainst her better ud • ment, Katie be • ins to read.
A hard-hitting story of the unraveling of a young man who was the drunk driver in an accident that killed
his best friend. Andy cannot bear his guilt or reach out for help, and chapter by chapter his disintegration
builds to inevitable suicide. Counselors, coaches, friends, and family all fail him. The story is artfully told
through English class assignments, including poetry, dialogues, police and newspaper reports and letters.
Fiction
James
Patterson
Genre
Author
Gordon Korman Fiction
Content
Vince Luca, 17, has a problem. His wealthy family is part of the mob in New York, and Vince is
determined not to be part of it. Especially after a hot date is ruined when he finds that his older brother
Tommy has conducted some business with Jimmy the Rat and hidden the messy and temporarily
unconscious body in the trunk of Vince’s car. His dad, the King of the Mob, is reasonable, sensible, lots
of fun, gives great presents to his kids—and his name strikes the hearts of other mobsters to stone.
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
Son of the Mob
IJ.tie
________
*
*
—
Ethnicity
It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon. For Aron Ralston,
a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman, a walk into the remote Blue John Canyon was a
chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado’s highest and toughest peaks. He’d earned
this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way, by early afternoon he
finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world all around him. It was
2:41 P.M. Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a
wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose. Before he could get out of the way,
the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall.__
Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modem classic A
Brief History of Time to help nonscientists understand the questions being asked by scientists today:
Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how?
“Shy, geeky, amiable” MIT grad Kevin Lewis, was, Mezrich learns ata party, living a double life winning
huge sums of cash in Las Vegas casinos. In 1993 when Lewis was 20 years old and feeling aimless, he
was invited to join the MIT Blackjack Team, organized by a former math instructor, who said, “Blackjack
is beatable.” Expanding on the “hi-b” card-counting techniques popularized by Edward Thorp in his 1962
book, Beat the Dealer, the MIT group’s more advanced team strategies were legal, yet frowned upon by
casinos. Backed by anonymous investors, team members checked into Vegas hotels under assumed
names and, pretending not to know each other, communicated in the casinos with gestures and card
count code words. Taking advantage of the statistical nature of blackjack, the team raked in millions
before casinos caught on and pursued them. In his first nonfiction foray, novelist Mezrich (Reaper, etc.),
telling the tale primarily from Kevin’s point of view, manages to milk that threat for a degree of suspense.
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Michael J. Fox
Aron Ralston
Stephen
Hawking
Ben Mezrich
Always Looking Up
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Brief History of Time, A
Bringing Down the House
-
Graphic
Novel
Brian K.
Vaughan
Genre
Graphic
Novel
Pride of Baghdad
Title________________________ Author
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
Art Spiegelman
Ethnicity
Content
*
Told with chilling realism in an unusual comic-book format, this is more than a tale of surviving the
Holocaust. Spiegelman relates the effect of those events on the survivors’ later years and upon the lives
of the following generation. Each scene opens at the elder Spiegelman’s home in Rego Park, N.Y. Art,
who was born after the war, is visiting his father, Vladek, to record his experiences in Nazi-occupied
Poland. The Nazis, portrayed as cats, gradually introduce increasingly repressive measures, until the
Jews, drawn as mice, are systematically hunted and herded toward the Final Solution.
In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during an American bombing raid.
Lost and confused, hungry but finally free, the four lions roamed the decimated streets of Baghdad in a
desperate struggle for their lives. In documenting the plight of the lions, Pride of Baghdad raises
questions about the true meaning of liberation can it be given, or is it earned only through self
determination and sacrifice? And in the end, is it truly better to die free than to live life in captivity?
Fox writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of
building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an
emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle
with Parkinson’s disease. Michael’s exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the timeand the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the
center of his own family, the greatest destination of all. Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last
decade, told through the critical themes of Michael’s life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a
journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the
ravages of Parkinson’s. With the humor and wit that captivated fans of his first book, Lucky Man, Michael
describes how he became a happier, more satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.
-______________
Dr. James
Watson
-_________
Nonfiction
Sudhir
Venkatesh
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue
Sociologist Takes to the Streets
-
Steven 0. Levitt, Nonfiction
Stephen J.
Dubner
—
—
_________
On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant,
without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now
seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry’s drive for consolidation,
homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America’s diet, landscape, economy, and
workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways.
In Freakonomics, Levitt argues that many apparent mysteries of everyday life don’t need to be so
mysterious: they could be illuminated and made even more fascinating by asking the right questions and
drawing connections. For example, Levitt traces the drop in violent crime rates to a drop in violent
criminals and, digging further, to the Roe v. Wade decision that preempted the existence of some people
who would be born to poverty and hardship. Elsewhere, by analyzing data gathered from inner-city
Chicago drug-dealing gangs, Levitt outlines a corporate structure much like McDonald’s, where the top
bosses make great money while scores of underlings make something below minimum wage. And in a
section that may alarm or relieve worried parents, Levitt argues that parenting methods don’t really matter
much and that a backyard swimming pool is much more dangerous than a gun.
The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured
the world’s attention when it was first described in Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the
fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrée into the gang, what he learned,
and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.
Nonfiction
Eric Schlosser
Gilbert grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet
methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery. Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce,
the author, in her early 30s, divides a year equally among three dissimilar countries, exploring her
competing urges for earthly delights and divine transcendence. First, pleasure: savoring Italy’s buffet of
delights--the world’s best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners—Gilbert consumes
Ia dolce vita as spiritual succor. “I came to Italy pinched and thin,” she writes, but soon fills out in waist
and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with the divine at a sacred ashram in India,
Gilbert emulates the ways of yogis in grueling hours of meditation, struggling to still her churning mind.
Finally, a balancing act in Bali, where Gilbert tries for equipoise “betwixt and between” realms, studies
with a merry medicine man and plunges into a charged love affair. Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial
tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in a cultural and emotional tapestry.
