Summer 2014 Recommended Reading List
Rising Eleventh Grade -- Class of 2016
2014-2015
Non-Fiction Books
Dobson, Jolie. The Duct Tape Book: 25 Projects to make with Duct Tape
Provides instructions for creating twenty-five craft projects using duct tape
Donovan, Sandra. Communication Smarts: How to Express Yourself Best in Conversations, Texts,
Emails, and More
Discusses the many ways teens communicate and the unwritten rules for each form of communication
Higgins, Melissa. Wind Energy
Investigates the use of wind as an energy source, covering the costs, risks, potential roadblocks, and benefits
Holcombe, Whitney. 1 year, 100 Pounds: My Journey to a Better, Happier Life
Whitney Holcombe shares how she lost one hundred pounds and provides strategies for nutrition, health, and
fitness.
Iversen, Kristen. Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Shadow of Rocky Flat
Tells the story of growing up near Rocky Flats, a secret nuclear weapons plant working with plutonium in
Colorado
Kidder, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure
the World
Meet a Harvard-educated doctor with a self-proclaimed mission to transform healthcare on a global scale.
Meyer, Susan. Understanding Digital Piracy
Covers the evolution of digital piracy, the law, the future of digital content, and more
Owings, Lisa. Sustainable Agriculture
Discusses the technology of sustainable agriculture, including the costs, risks, potential roadblocks, and
benefits
Salem Press Editors. Internet Innovators
Contains alphabetically arranged entries that provide biographical information about innovative and significant
individuals in computer technology and the evolution of the Internet
Scherer, Lauri S. Body Image
Sixteen essays that discuss many points of view about body image
Walters, Kerry. The Underground Railroad: A Reference Guide
Portrays the first large scale act of interracial collaboration in the United States, mapping out the complex
network of routes and safe stations that made escape from slavery in the American South possible
Warren, St. John. Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
American-educated Jordanian Luma Mufleh founds a youth soccer team comprised of children from Liberia,
Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkan states, and elsewhere in the refugee settlement town of Clarkston, Georgia,
bringing the children together to discover their common bonds as they adjust to life in a new homeland.
Fiction Books
Charbonneau, Joelle. Independent Study (Series)
Cia Vale attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government's grueling and deadly Testing, putting
her and her loved ones in great danger.
Crossan, Sarah. The Weight of Water
Kasienka and her mother have immigrated to Coventry, England from Poland, searching for Kasienka's
father, but everyone is unfriendly except for an African neighbor and a boy Kasienka meets at the
swimming pool.
de la Pena, Matt. The Living
After an earthquake destroys California and a tsunami wrecks the luxury cruise ship where he is a
summer employee, Shy confronts another deadly surprise.
Deuker, Carl. Swagger
High school senior point guard Jonas Dolan is on the fast track to a basketball career until an unthinkable
choice puts his future on the line.
Dudley, David L. Cy in Chains
In the post-Civil War South, a seventeen-year-old African American boy, accused of a crime, is living in a
labor camp where brutality and near starvation are common place.
Fredericks, Mariah. The Girl in the Park
When a teenaged girl with a bad reputation is murdered in New York City's Central Park, her childhood
friend is determined to solve the mystery of who caused her death.
Garcia, Kami. Beautiful Redemption (Series)
Ethan Wate finally begins to like his small Southern town of Gatlin after meeting Lena Duchannes, but
when he is forced to leave everything behind, both Ethan and Lena risk everything to be together again.
Honeyman, Kay. The Fire Horse Girl
Jade Moon, born in the unlucky year of the Fire Horse, and her father immigrate to America in 1923.
Lo, Malinda. Inheritance
When teens Reese and David are kidnapped after revealing that they were adapted with alien DNA,
Reese is forced to reconcile her new love for David, a human.
Ockler, Sarah. The Book of Broken Hearts
Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this, the Vargas brothers are
notorious heartbreakers.
Strasser, Todd. No Place
When Dan and his parents can no longer pay their mortgage, they end up homeless and living in a local
tent city. It's a bad situation, and it only gets worse.
Vlahos, Len. The Scar Boys: A Novel
Written as a college admission essay, eighteen-year-old Harry Jones recounts a childhood defined by
the hideous scars he hid behind.