The Boomerang: 2008-2009 Book List (New)

Monthly Language Arts Program (7th-9th grade)

The new book list is below. You can skip to it now if you already know what the Boomerang is and does.

The Boomerang has two options: a monthly issues only version for private use, or a monthly issues and discussion version which enables you to do the dictation at home, but gives your student access to a guided online discussion of the "think piece" questions that are included in each issue.

You may preorder the entire ten issues (only) by paying $79.00 now via Paypal or check. A full year order saves you $20.00!

You may preorder the issues and discussion (Boomerang Complete) by semester.

Subscriptions (automatic monthly deduction payments) will go live the last week of July, starting Sunday July 27.

If you are new to the Boomerang, keep reading.

What it is:

The Boomerang is a digital product only. The issues are posted once per month in a private folder for subscribers. In each issue, you'll find four weeks worth of dictation/copywork passages (one per week with grammar, punctuation and writing notes) as well as a secondary feature: "Think Piece" questions. These questions help your child think deeply about the content of the book while exploring those thoughts in writing.

Copywork is the practice of neatly copying a passage of literature while paying attention to the punctuation and spelling. Dictation is the practice of reproducing a passage correctly in writing while someone else reads it to you. Copywork allows the student to look at the passage as he or she writes it down. Dictation requires the student to study the passage in advance and then to reproduce it accurately from memory while listening to someone read it aloud slowly.

The Issues Only version of the Boomerang is to be done at your own pace at home with your child.

The Boomerang Complete offers you the same monthly issues, but adds an interactive component.

As your student reads the selected novel of the month, a discussion of the book will occur simultaneously online. Subscribers to the Boomerang Complete will have access to the discussion forum. The private forum gives students a place to post their answers to the Boomerang's think piece questions and to read and comment on the responses of fellow students. A Brave Writer literature discussion leader will interact with your students to help them glean deeper insights.

We'll talk about plot, theme, character development, literary elements and more. The book discussion is not a "writing class" in that no polished work is completed. Rather, it's a place to chat about the book online with a guided discussion. It provides excellent preparation for literary analysis essays later in high school.

How the Boomerang Works

The Boomerang is a language arts subscription program that provides support for development in spelling, punctuation and grammar for junior high students (7th to 9th grades). Using the practices of copywork and dictation, the Boomerang includes:

 

The dictation passages are appropriate for writers between grades 7-9. The Boomerang includes instructions about how to execute dictation practice and how to modify the difficulty based on what age and stage your student is in.

A sample issue of the Boomerang can be downloaded here: Tom Sawyer

How the Boomerang Discussion Forum Works

Each student subscribed to the Boomerang Complete will automatically be subscribed to the private discussion forum for the Boomerang. For three out of four weeks each month, students discuss questions related to the month's novel selection. The discussion leader guides the conversation by interacting with student comments. This is not a writing course. No finished work is expected. Rather, the discussion forum is a place where students enjoy a fruitful discussion of the novels they read. If we met in my home, I'd serve brownies while we chatted. It's a literature group, not an essay class.

The Book List

Please remember that you're the parent. If you have doubts about the content of a particular book, please check out the reviews of the novel or read it for yourself first. You may order individual issues (with or without discussion for the particular month) at a later time (end of July).

2008-2009 Boomerang Book List

The Cay (an adventure story of a young, newly blinded man learning to survive on an uninhabited island) Theodore Taylor

The Chosen (story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures of growing up Jewish) Chaim Potok

Jane Eyre (classic tale of a poor, orphaned girl who falls in love with a rich man who hides a secret) Charlotte Bronte

The Eagle of the Ninth (classic historical fiction by renowned author) Rosemary Sutcliff

The View from Saturday (tells the story of four sixth grade quiz bowl champs and their paraplegic coach/teacher) E. L. Konisburg

A Tale of Two Cities (classic Dickens) Charles Dickens

Christy (Christy Huddleston leaves a life of privilege and ease to teach in the impoverished Smokey Mountains) Catherine Marshall

The Westing Game (a delightfully complex puzzle in the form of a “who-dunit”) Ellen Raskin

Treasure Island (classic pirate’s tale) Robert Louis Stevenson

The Hero and the Crown (captivating fantasy novel about a princess who determines her own destiny) Robin McKinley

The Boomerang Complete

The Boomerang Complete is $24.95 per month (which includes both the digital resource as well as the monthly discussion forum). You may sign up for the automatic monthly deduction option starting July 27, 2008.

If you'd like to subscribe by semester or the entire year at once, you may do that instead. To pay with Paypal, make your selection and click on one of the payment buttons below. Or read further for payment by check options. We offer a discount for additional students in one family. Those prices and payment options follow.

The discounted, year or semester long price is a non-refundable subscription. If you aren't sure whether or not the Boomerang is for you, sign up for the monthly subscription so that you can cancel if you choose to.

Semester Price (5 months): $114.95 (Almost $10.00 off!)

 

Year-long Price (10 months): $224.95 (Get one month free when you subscribe for the whole year )

 

 

Second Student Prices with discount:

Semester (5 months): $97.00

 

Year-Long Price (10 months): $189.00

 

Boomerang Issues Only

Each issue of the Boomerang is $9.95. The monthly payment option will go live July 27.

If you'd like to purchase the whole year at once, you can do so by paying with a check or a one-time Paypal payment. Get all ten months for only $79.00 (that's a savings of more than $20.00)! These payment options are now open.

 

Payment by Check:

To pay by check, send your enrollment fees to Brave Writer using the address below. Be sure to include:

• Your name and email address
• Your phone number
• Your student's name and age
• Boomerang Semester or Year Long subscription or Issues Only

To pay with a check, make your payment to Brave Writer LLC and send it to the following address.

Send questions or comments to help@bravewriter.com