—_____
Elizabeth Gilbert Nonfiction
Freakonomics: A Rogue
Economist Explores the Hidden
Side of Everything
Fast Food Nation
Eat Pray Love
V
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Genre
Author
Jean-Dominique Nonfiction
Bauby
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Barack Obama
Race and Inheritance
DNA: The Secret of Life (Cut)
Title
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Summer Readina List 2009
Content
Two days after this remarkable book was published in France to great acclaim, its author died of heart
failure. What caused such a stir was the method Bauby used to write it. For in December 1995, the 44year-old former editor-in-chief of the French Elle magazine had suffered a severe stroke that left his body
paralyzed but his mind intact, a condition known as “locked-in syndrome.” Able to communicate only by
blinking his left eyelid, he dictated this book letter by letter to an assistant who recited to him a special
alphabet. The result is a marvelous, compelling account of Bauby’s life as a “vegetable,” full of humor
and devoid of self-pity. Although he was trapped in the diving bell of his body, Bauby’s imagination “takes
flight like a butterflyy... .You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King
Midas’s court.” His celebration of life against all odds is higy recommended.
The historical events leading up to the determination of the structure and chemistry of DNA, from the
developer’s viewpoint. The times and situations under which Watson & Crick worked when competing
with Dr. Linus Pauling on the DNA puzzle.
Years before becoming the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama published this lyrical,
unsentimental, and powerfully affecting memoir, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller when it
was reissued in 2004. This book tells the story of Obama’s struggle to understand the forces that shaped
him as the son of a black African father and white American mother—a struggle that takes him from the
American heartland to the ancestral home of his great-aunt in the tiny African village of Alego.
*
*
Ethnicity
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Ayaan Hirsi AIi
Jon Krakauer
Jim Collins
Randy Paush
Into Thin Air
Last Best League, The
Last Lecture, The
Stephen Colbert Nonfiction
John Feinstein
—_____
Genre
At!1r
Walls, Jeannette Nonfiction
Infidel
Good Walk Spoiled: Days and
Nlahts on the PGA Tour. A
I Am America (And So Can You!)
—________________
ILt&
Glass Castle, The
______—_____
________
content
Jeannette Walls’s father always called her “Mountain Goat” and there’s perhaps no more apt nickname
for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass
Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents—Rose Mary, her
frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls’s childrearing style
laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia,
uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to
their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own
mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that
eventuaNy landed them on the streets.
Chronicles the struggles of the top golfers in the game, as well as those trying to get onto the PGA Touramazon.com
Realizing that it takes more than thirty minutes a night to fix everything that’s destroying America, Colbert
bravely takes on the forces aligned to destroy our country—whether they be terrorists, environmentalists,
or Kashi brand breakfast cereals. His various targets include nature, the Hollywood Blacklist, and
atheists. Colbert also provides helpful illustrations and charts [and] a complete transcript of his infamous
speech at the 2006 White House Corres.ondents’ Dinner.
Readers with an eye on European politics will recognize Ali as the Somali-born member of the Dutch
parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim
women with controversial director Theo van Gogh (who was himself assassinated). Even before then, her
attacks on Islamic culture as “brutal, bigoted, [and] fixated on controlling women” had generated much
controversy. In this suspenseful account of her life and her internal struggle with her Muslim faith, she
discusses how these views were shaped by her experiences amid the political chaos of Somalia and
other African nations, where she was subjected to genital mutilation and later forced into an unwanted
marriage. While in transit to her husband in Canada, she decided to seek asylum in the Netherlands,
whftreshe marveled at the oolite oNcemen anqgvernment bureaucrats.
Heroism and sacrifice triumph over foolishness, fatal error, and human frailty in this bone-chilling
narrative in which the author recounts his experiences on his ill-fated, deadly climb. Thrilling armchair
reading.
Collins brings a local historian’s eye and the heart of a fan to a chronicle of one Cape Cod League team,
the Chatham A’s, during the 2002 season. He has produced a book that will be a treat to casual fans who
might not know the process by which college players are courted by agents, graded as to character, body
type and bat speed, and then tagged with a price.
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a “last
lecture” (a CM tradition), he didn’t have to imagine it to truly be his last, since he had recently been
diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—”Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—
wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of
others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have. ..and you may find one day that you have
less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
Summer pt1inr I iQf 9flflO
_________
Ethnicity
My 50 Years In Hollywood: The
Story of a 22 Year Old
-
-______
Rachel Reiss
-
Nonfiction
-________
Nonfiction
Moneyball: the Art of Winning an
Unfair Game
Lewis, Michael
In this memoir, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled
attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked
up by the government army, and, though at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible
acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain
his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. A story of
redemption and hope.
Billy Beane, general manager of MLB’s Oakland A’s and protagonist of Michael Lewis’s Moneyball, had a
problem: how to win in the Major Leagues with a budget that’s smaller than that of nearly every other
team. Conventional wisdom long held that big name, highly athletic hitters and young pitchers with rocket
arms were the ticket to success. But Beane and his staff, buoyed by massive amounts of carefully
interpreted statistical data, believed that wins could be had by more affordable methods such as hitters
with high on-base percentage and pitchers who get lots of ground outs. Given this information and a tight
budget, Beane defied tradition and his own scouting department to build winning teams of young
affordable players and inexpensive castoff veterans.
Entertaining and amusing insider’s view of today’s Hollywood as seen through the eyes of a 22 year old
fledgling assistant. Read and see what it’s really like to work in Hollywood.
Nonfiction
Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Ishmael Beah
Soldier, A
—
-
Martha Raddatz Nonfiction
Long Road Home: A Story of War
and Family, The
--
What makes a happy person, a happy life? In this remarkable book, George Dawson, a 101-year-old man
who learned to read when he was 98, reflects on the philosophy he learned from his father—a belief that
“life is so good”—as he offers valuable lessons in living and a fresh, firsthand view of America during the
twentieth century.
In the spring of 2004, the mission of U.S. soldiers in Iraq was still largely one of peacekeeping
especially in areas inhabited by the majority Shiites, who had been oppressed for decades by the Sunni
government of Saddam Hussein. The brutal ambush of an Army platoon on routine patrol in Baghdad’s
Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City on April 4, 2004, signaled a sudden and lethal change to that mission. In
the furious firefight that followed, the stranded platoon holed up in a three-story house, battling hundreds
of militiamen and residents loyal to the Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Eventually, convoys of U.S.
soldiers mounted a rescue operation. In two hours of fighting, eight soldiers died and more than 60 were
wounded. Hundreds of Iraqis were killed. Martha Raddatz’s “The Long Road Home” is the extraordinary
and unflinching account of that battle from the perspective of American soldiers on the ground and of
their families back home in Fort Hood, Texas-from the Seattle Times
George Dawson Nonfiction
and Richard
Glaubman
Life is So Good
Nonfiction
Ijrq
Author
James W.
