8th Grade

Summer Reading Packet

Name: Kemal Cater

This packet will be collected and graded.

If you have any questions over the summer, contact Ms. Robles: crobles@schools.nyc.gov 8th
Grade Summer Reading Packet:
 Reading Assignment:
1) You must read That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton.

2) Your second book is a choice from the following:

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Good Enough by Paula Yoo
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

*Parents: Please preview whichever book your child selects, as some books contain
mature content.
Terms to Know / Vocabulary
Code Switching: The practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of
language in conversation. May also include behavior as well.

Coming of Age Story-a story which encompasses the main character’s physical, emotional,
and psychological transition into adulthood

Conflict-the main problem within the story

Demographic – a specific group within a larger society

Dynamic Character - a character who changes over the course of the story

Motivation-the reason why a character reacts or behaves in a certain way; the reason(s) why
a character makes certain decisions

Motif-a repeating idea in a piece of art or writing

Maturity-demonstrating growth and a more adult quality of judgment

Socioeconomics-the study of how demographic classifications (class, race, culture,

ethnicity, etc.) and economic factors affect a person’s life.

Social Context: The immediate physical setting in which people were raised. It includes the
culture they were raised in and the groups they interact with.

Social Issues: issues in the larger social environment which affect many individuals within a
society. These are problems and concerns that different societies and communities face on a
day-to-day basis.

Static Character – a character who does not change during the story

Vocabulary Practice:
Part A: Fill in the blank sentences
Directions: Fill in each sentence with the correct vocabulary word from the Terms to
Know.
Keep the vocabulary word in red and underlined. Each word is used only once.

1. Teens can face a variety of Socioeconomics which can stem from any portion of identity,
be it ethnicity, gender, race, or talent.
2. The most successful films appeal to a variety of demographics: young and old, male and
female, etc.
3. In examining the social context of Marco’s life, his mother working two jobs to make
ends meet, his brother paying his own way through college with loans and part-time jobs,
it is easy to see why Marco was reluctant to spend his money on frivolous objects.
4. The Outsiders is a coming-of-age story for Ponyboy in which he learns valuable lessons
about himself and others on his path to maturity.
5. A motif which appears throughout The Giver is the color red.
6. Coming of age stories often involve a conflict which centers on a teenager discovering
himself or herself through a variety of internal and external challenges.
7. It is important in achieving empathy and understanding of others to look beyond your
own social issues and consider issues from the cultures in which others were raised.
8. When applying for a job, it is important to code switching from the casual slang of your
friends to the formal language of professionalism.
9. Her motivation for hitting her brother was that he had read her diary and she was angry.
10. Realizing that your choices have consequences is one way of demonstrating emotional
maturity.
11. Sometimes middle school friendships end unexpectedly because one person grows and
changes, while the other remains a static character.
12. The protagonist of a coming-of-age story is always a dynamic character because he or
she must change from immature to mature through the course of the story.

Part B: Vocabulary Grids

Directions: Complete vocabulary grids for four words from the vocabulary list (Terms
to Know) you are unfamiliar with or that you foresee being challenging to use. An
example of how to complete the vocabulary grids has been provided. You can
doubleclick on each drawing (grid) to complete the work.
Inf
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 After reading That Was Then, This is Now, answer the following questions in complete
sentences. Use examples and details from the book to support your answers.

1. What makes this book a coming-of-age story? How do social issues influence
Mark and Bryon’s path to maturity? What were they like at the beginning and how
do they change throughout the story? Consider character, conflict, circumstances,
social issues, and motivation when answering this question.

That Was Then, This Is Now a coming-of-age story, because the entire plot is how Bryon
and Mark are becoming more mature. As they grew up, they hung out with different people,
and so their morals, their sense of right and wrong, formed differently. Bryon had a clear
sense of what was right and wrong, whereas Mark found stealing fun, like a game. As the
book goes on. Bryon is still trying to do the right thing, but Mark is still not worried about
his actions leading to, eventually, Bryon finding the drugs Mark had hidden, and Bryon
calling the police. “I still felt that stealing was wrong, I think Mark was only dimly aware of
that fact.” (Hinton, 26) Bryon and Mark are more obviously different after this line because
it shows how Mark seems to have no sense of right and wrong. “Mark was only sixteen; he
had always been able to talk his way out of anything.” (Hinton, 153) Mark’s charisma led to
him not learning what was right and wrong, because he never got much more than a slap on
the wrist for his actions. This is underscored when Mark was caught hotwiring his
principal’s car, but when he got in trouble, he told the entire story in a way that even the
principal was laughing, and it all got chalked up to a misunderstanding. He never really
“came-of-age,” at least, not maturity-wise, and Bryon actually did act like an adult.

