June 12, 2014
Dear Parents,
Due to the great success of our summer reading program, we are continuing with a book club format this year.
Our summer books were selected by some of our upper school and rising upper school students, and each of
these students will lead a book discussion in the fall. All of the books that were chosen by our students contain
an interesting theme that highlights an important social issue.
Upper school students will each choose one of the books listed in this packet. To ensure that your child will be
able to fully participate in a book discussion, he or she will also fill out a reading log that will be submitted on
September 9, 2014. The instructions for the logs are also located in this packet.
We are very excited about our summer reading program, and we are looking forward to some excellent
discussions in the fall.
Sincerely,
Liz McGowen
Liz McGowen
Upper School Team Leader
2014 Summer Books
(please choose one)
Geektastic Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside) and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have
united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising
geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green,
Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy
Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.
With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee
O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction,
theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just
want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!
Description and image courtesy of GoogleBooks
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—
with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s
sick and he’s going to die. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk
angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s
willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard
gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart
of what matters most
Description and image courtesy of GoogleBooks
Help for the Haunted by John Searles
It begins with a call one snowy February night. Lying in her bed, young Sylvie Mason
overhears her parents on the phone across the hall. This is not the first late-night call they have
received, since her mother and father have an uncommon occupation: helping "haunted souls" find
peace. And yet something in Sylvie senses that this call is different from the others, especially when
they are lured to the old church on the outskirts of town. Once there, her parents disappear, one after
the other, behind the church's red door, leaving Sylvie alone in the car. Not long after, she drifts off to
sleep, only to wake to the sound of gunfire.
As the story weaves back and forth through the years leading up to that night and the months
following, the ever-inquisitive Sylvie searches for answers and uncovers secrets that have haunted
her family for years.
Capturing the vivid eeriness of Stephen King's works and the quirky tenderness of John Irving's
novels, Help for the Haunted is told in the captivating voice of a young heroine who is determined to
discover the truth about what happened on that winter night.
Description and image courtesy of GoogleBooks
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Sam Spade's partner is murdered while working on a case, and it is Spade's
responsibility to find the killer. In his search, Spade runs mortal risks as he comes closer to
the answer.
Description and image courtesy of GoogleBooks
The Strange Case Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
A story of double personality. The respected Dr. Jekyll conceives a secret chemical
potion that transforms him into the evil and ugly Mr. Hyde, who stalks the streets of London
committing terrible crimes.
Description and image courtesy of GoogleBooks
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
This innovative debut novel by British author H.G. Wells follows an unnamed
scientist as he uses a time machine to travel from turn-of-the-century England into the far
future. Instead of a world of gleaming technology, the explorer finds a primitive society
populated by the fragile, human-like Eloi and the predatory, underground-dwelling Morlocks.
Attempting to retrieve his stolen invention and return to his own time, the traveler encounters
plenty of dangers and eventually glimpses more unsettling visions of dire future eras.
Description and image courtesy of GoogleBooks
Upper School Summer Book Reading Log (page 1)
Please fill out the log below as you read your summer book. You may write directly on these sheets or you may
download this sheet from the school website and type directly on it. Your book is split into four sections, and
you should fill in a row of the log after every section. Specifically, after you read each quarter of your book,
write a four to five sentence summary of what occurred in that section of the book. Also write a brief reaction,
(about three sentences), to the events of each section.
Section
Summary
(Circle and use the
guidelines for your
book)
Reaction
(4-5 sentences)
(Write 3 sentences that discuss your
feelings about what happened in this
section)
Geektastic
(pages 1-80)
Going Bovine
(ch. 1-12)
Help for the Haunted
(ch. 1-5)
The Maltese Falcon
(ch. 1-5)
The Strange Case of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
(ch. 1-2)
The Time Machine
(ch. 1-3)
Geektastic
(pages 81-154)
Going Bovine
(ch. 13-25)
Help for the Haunted
(ch. 6-11)
The Maltese Falcon
(ch. 6-10)
The Strange Case of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
(ch. 3-5)
The Time Machine
(ch. 4-6)
Geektastic
(pages 155-272)
Going Bovine
(ch. 26-38)
Help for the Haunted
(ch. 12-17)
The Maltese Falcon
(ch. 11-15)
The Strange Case of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
(ch. 6-8)
The Time Machine
(ch. 7-9)
Geektastic
(Pages 273-end)
Going Bovine
(ch. 39-end)
Help for the Haunted
(ch. 18-end)
The Maltese Falcon
(ch.. 16-end)
The Strange Case of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
(ch. 9-end)
The Time Machine
(ch. 10-end)
Summary
Reaction
(4-5sentences)
(Write 3 sentences that discuss your
feelings about what happened in this
section)