International Fiction

 For this assignment, you will be writing a letter to the protagonist of the international fiction book you read.

Your letter will have two parts.

In the first part, relate your experience reading about their experience in the book. What did you think of what the character had to go through in the book? In answering this question, describe specific events from the book which helped to give you this opinion. If you admired the character’s actions, write about what it was you admired and why. If you had a different experience reading the book, write about what that experience was and why you had that experience.

In the second part of your letter, relate differences in culture and geography between what is depicted in the book and what you are used to. Tell the character which cultural or geographic elements from the book seemed unusual to you. Then relate how these cultural or geographic elements would compare with the cultural customs and geographic features you are familiar with. Relate to the character whether you found the cultural or geographic differences interesting or strange or something different altogether.

Letters need a date, greeting, closing, and signature. A postscript is optional.

Letters should be at least a full page, typed, and 1.5 line spaced, with size 14 font and Times New Roman or Calibri font.

6th Grade International Fiction Book List

The Killing Sea, Richard Lewis, Indonesia

Rice Without Rain, Minfong Ho, Thailand

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind, Suzanne Fisher Staples, Pakistan

Iqbal, Francesco D’Adamo, Pakistan

Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen, Pakistan (non-fiction)
Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet, Kashmira Sheth, India
Sold, Patricia McCormick: Nepal
Red Scarf Girl, Ji Li Jiang, China
Shizuko’s Daughter, Kyoki Mori, Japan
When My Name Was Keoko, Linda Sue Park, South Korea
The Breadwinner, Deborah Ellis, Afghanistan
Keeping Corner, Kashmira Sheth, India
Forgotten Fire, Adam Bagasarian, Turkey
Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, Ibitsam Barakat , Israel/Palestine (non-fiction)
Habibi, Naomi Shihab Nye, Israel/Palestine
AK, Peter Dickinson, fictional African country
The Door of No Return, Sarah Mussi, Ghana
The Other Side of Truth, Beverly Naidoo, Nigeria/U.K.
Child of Dandelions, Sheenaz Nanji, Uganda
Burn My Heart, Beverly Naidoo, Kenya
Facing the Lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savanna, Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, Kenya (non-fiction)
The Garbage King, Elizabeth Laird, Ethiopia
A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park, Sudan
Song of Be, Lesley Beake, Namibia
Walkabout, James Vance Marshall, Australian Outback
Does My Head Look Big In This?, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Australia
Maya Running, Anjali Bannerjee, Canada
Before We Were Free, Julia Alvarez, Dominican Republic
Red Glass, Laura Resau, Mexico
The Keeper, Mal Peet, Brazil
I Am A Taxi, Deborah Ellis, Bolivia
Zazoo, Richard Mosher, France/Vietnam