Loewen
-
fltlç_
Lies My Teacher Told Me
(Everything YourAmerican
History Textbook Got Wrong)
*
*
Ethnicity
Content
Loewen’s politically correct critique of 12 American history textbooks—including The American Pageant
by Thomas A. Bailey and David M. Kennedy; and Triumph of the American Nation by Paul Lewis Todd
and Merle Curti—is sure to please liberals and infuriate conservatives. In condemning the way history is
taught, he indicts everyone involved in the enterprise: authors, publishers, adoption committees, parents
and teachers. Loewen (Mississippi: Conflict and Change) argues that the bland, Eurocentric treatment of
history bores most elementary and high school students, who also find it irrelevant to their lives. To make
learning more compelling, Loewen urges authors, publishers and teachers to highlight the drama inherent
in history by presenting students with different viewpoints and stressing that history is an ongoing
process, not merely a collection of—often misleading—factoids. Readers interested in history, whether
liberal or conservative, professional or layperson, will find food for thought here.
Tony Dungy and Nonfiction
Nathan Whitaker
Nonfiction
Euclides da
Cunha and
Samuel Putnam
Quiet Strength: The Principles,
Practices, and Priorities of a
Winning Life
Rebellion in the Backlands
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Byrne, Rhonda
Benjamin Hoff
Secret, The
Tao of Pooh, The
Nonfiction
Malcolm
Gladwell
Outliers: The Story of Success
At age 12, in 1960, Dully received a transorbital or ice pick lobotomy from Dr. Walter Freeman, who
invented the procedure, making Dully an unfortunate statistic in medical history—the youngest of the
more than 10,000 patients who Freeman lobotomized to cure their supposed mental illness. In this
brutally honest memoir, Dully, writing with Fleming (The Ivory Coast), describes how he set out 40 years
later to find out why he was lobotomized, since he did not exhibit any signs of mental instability at the
Nonfiction
.
.
.
--
is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl. Romp through the enchanting world of
Winnie-the-Pooh while soaking up invaluable lessons on simplicity and natural living.
this smash bestseller explains with ease that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism
honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of
happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden,
untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring iov to every aspect of your life.
Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist’s favorite food is
Now that he’s gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm
Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably
productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our
cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t arise
out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: “they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden
advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard
and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill
Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, some
deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”
Tony Dungy’s words and example have intrigued millions of people, particularly following his victory in
Super Bowl XLI, the first for an African American coach. How is it possible for a coach—especially a
football coach—to win the respect of his players and lead them to the Super Bowl without the screaming
histrionics, the profanities, and the demand that the sport come before anything else? How is it possible
for anyone to be successful without compromising faith and family? In this inspiring and reflective
memoir, now updated with a new chapter, Coach Dungy tells the story of a life lived for God and family-and challenges us all to redefine our ideas of what it means to succeed.
Euclides da Cunha’s classic account of the bwtal campaigns against religious mystic Antonio
Conselheiro has been called the Bible of Brazilian nationality. “Euclides da Cunha went on the
campaigns [against Conselheiro] as a journalist and what he returned with and published in 1902 is still
unsurpassed in Latin American literature. Cunha is a talent as grand, spacious, entangled with
On every page there is a heart of idea,
knowledge, curiosity, and bafflement as the country itself.
speculation, dramatic observation that tells of a creative mission undertaken, the identity of the nation,
and also the creation of a pure and eloquent prose style.”—Elizabeth Hardwick, Bartleby in Man attan__
In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life money, health, relationships,
taused in his life.
operation from his Lobotomobile. But what is truly stunning is Dully’s description of how he gained
strength and a sense of self-worth by understanding how both Freeman and his stepmother were victims
of their own family tragedies, and how he managed to somehow forgive them for the wreckage they
psychiatrist—including early acclaim by the New York Times and cross-country trips hawking the
against her psychic torture. He also investigates the strange career of Freeman—who wasn’t a licensed
time, and why, postoperation, he was bounced between various institutions and then slowly fell into a life
of drug and alcohol abuse. His journey—first described in a National Public Radio feature in 2005—finds
Dully discovering how deeply he was the victim of an unstable stepmother who systematically abused
him and who then convinced his distant father that a lobotomy was the answer to Dully’s acting out
Icontent
Genre
Howard Dully
and Charles
Fleming
IAuor
My Lobotomy
-
*
Ethnicity
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Kevin Brooks
Elsewhere
Gabnielle Zevin
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Nonfiction
Joe Torre &
Tom Verducci
-______________
Nonfiction
Sedans, David
When You Are Engulfed in
Flames*
Yankee Years, The
:
Nonfiction
Bill Bryson
Walk in the Woods, A
Being
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Genre
Nonfiction
Mitch Albom
Greg and David
Oliver Relin
Mortenson,
Author
Benjamin Hoff
Tuesdays with Morrie
Three Cups of Tea
Title
Te of Piglet
Here, for the first time, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci take us inside the dugout, the clubhouse, and the
front office in a revelatory narrative that shows what it really took to keep the Yankees on top of the
baseball world. The high-priced ace who broke down in tears and refused to go back to the mound in the
middle of a game. Constant meddling from Yankee executives, many of whom were jealous of Torre’s
popularity. The tension that developed between the old guard and the free agents brought in by
management. The impact of revenue-sharing and new scouting techniques, which allowed other teams to
challenge the Yankees’ dominance. The players who couldn’t resist the after-hours temptations of the Big
Apple. The joys of managing Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, and the challenges of managing Alex
Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. Torre’s last year, when constant ultimatums from the front office,
devastating injuries, and a freak cloud of bugs on a warm September night in Cleveland forced him from
job he loved.
It was just supposed to be a routine exam. But when the doctors snake the fiber-optic tube down Robert
Smith’s throat, what they discover doesn’t make medical sense. Plastic casings. Silver filaments. Moving
metal parts. In his naked, anesthetized state on the operating table, Robert hears the surgeons’ shocked
comments: “What is that?” “It’s me,” Robert thinks, “and I’ve got to get out of here.” Armed with a stolen
automatic and the videotape of his strange organs, he manages to escape, and to embark on an
orphan’s violent odyssey to find out exactly who—exactly what--he is.
