For English classes
Each student must read at least two books from the appropriate grade-level list during the summer of 2008.
Upcoming Freshmen
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- In this autobiography Angelou tells of the turbulent events of her childhood, during which she shuttled back and forth between dramatically different environments in Arkansas, Missouri, and California. During these growing up years she struggled against the odds of being black at a time when prejudice was at its height. But most of all, her story is the story of discovering who she is — of working her way through a multi-faceted identity crisis.
- The Last Dog on Earth by Daniel Ehrenhaft
- Fourteen-year-old Logan Moore, lacking direction and self-esteem, develops a strong bond with Jack, a stray dog, but even that relationship is threatened when a deadly disease emerges which causes canines to turn vicious before they die, and has humans reacting in a typically irrational manner.
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- After a plane crash strands them on a tropical island while the rest of the world is ravaged by war, a group of British schoolboys attempts to form a civilized society but descends into brutal anarchy.
- Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
- Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov.
- Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers
- Sixteen-year-old Jimmy, on probation for assault, talks about life with three old men in a Harlem barbershop and hears about the tools he can use to get what he wants.
Upcoming Sophomores
- Chuck Dugan is AWOL by Eric Chase Anderson
- After receiving a treasure map drawn by his late father, midshipman Chuck Dugan goes AWOL to find the treasure and prevent his mother from marrying a devious man.
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Fourteen-year-old Lily and her companion, Rosaleen, an African-American woman who has cared from Lily since her mother's death ten years earlier, flee their home after Rosaleen is victimized by racist police officers, and find a safe haven in Tiburon, South Carolina at the home of three beekeeping sisters, May, June, and August.
- Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson
- Filled with resentment over the attention showered upon her twin sister, and awaiting the day she can leave her town behind, young Louise meets a wise old sea captain and begins learning how to let go of her anger.
- Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
- Ever since second grade, Juli and Bryce have had one thing in common: Juli's affections for Bryce are as unyielding as Bryce's efforts to evade them. Then in eighth grade, the roles are reversed, as Bryce begins to open his eyes to the truth about those around him. Juli and Bryce's individual viewpoints — presented in alternating, first-person chapters — are adeptly portrayed in this tale of maturation and first love.
Upcoming Juniors
- O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
- This is the story of a strong-willed woman in an untamed land. Alexandra came from a hardy pioneer clan. Over the protests of her traditional-minded brothers, their dying father wills her, not them, the family homestead. With an iron will, she resolves to wrest a prosperous enterprise from the unforgiving Nebraska soil.
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- Faulkner tells the story of the beautiful and tragic Caddy Compson through three separate monologues by her three brothers — the idiot Benjy, the neurotic Quentin, and the monstrous Jason.
- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
- Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, leaves the hospital before his gashed neck heals enough to get him sent back to war. Still weak, he heads for the mountains, where a minister's daughter named Ada is his objective. Inman's return could hardly be timelier for the Charleston-raised Ada: her father has died, and she finds she knows little about operating a farm. Frazier blends the story of Inman's journey with that of Ada's efforts, with the help of a drifter named Ruby, to wring a subsistence living from the neglected land.
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Hester Prynne, condemned by Puritan law to wear the scarlet letter "A" for adultress, endures her ostracism with dignity, while her lover is tormented by the burden of an unexposed sin.
Upcoming Seniors
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Published to widespread success in 1847 under the androgynous pseudonym of "Currer Bell," Jane Eyre catapulted 31-year-old Charlotte Bronte into the upper echelon of Victorian writers. Though it presumably relates events from the first decade of the 19th century, contemporary Victorians, particularly women, identified with Bronte's critique of Victorian class and gender mores.
- To Dance With the White Dog by Terry Kay
- Sam's wife of fifty-seven years has died, and his children are worried about his mental health, especially after he sees a white dog that no one else can see. Readers wonder right along with his children if the dog — the only bright spot in Sam's life — is real or a product of his imagination.
- You Don't Know Me by David Klass
- Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow classmate, and other problems at school.
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Pi Patel, having spent an idyllic childhood in Pondicherry, India, as the son of a zookeeper, sets off with his family at the age of sixteen to start anew in Canada, but his life takes a marvelous turn when their ship sinks in the Pacific, leaving him adrift on a raft with a 450-pound Bengal tiger for company.
Upcoming Seniors in Advanced Placement
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
- The captain of a steamship on the Congo River meets and observes Mr. Kurtz, the fabled chief of the Inner Station for the trading company on that river in 1890.
- Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
- A grim tale of retribution involving a discouraged New England farmer, his hypochondriac wife, and a girl who still finds some joy in living.