2. Angela and Cathy are the two main female characters in this novel. Compare
and contrast the two girls and their families. Do you think their families and home
environments make a difference in the way these two girls turn out?

Angela and Kathy, while both being Bryon’s ex-girlfriends, are extremely different.
Angela’s family is mean, loud, and crude. Her brothers, Tim and Curly Shepard, are
greasers, and certainly acted the part. They beat people up for fun, people like M&M,
Cathy’s little brother, and Mark and Bryon’s friend. Angela’s parents aren’t a great example
either. “At Angela’s house her mother and stepfather were always fighting and screaming
and throwing things, and sometimes her brothers Tim and Curly would get in on it.”
Angela’s husband’s family is also similarly rude, shown when Angela is in the car with
Mark and Bryon, and tells them how her new family acts around her. Cathy’s family,
however, is for the most part, nice and caring. Her little brother M&M, who is seen as a
“hippie” sometimes, is a perfect example of such, because he bursts into tears because Mark
and Bryon want to jump someone, for the same reason that M&M had just gotten jumped.
“You guys make me sick! You just rescued me from some guys who were going to beat me
up because I’m different, and now you’re going to beat someone else up because he’s
different from you.” (Hinton, 23) Mark said that the little outburst was just because M&M
was shaken up, but really, it was just M&M being himself. Cathy is talking to Bryon about
how kind and compassionate M&M was, after they’d found out about M&M taking LSD.
Part of why M&M had run away was because his father had been teasing him about his long
hair. Angela’s family is rowdy and mean, and Cathy’s family is loving and affectionate.

3. Freedom is a motif that runs throughout this book. Many of the characters seem
to run around without any parental supervision. Some characters follow the rules of
society while others create their own rules based on their personal ideas of what is
right and wrong.

A) What is your definition of freedom? Do you think the characters in this book are
truly free? Why or why not? Give examples from the text.

To me, freedom means that you control every aspect of your life, and you no longer have to
deal with surprises, guilt, or sadness, all three of which can be tied. You’re free from them.
In That Was Then, This Is Now, none of the characters are ever free. Bryon is constantly
having Mark and Cathy fighting over him, and Mark feels like he’s “sponging,” and not
carrying his weight at home. “I guess we’re fighting over you, huh?”(Hinton, 100) M&M is
always being jumped, or bullied about his looks, and Cathy is constantly worried about
M&M. “” They may be physically free to run around and do almost whatever they want, but
none of them are free from how they feel about each other.

B) What are the limitations and drawbacks of their freedom?

Especially for Mark and Bryon, since they have little to no parental control, they are much
wilder than Cathy and M&M, who are closer to their parents. Cathy’s parents show up in
the book more than Bryon’s does, and Bryon is the protagonist. This underscores that Cathy
is closer to her parents than Mark and Bryon are to theirs’. Mark, Bryon and Cathy have
very differently placed lines between right and wrong. In the story, Bryon has a tone that
very much suggests that it was natural, when Cathy asked if he had ever smoked grass,
marijuana. She was shocked by this, for in her mind, marijuana was strictly wrong, whereas
in Byron's mind, it was O.K., just not worth it. On the other hand, when Bryon found out
about Mark selling drugs, since he knew that it was the same source that provided the LSD
that M&M took, he found it terribly wrong.

4. Discuss the split that happens between Bryon and Mark. Do you think it was
inevitable? Do you think they will ever reconcile? Explain why you think they will or
will not reconcile.

I think that the split between Bryon and Mark was going to happen sooner or later. Cathy
and Mark absolutely hated each other, and Bryon loved both, it was like a game of tug-of-
war. At some point, Bryon would have to let go of one, or get ripped in half, figuratively, by
hearing the people he loved fighting over him. In the end, Bryon let go of Mark first, and
then Cathy too. Although neither of them probably realized it until too late,
Mark and Bryon were slowly moving apart. “‘What have you got against her, anyway?’
 ‘What’s she got against me?’ ‘You’re a bad influence.’” This was the first time that Mark
and Bryon almost fought. To Mark, Bryon claiming that he was a bad influence probably
felt like a betrayal. The two were like brothers, and had acted like such before then, but then
they started growing apart, and since they never talked to one another, they never got things
straightened out. When Mark says that he feels like he’s “sponging,” Bryon thinks about
telling Mark how he feels, but doesn’t. It’s this worming away from talking about their
feelings that contributed a lot to their relationship falling apart. By the end of the book,
Bryon says that he is finally tired of how honest Cathy is, but really, he could take a lot of
lessons from her about how to talk about feelings with other people. Since Bryon and Mark
never tried to fix the relationship that they knew was slipping, I think it was inevitable that
they split apart.