This coming-of-age novel has a unique twist. Although Liz is maturing, coping with disappointments, and
controlling her anger, she is getting younger. Having been killed by a hit and run driver, she now lives in
Elsewhere with the grandmother who died before she was born. After death, the residents get younger
until they become babies and are reborn onto Earth again. Initially mad at the driver and sad that she will
not have a boyfriend and attend the prom, Liz misses her family and is sullen and depressed. Gradually,
she_begins_to_realize_that_life_is_not_so_bad_in_the_hereafter.
—______________________
Content
Ten years later, a sequel to the runaway bestseller The Tao of Pooh. If you like marshmallow laced with
arsenic, it was worth the wait. In the original, as you may recall, Hoff had an Idea: that Winnie-the-Pooh
could be used to explain Taoism, the ancient Chinese way of balance. Now, as luck would have it, Pooh’s
buddy Piglet turns out to be the perfect embodiment of Te, the Taoist term for virtue, which is attained
through sensitivity, modesty, and smallness.
Dangerously ill when he finished his climb of K2 in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by
the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town’s first school,
a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools
across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for
many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the
significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be
like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the
mentorship? Plus, we meet Mome Schwartz—a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as
looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. And finally we are privy to intimate
moments of Mome’s final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this
twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully.
The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking
terrain in America—majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s
probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaing guide you’ll find. He introduces us
to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets
along the way—and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the
great outdoors
An hilarious collection of essays exploring the daily connudwms of life.
*
Ethnicity
Mitch Talon, an ordinary man living the great American dream. A beautiful wife, three bedroom house,
and a successful career. Slash, the ruthless leader of the Jackals, an outlaw motorcycle gang, with his
own ideas about the American dream. Worlds apart, until fate steps in, and their destinies collide. Author
Biography: The author was born in Texas, and grew up Eastern Washington. He now resides in Southern
California with his wife, along with their Springer Spaniel, and is the proud father of two daughters. An
avid outdoorsman his whole life, the author has traveled throughout the areas described in his stories.
Thaniel, just seventeen, is a wych-hunter. Together, he and Cathaline--his friend and mentor—track down
the fearful creatures that lurk in the Old Quarter of London. It is on one of these hunts that he first
encounters Alaizabel Cray. Alaizabel is half-crazed, lovely, and possessed.Whatever dreadful entity has
entered her soul has turned her into a strange and unearthly magnet—attracting evil and drawing horrors
from every dark corner. Cathaline and Thaniel must discover its cause—and defend humanity at all costs.
Join Douglas Adams’s hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford
Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth
moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You’ll never read
funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The
Hitchhiker’s Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple
reads.
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Sd-fl
Fantasy
Isaac Asimov
Stephen King
Chris Wooding
Doug Adams
Foundation
Gunslinger, The (The Dark Tower,
Book 1)
Haunting of Alaizabel Cray, The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
—______
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Orson Scott
Card
Ender’s Game
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Genre
Sci-fII
Fantasy
Author
Orson Scott
Card
Title
Empire
Summer Readin List 2009
Content
Right-wing rhetoric trumps the logic of story and character in this near-future political thriller about a redstate vs. blue-state American civil war, an implausibly plotted departure from Card’s bestselling science
fiction (Ender’s Game, etc.). When the president and vice-president are killed by domestic terrorists (of
unknown political identity), a radical leftist army calling itself the Progressive Restoration takes over New
York City and declares itself the rightful government of the United States. Other blue states officially
recognize the legitimacy of the group, thus starting a second civil war. Card’s heroic red-state
protagonists, Maj. Reuben “Rube” Malek and Capt. Bartholomew “Cole’ Coleman, draw on their Special
Ops training to take down the extremist leftists and restore peace to the nation. The action is
overshadowed by the novel’s polemical message, which Card tops off with an afterword decrying his own
politically-motivated exclusion from various conventions and campuses, the “national media elite” and the
divisive excesses of both the right and the left.
The Earth has been fighting the Buggers for years. An alien race that nearly destroyed the planet in their
first attack. In order to develop a secure defense against their next attack, government agencies take
child geniuses and train them as generals. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is taken from his loving parents, his
sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Ender is the
youngest to ever make it to Battle School where he has to fight for his own survival before he can save
Earth. Violence, murder, sadistic video games are a part of Ender’s life as he turns from a delicate
young boy into someone willing to commit xenocide. Or does he? Card’s work explores what it takes to
become a killer and if killing is ever ustified.
The Galactic Empire is crumbling and humanity is destined to collapse into centuries of barbarism and
chaos. The only person willing to confront this imminent catastrophe is Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian
and mathematician. Seldon can scientifically predict the future, and he sees a way to shorten the years of
savagery. He creates the Encyclopedia Galactica in order to save humanity, but it will take generations to
complete. Asimov’s work in this novel was starting point for the development of Science Fiction as a
serious work. While there are no green monsters blowing up spaceships, you do get strong characters
and powerful sociopolitical discussions that are applicable today, decades after the story was written.
Ethnicity
Genre
Sci-fi!
Fantasy
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Sd-fl
Fantasy
Author
Nancy Farmer
Susan Beth
Pfeffer
James
Patterson
Dean Koontz
Life as We Knew it
Maximum Ride
Odd Thomas
Title
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Sci-fil
Fantasy
Sci-fil
Fantasy
Stephen King
Stephanie
Meyer
Stephanie
Meyer
Stand, The
Twilight: Breaking Dawn
Twilight: Eclipse
--_____
House of the Scorpion
-
—
-_____
-__________
—
—
-
The legend began in the obscure little town of Pico Mundo. A fry cook named Odd was rumored to have
the extraordinary ability to communicate with the dead. Through tragedy and triumph, exhilaration and
heartbreak, word of Odd Thomas’s gifts filtered far beyond Pico Mundo, attracting unforgettable new
friends and enemies of implacable evil. With great gifts comes the responsibility to meet great
challenges. But no mere human being was ever meant to face the darkness that now stalks the world
not even one as oddly special as Odd Thomas.
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory
and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.
And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99
percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides or are chosen. A
world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail and the worst
nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the
dark_man.
Readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he
returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, becausehe’s a vampire.
Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much anticipated third
book in Stephenie Meyer’s riveting vampire love saga. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious
killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself
surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her
knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle
friendship with Jacob
between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to
make: life or death. But which is which?
