<p>What do you mean by keep the textbooks? Do you mean you cannot take them home at all or do you mean that you have to give them back at the end of the school year? They make students give all books back at the end of each semester here (N.C.) and if they lose or damage them they have to pay a fine to replace the book before graduation. The same goes for unreturned or damaged school library books. Otherwise, the administration will refuse to give the student a diploma. We did not have a reading list here until high school. I remember that 8th grade was grammar stuff, but then they made us take a class called grammar in 9th grade. :/ What is a ditto? I have never heard of that? We had to do a research paper in my 12th grade English class and in the AP Biology class, yet I'm seen some parents on message boards mentioning that their kids are doing/did do research papers in elementary school! :O</p>