Upper School English DepartmentSummer Reading

2017-2018

9th Grade American LiteratureRichburg/Yeaman

All 9th Grade students must read the following book:

The Red Bandana by Tom RinaldiISBN-10: 1594206775ISBN-13: 978-1594206771

What would you do in the last hour of your life? The story of Welles Crowther, whose actions on 9/11 offer a lasting lesson on character, calling, and courage, Tom Rinaldi’s The Red Bandanna is about a fearless choice, about a crucible of terror and the indomitable spirit to answer it. Examining one decision in the gravest situation, it celebrates the difference one life can make.

Students need to choose ONE additional text from the following list:

The Monstrumologist by Rick YanceyISBN-10: 1416984496ISBN-13: 978-1416984498

A monster-hunting doctor and his apprentice face off against a plague of monsters in the first book of a terrifying series. Publishers Weekly says “horror lovers will be rapt.” These are the secrets I have kept. So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor in nineteenth-century New England, Will has grown accustomed to his late-night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will’s world changes forever.

Challenger Deep by Neil ShustermanISBN-10: 0061134147ISBN-13: 978-0061134142

A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman. Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench. [But] Caden Bosch is [also] a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth SteinISBN-10: 0061537969ISBN-13: 978-0061537967

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.

The Road by Cormac McCarthyISBN-10: 0307387895ISBN-13: 978-0307387899

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

True Grit by Charles PortisISBN-10: 159020459XISBN-13: 978-1590204597

[True Grit] tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash money. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father's blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory.

The Great Wide Sea by M.H. HerlongISBN-10: 0142416703ISBN-13: 978-0142416709

Ben, Dylan, and Gerry are still mourning their mother?s death when their dad decides to buy a boat and take them on a year-long sailing trip. Tensions flare between Ben and his father, but they gradually learn to live together in close quarters. Then one morning the boys wake up to discover their father has disappeared?and they are lost. What happened to him? Where are they? And what will they do when a terrible storm looms on the horizon?

Speak by Laurie Halse AndersonISBN-10: 0312674392ISBN-13: 978-0312674397

“Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

Kindred by Octavia ButlerISBN-10: 0807083690ISBN-13: 978-0807083697

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo AnayaISBN-10: 0446600253ISBN-13: 978-0446600255

Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul.

Mockingbird by Kathryn ErskineISBN-10: 9780142417751ISBN-13: 978-0142417751

Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon was killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure--and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be so black and white after all.

10th Grade British LiteratureMcKiearnan/Yeaman

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo--Kindle or paperback ISBN-10: 0439796644 ISBN-13: 978-0439796644

A powerful tale of war, redemption, and a hero's journey--now available in paperback! In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw--Kindle or paperbackISBN-13: 978-1420925234ISBN-10: 1420925237

Pygmalion is considered to be one of George Bernard Shaw's greatest works. It is the story of how the arrogant phonetics professor Henry Higgins teaches the lowly flower girl Eliza Doolittle to lose her cockney accent and speak like a lady. Pygmalion is a witty comedic play that examines the artificiality of social class distinctions and shows that it takes more than just talking like a lady to become one.

11th Grade World LiteratureHill

In the Woods by Tana FrenchISBN-10: 0143113496ISBN-13: 978-0143113492

Tana French's Edgar award-winning debut novel places readers in the center of two mysteries separated by decades from the perspective of Irish detectives Rob and Cassie. Booklist states that "The characters of Ryan and Maddox, as well as a handful of others, are vividly developed in this intelligent and beautifully written first novel, and author French relentlessly builds the psychological pressure on Ryan as the investigation lurches onward under the glare of the tabloid media. Equally striking is the picture of contemporary Ireland, booming economically and fixated on the shabbiest aspects of American popular culture."