Ethnicity
Content
Fields of white opium poppies stretch away over the hills, and uniformed workers bend over the rows,
harvesting the juice. This is the empire of Matteo Alacran, a feudal drug lord in the country of Opium,
which lies between the United States and Aztlan, formerly Mexico. Field work, or any menial tasks, are
done by “eejits,” humans in whose brains computer chips have been installed to insure docility. Alacran,
or El Patron, has lived 140 years with the help of transplants from a series of clones, a common practice
among rich men in this world. The intelligence of clones is usually destroyed at birth, but Matt, the latest
of Alacran’s doubles, has been spared because he belongs to El Patron. He grows up in the family’s
mansion, alternately caged and despised as an animal and pampered and educated as El Patron’s
favorite. Gradually he realizes the fate that is in store for him, and with the help of Tam Lin, his bluff and
kind Scottish bodyguard, he escapes to Aztlan. There he and other “lost children” are trapped in a more
subtle kind of slave before Matt can return to 0 ium.
It’s almost the end of Miranda’s sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a
typical teenager: conversations with friends, fights with mom, and fervent hopes for a drivers license.
When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly
seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing
worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to
disappear. Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small
Pennsylvania town; and Miranda’s voice is by turns petulant, angry, and finally resigned, as her family is
forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options. Miranda knows that
that her future is still hers to decide even if life as she knew it is over.
Maximum Ride and the other members of the Flock have barely recovered from their last arctic
adventure, when they are confronted by the most frightening catastrophe yet. Millions of fish are dying off
the coast of Hawaii and someone-or something-is destroying hundreds of ships. Unable to discover the
cause, the government enlists the Flock to help them get to the bottom of the disaster before it is too late.
TJJie_
Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Brooks, Max
World War Z: An Oral History of
the Zombie War
Genre
Sci-fI/
Fantasy
Adams, Richard Sci-fi/
Fantasy
Author
Stephanie
Meyer
Watership Down
Twilight: New Moon
.
.
-
The story of the world’s desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts
“as told to the author” by various characters around the world.
.
Summer Readina List 2009
tent
For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a
vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued
Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near
and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just begjng.
The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer.
As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and
its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of
the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a “lapine”
glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch
of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the
transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come.
Ethnicity
______-
—
Agenda Item
—
V-A
Mr. lassogna
Ms. Guadagnoli, Ms. Rubano
Approval/Trip to Ireland, Wales, England
In accordance with Board policy, all
trips in which students travel to a
foreign country must be approved by
the Board.
Attached is a description of a trip to
Ireland, Wales and England scheduled
for April 15 —24, 2010, that Laura
Guadagnoli and Kathryn Rubano from
the Trumbull High School World
Language and Social Studies
Departments, respectively, are
proposing.
This educational trip will focus on
interdisciplinary activities and
incorporate various aspects of different
cultures. Student will have the
opportunity to draw connections
between our history and the
development of western civilization
that they have studied.
Following the trip, students will be
asked to write a reflection on what
they have learned from this
experience, which will be share at a
post-trip celebration later in the month.
All aspects of the Board policy will be
adhered to. Also, student/teacher
chaperone ration is 6:1; and at least
one medically trained individual will
accompany the group.
Approve trip to Ireland, Wales and
England as outlined with such
approval contingent upon parent(s)!
guardian signing a waiver relieving the
school district of any financial
obligations due to trip cancellations for
any reasons.
IICA
—
Field Trips
APPENDIX A
FIELD TRIP REQUEST
I.
2.
3.
FORWARD ONE COPY OF THE PRINCIPAL’S APPROVED REQUEST TO THE OFFICE OF THE
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT AT LEAST THREE (3) WEEKS PRIOR TO DATE OF TRIP FOR DAY
TRIPS, AT LEAST NINETY (90) DAYS PRIOR FOR OVERNIGHT TRIPS AND TRIPS TO CANADA,
AND AT LEAST SIX (6) MONTHS PRIOR FOR TRIPS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
IF SCHOOL OR COACH BUSES ARE INVOLVED THE APPROVED REQUEST WILL BE FORWARDED
TO THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
CONFIRMATION WILL BE FORWARDED FOLLOWING APPROVAL.
Date Submitted
05/05/09
Submitted By_L. Guadagnoli, K. Rubano
Trip Date April 15—April24 2010
School_Trumbull High School
Group_all students
Destination: Ireland, Wales, and England with London Extension (via NYC airport)
Address( Directions) see attachment for itinerary
Time: Leave School_ ‘/2 day April 15
Arrive Destination_April 16
Itinerary * *see attachments* *
Leave Destination_April 24, 20
Arrive At School_TBD
How will this activity enhance student learning and integrate curricular goals?
See attachment
Grade Level 9-12
Number of Students 36
Number of Adults 6
Teacher(s) Laura Guadagnoli, Kathy Rubano, and additional faculty
Substitute Required? Yes
X
No
EJ
Nurse Notified_
Date__________
Initials
Coaches
Transportation: School Buses
To be arranged by: Transportation Office
X
Parents Driving
( parents must sign parent driver form)
U School Office U
Teacher
Any Special Considerations_______________________________________________________________
Costs:
Transportation
Other
Amount
To Be Paid By
see attachment
—
-,
Principal’s Approval
Assistant Superintend nt
/
/
Date______________________
Date
This section to be completed by Transportation Department. Confirmation will be forwarded.
The trip schedule will be as follows:
Leave School________ Arrive Destination________ Leave Destination________ Arrive School________
Number of Vehicles___________ Cost per Vehicle___________ Total Cost___________
Supervisor of Transportation
Revised 3/15/07
Date
Page 1 of 3
Rubano, Katherine
From:
Natalie Irby [nirbyiexplorica.com]
Sent:
Monday, May 04, 2009 3:41 PM
To:
Rubano, Katherine
Subject: Price quote
Hi Kathy! Here is the price quote for Ireland Wales and England. Let me know what you think!
IRELAND, WALES & ENGLAND
I
I
II’
I.
—
.
,
-
•
I.
