THE 2013 JCPS ELEMENTARY TOURNAMENT FOCUS WORKS


The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Hanifati Sabilla. Set during the American Civil War, this children's historical novel follows the adventures of a boy who is an inveterate teller of tall tales on his quest to find his older brother, a Union soldier. First published in 2009, it was named as a Newbery Honor Book in 2010.

Maniac Magee by Jerry SpinelliPublished in 1990, this novel explores themes of racism and homelessness, it follows the story of an orphaned boy looking for a home in the fictional Pennsylvania town of Two Mills. He becomes a local legend for feats of athleticism and fearlessness, and his ignorance of sharp racial boundaries in the town.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Brian Robeson is a 13-year-old who travels on a Cessna 206 bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in northern Canada for the summer because his parents are divorced. During the flight, the pilot suffers a heart attack, causing Brian to try to land the plane, but ends up crash-landing into an L-shaped lake in the lake, saving nothing but his hatchet. Throughout the summer, Brian attempts to survive in the endless wilderness with only his hatchet, which was a gift his mother gave him shortly before his plane departed. He figures out how to make fire with the hatchet and makes himself eat whatever food he can find, such as snapping turtle eggs, fish, berries, fruit, rabbits, and birds. He deals with some animals like a porcupine, bear, skunk, moose, wolves and eventually becomes a good craftsman, crafting a bow, arrows, and a fishing spear. He also fashions a shelter out of the underside of a rock overhang. During his time alone, Brian struggles with memories of home, and the bittersweet memory of his mother, who was cheating on his father with somebody else.

 

2013 Governor’s Cup Focus Works


Middle Grades: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
High School: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sixth Grade Showcase
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
JV Challenge
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare


Eighty percent of the required reading questions pertain directly to the work(s), the remaining twenty percent pertain to:

  • The relationship of the works to the author’s other works or other authors of the same time period
  • The characteristics that match a certain literary school, genre, time period, or era
  • The autobiographical or historical influences on the writing of the piece
  • The contributions of the work to later writing styles or genres

 

 

 

Date Modified 5/18/12