Suggested Summer Reading

Grades 9- 12

For Grade 9

• Getting ready to transition from elementary or middle school to high school means making the transition from the genre usually termed “young adult” to the level of reading required in a high school English class.
• A mix of contemporary and classic works, from all genres and realms of literature are appropriate titles for students in grade 9.

All Quiet on the Western Front

• Written by Erich Remarque
• All Quiet on the Western Front" is the story of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier serving in the trenches in France.
• After a rigorous period of military training, Baumer and his friends go to the front as infantrymen.
• Baumer quickly discovers that the blood-drenched trenches of the Western Front are a full of tragedy, misery and violent death.
• If you like it, give The Girl At War by Sara Novic a try.

A Lesson Before Dying

• Written by Ernest Gaines
• The story is set in the late 1940's in the small Cajun community of Bayonne, Louisiana.
• It centers around an innocent black man on death row for a crime he did not commit and the friendship that sparks between him and Grant, a local schoolteacher.
• If you enjoy this novel, try To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. �

We Have Always Lived in a Castle

• Written by Shirley Jackson
• Merricat and Constance are two sisters who live isolated on the edge of town at Blackwood Manor.
• They seldom venture out of their home, and when they do are subjected to abuse at the hands of the villagers
• The story begins years after a poisoning during supper at Blackwood Manor, which killed most of the family.
• If you enjoy this, give The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman Perkins a try.

Watership Down

• Written by Richard Adams
• The story is about a band of rabbits---Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, Dandelion, and Bluebell---who set off from their holes to find a new rabbit warren on the plains of Watership Down.
• They leave their original warren because Fiver has a vision of it being destroyed.
• The trials and tribulations of Hazel and his band of rogue rabbits carry the story forward and the metaphor is beautifully recognized.
• If you like this, try Animal Farm by George Orwell

For Grade 10

• As students move into the 10^th grade, their reading level has risen considerably, at least in many cases.
• They are now fully immersed in the study of literature and after a year of 9^th grade literature, are ready to explore deeper topics and various timely and vintage works of literature.
• Books from both American authors and British authors will normally appear on a list of recommended books for 10^th grade students.

Dracula

• Written by Bram Stoker
• Perhaps the most famous epistolary novel written, it is a must read for students to become familiar with that unique writing style.
• Told via letters and journal entries, this original and classic vampire tale will thrill all students and add a chill to their summer days.
• If you enjoy this, try The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, for a modern homage to the classic novel.

Profiles in Courage

• Written by John F. Kennedy
• 10^th grade is the perfect time to incorporate historical non-fiction onto a summer reading list.
• Kennedy wrote the book while he was still a Senator
• It focuses, for the most part, on historic politicians.
• Kennedy obviously admired these men, not for their great successes but for the personal price they all paid as a result of choosing to do what they felt was right.
• If you enjoy it, try An Unfinished Life by Robert Dallek

A Night to Remember

• Written by Walter Lord
• With a passenger list in the back, detailing those who survived and those who didn't, "A Night to Remember," is a harrowing account of the Titanic's ill-fated journey from Europe to the United States.
• The book really tells of the people who spent fortunes to get aboard the Titanic, the most luxurious cruise liner of the time.
• If you enjoy it, give The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger a try.

The Story of My Life

• Written by Helen Keller
• When we think of Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, it is almost impossible to conceive just how Helen learned to read and write, and even speak.
• Helen lost her sight and hearing as an infant and her courageous story has always served as an inspiration and a motivation for other to succeed.
• If you like this, give A Beautiful Mind by Syliva Nassar a try.

For Grade 11

• Halfway through their high school career, English students have now become accustomed to summer reading and are almost always prepared and willing to read the books the teacher selects.
• Having covered numerous classic works during their school English classes, at this point, it is always beneficial to open up the summer reading list to “future” classics, or contemporary works that students may really enjoy during the summer. This will also help to foster a continued love of reading.

Into Thin Air

• Written by Jon Krakauer
• In May 0f 1996, newspaper headlines called the world’s attention to the biggest disaster in the history of Mt. Everest.
• Jon Krakauer was there, as a writer for “Outside” magazine and witnessed first hand the death and horror that occurred on that dangerous mountain.
• If you like this, give Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing a read.

The Andromeda Strain

• Written by Michael Crichton
• This book describes a fictional encounter with microbes from beyond.
• The men sent to recover a satellite from where it has landed in this small town wonder why there are no lights at all in a town at ten-o clock at night.
• They enter the town and within five minutes are dead.
• And the story picks up at a terrifying pace…
• If you enjoy this book, give Jurassic Park a try!

The Da Vinci Code

• Written by Dan Brown.
• A runaway bestseller, this book will have students burning the midnight oil to finish.
• It’s hard to give a summary without revealing any of the intricate plot twists, but draw students in with stories of messages hidden in works of art, ancient codes and cryptic containers, and a centuries old search for the elusive Holy Grail.
• If you enjoy this book, give The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larrson a try.

�And Then There Were None

• Written by Agatha Christie.
• This classic who done it is perhaps the best plotted murder mystery ever penned.
• Ten strangers, lured to a mysterious island and, with seemingly no connection to each other or their host, mysteriously begin to be killed, one by one.
• If you enjoy this, give The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler a try.

For Grade 12

• At the beginning of the end, the summer before senior year, students will be facing the pressures of the college application process looming over their heads.
• However, for those students who excel in English as well as for those who, once high school is over, will only take English if it is required, this is the teacher’s last chance to impart a lasting love of reading, by assigning works that will stay with students for a lifetime.

Shogun

• Written by James Clavell
• This is a book about a man named John Blackthorn, English pilot of the Dutch ship Erasmus who was washed ashore with what was left of his crew in the small Japanese village of Anjiro.
• His tale is amazing, for Blackthorn will become the man who brings Japan into the 17th century.
• He introduces them to guns, and totally decimates the Portuguese Jesuit hold over Japan.
• If you enjoy this, give Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden a try.

Angela’s Ashes

• Written by Frank Mc Court.
• An autobiographical tale of growing up poor and Catholic in Ireland, Mc Court’s tale of overwhelming poverty and family struggles will be eye opening for many students.
• Sprinkled with humor and written in a tongue in cheek style at times, his writing will be appreciated by senior level students.
• If you enjoy this, give Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Dedicant a try.

�The Lords of Discipline

• Written by Pat Conroy
• A thinly veiled tell all about the trials and tribulations of being a cadet at the Citadel, this book managed to get Conroy blackballed from the campus for decades.
• The harrowing account of hazings and brutality amongst the “plebes” will hopefully serve as a cautionary tale to students at the age where many of them are considering joining a fraternity.
• If you enjoy this, try any other of Pat Conroy’s works.

Some Final Titles for 12^th Grade

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

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• Once your students hit senior year, provide them with as many choices as possible to open them up to a world of wonder, via literature.