The savvy side of the IsLes and IreLand—Shakespearean prose at Stratford, the
paLaces of London, the schoLars in Oxford and DubLin And a waLk on the wiLd
side—the rugged mountains of Snowdonia (Like a WeLsh YeLLowstone), the
sparkLing Lakes of KiLtarney, and the deep waters of the Irish Sea A LittLe bit
country, a Little bit urban
I
From
New York City
Departing
Thursday, ApriL 15, 2010
Returnin
-
Saturday, ApriL 24, 2010
TOUR COST
FEE INCLUDES
Fees
The foLLowing fees appLy to aLL fuLL-paying participants
• Round-trip airfare
$1,745Tour Fee
$95 Lifetime Membership Fee
fees, taxes, and airline fuel surcharges
$436 Airport
(Subject to Change)
$35 Weekend SuppLement (Returning)
• 7 overnight stays (9 with extension) in hotels with private
bathrooms
*
• FuLL European breakfast daily
• Dinner daiLy
• FuLL-time services of a professional Tour Director
$2,311 Total Cost*
• Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
OR 9 monthly payments of $246
• Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
After initiaL payment of $95
• Hard Rock Café dinner
Additional Adult Fees
• Tour Diary
The following additionaL fees appLy onLy to fuLL-paying
5/5/2009
Page 2 of 3
participants 23 and older and are not incLuded in the total
price Listed above.
Si 25 AduLt SuppLement
$240 Twin Room. The fee to stay in a twin room is $30.00
per night.
S365 Additional Adult Fees
Valid untiL Saturday, June 27, 2009
NEXT STEP: RESERVE YOUR TOURCENTER TO BEGIN RECRUITING.
•.
ENGLAND
>
IRELAND
>
WALES
10 DAYS
ITINERARY
OPTIONAL INDIVIDUAL STAY AHEAD $145
DAY I
>
APRIL 15> START TOUR
• Fly to Ireland
DAY 2
>
APRIL 16> HELLO KILLARNEY
• Meet your Tour Director, travel to Killarney & check into hotel
DAY 3
>
APRIL 17> RING OF KERRY
• Ring of Kerry excursion
• Visit sheep farm (mid-April to October)
DAY 4
>
APRIL 18> KILLARNEY--DUBLIN
• Travel to Dublin via Blarney Castle
• Blarney Castle visit
DAY 5
>
APRIL 19> DUBLIN LANDMARKS
• Dublin guided si htseeing tour
Phoenix Park St. Patrick’s CathedraL
KeLLs visit
O’ConneLL Street ParneLt Square Henry Street
• Dublin city walk
foLklore
• Optional Irish
evening
-
-
-
DAY 6
>
-
-
Trinity CoLLege Book of
-
APRIL 20> DUBLIN--NORTH WALES
• Ferry to Holyhead across Irish Sea
• Travel to North Wales
L(anfatrpwt[gwyngyttgogerychwyrndrobwtL[LantysiLiogogogoch
NationaL Park
-
DAY 7
>
APRIL 21
>
NORTH WALES--LONDON
• Travel to London via Stratford & Oxford
• Anne Hathaway’s cottage & Shakespeare’s birthplace visit
• Fish & chips dinner
DAY 8
5/5/2009
>
APRIL 22> LONDON LANDMARKS
-
Snowdonia
Page 3 of 3
• London guided sightseeing tour
Buckingham PaLace Big Ben Houses of ParLiament
Westminster Abbey Tower Bridge Hyde Park St. PauL’s CathedraL
• Optional Windsor Castle guided excursion
• Dinner at Hard Rock Café
-
-
DAY 9
>
-
-
-
APRIL 23> START EXTENSION TO LONDON
• Stonehenge & Bath guided excursion
• West End theater performance
DAY 10 > APRIL 24> END TOUR
OPTIONAL INDIVIDUAL STAY BEHIND $145
Happy Travels,
Natalie Irby
Program Consultant
Explorica, Inc.
www.explorica.com
Tel: 888-310-7120 ext. 185
Fax: 888-310-7088
Email: [email protected]
P.S. Join Explorica’s online community!
5/5/2009
-
—
Agenda Item
—
VI
A-i
Dr. Vespe, Mr. Karpowich
Second Reading/Approval
Drug Free Workplace 4118.231/GB
After the attorney’s review and
discussion of the word arrest, it was
removed; however, conviction
remains.
Bold
New Language
= Striketbrough
Yellow = Board changes
ree
= PAC/Attorney
Recommendation:
Approve Policy
Drug Free Workplace 4118.231 GB
BOARD OF EDUCATION
POLICY MANUAL
SECTION:
G-Personnel
CATEGORY:
GC-Professional Staff
POLICY CODE: 4118.231/GB Drug Free
Workplace
First Reading: October 7, 2008
Second Reading: January 6, 2009
Second Reading: March 3, 2009
DRUG FREE WORKPLACE
Policy
The Trumbull School District is committed to protecting the safety, health and well being
of all employees and individuals in our workplace. We recognize that alcohol abuse and
drug use pose a significant threat to our goals. We have established a drug free workplace
program that balances our respect for individuals with the need to maintain an alcohol and
drug free environment. An individual who s employed b wh conducts business
is
applying for a position ith the Trumbull School Distric or is conducting business on
Trumbull School District property, will adhere to this policy.
No employee engaged in work in the Trumbull School District shall unlawfully manufacture,
distribute, dispense, trade, offer for sale, possess or use on or in the workplace any narcotic
drug, hallucinogenic drug, amphetamine, barbiturate, marijuana or any other controlled
substance as defined in schedules I through V of section 202 of the controlled substances Act (21
U.S.C. 812) and as further defined by regulation at 21 CFR 1300.11 through 1300.15.
The “workplace” is defined to mean the site for the performance of work done in the school
system. That includes any school building or any school premises; any school-owned vehicle or
any other school-approved vehicle used to transport students to and from school or school
activities; off school property during any school-sponsored or school-approved activity, event or
function, such as a field tn or athletic event, where students are under the jurisdiction of the
school distric Furthermore, given the unique obligations and risks presented by the schoo
nvironment, employees engaged in the acts prohibited by this olic outside of th
ork lace shall also be deemed to have violated this olic
anovc, no later than five (5) calendar days after such conviction.
As a condition of continued employment, each employee shall notify his or her immediate
supervisor of any drug related
conviction not later than five (5) calendar days
after such
conviction.
As a
•
he condition of employment, each employee shall abide by the terms of his
policy
-.
.
As a condition of employment, an employee who violates the terms of this policy will be subject
to disciplinary sanctions which may include non-renewal, having his or her employment
4118.231/GB Drug Free Workplace
suspended or terminated, at the discretion f in the case of non-certified staff), o as er the
recommendation from the superintendent to of the Board in the case of certified staf
and/or referral for prosecution.
As a condition of employment, it is required that employees be given a copy of this policy and be
kept informed of any further steps in our drug-free awareness program, including possible
information on rehabilitation programs.