Highlight the choice book you read:

Aristotle and Dante If I Ever Get Out of Here Good Enough Piecing Me Together

After reading your choice book, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Use
examples and details from the book to support your answers.

1. What is the main conflict in your choice book? Who or what forces are involved?
How is the conflict ultimately resolved?

In Good Enough, the main conflict is internal, deciding if she wants to put her wants and
needs before her parents’. Patti wants to hang out with people, have fun, play violin, and
apply to a music school, but her parents, for the most part, tiger parent her, where they
expect the very best from Patti, academically, at the cost of her social life. To her parents,
music is just a hook, something to make her seem like a better candidate to colleges. In their
minds, music is too risky to be pursued as a full career. However, Patti wants to play violin
for fun, and wants it to be more than just a shallow façade, Eventually she sneaks out to see
a punk rock band with the cute trumpet player in the same statewide orchestra as Patti.
“‘Patti’s also going to see a punk band in New Haven,’ Samuel says. ‘Her parents don’t
know about that either.’” Patti had to trick multiple adults so that she could get away with it,
and still gets caught. “Most of it was in Korean, because when they get really mad, they sort
of lose control of their English skills.” When Patti is caught, her parents are furious.
However, at the end of the book, Patti and her parents get into a huge argument, because she
applied to Julliard, a music school, without telling them. Eventually, Patti gets them to see
that success and happiness aren’t the same thing, and they let her choose what school she
wants to go to.

2. What social issues impact the protagonist throughout your choice book? How?

The main social issue that Patti has to deal with is racism. She deals with it often from her
classmate, Eric Sanders, but she also ends up watching as her dad deals with the racist
comments of the mother of another of Patti’s less savory classmates, Stephanie Thomas.
During lunch one day, after bullying Patti’s friend Susan with a casual Neanderthalic
comment, Eric started whispering things like “chingchongchingchingchong,” “gook,” and
“Jap,” phrases that are widely known as racial slurs. Also, when Patti is buying her outfit
for her All-State Orchestra, the orchestra for the best in her state, Patti and her dad bump
into Stephanie Thomas, a classmate of Patti’s. Although Stephanie doesn’t say anything
mean to Patti, like her usual “Chicken Patti,” her mother became really rude after having to
wait a minute or two for Patti’s dad to find a pair of socks he’d seen. Ms. Thomas decided
that, just because Patti’s dad was Asian, he must be Chinese, and then when he came back,
she pretended to not understand him because of his accent, before loudly muttering to her
daughter about how, “these people,” namely, Patti’s dad, came to America and didn’t bother
learning the language. She only stopped when Stephanie pointed out that Patti spoke
English. Even though Patti’s dad was a software engineer for a very important company,
Ms. Thomas decided that he was inferior just because he was Asian. These kinds of social
issues plague Patti throughout the book.

3. How does the setting of your book shape the events of the story and the
development of the characters?

The fact that Patti is close enough to where she needs to go that she can sneak there, but far
away that she needs help getting there is critical to the events of Good Enough. For
example, when Patti needs to sneak to Julliard for her auditions, which her parents have no
knowledge about, she needs her church group friends to get there. Her friends keep up the
story that they’re studying, and her friend Samuel even goes with her, planning out the
entire day. “Samuel picks Patti up for her 10 AM violin lessons. Drive to New Haven train
station.” (Yoo, __) Samuel has an entire plan for how Patti will get to her audition, planned
out to the minute. Also, the fact that Patti lived in an area that had very few Asians, and no
Asians in her school, led to her being furious at her classmate Stephanie’s slightly racist
Halloween costume. In turn, Patti’s anger drove her to take more SAT prep tests, leading her
to do better. If the events of that day hadn’t happened, Patti might not have done as well on
the real SATs, leading to her not getting into HARVARDYALEPRINCETON, thus
disappointing her parents. So, in a way, the fact that she was the only Asian kid at her
school helped her, in a roundabout way.

