Required Reading
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Boston Collegiate Charter School High School Summer Reading Students Entering 9th Grade English Students taking Ms. Yohannes’ 9th Grade English must read The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg, in addition to one book from the list below (reviews/annotations courtesy of Amazon.com). Students may also propose a book that is not listed. However, a student who wants to read a book that is not on the list or who is looking for a suggestion must see Ms. Yohannes before Friday, June 22nd, to verify his/her choice. Required Reading: ● The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg In the fall of 1999, New York Times education reporter Jacques Steinberg was given an unprecedented opportunity to observe the admissions process at prestigious Wesleyan University. Over the course of nearly a year, Steinberg accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figueroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country. The Gatekeepers follows a diverse group of prospective students as they compete for places in the nation's most elite colleges. The first book to reveal the college admission process in such behind-the-scenes detail, The Gatekeepers will be required reading for every parent of a high school-age child and for every student facing the arduous and anxious task of applying to college. Optional Reading List: ● The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky o A freshman in high school, Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high school -- how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality, experimenting with drugs -- but he must also deal with his best friend's recent suicide. ● The Fault in Our Stars by John Green o Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous boy named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. ● A Separate Peace by John Knowles o The volatile world of male adolescence provides the backdrop for John Knowles' engrossing tale of love, hate, war, and peace. Sharing a room at Devon, an exclusive New England prep school, in the summer prior to World War II, Gene and Phineas form a complex bond of friendship that draws out both the best and worst characteristics of each boy and leads ultimately to violence, a confession, and the betrayal of trust. ● Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons o “When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy.” So begins this tale of a young girl in search of a safe home and a place to belong. ● Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back by Josh Hamilton o Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character " superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails. What followed was a 4-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball. Beyond Belief details the events that led up to the derailment. Josh explains how a young man destined for fame and wealth could allow his life to be taken over by drugs and alcohol. But it is also the memoir of a spiritual journey that breaks through pain and heartbreak and leads to the spectacular rebirth of his major-league career. ● In These Girls Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais o They were a talented basketball team with a near-perfect record but a reputation for choking in the crunch of the state playoffs. Finally, after five straight years of disappointments, the Amherst Lady Hurricanes found they just might have what it took to go all the way. This is a fierce, funny, and intimate look into their minds and hearts during one very special season. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. ● How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez o Fifteen tales vividly chronicle a Dominican family's exile in the Bronx, focusing on the four Garcia daughters' rebellion against their immigrant elders. ● Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson o An inside look at the higher wisdom of teamwork from former Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers’ head coach Phil Jackson. At the heart of the book is Jackson's philosophy of mindful basketball -- and his lifelong quest to bring enlightenment to the competitive world of professional sports, beginning with a focus on selfless team play rather than "winning through intimidation.” Sacred Hoops is not just for sports fans, but for anyone interested in the potential of the human spirit. ● I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou o In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life. ● Into Thin Air by John Krakauer o A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist- mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more -- including Krakauer's -- in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster. ● Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua o An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother's exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards – and the costs – of raising her children the Chinese way, which to her means no sleepovers, nothing less than an A on a report card, and hours upon hours of violin and piano practice. Chua believes that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua's iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires. ● In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan o Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion--most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we see to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating. Challenge List These books are either much longer and/or higher-level than the books listed previously. Students may choose to read one book from this list instead of two books from the previous list. - On Writing by Stephen King o Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told. - The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X o From hustling, drug addiction and armed violence in America's black ghettos Malcolm X turned, in a dramatic prison conversion, to the puritanical fervour of the Black Muslims. As their spokesman he became identified in the white press as a terrifying teacher of race hatred; but to his direct audience, the oppressed American blacks, he brought hope and self-respect. This autobiography (written with Alex Haley) reveals his quick-witted integrity, usually obscured by batteries of frenzied headlines, and the fierce idealism which led him to reject both liberal hypocrisies and black racialism. - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot o Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, the Lacks family never saw any of the profits.