Legal Reference
•
Drug-Free Workplace Act. 102 Stat. 4305-4308. 54 Fed. Reg. 4946 (1989)
Adopted: 06/06/90
Approved Revision: 05/10/93
Proposed Revision: Pending
—
Agenda Item
—
VI— A-2
Dr. Vespe, Ms. Guadagnoli, Mr. Nigrosh,
Second Reading/Approval
6141/IAA Student Network/Internet Policy
This policy was presented to the Board for a
firs reading on March3, and minor changes
in wording have been incorporated.
Bold
New Language
Strikethrough
Yellow = Board changes
ree
PAC/Attorney
=
=
Recommendation:
Approve Policy
6141/IAA, Student Network/Internet Policy
BOARD OF EDUCATION
POLICY MANUAL
SECTION: I- Instruction
CATEGORY: IA-Instructional Goals
POLICY CODE: 614 1/IAA
Student Networ nterne Policy
First Reading: April 21, 2009
STUDENT NETWO
TERNE POLICY
Policy
The Board of Education recognizes the educational value of technology and the
benefit of its availability in the schools and, therefore, provides students access to
interconnected computer systems within the District and to the Internet. This
access will be contingent upon teacher supervision and prior classroom training.
The purpose of this access is to promote the exchange of information to further
education and research. With this educational opportunity comes the
responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of the students.
In order for the school district to be able to continue to make this access available,
all students must take responsibility for its appropriate and lawful use. Students
must understand that one student’s misuse of the network and Internet may
jeopardize the availability of this resource.
All users and their parents/guardians are advised that access to the electronic
network includes the potential for access to materials inappropriate for schoolaged students. All reasonable efforts will be made to ensure that students are not
accessing such material. These efforts will include filtering software and various
methods of monitoring including, but not limited to, teacher supervision and
electronic monitoring. While teachers and other staff will make reasonable efforts
to supervise student use of this technology, they must have student and parent
cooperation in exercising and promoting responsible use of this tool.
All students, without exception, will be required to have in place a signed
twor Internet Access Agreement before they are permitted access to the
etwor Internet. A new agreement will be required at the beginning of each
level of school (elementary, middle and high) or whenever a new student enters
the system. Both the student and their parent/guardian will sign this agreement.
If the student is 18 or older, a parent/guardian signature is not required. The use
of the Network/Internet is a privilege, not a right. If any user violates this policy,
access will be denied or withdrawn and the user may be subject to additional
disciplinary action including, but not limited to, suspension and/or expulsion.
Approved: 6 04 96
Revised: 7 16 02, 8/19 03
Proposed Revision: 4/21/09
IAA
—
Student Network/Internet Policy
Regulations
Acceptable Use
1.
Educational Purposes Only The school district is providing access to its
computer networks and the Internet for educational purposes only. If there is
any doubt on the part of a user about whether a contemplated activity is
educational, it should not be engaged in until the Principal or designee makes a
determination as to its instructional value.
2.
All students using electronic information resources shall act in a responsible,
ethical, and legal manner at all times. All copyright and trademark laws will
be respected and adhered to. Even if materials on a network are not marked
with the copyright symbol, the user should assume that all materials are
protected unless there is explicit permission on the materials to use them.
3.
Students shall use school-based electronic information reource ardware
oftware corn uters and networ only with the permission and supervision
of a staff member.
4.
All students must login i
as themselve No
unauthorized use of the guest login is permitted.
5.
All users MUST log off when leaving the machine.
6.
Student users of the
—
.
etwork Interne shall not give out personal information.
s other than first name and school c mail address.
Subscriptions to Listservs, news groups, bulletin boards, ocial network and
any other on-line promotional services will be subject to review and approval
by district staff.
Unacceptable Use
1.
2.
Neither Trumbull’s instructional network or Internet access is to be used for
commercial business use, political or religious advocacy purposes or to execute
a commercial transaction not related to school business.
The following uses of the etwor are prohibited:
a. Installing programs or games.
b. Accessing any executable file from external sources i.e. thumb drives,
floppy discs, CD’s, DVD’s, hard drives, Internet.
c. Unauthorized logging in under a user name that is not their own. (i.e.
guest login, other student).
d. Tampering with or defacing existing hardware, software or system
configuration in any manner, including, but not limited to,
disconnecting wires or peripherals, removing parts of the keyboard,
or unauthorized shut-down.
1
IAA
—
Student Networkflntemet Policy
Regulations
e.
Unauthorized equipment will not be permitted on the Trumbull
Public Schools network i.e. hand helds, laptops.
—
3.
The following uses of the Internet are prohibited:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
To access materials inappropriate for minors (i.e. obscene, pornographic,
harmful to minors).
To transmit materials inappropriate for minors.
To violate the law or encourage others to do.
To cause harm to others or damage their property. These include, but are
not limited to, defamation, using another’s password, misrepresenting
oneself as another, uploading a harmful form of programming or
vandalism, and participating in “hacking” activities.
Jeo ardizing the security of • utside networks on the Interne.
Sending material critical of or which may be offensive or objectionable
threatening or harassing to school administration, teachers, staff, students,
or anyone associated with the school district, or using the Internet to
threaten or harass others.
Disclosing personal information about oneself or another student.
Intentionally bypassing Internet
filters.
Accessing personal e-mail ithou
the permission
and/or supervision of a teacher.
Regulations
3.
Users will not engage in “Spamming.” Spamming is sending an annoying or
unnecessary message to a large number of people. It can be advertisements
blindly sent by marketers (unfairly shifting their costs), chain letters, urban
legends, jokes, and inconsequential multimedia files.
Frivolous e-mails can contain a script that can send back not only your address
but also your entire address book. Spain uses school facilities, time, bandwidth,
and resources to carry all this unsolicited information.
ISPs or other third parties, whose resources are often hijacked to send the spam,
are forced to handle the barrage of angry complaints directed to forged
addresses sometimes incurring costly interruptions of service, as overloaded
servers are brought back online.
-
‘Spamming’ is classified as Misuse of Service. Users will check e-mail
frequently, delete unwanted messages promptly, and stay within e-mail quota.
Users will subscribe only to high quality discussion group mail lists that are
relevant to your job, your education or career development.
2
IAA
—
Student Network/Internet Policy
Regulations
4.
