Ms. Jacqueline Shaw--English Department--Quarter 4 Independent Reading

Memoirs, Autobiography, or Biography

Book Talk Presentations: May 13^th – 17^th

To coincide with our memoir unit in class, please choose a famous person of interest to you. This person can be current or from history. You may choose to read a memoir, autobiography, or biography. The book you choose should be at least 150 pages.  Remember the differences between the three nonfiction genres:

·         Autobiography: A complete account of a person’s life from birth to the moment they’re writing the autobiography. This is written by the subject of the book.

·         Biography: A complete account of a person’s life from birth to potentially death, if the subject is no longer alive. This is written by someone else other than the subject of the book.

·         Memoir: An account of a specific moment of a person’s life. Could be written by the subject of the book or by someone else.

On the due date, please be prepared to give an oral presentation of your book.  The presentations will be graded on the following:

1.    The presentation must be at least 3 minutes long, but no more than 7 minutes.
2.    The presenter should speak slowly and clearly.
3.    The presenter should bring his/her book to hold during the presentation.
4.    The presenter must cover the list of topics given on the back of this sheet.
5.    The presentation should be read from note cards, not this worksheet.
6.    The presenter will turn in the note cards after the speech. 
7.    The presenter should rehearse the speech beforehand and should be prepared to present when his/her name is drawn.

To accompany your presentation, create one of the following visual aides. They can be done in print or digital form.1.    A timeline with events from your person’s life, as well as pictures to represent or illustrate these events.
2.    A poster with a picture of your person (that you drew or found somewhere) and dates of birth and death.  Also include a quote from this person that is notable or that highlights an important aspect of the person’s life or ideals. 
3.    A mobile that features objects or symbols that represent important events or ideas from the book.
4.    A collage of pictures that represent important events or ideas from the book.
5.    Other (get your idea approved by me).

** For extra credit (5 points), bring in a gimmick that fits with your presentation.  This can be an object that relates to or represents your person, an outfit, or food that has to do with your book.  Example:  If your book is about an athlete, wear a jersey or bring in equipment from that sport.

                                           Book Talk Presentation Form
Name _____________________________    

Presentation Scores (50 points total)

1.    Book Information (5 points):
Title:
Author:
Number of Pages:
Genre (Autobiography, Biography, Memoir?):
2.    Plot Summary – From beginning to end (10 points):
3.    Two parts that you particularly enjoyed (10 points) Explain in detail!
4.    Lesson the reader learns from this person’s life story (10 points) Explain in detail!
5.    Recommendation: Would you recommend this book to a fellow 7^th grade student? Why or why not? (5 points)
6.    Visual Aide (10 points). Explain in detail!
7.    Gimmick (5 points extra credit)

Recommendations from the Gelinas Library

**These are the memoirs we have available. Remember, you can also read a biography or an autobiography of anyone you’d like, as long as it’s 150 pages or more.** Summaries brought to you by amazon.com J

	My thirteenth winter : a memoir        [ Book ]   Call #: 362.1 ABE    Abeel, Samantha, 1977-   Published 2003 Interest Level: Young Adult Lexile: 1050 Summary: In this beautiful and chilling memoir, twenty-five-year-old Samantha Abeel describes her struggles with a math-related learning disability, and how it forced her to find inner strength and courage.	In
	Between boardslides and burnout : my notes from the road        [ Book ]   Call #: 796.22 HAW PB    Hawk, Tony.   Published 2002 Interest Level: Young Adult Lexile: 1160 Summary: With this all-access pass, Tony Hawk shares the joy, the exhaustion, the adrenaline, and the pain of life on the road. Between Boardslides and Burnout puts you right on the edge of the ramp and on the road with him -- from competitions to demos, to store openings, to autograph signings, to movie sets, and back home.	In
	My father's summers : a daughter's memoir        [ Book ]   Call #: 813 APP    Appelt, Kathi, 1954-   Published 2004 Interest Level: Young Adult Summary:  Told in a series of eloquent prose poems, My Father's Summers is Kathi Appelt's memoir of coming-of-age in Houston, Texas. Without a wasted word, she recalls her faraway father, who is first halfway across the world in Arabia and then across town living a new life. For Kathi and her sisters, there are unknown stepbrothers, a stepmother who drinks gin and tonic for breakfast, and a painful awareness of their mother's loneliness.	In
	A long way gone : memoirs of a boy soldier        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 BEA    Beah, Ishmael, 1980-   Published 2007 Interest Level: Adult Lexile: 920 Summary:  In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how 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 Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.	Out
	Warriors don't cry : a searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock's Central High        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 BEA PB    Beals, Melba.   Published 2002 Interest Level: Young Adult Lexile: 1000 Summary: In 1957, Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, Melba was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School. Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down.
	Lucky man : a memoir        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 FOX    Fox, Michael J., 1961-   Published 2002 Interest Level: Young Adult Summary: The same sharp intelligence and self-deprecating wit that made Michael J. Fox a star in the Family Ties TV series and Back to the Future make this a lot punchier than the usual up-from-illness celebrity memoir. Yes, he begins with the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the incurable illness that led to his retirement from Spin City (and acting) in 2000. And yes, he assures us he is a better, happier person now than he was before he was diagnosed. In Fox's case, you actually might believe it, because he then cheerfully exposes the insecurities and self-indulgences of his pre-Parkinson's life in a manner that makes them not glamorous but wincingly ordinary and of course very funny.	In
	Galileo's daughter : a historical memoir of science, faith, and love        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 GAL PB    Sobel, Dava.   Published 2000 Interest Level: Young Adult Lexile: 1530 Summary: In Galileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel tells the story of the famous scientist and his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. Sobel bases her book on 124 surviving letters to the scientist from the nun, whom Galileo described as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and tenderly attached to me." Their loving correspondence revealed much about their world: the agonies of the bubonic plague, the hardships of monastic life, even Galileo's occasional forgetfulness.	In
	Death be not proud : a memoir        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 GUN PB    Gunther, John, 1901-1970.   Published 1998 Interest Level: Young Adult Summary: Deeply moving story of the author's son's fight for life. In Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther explores the process of death: discovery, fighting, living on, and then dying. The process becomes just a little bit easier, as humor, human kindness and courage all are woven in. More than just about dying, this memoir becomes a study of living.	In
	The Avocado Drive zoo : at home with my family and the creatures we've loved        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 HAM    Hamner, Earl.   Published 1999 Interest Level: Adult Summary: THE AVOCADO DRIVE ZOO is a warm and personal, yet humorous, recounting of how the members of the Hamner family have lived with and loved the animals in their lives. By the time they moved to Hollywood and settled into a lovely residence on Avocado Drive, their home was virtually a zoo.	In
	Red scarf girl : a memoir of the Cultural Revolution        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 Jiang    Jiang, Ji-li.   Published 1997 Reading Level: 6.6  Interest Level: 5-8 Lexile: 780 Summary: It's 1966, and twelve-year-old Ji-li Jiang has everything a girl could want: brains, tons of friends, and a bright future in Communist China. But it's also the year that China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launches the Cultural Revolution—and Ji-li's world begins to fall apart. Over the next few years, people who were once her friends and neighbors turn on her and her family, forcing them to live in constant terror of arrest. When Ji-li's father is finally imprisoned, she faces the most difficult dilemma of her life. This is the true story of one girl's determination to hold her family together during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century.	In
	Double luck : memoirs of a Chinese orphan        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 LU    Lu, Chi Fa.   Published 2001 Reading Level: 8.1  Interest Level: 5-8 Lexile: 740 Summary: Currently the owner of a restaurant in California, Lu looks back on a life that reflects China's tumultuous recent history, from wars and famine to Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. Orphaned at three, he is moved among his relatives, sold to strangers and eventually rescued from them by Sister; he is beaten, starved and forced to beg. At 12, he survives a dangerous trek to freedom in Hong Kong, where an elderly man to whom he gives food fuels his dreams of emigrating to America, a dream he finally realizes at 20. Readers will be impressed by Chi Fa's perseverance, intelligence and goodness of heart.	In
	A child called "It" : one child's courage to survive        [ Book ]   Call #: 921 PEL PB    Pelzer, David J.   Published 1995 Interest Level: Young Adult Lexile: 850 Summary: This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."