11th Grade AP Language and CompositionRichburg

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerISBN-10: 0316769177ISBN-13: 978-0316769174

The influential and widely acclaimed story details the two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he has been expelled from prep school. Confused and disillusioned, he searches for truth and rails against the "phoniness" of the adult world. He ends up exhausted and emotionally ill, in a psychiatrist's office. After he recovers from his breakdown, Holden relates his experiences to the reader. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

Into the Wild by Jon KrakauerISBN-10: 0385486804ISBN-13: 978-0385486804

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.— Amazon Review

Outliers by Malcolm GladwellISBN-10: 0316017930ISBN-13: 978-0316017930

There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them-at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth date. And in revealing that hidden logic, Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.

12th Grade English SeminarHill/Yeaman

On Writing by Stephen King ISBN-10: 1439156816 ISBN-13: 978-1439156810

Enduring popular novelist King's frank memoir about just how he became a writer does more than simply offer tips of the trade. King takes a hard look at his upbringing, his own faults, and his deepest interests and works through exactly how those things coalesced. King concludes what every English teacher already knows: that to be a writer, one must first be a reader.

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss ISBN-10: 1592402038 ISBN-13: 978-1592402038

From Booklist: This impassioned manifesto on punctuation made the best-seller lists in Britain and has followed suit here. Journalist Truss gives full rein to her "inner stickler" in lambasting common grammatical mistakes. Asserting that punctuation "directs you how to read in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play," Truss argues wittily and with gusto for the merits of preserving the apostrophe, using commas correctly, and resurrecting the proper use of the lowly semicolon. Filled with dread at the sight of ubiquitous mistakes in store signs and headlines, Truss eloquently speaks to the value of punctuation in preserving the nuances of language. Liberally sprinkling the pages with Briticisms ("Lawks-a-mussy") and moving from outright indignation to sarcasm to bone-dry humor, Truss turns the finer points of punctuation into spirited reading.

12th Grade AP Literature and CompositionMcKiearnan

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine BooISBN: 978-0-8129-7932-9

While the distance between rich and poor is growing in the U.S., the gap between the haves and have-nots in India is staggering to behold. This first book by a New Yorker staff writer (and Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for the Washington Post) jolts the reader’s consciousness with the opposing realities of poverty and wealth in a searing visit to the Annawadi settlement, a flimflam slum that has recently sprung up in the western suburbs of the gigantic city of Mumbai, perched tentatively along the modern highway leading to the airport and almost within a stone’s throw of new, luxurious hotels. We first meet Abdul, whose daily grind is to collect trash and sell it; in doing so, he has “lifted his large family above subsistence.” Boo takes us all around the community, introducing us to a slew of disadvantaged individuals who, nevertheless, draw on their inner strength to not only face the dreary day but also ponder a day to come that will, perhaps, be a little brighter. Sympathetic yet objective and eloquently rendered. --Brad Hooper, Booklist

Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt BrechtISBN: 978-0413702906

In this chronicle of the Thirty Years War, Mother Courage follows the armies back and forth across Europe, selling provisions and liquor from her canteen wagon. One by one she loses her children to the war but will not part with her livelihood - the wagon….Considered by many to be one of the greatest anti-war plays ever written and Brecht’s masterpiece, it remains a powerful example of Brecht's Epic Theatre and pioneering theatrical style.—Amazon

*The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2016 ed. by Rachel KushnerISBN: 978-0-544-81211-6

“An eclectic collection chosen by a committee of San Francisco area high school students and brimming with wonderful short stories, journalism, interviews and poetry.”—TAMPA BAY TIMES

"A wealth of strong material makes The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2016 valuable reading.”—POPMATTERS "What they have given us is a gift.... One wonders how the world might be different if works in Best American Nonrequired Reading were indeed required."

—USA TODAY“A wide-ranging collection of civic-minded, literary, entertaining reads.”

—BOOKLIST

*During the summer, students must read least 150 pages from this collection, choosing the pieces that sound best to them and that they think they’ll enjoy most. We will read the rest during the school year.