Accelerated English III Summer Reading List
American Literature
Each student should read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and one other book of
his/her choice. There will be activities, discussion and a test on To Kill a Mockingbird
when we return to school. Students will do a book talk on their book choice.
Book talk or booktalk is a prepared introduction to a book to elementary, middle, or high
school students. It most closely resembles a movie trailer, where the booktalker gives the
audience a glimpse of the setting, the characters, the major conflict. In addition, the
booktalker usually reads a passage from the book. Throughout the presentation, the
resolution or denouement is never addressed because the purpose is to entice students to
read the book.
Book talks are commonly used to get a reader interested in a book or to recommend
similar books. Students may dress as a character and/or bring props to assist in their
presentation. A Book Talk is like a commercial for the book.
Agee, James—A Death in the Family
Story of loss and heartbreak felt when a young father dies.
Anderson, Sherwood—Winesburg, Ohio
A collection of short stories lays bare the life of a small town in the Midwest.
Angelou, Maya ---I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
An African-American writer traces her coming of age.
Baldwin, James—Go Tell It on the Mountain
Semi-autobiographical novel about a 14-year-old black youth's religious conversion.
Bellow, Saul—Seize the Day
A son grapples with his love and hate for an unworthy father.
Brown, Dee Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
A narrative of the white man's conquest of the American land as the Indian
victims experienced it.
Capote, Truman ---In Cold Blood
Cather, Willa—My Antonia
Immigrant pioneers strive to adapt to the Nebraska prairies.
---Song of the Lark
---O’ Pioneers
Chopin Kate—The Awakening
The story of a New Orleans woman who abandons her husband and children to search for love
and self-understanding.
Comier, Robert—The Chocolate War
Jerry Renault challenges the power structure of his school when he refuses to sell chocolates for
the annual fund-raiser.
Cooper, James Feinmore---The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen—The Red Badge of Courage
During the Civil War, Henry Fleming joins the army full of romantic visions of battle that are
shattered by combat.
Delany, Sara and A. Elizabeth with Amy Hill Hearth
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Two daughters of former slaves tell their stories of fighting racial and gender prejudice during the 20th century.
Dreiser, Theodore—An American Tragedy
Story of a poor boy whose ambition for wealth and social prestige leads him to commit murder.
Dorris, Michael—A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
Three generations of Native American women recount their searches for identity and love.
Ellison, Ralph—Invisible Man
A black man's search for himself as an individual and as a member of his race and his society.
Faulkner, William—As I Lay Dying
The Bundren family takes the ripening corpse of Addie, wife and mother, on a gruesomely comic
journey.
---Light in August
---Intruder in the Dust
---The Sound and the Fury
Guthrie, A. B.—The Big Sky
An adventure story set in the l9th century American wilderness.
Haley, Alex Roots
Traces Haley's search for the history of his family, from Africa through the era of
slavery to the 20th century.
Heller, Joseph—Catch-22
A broad comedy about a WWII bombardier based in Italy and his efforts to avoid bombing
missions
Hemingway, Ernest—A Farewell to Arms
During World War I, an American lieutenant runs away with the woman who nurses him back to
health.
----The Sun Also Rises
----For Whom the Bell Tolls
----Old Man and the Sea
Hurston, Zora Neale—Their Eyes Were Watching God
Janie repudiates many roles in her quest for self-fulfillment.
Kerouac, Jack ---On the Road
Kesey, Ken—One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A novel about a power struggle between the head nurse and one of the male patients in a mental
institution.
Lee, Harper—To Kill a Mockingbird
At great peril to himself and his children, lawyer Atticus Finch defends an African-American man
accused of raping a white woman in a small Alabama town.
Lewis, Sinclair—Main Street
A young doctor's wife tries to change the ugliness, dullness and ignorance, which prevail in
Gopher Prairie, Minn.
London, Jack—Call of the Wild
Buck is a loyal pet dog until cruel men make him a pawn in their search for Klondike gold.
McCullers, Carson—The Member of the Wedding
A young southern girl is determined to be the third party on a honeymoon, despite all the advice
against it from friends and family.
Mailer, Norman---The Naked and the Dead
Melville, Herman—Moby-Dick
A complex novel about a mad sea captain's pursuit of the White Whale.
Morrison, Toni—Sula
The lifelong friendship of two women becomes strained when one causes the other's husband to
abandon her.
---Beloved
---Song of Solomon
---The Bluest Eye
O'Connor, Flannery—A Good Man is Hard to Find
Social awareness, the grotesque, and the need for faith characterize these stories of the
contemporary.
