Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
APUSH Outside Reading Assignment
The second quarter of each semester this year will be dedicated in part to an outside
reading assignment. Some of these books are available for free on the kindle, others you
will need to borrow from a library, or me, or you may need to purchase. Please consult
with your parents before choosing a book due to the mature content of some of these
books.
1st semester – book report due January 9th 2013, your book must be from general history
or 1600-1900
2nd semester – book report due May 29th 2013, your book must be from general history or
1900-2000
You may choose a book from general history for only one semester, the other must be a
book from that time period. You may also choose a book from the given time period for
both semesters. If there is a book you think should be on the list, see me and I will
consider adding it for you if it meets the criteria.
The Assignment
1. As you read your book, write down important dates and events. Create a timeline
(minimum of 20 dates for non-fiction books). For fiction books create a list of characters
with a list of key events that take place in the novel (minimum of ten events).
2. In your commonplace book, write a 5-10 sentence (1/2 page) summary for
approximately every 20 pages.
3. In your commonplace book, write quotes or dialogue from the book with the page
number. Why did you choose this quote or dialogue? Who said it and what significance
and/or importance does it have to the story or event? (minimum ten)
4. Create a vocabulary list – write the word and page number as well as the definition and
the source of the definition (minimum 20 words).
5. After you have finished the book, write a 2 page evaluation of it. Typed, 12 point font,
double-spaced. Answer all the questions listed below.
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Write a brief summary of the book, what was it about?
Evaluate the writing style (was it interesting to read?)
Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?
Do you have any questions about what you read? If so, what are they (note the
page numbers)?
What questions would you ask the author if you had the opportunity?
What did you learn by reading this book?
Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
General U.S. History
(May be used for either semester, but only one semester)
Out of Our Past, Carl Degler - This general history of the main forces which shaped U.S.
history written in an lively and provocative style. Degler looks primarily at social and
intellectual history.
A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn - A new left history of the U.S.
written from the perspective of the people at the bottom. His controversial interpretations
make interesting reading.
The American Political Tradition, Richard Hofstadter - Hofstadter's book has been
required reading in most college history courses since it was written. It looks at U.S.
history by analyzing the fives of individuals who characterized or shaped American
political thinking. This caustic, daring book was written in response to the liberal views
of Progressive historians which dominated historiography in the 1930s.
A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, Ronald Takaki - Takaki retells
U.S. history in this powerful narrative of the people who came together from different
"points of departure" to compose the nation.
Born for Liberty, Sara Evans - Comprehensive history of women in America, it is both
readable and admirable.
There is a River, Vincent Harding - This narrative of the black experience in American
covers 1620 to 1875. It focuses on the tradition of black protest.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown, editor - A collection of statements and
recollections by American Indians which gives their point of view on the settlement of
the West.
500 Anos del Pueblo Chicano: 500 years of Chicano History, Elizabeth Martinez - An
exciting, bilingual text on the history of Mexican-Americans in the Southwest.
Books That Changed America, Robert Downs - Provides a quick look at the twenty-five
books that most influenced American history.
American Diplomacy, 1900-1950, George Kennan - The "realist" view of U.S. foreign
policy by the man who helped shape the U.S. policies in the Cold War.
Strangers from a Different Shore, Ronald Takaki – this blend of narrative history and
personal recollection, and oral testimony, covers the history of Asian-Americans, from
early settlement on the California coast, to the interment of Japanese-Americans in World
War II, to the present.
Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
Colonial Period and the American Revolution (1607-1789)
(May be used for only 1st semester)
Red, White and Black, Gary Nash - One of the first works to look at early American
history as an interaction between three distinct cultures.
The American Revolution, Edward Countryman - A brief synthesis of recent scholarship
on the origins and aftermath of the American Revolution.
The Minutemen and Their World, Robert Gross - Social history of the Revolutionary
period, this book is based on a reconstruction of life in 18th century Concord, Mass.
Liberty's Daughters, Mary Beth Norton - This book, by the principle editor of our text,
looks at the effect of the American Revolution on women.
Miracle at Philadelphia: Story of the Constitutional Convention, Catherine Drinker
Bowen - Readable history of the day-to-day events of the Summer of 1787 and the
writing of the Constitution.
The Cow Neck Rebels, James Forman - The story explores the loyalties of six members
of the same family and how they were affect by the Revolutionary War.
The Unvanquished, Howard Fast - The winter at Valley Forge as seen though the eyes of
the common foot soldiers. Also Citizen Tom Paine
Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757, James Fenimore Cooper - Story takes place
during the French and Indian War and sheds fight on the relationships between the
French, Indians, British and American colonists.
The Prospering, Elizabeth Speare - Settlement of Stockbridge, Mass. Looks at religious
philosophies in the late colonial period (First Great Awakening).
Witnesses, Marcy Heidish - Anne Hutchinson's struggle for freedom in Puritan New
England.
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne - Portrays the moral climate in colonial New
England.
Oliver Wistwell, by Kenneth Roberts - An account based on the treatment of pro-British
royalists during the American Revolution (Also, any other book by Roberts)
Building of a New Nation (1789-1850)
(May be used for only 1st semester)
Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard. Based on Her Diary 1785-1812, Laurel
Thatcher - The author provides a fascinating window on women and early American
society, especially work, courtship, marriage and family life.
The Age of Jackson, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. - Classic history of the Jacksonian era,
defines the concept of liberal reform and sees Jacksonian Democracy as the first major
liberal reform movement in U.S. history.
Jonathan Dearborn, Esther Forbes - The story of an American privateer during the War of
1812, it reveals the lack of support for the war in the U.S.
The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron - This book recounts the 1831 slave
rebellion led by Nat Turner.
Orphan Train, James Magnuson & Dorothea Petrie - A group of orphans are shipped to
the Midwest where it is hoped that new homes can be found for them.
The President's Lady, Irving Stone - Andrew Jackson courts Rachel in the turmoil of the
early 19th cent.
Black Thunder, Arna Bontemps - Story of a major slave rebellion, Gabriel's Rebellion,
and the political climate of the times.
Sally Hemings, Barbara Chase-Riboud - The life and times of Sally Hemings, Thomas
Jefferson's forbidden love who was also his slave. Looks a black-white relations from the
American Revolution until the 1830s.
Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
(May be used for only 1st semester)
Reconstruction, America's Unfinished Revolution, Eric Foner - This is the most
comprehensive history of Reconstruction demonstrating "the centrality of the black
experience." It's wonderful, it's difficult and it's long, but if you get through it you will
know Reconstruction.
Celia: A Slave, Melton McCaurin - A compelling account of a slave woman's trial for
murdering her white master after continued sexual abuse.
Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup - One of the few slave narratives which
provides significant insight into plantation life in the Deep South.
A Stillness at Appomattox, Glory Road, Mr. Lincoln's Army, Bruce Catton - Bruce
Catton brings the people of the past to such vivid life that he.is the most widely read
historian in the U.S. A Stillness at Appomattox won both the Pulitzer Prize and the
National Book Award. He is THE Civil War historian.
Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
The Peculiar Institution, Kenneth Stamp - Stamp's book helped to redefine the history of
slavery during the 1950s and 60s.
Autobiography: My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglas - Douglas describes
his life as a slave, his escape and the prejudice he encountered in the North.
Jubilee, Margaret Walker - Through the experiences of a slave women, the lifestyle of
slavery and the struggles of blacks during and after the Civil War are depicted
Killer Angels, Michael Shaara - Fictional account of the Battle of Gettysburg from both
sides.
Andersonville, MacKinley Kantor - describes the living conditions and treatment of war
prisoners in the Confederates' largest prison camp during the Civil War.
