Trinity High School
Summer Reading Requirement
Freshman Pre-IB and College Prep
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The Trinity English Department seeks to encourage reading for pleasure and to foster a love of literature by
expecting incoming freshman to read ONE book from their course selection. These novels have been carefully
selected by the department to enhance the freshman English curriculum. All students, regardless of when their
English class is scheduled, will be tested on the summer reading during the first week of school. Students will
also participate in literature circles in the first week of their class, engaging in dialogue according to their course
theme. We strongly encourage students to annotate their text in order to retain important ideas for discussion.
See freshman bookmark for annotation guidelines.
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Pre-IB Selection
Choose ONE of the following:
Option #1: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is
a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.
The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has
enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting,
the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work
of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.
Paperback, 528 pages; Published 2006 by HarperCollins Publishers (first published 1943); (ISBN13: 978-0061120077)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14891.A_Tree_Grows_in_Brooklyn
Option #2: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But
when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives
in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must
somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship,
abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.
Paperback, 246 pages; Published 2003 by Perennial (first published 1988); (ISBN13: 9780060915544)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13549048-the-bean-trees
College Prep Selection
Choose ONE of the following:
X
Option#1: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fistfighter, and quite a lot of thievery....
Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of
Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t
resist – books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during
bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.
Hardcover, 550 pages; Published 2006 by Knopf Books for Young Readers; (ISBN13: 978-0-375-84220-7)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19063.The_Book_Thief
Option #2: Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt: ALL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN SUMMER READING COURSE MUST
CHOOSE THIS TEXT
It’s still true.” That’s the first thing James Tillerman says to his older sister, Dicey, every morning. It’s still true that their mother has
abandoned the four Tillermans in a mall parking lot somewhere in the middle of Connecticut. It’s still true that they have to find their
own way to Great-aunt Cilla’s house in Bridgeport. It’s still true that they need to spend as little as possible on food and seek shelter
anywhere that is out of view of the authorities. It’s still true that the only way they can hope to all stay together is to just keep moving
forward.
Deep down, Dicey hopes they can find someone to trust, someone who will take them in and love them. But she’s afraid it’s just too
much to hope for....
Paperback, 400 pages; Published 2012 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers (first published 1977); (ISBN13: 9781442428782)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12343682-homecoming