4. Which character did you find most realistic and/or relatable? Why?

In Good Enough, I found Samuel Kwon the most relatable to me. Like Samuel, I struggle at
ELA, but am good at math. Although I can write stories and do vocabulary fairly well,
things like reading comprehension trip me up. Samuel’s struggle with ELA is revealed when
Patti is trying to get Samuel to go faster to get her to Ben Wheeler’s house. After getting
badgered about going faster, Samuel decides to turn around, and go back to his SAT boot
camp. As Patti tries to convince him not to, she wonders why he’s in a boot camp, since
he’s so smart. She pulls a mock test from his bag and sees his ELA score. “I pull out his
SAT boot camp folder, and skim through it and … wow. It’s even worse than I thought. I
can’t help but gasp. ‘Samuel Kwon, you got a 550 on the writing test?’” (Yoo, __) After
nearly crashing, and Patti threatening to tell their church youth group, Samuel finally turns
around and speeds up like Patti wanted. However, unlike Samuel’s, my parents don’t try to
force me to be the very best. Samuel’s parents on the other hand, seem to constantly pester
him about everything. “…he’s sick of his parents bothering him about college and how he
just found out that he is not valedictorian but salutatorian of his class.” (Yoo, __) Although
 we are different in many ways, Samuel Kwon, one of Patti’s friends, is the character who, to
me, is the most relatable.
Themes Chart
Directions: In the chart below, provide a specific example from the text (can be
paraphrased) and an explanation of how the example fits the theme for That Was Then, This
is Now and your choice book.
That Was Then, This is Now
Family On page 91 of That Was Then, This
Now, Bryon almost tells Mark about
how Mark is like a brother to him. He
wants to tell Mark that he doesn’t
sponge, and that he doesn’t need to
pay Bryon and his mom back. This
exchange tells the reader about how
much Bryon loves Mark, and that love
continues, even after Mark is
incarcerated.
After Charlie is killed, the police
officers who talk to Mark say that
Bryon can take Charlie’s car. Since it
was because the officers knew that
Charlie was friends with Mark and
Bryon, their friendship must have
been obvious.
Friendship
When Cathy and Bryon are talking
about M&M, Bryon admits to
himself that he loves Cathy. Later,
when he asks her if she would say
yes if he proposed, Bryon realizes
that Cathy loves him back.
Love
Romantic or
familial
Choice At the end of the book, Bryon makes
what’s probably the hardest decision
Important of his life. When he finds Mark stash
decisions made of drugs, he realizes that it’s the
by key characters source of the LSD that M&M took.
which influence After making this realization, Bryon
the plot. decides to call the police, which
eventually leads to Mark hating
Choice Book Title:
In Good Enough, a lot of Patti’s
interactions with her parents are not
positive. The most explosive is right
before Patti’s All-State Orchestra
performance, just after her parents
found out about her applying to
Julliard. Patti’s parents are upset that
she lied to them, and she is upset that
they don’t get that happiness and
success aren’t the same. Eventually,
they reconcile, however.
When Patti is about to go into her
Julliard audition, she thanks Samuel for
being a good friend, since he was
responsible for coming up with the plan
for her to get to the audition, and
getting Patti there. Even later, when
they are in college, they stay friends
and hang out.
After the punk rock concert in which
Patti breaks her glasses, she accidentally
confesses to Ben Wheeler that she likes
him, and he breaks her heart by saying
that he only likes her as a friend, and
confirming Patti’s fears that he was
going out with one of their classmates,
Stephanie Thomas.
When Patti is at the post office mailing
off her college applications, she almost
second guesses her decision to apply to
Julliard. She is so scared that she might
not get in that she almost doesn’t send in
her application. However, she
remembers Ben telling her that she is
amazing, and still sends her application
place on education Bryon. off.
and why.

Socioeconomics
Maturity Around
BryonwhenthinksMark mentions
to himself thatpoint
at one he Patti realizes,
When Eric iswhen
beingdealing
a jerk with Ericat one
to Patti,
feels like he’s sponging, Mark
and realizes that he is growing up also Sanders
point, she has to keep remindingwill
and Ms. Thomas, that she herself
mentions
and Mark thatisn’t.
they Frankly,
are poor.he’sA bitscared always
not tobe“rock
treated
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before
that that, Bryon mentions
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Eric uses
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Defined in Terms though
mature,“Socs” and “greasers”
and Mark are
is still immature. racial
the slurs, instead person.
more mature of “normal” insults,
to Know. trying to look like the other
Mark’s immaturity is bolded by used to,the
it or why Stephanie’s mom was so rude to
wasfact
obvious thatatthe
that even therich
endkids were
of the still
book, Patti’s dad. Also, Patti realizes that Ben
spending
he has nothesense
same of amount of money
right and wrong. is way out of her league when she
on their clothes. realizes that he is a jock and she isn’t.

Education In the book, it is stated that Mark When Patti is trying to understand
only ever went to school when he something for her Calculus class, her dad
How formal had nothing better to do. The fact mentions how he had failed his first try
education (school) that, even when he did go to school, in his Korean college test. He mentions
or a lack thereof Mark probably never learned much. how his parents had to pay for him to see
impacts plot and This most likely played a big part in tutors so that he would do better. Patti’s
character Mark’s difficulties in discerning right dad tells her this story so that she is able
behavior. from wrong. to understand a bit more of why
Can also be based education is so important to her parents.
on the emphasis
adults in the book