First Assembly Christian School
Summer Reading 2015-16
The selections below are required as summer 2015 reading for students enrolled in the listed
grades/classes for the 2015-2016 school year.
AP United States History - 2 books required
I wish I’d been there: Twenty Historians Bring to Life Dramatic Events
by Byron Hollinshead (paperback)
1776 by David McCullough
AP Biology - In May, Mrs. Gray will meet with students registered for this class and
explain the summer assignment. New students may contact Mrs. Gray at
wgray@facsmemphis.org
English
Honors Classes
9th grade - 2 books
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
10th grade - 3 books
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti
11th grade - 3 books
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Sycamore Row by John Grisham
Students may choose one of the following:
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
12th grade AP English - 3 books, 3 short stories
Night by Eli Wiesel
Boys read Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Girls read Emma by Jane Austin
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Three short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne: “The Birthmark,” “Young
Goodman Brown,” and “The Artist of the Beautiful”
Regular Classes
7th grade - 1 book (Obtain writing assignment sheet)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
8th grade - 1 book (Obtain writing assignment sheet)
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
9th grade -1 book
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
10th grade - 2 books
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
11th grade - 2 books
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Sycamore Row by John Grisham
12th grade - 2 books
Night by Eli Wiesel
Boys read Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Girls read Emma by Jane Austin
12th grade Dual Enrollment
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Paradise War by Stephen Lawhead
Resource Classes
7th grade - 1 book (Obtain writing assignment sheet)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
8th grade - 1 book (Obtain writing assignment sheet)
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
9th and 10th grade - 1 book
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
11th and 12th grade The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Dear Parents:
Please be aware that students will be tested on the summer reading as soon as they return to
school in August. Since a period of time may pass between the student’s reading and the
test, all students are encouraged to take careful notes so they will remember characters,
plot, theme, and setting. It is advisable that students buy their own copies of the book(s)
rather than check them out of the library because the books will be used as part of the
beginning curriculum of the year.
Parents, please also understand that not all of these books are Christian books. They are
selected and agreed upon by the appropriate faculty with the entire high school curriculum in
mind and with an eye to the expectations of colleges, Christian and secular. The books are of
recognized literary, historical, and philosophical merit. Please read an entire book or play
(before or with your child) before you react to one word or occurrence in the work. We have
the advantage of discussing these books in the light of the truth of Scripture so that we will
be prepared, according to 1 Peter 3:15, to “be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”