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June 2015
Dear Parents,
As you know, summer reading assignments are an important part of every high school’s academic
program. Research has shown that critical reading skills are key to effective oral and written
communication. Both of these skills are the foundation for success in higher education and the career
world. We hope that our summer reading program is one way to encourage our students to read more,
read purposefully, and read for enjoyment.
When your students are juniors and seniors, many of you will call the guidance department to ask for
suggestions regarding SAT preparation courses. These very expensive programs are not nearly as
effective in preparing our students for the SAT as good reading habits. In addition to the educational
value of good reading habits, reading opens a young person’s mind to a wealth of ideas and knowledge
that will be invaluable in life’s journey.
This year, we are asking you to partner with us to insure that our students read the required and at least
one of the suggested books that are assigned. Too often, students wait until the end of the summer,
read hastily or rely on “the movie” or study guides, such as the Spark Notes, rather than actually reading
the material carefully. We are asking you to do several things. First, please make sure that your daughter
has purchased or borrowed the books early in the summer. Periodically check to see that she is pacing
herself and reading throughout the summer. Encourage your daughter to read thoughtfully by looking
up unfamiliar vocabulary and keeping a reading journal with key themes or questions about the book.
Finally, we are asking both students and parents to sign the attached contract verifying that the students
have completed the summer reading assignments.
Attached you will find a list of required books for certain courses. Also attached is a suggested reading
list for all high school students. We are asking each student to read at least one other book from the
suggested list, in addition to required reading for specific courses. We hope that by giving each student
the option of reading a book of her choice from the suggested list that she will enjoy the reading
experience as well as learn from it.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Linda Arndt
Academic Dean
Mrs. Joan Olsinski
Academic Dean
Mrs. Patricia O’Grady
Director of Guidance
Ms. Kathryn DeBlock
Guidance Counselor
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Dear Students and Parents,
In an effort to ensure that you have successfully completed your summer reading assignments,
we are asking both our students and their parents to please sign the following contract and
return it to the homeroom teacher on the first day of classes. We hope by encouraging you to
read throughout the summer that you will develop a habit of reading that will last a lifetime.
____I have successfully completed all of my summer reading assignments. The additional book
that I selected to read was _______________________________________________________.
Student’s Name (please print) _________________________________________________
(Student’s signature) ________________________________________________________
___My daughter has completed her summer reading assignments.
Parent’s Name_____________________________________________________________
(Parent’s signature)_________________________________________________________
Thank you for your cooperation.
Please return this form to the homeroom teacher on the first day of classes.
Mandatory Summer Reading
Summer 2015
FRESHMEN IN 2015-2016
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
SOPHOMORES IN 2015-2016
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
JUNIORS IN 2015-2016
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
SENIORS IN 2015-2016
Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
(Check Amazon.com or e-book downloads for the best prices. You may also patronize your local
public library. You might also get the books from former students.)
Reading for English Classes
FRESHMEN IN 2015-2016
Types of Literature College Prep:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Types of Literature Honors:
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
SOPHOMORES IN 2015-2016
American Literature College Prep:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
American Literature Honors (in addition to the above):
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
JUNIORS IN 2015-2016
British Literature College Prep:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
British Literature Honors:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (must be read before Wide Sargasso Sea)
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
SENIORS IN 2015-2016
World Literature College Prep:
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (See Mrs. Moser for book.)
World Literature Honors:
1984 by George Orwell
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
College Essay
In addition to the summer reading, all seniors are required to write one college essay over the
summer break. Students are expected to have their first drafts for the first day of classes. The
English classes will work to perfect the essays throughout the first marking period.
Students who are not positive where they are applying should complete the essay on the
common application.
AP Classes have already received their reading lists or work packets. Those reading lists are in
addition to the books listed above for all students.
Suggested Summer Reading
Summer 2015
In addition to the assigned books listed for your courses, please select at least one book from
this list to add to your mandatory summer reading. This book may not be one of your
mandatory summer reading books. When you return in the fall, you will be asked to write a
short essay discussing the book you have chosen. Remember reading is the best preparation for
the SAT and ACT. Watching the movie or reading a study guide in place of reading the book will
not help with improving your reading and writing skills.
Books marked with * have been suggested by students.
*A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
*A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
*A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
*A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
*A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
*ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
*Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
*Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
All But My Life by Gerda Weissman Klein
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
*And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
*Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
*Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
*Animal Farm by George Orwell
*Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
*Bright Young Things by Anne Godbersen
Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
*Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
*Colors of the Mountain by DaUng
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Divergent Series by Veronica Roth
*Dracula by Bram Stoker
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
End of the Affair by Graham Greene
*Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki
*Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
*Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell
*Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
*Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
*Growing Up by Russell Baker
*Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
*House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Jubilee by Margaret Walker
*Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
*Kindred by Octavia Butler
*Light in August by William Faulkner
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
*Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkein
Love After Auschwitz by Livia Bitton-Jackson
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
*Modoc by Ralph Helfer
More Than This by Patrick Ness
*Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
*Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
*Night by Elie Wiezel
*Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
*Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
*Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
*Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
*Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred Taylor
*Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Shanghi Girls by Lisa See
Sister of My Heart by Christa Banerjee Oivakaruni
Slaughter House –Five by Kurt Vonnegut
*Sold by Patricia McCormick
*Speak by Laurie Anderson
*The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
*The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
*The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyle
*The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
*The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
*The Girl who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
*The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
*The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
*The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
*The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
*The Hunger Games (Series) by Suzanne Collins
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
The Last Lecture by Randy Pauch
*The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson
*The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
*The Luxe (Book 1 of Series) by Anne Godbersen
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
*The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
*The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Power of One by Bruce Courtenay
*The Road by Cormac McCarthy
*The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
*The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
*The Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daily
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
*Those Who Saved Us by Jenna Blum
*The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
*Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
*Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
*Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipovic