Required and Recommended Summer Reading Texts in Humanities
A number of Humanities courses have required summer reading; some have recommended reading; many have both. Please read the lists below carefully to discern what you must and might be reading to prepare yourself for 2008-2009.
Required Reading
Students should have the following carefully read before the start of class. Please also refer to recommended texts for the same courses and for the 10th grade program under Recommended Reading.
Ninth Grade Humanities Mythology (Edith Hamilton) Page 21 – 77 covers an intro to the Olympian gods and the creation myths. Pages 259 – 319 covers Trojan war and aftermath – the next 15 pages cover Aeneas, well worth a read Pages 372 – 392 covers House of Thebes
Required Summer Readings and Videos for 11th grade APLAC & APUSH
APLAC: Required for AP Language and Culture
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – David Eggers, February 2001 ISBN-10: 0375725784
Dave Berry Slept Here – Dave Berry, October 1997 ISBN-10: 0345416600
Course Videos
Last of the Mohicans The Cowboys The Natural Rebel Without a Cause Dave
APUSH: Required for AP US History
Don’t Know Much About History - Kenneth C. Davis, April 2004 ISBN-10: 0060083824
Dave Berry Slept Here – Dave Berry, October 1997 ISBN-10: 0345416600
Course Videos
Last of the Mohicans The Cowboys The Natural Rebel Without a Cause Dave
If you wish to get this early: Required Course Texts for APLAC & APUSH – http://www.mbsdirect.net Type in American Studies with your course distinction (APLAC or APUSH)
AP English Literature Billy Budd, Sailor (Melville) (only the Billy Budd story, not Melville’s other short stories often included in the same volume-use edition chosen for class) Macbeth and Othello (Shakespeare—any edition will do)
AP Economics Economics by Example by David Anderson; The Fatal Equilibrium by Marshall Jevons.
AP European History Machiavelli, The Prince
and one of the following social histories:
Robert Darnton, The Great Cat Massacre (collections of essays on social history in early modern Europe) Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre (study of the situation that inspired the film) Steven Johnson, The Ghost Map (the 1851 cholera outbreak and the change in belief systems that allowed the mystery of the epidemic to be solved) Sarah Wise, The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body-Snatching in 1830s London (is what it says; grand but grim picture of urban London in the 1830s) Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost (the disaster that was Europe in the Congo)
Recommended Reading
These texts are NOT required. All levels have suggestions to enrich your summer reading pleasure and spark your interest in what will be covered when school begins.
Ninth Grade Humanities The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. I once (politely) interrupted a Sabbath- morning service at my temple and told my fellow-congregants, “Stop whatever you’re doing and read The Red Tent.” Diamant’s novel is a retelling of the story of Genesis focused on the character of Dinah, a daughter of Jacob whose sad story gets only a few lines in the Bible. Dinah tells her story as well as the stories of her mother, aunts and grandmother, giving a clear picture of how nomadic people might have lived in ancient times.
The Source, by James A. Michener. This book is typical of the late James Michener’s huge (and hugely successful) historical novels. In The Source, Michener builds his story around the layers of civilization found at one archaeological site in the Galilee. Every succeeding civilization set the scene for stories of war, intrigue and romance – and if you don’t like one chapter, just move on to the next. While this book is over a thousand pages long, it gives the reader a clear timeline for ancient and medieval civilization.
The Cartoon History of the Universe, by Larry Gonick, three volumes. Gonick basically takes those great old TIME-LIFE histories of world civilizations, draws accompanying cartoons, and makes some really rather clear concise and concise explanations of several complicated but important periods in history. The three volumes available now cover the entire scope ninth-grade Humanities curriculum.
Brunelleschi’s Dome, by Ross King. Kings weaves a fantastic tale of Filippo Brunelleschi's design for the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. The story captures Brunelleschi’s creativity and set backs in the construction of the dome.
Michaelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, by Ross King. This is an in-depth account of Pope Julius the II’s relationship with the Renaissance artist Michaelangelo. The Ceiling gives insight into the power, influence and corruption of the Church.
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This page turning thriller about a symbologist who discovers a cryptic message through Da Vinci’s works has gained a lot of media attention. The best selling book was recently turned into a Hollywood blockbuster film.
Tenth Grade Humanities Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America And American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni Palestine by Joe Sacco Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan Lord of the Flies by William Golding Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger Watership Down by Richard Adams Arcadia by Tom Stoppard Travesties by Tom Stoppard The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Leguin Lamb: The Gospel According Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything The Torturer’s Apprentice by John Biguenet Siddhartha by Herman Hesse Longitude by Dava Sobel
Eleventh Grade Humanities
Recommended Summer Reading for American Studies (ELL)
Outline of U.S. History website is a clear, easier to read history of the U.S. that can be read online with computer based translators.
A Cartoon History of U.S. History by Larry Gonick provides a more visual, simplified survey.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is an award winning graphic novel that portrays the interaction of Chinese traditions like the Monkey King with the experience of growing up Chinese and going to school in America.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros tells the critically acclaimed story of the struggles of a Latino girl growing up in Chicago through eloquent vignettes.
To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for its portrayal of a depression era southern family and town dealing with the racism surrounding a murder trial.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie won the 2007 National Book Award winner for Young People’s Literature for its heart warming story of a native American boy who leaves a reservation to attend an all white school.
Recommended Summer Reading for American Studies
Dave Berry Slept Here by Dave Berry provides a humorous survey of U.S. history and culture.
Outline of U.S. History website is a clear, yet comprehensive web based text.
Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen tells the true story of two Chicago “builders”— One builds a ugly building to trap, kill, and hide his prey, while another designs a glorious city for the Columbian Exposition.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is the classic tale of two outsiders who seek to fulfill their dreams on a ranch in California only to find their best laid plans turn tragic. It is has also been adapted for the screen.
The Bluest Eye by Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison, tells the story from different perspectives of an African American girl who must deal with racism and abuse .
Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It is a beautifully written story (and also a movie) of Montana, fly fishing, and the bonds between two very different brothers.
Stephen Crane, Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane rivetingly portrays the experience of a soldier in the Civil War even though the author had never experienced war himself.
John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy profiles integrity exercised by American political leaders such as John Quincy Adams, Sam Houston, and Robert Taft.
APLAC Recommended
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair, November 2001 ISBN-10: 0486419231
Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968) - Anne Moody, January 1992 ISBN-10: 0440314887
A River Runs Through It – Norman MacLean, October 2001 ISBN-10: 0226500667
Twelfth Grade Humanities courses
Economics: Rich Dad Poor Dad - by Robert Kiyosaki Freakonomics by Stephen Leavitt
AP Government: Democracy in America (de Tocqueville) The Communist Manifesto (Marx)
AP English Literature: Jane Eyre (C. Bronte) Pride and Prejudice (Austen) A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving) Till We Have Faces (Lewis) Novels by Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison
AP European History Cervantes, Don Quixote Sir Thomas More, Utopia Voltaire, Candide Anything by Shakespeare (Hamlet if nothing else) Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (esp Book I) Milton, Paradise Lost (Books I and II) Dickens, A Christmas Carol, Hard Times Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Elie Wiesel, Night Primo Levi, If This Is A Man George Orwell, 1984 Albert Camus, The Stranger, The Plague Andre Gide, Tiger at the Gates ; Lafcadio’s Adventures
Secondary source recommendations (readable histories):
Natalie Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre; Society and Culture in Early Modern France Darnton, The Great Cat Massacre Eric Hobsbawn, The Age of Revolution Crane Brinton, The Anatomy of Revolution Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost [good in combination with Conrad, Heart of Darkness] Sarah Wise, The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body-Snatching in 19th Century London AJP Taylor, The Causes of World War II Paul Johnson, Modern Times Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History and the Last Man” (1989 article in J-Stor)