The Friendly Persuasion, Jessarnyn West - Lifestyle of a family of Quakers living in
Indiana and how their lives are affected by an incident during the Civil War.
Midnight Rising, Tony Horwitz –The raid on Harper’s Ferry, one of the events leading up
to the Civil War.
Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane - Characterization of a Union soldier experiencing
his first action at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe - Influential book written in the 1850s about
the harsh life of blacks under slavery.
Lincoln, Gore Vidal - Highly rated fictional account of the man who led the Union
through one of the great crises of US history.
Freedom Road, Howard Fast - Fictionalized account of Reconstruction
Early Twentieth Century Through the Depression and WWII
(May be used for only 2nd semester)
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair – the muckraking masterpiece The Jungle centers on Jurgis
Rudkus, and Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago’s infamous Packingtown. Instead
of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing
urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians.
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, John M. Barry In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young
adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly
overwhelmed; in Philadelphia, 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up
on the streets to be carted off to mass graves.
Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal
the Country, Laton McCartney - Financial journalist McCartney meticulously describes
the systematic corruption of Warren Harding's White House in The Teapot Dome
Scandal.
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American
Dust Bowl, Timothy Egan - The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest
years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Timothy Egan's
critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the
shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage.
Black Rain, Masuji Ibuse – This powerful novel shows the horrors of the atomic bomb
from the perspective of a Japanese woman who was caught in the “black rain” that fell
after the bombing of Hiroshima.
When the Emperor was Divine, Julie Otsuka – This novel captures the events leading up
to the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII. Both subtle and poigniant, it gives a
dramatic look into discrimination and one of the most shameful moments in American
history.
MAUS: volumes I and II, – Art Spieglman – This graphic novel includes a close look at
the holocaust and it’s aftermath, following the story of a young American man
interviewing his survivor father. MAUS captures the horrors of the holocaust in a very
different way, and the graphic novel nature of this account allows for exercises in satire
that are not present in most accounts of this horrific event. (if you choose this novel, you
will need to see me, as you will have a different assignment than your classmates)
Post World War II
American Diplomacy, 1900-1950, George Kennan – The “realist” view of U.S. foreign
policy by the man who helped shape the U.S. policies in the Cold War.
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (1987), Kenneth T. Jackson
- This first full-scale history of the development of the American suburb examines how
"the good life" in America came to be equated with the a home of one's own surrounded
by a grassy yard and located far from the urban workplace.
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson - The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 forced the
government to ban DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air,
land, and water.
The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan - Here is the book that jump-started the modern
women's movement, filled with ideas and inspiration as vital to women today as when it
first appeared. More than three decades later, the issues raised by Friedan still strike at
the core of the challenges women face at home and in the workplace.
Ms. Densley
Outside Reading List
13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings, Philip Caputo – Through many
first hand accounts and extensive research, Caputo recaptures the events of the tragedy at
Kent State in May of 1970, highlighting the frustrations of the American citizens at the
Vietnam War.
All the President's Men, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward – Beginning with the story of a
simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing with headline after
headline, Bernstein and Woodward kept the tale of conspiracy and the trail of dirty trick
coming – delivering the stunning revelations and pieces in the Watergate puzzle that
brought about Nixon’s scandalous downfall
Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, Lawrence Write – For most American,
al Qaeda began to exist on September 11, 2001. Since then, we’ve been frantically
piecing together shards of information about this secretive extremist movement. But
connecting the dots isn’t always easy. Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower translates
data into meaning by tracing the rise of the group through the lives of four men: two
terrorists and two men who tracked them.
Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (2005), George Packer - Recounts how the United
States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a
guerrilla war in Iraq.
Fiasco: the American adventure in Iraq: Thomas E. Ricks – Pulitzer Prize-winning author
for the Washington Post, Ricks covers the planning and execution of the war in Iraq
through mid-2006, from the most successful moments to the most tragic failures.