Magnet Schools Required Summer Reading
Haynes, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Taylor
2012-2013
ENGLISH IV (CHOOSE ANY 3)
Students will choose three books: one fiction, one non-fiction and one play
Title
Author
Pride and Prejudice
The Collector
Uhuru Street
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Passage to India
All Creatures Great & Small
Out of Africa
The Importance of Being Earnest
King Lear
F
F
F
F
F
NF
NF
Drama
Drama
Jane Austen
John Fowles
M.G. Vassanji
Thomas Hardy
E. M. Forster
James Herriot
Isak Dinesen
Oscar Wilde
William Shakespeare
Remember, all work must be submitted during the first week of school. If you do not have English
until the second semester, you are still responsible for submitting your work to your English
teacher within the first week of school. Students new to the school or JPPSS or those students who
have recently been added to an Honors class who do not come to school with their response forms
completed have until October 13th , if necessary, to read the books and submit their work.
For the books you choose from the list, you will:
1. Complete the response form for each book. You will receive bonus credit in points to be
added to classroom assessments (tests or projects).
2. Participate in class discussions concerning the books read throughout the year via one of
the following:
A. literature circle discussion
B. student-led panel discussion
C. teacher-led Wiki or other web-based project.
ENGLISH IV SUMMER READING BOOK BLURBS
Magnet Schools
Pride and Prejudice (Fiction)
Jane Austen
Elizabeth Bennet, one of five sisters who must marry rich, confounds the arrogant, wealthy Mr.
Darcy.
The Collector
(Fiction)
John Fowles
Freddy Clegg is a neurotic recluse whose only pleasure is collecting butterflies. After Clegg wins
a great sum of money in the British Football Pool, he purchases a large country estate, fixes up
the cellar, and then “collects” Miranda, an art student who is the object of Clegg’s obsessions.
Uhuru Street
(Fiction)
M.G. Vassanji
This novel brings alive the characters who live and work in the shops and tenements of Uhuru
Street. Among a cast of vividly portrayed characters are: Baby, the blubbery-fat daughter of a
grocer, indulged but amiable; Ahmed, the street-wise orphan fighting for survival; Alzira, a
young Goan dressmaker, who gaily entertains her employers with local gossip; and a servant,
Ali, who opens up the world for the children in his charge, until he oversteps his bounds and
abruptly has to leave.
The Mayor of Casterbridge (Fiction)
Thomas Hardy
A poor workman named Michael Henchard, in a fit of drunken rage, sells his wife and baby
daughter to a stranger at a country fair. Stricken with remorse, Henchard forswears alcohol and
works hard to become a prosperous businessman and the respected mayor of Casterbridge. But
he cannot erase his past. His wife ultimately returns to offer Henchard the choice of redemption
or a further descent into his own self-destructive nature.
Passage to India
(Fiction)
E. M. Forster
Adela Quested and her fellow British travelers, eager to experience the “real” India, develop a
friendship with the urbane Dr. Aziz. While on a group outing, Adela and Dr. Aziz visit the
Marabar caves together. As they emerge, Adela accuses the doctor of assaulting her, setting off a
complex chain of events that forever changes the lives of all involved.
All Creatures Great & Small
(Nonfiction)
James Herriot
Take an unforgettable journey through the English countryside and into the homes of its
inhabitants-- four-legged and otherwise-- with the world's best-loved animal doctor.
Out of Africa
(Nonfiction)
Isak Dinesen
This is the true account of Dinesen’s life on her plantation in Kenya. She tells with classic
simplicity of the ways of the country and the natives.
The Importance of Being Earnest (Drama)
Oscar Wilde
In this often-staged witty play, Wilde presents a tongue-in-cheek view of the upper class through
the story of an orphan who desperately wants to enter into Victorian England society.
King Lear
(Drama)
William Shakespeare
King Lear banishes his favorite daughter when she speaks out against him. Little does he know
that the two other daughters who praise him are actually plotting against him.