If inappropriate matcrial usage is encountered it must be reported to by the
individual who is responsible for supervising the student at that time to the
appropriate administrator..
Network Etiquette
All users must abide by the rules of network etiquette which include:
1. Be polite. Use appropriate language no swearing, vulgarities, suggestive,
obscene, belligerent, or threatening language.
2. Avoid language which may be offensive to others. Distribution ofjokes,
stories, or other material which is based on slurs or stereotypes relating to race,
gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation is absolutely
prohibited.
3. Do not assume that a sender of e-mail is giving his or her permission for you to
forward or redistribute the message or share their e-mail address.
4. Make the most efficient use of the network resources to minimize interference
with others.
—
Monitoring
The Board of Education reserves the right to monitor student usage of its computer
terminals and all applications available. The means of monitoring may include, but are
not limited to, teacher supervision, electronic means, security cameras and computer
software. There should be no expectation of privacy on the part of any user and therefore
no recourse if they are caught misusing the system.
Penalties for Inappropriate Use
1.
2.
3.
Any user violating these rules, applicable state and federal laws or posted
classroom and district rules, is subject to loss of network privileges and any
other District disciplinary options provided by State Statute or Board Policy,
including, but not limited to, suspension and/or expulsion.
Any user who intentionally damages equipment, attempts to load or download
unauthorized software, accesses another user’s account or school accounts, or
show blatant disregard for these regulations shall be subject to disciplinary
action including, but not limited to, suspension and/or expulsion.
Damage caused to other networks accessed will subject the user to the same
disciplinary action as damage to the Trumbull Network/Internet.
IAA
Student NetworkIlntemet Policy
Regulations
Permission
No
student shall be granted access to the etwor Internet until
receives a co of the etworkflntemet Access Agreemen
-
.
h school
-
This ermission needs to be on file at the students’ current school. If the student is 18 or
over e sh an si n for themselve and the parent/guardian signature is not required.
—
Agenda Item
—
VI-
Mr. lassogna
RCA Placement Revisited
At its May 19, 2009 meeting, the Board addressed the
tuition for those students it sends to the Regional Center
for the Arts (RCA) program at CES.
It has since been determined after lengthy
discussions with CES and the CT State Department
of Education that all such part-time magnet programs
fall under the recently revised regulations of CT
General Statute, Substitute House Bill No. 5869,
Public Act No. 08-152, which is the same one that
applies to our Agriscience program.
The inclusion of the RCA program under this statute
necessitates new Board action to comply with the existing
legislative requirements. Accordingly, Trumbull must
enroll a minimum of 35 students for the 2009-10 school
year. This figure was computed utilizing the State
formula, which reflects an average of our three (3)
previous years’ enrollment.
For 2009-10, 46 students across the four grade levels are
seeking to attend RCA, which is 11 above our minimum
requirement and $49,623 above the budgeted monies for
this program.
In an effort to have all students enrolled this current year
continue to attend, the Superintendent is recommending
the following:
• Enroll the 31 returning students (9 seniors, 7
juniors, 15 sophomores)
• Fill remaining 4 slots from the 15 incoming
freshmen, via lottery system.
As only 25 students were budgeted to attend RCA, an
unanticipated deficit of $23, 630 will result, which will be
taken from the Student Activity Account for a one time
only supplement. In future years, the minimum of 35
students will be incorporated in the Board’s operating
budget.
Review, discuss, and approve Superintendent’s
recommendation.
Regular Meeting. May 19. 2009
Agenda Item VII-B
Dr. Cialfi
Status of Negotiations
Please see reverse side for status
of negotiations with the eight
bargaining units.
Recommendation:
Receive and file.
STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS
Unit
Member of Board’s
NegotiatinQ Team
TEA
(Teachers)
Attorney Floyd Dugas
Dr. Gary Cialfi
The TEA Agreement covers the
period from July 1, 2007 to
June30, 2011.
TAA
(Administrators)
Mrs. Lisa Labella
Mrs. Joann Tyborowski
The TAA Agreement covers the
period from July 1, 2008 to
June 30, 2012.
Secretaries
CILU/CIPU
Board
The Secretaries Agreement
covers the period of July 1, 2006 to
June 30, 2009. Negotiations for a
successor Agreement have begun.
Custodial/Maintenance
Board
The Custodial/Maintenance
Agreement covers the period
July 1,2006 to June 30, 2010.
Paraprofessionals
CILU/UE
Board
The Paraprofessional Agreement
covers the period from July 1, 2008
to June 30, 2011.
Cafeteria Workers
Board
Lunch Manager
The Cafeteria workers Agreement
to June 30, 2010.
CILU Supervisor/
Support Staff
Board
The CILU Supervisors Agreement
to June 30, 2012.
Status of Negotiations
The CILU Support Agreement
to June 30, 2011.
Regular Meeting, May 19, 2009
Agenda Item VII-A
Dr. Cialfi
Pending Litigation
There are no major changes this month.
Recommendation:
Receive and file.
L.M., PPA B.M. a Monroe minor was injured on November
11, 2006 while playing on the field located behind
Middlebrook Elementary School when he tripped to the
ground and fell onto a metal “spike” object protruding out
of the ground. L.M. received injuries to his right knee.
This claim seeks monetary damages against Board of
Education and the Town of Trumbull. (Notice of claim
received November 13, 2006).
M.S., PPA M.S. a Trumbull minor was injured on
September 15, 2005 at Trumbull High School while
walking up stairs when she was caused to slip and fall.
M.S. received injuries to her right knee, resulting in
multiple surgeries and scaring from injuries. This claim
seeks monetary damages against Board of Education and
the Town of Trumbull. (Notice of claim received August 8,
2007).
3. M.S., PPA M.S. vs.
DESCRITPION
MA., a Trumbull resident tripped and fell on sidewalk at
Trumbull High School on May 1, 2004. This claim seeks
monetary damages against Board of Education and the
Town of Trumbull, Mr. Donald Walsh, Maintenance
Supervisor, Mr. Ralph lassogna, Superintendent, Mr. Paul
Kallmeyer, former Director of Public Works. (Notice of
claim received April 21, 2006).
2. L.M., PPA B.M. vs.
CASE
TOWN/BOARD
1. M.A. vs.
PENDING LITIGATION
Pending
Pending
CASE
Pending
ITT
ITT
REPRESENTATIVE
TOWN/BOARD
CIRMA

5/19/09 - Trumbull Public Schools

Transcription

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