Parks, Gordon—The Learning Tree
A fictional study of a black family in a small Kansas town in the 1920s.
Plath, Sylvia—The Bell Jar
The heartbreaking story of a talented young woman's decent into madness.
Poe, Edgar Allan—Great Tales and Poems
Poe is considered the father of detective stories and a master of supernatural tales.
Potok, Chaim—The Chosen
Friendship between two Jewish boys, one Hasidic and the other Orthodox, begins at a baseball
game and flourishes despite their different backgrounds and beliefs.
Sinclair, Upton—The Jungle
The deplorable conditions of the Chicago stockyards are exposed in this turn-of-the-century
novel.
Steinbeck, John—The Grapes of Wrath
The desperate plight of tenant farmers from Oklahoma during the Depression.
--- Cannery Row
---East of Eden
Stowe, Harriet Beecher—Uncle Tom's Cabin
The classic tale that awakened a nation about the slavery system.
Twain, Mark—The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huck and Jim, a runaway slave, travel down the Mississippi in search of freedom.
--- Tom Sawyer
Vonnegut, Kurt—Slaughterhouse-Five
Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist from Ilium, New York, shuttles between World War II Dresden and
a luxurious zoo on the planet Tralfamadore.
Uris, Leon—Mila 18
The story of a group of courageous Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.
Walker, Alice—The Color Purple
A young woman sees herself as property until another woman teaches her to value herself.
Warren, Robert Penn—All the King’s Men
A politician falls for the corrupting influences of power.
Wells, H G.—The Time Machine
A scientist invents a machine that transports him into the future.
Welty, Eudora—Delta Wedding
An insightful and humorous look at a wedding Southern style.
Wharton, Edith—House of Mirth
Lily Bart commits a sin of innocence and alienates herself from New York’s society.
---Ethan Fromme
---The Age of Innocence
Wolfe, Thomas—Look Homeward Angel
A novel depicting the coming of age of Eugene Gant and his passion to experience life.
Wright, Richard—Native Son
Bigger Thomas, a young man from the Chicago slums, lashes out against a hostile society by
committing two murders.
Book Talk Rubric
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
Written Copy
The student turns in
an attractive and
complete copy of
the book talk in the
correct format.
The student turns in
a complete copy of
the book talk in the
correct format.
The student turns in The student turns in
a complete copy of an incomplete copy
the book talk, but
of the book talk.
the format was not
correct.
Sequence
The book talk
identifies the genre,
begins with an
interesting hook and
then retells an
exciting part of the
story. The book talk
concludes with a
restatement of the
title, author, and a
compelling reason
for reading the
book. Suggests
other books.
The book talk
begins with a hook
and then retells one
or two parts of the
story. The book talk
concludes with a
restatement of the
title, author, and a
reason for reading
the book.
The book talk
The book talk retells
begins by retelling
the entire story.
one or two details of
the story.
Missing elements
like author and
genre.
Setting
Many vivid,
descriptive words
are used to tell the
audience when and
where the story
takes place.
Characters
The main characters
are named and
clearly described
(through words
and/or actions). The
audience knows and
can describe what
the characters look
like and how they
typically behave.
The book talk
concludes with a
restatement of the
title and author.
No reason for
reading the book or
suggestions of other
books.
Some vivid,
descriptive words
are used to tell the
audience when and
where the story
takes place.
The audience can
figure out when and
where the story took
place, but the word
choices are limited,
vague, or overused.
The audience has
trouble telling when
and where the story
takes place.
The main characters
are named and
described (through
words and/or
actions). The
audience has a
fairly good idea of
what the characters
look like.
The main characters It is hard to tell who
are named. The
the main characters
audience knows
are.
very little about the
main characters.
Suggests other
books.
Problem
It is immediately
clear to the
audience what
problem the main
character(s) face
and why it is a
problem.
It is eventually clear
to the audience
what problem the
main character(s)
face and why it is a
problem.
It is clear to the
audience what
problem the main
character(s) face,
but it is not clear
why it is a problem.
It is not clear what
problem the main
character(s) face.
Oral
Presentation
Storyteller looks at
and tells the story to
all members of the
audience using
expressive
language.
Storyteller looks at
and tells the story to
a few people in the
audience with
expression.
Storyteller looks at
and tells the story to
1-2 people in the
audience.
Storyteller does not
look at or try to
involve the
audience.
Presentation is 1-2
minutes long.
Difficult to hear the
presenter who
delivers the talk in a
monotone.
Uses props.
Presentation is 2-3
minutes long.
Presentation is 2-3
minutes long.
Too short or long.