New Hope-Solebury High School Summer Reading List
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New Hope-Solebury High School Summer Reading List 2012 – 2013 Academic English Grades 9-12 Academic English: Students in all academic classes, grades 9-12, are required to select one of the books for summer reading. Students will be asked to respond to a writing prompt or similar assessment in class during the first week of school. For note taking purposes, students may use the provided Reader Response Form. All Quiet on the Western Front Remarque Fiction; Grades 7+, 219 p. 830L Art of Racing in the Rain, The Stein Fiction; Grades 8+; 321 p. 850L Book of Lost Things, The Connolly Fiction; Grades 9+; 339 p. Born on a Blue Day Tammet Non-fiction; Grades 9+, 266p. 1170L Boy 21 Quick Fiction; Grades 9+, 250p. NOTE: The author Matt Quick will be visiting our school in Fall of 2012. If you read this book, you will be able to attend his presentation and book signing! Color Purple, The Walker Fiction; Grades 9+; 290 p. NC670L Defining Dulcie Acampora Fiction; Grades 7+; 168 p. 650L Feed Anderson Fiction; Grades 8+; 237 p. 770L Fever, 1793 Anderson Fiction; Grades 6+; 251 p. 580L Glass Castle, The Walls Non-fiction; Grades 9+; 288 p. 1010L Good Thief, The Tinti Fiction; Grades 9+; 327 p. 800L Graceling Cashore Fiction; Grades 8+; 471 p. 730L Graveyard Book, The Gaiman Fiction; Grades 7+; 312 p. 820L Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Shaffer & Barrows Fiction; Grades 9+; 277 p. Society, The 930L Have a Little Faith Albom Non-Fiction; Grades 8+; 254 p. House of the Scorpion, The Farmer Fiction; Grades 7+; 380 p. 660L If I Stay Forman Fiction; Grades 9+; 201 p. 830L The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Skloot Non-Fiction; Grades 9+; 369 p. Into the Beautiful North Urrea Fiction; Grades 9+; 342 p. Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bryson Non-Fiction; Grades 9+; 270 p. Little Brother Doctorow Fiction; Grades 9+; 382 p. 900L A Long Walk to Water Park Fiction; Grades 6-9; 121 p. New Hope-Solebury High School Summer Reading List 2012 – 2013 Academic English 720L Marcelo in the Real World Stork Fiction; Grades 9+; 312 p. HL700L Monstrumologist, The Yancey Fiction; Grades 9+; 434 p. 990L No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Kuklin Non-fiction; Grades 9+; 212 p. Teenagers on Death Row 690L One Hundred Years of Solitude Garcia Marquez Fiction; Grades 9+, 416 p. 1410L One Whole and Perfect Day Clarke Fiction; Grades 7+; 250 p. 840L Over and Under Tucker Fiction; Grades 9+; 275 p. Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You Jansen Fiction; Grades 7+; 342 p. 790L Pride & Prejudice Austen Fiction; Grades 8+; 281 p. 770L Ship Breaker Bacigalupi, Fiction; Grades 8-12, 326 p. HL690L Stolen Christopher Fiction; Grades 9-12, 299 p. HL570L Tamar Peet Fiction; Grades 9+; 424 p. 780L A Thousand Splendid Suns Hosseini Fiction; Grades 8+; 372 p. 830L A Time of Miracles Bondoux, Fiction; Grades 7-12; 180 p. HL700L Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Hemphill Fiction; Grades 8-12; 408 p. Trials 700L Wuthering Heights Bronte Fiction; Grades 9+; 412 p. 770L Zeitoun Eggers Non-fiction; Grades 9+; 351 p. See the Academic Summer Reading Website for more information about the books! New Hope-Solebury High School Summer Reading List 2012 – 2013 Academic English All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, c1958 Fiction; Grades 7+, 219 p. 830L Depicts the experiences of a group of young German soldiers fighting and suffering during the last days of World War I. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, c2008 Fiction; Grades 8+; 321 p. 850L Booklist : Enzo the dog feels sure that his next life will be spent in a man’s body. In preparation, he closely studies human behavior, and it’s from Enzo’s observant point of view that Stein writes his moving third novel. Enzo is deeply jealous when his owner, Denny, falls in love with Eve, but after baby Zoe is born, Enzo assumes his role as the family’s unconditional protector, particularly after Eve is diagnosed with brain cancer. After Eve’s death, her parents drag Denny into a bitter custody battle for Zoe, and Enzo, despite his canine limitations, passionately defends Denny and even alters the course of events. Denny is a race-car driver, and Enzo, who has watched countless televised races, folds thrilling track scenes and driving lessons into the terse family drama. The metaphors may feel purposeful, but readers will nonetheless delight in Enzo’s wild, original voice; his aching insights into the limitations and joys of the canine and human worlds; and his infinite capacity for love. A natural choice for book clubs, this should inspire steady demand. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, c2006 Fiction; Grades 9+; 339 p. 2007 Alex Award Winner Library Journal: After the death of his mother, 12-year-old David mourns her loss alone in his attic bedroom, with only his books to keep him company. As his anger at her death grows with each day, the books begin to speak to him, telling their wild tales of dragons, princes, and knights. Soon reality and fantasy collide, and David finds himself in a land unlike his own, a world where monsters, evil sorceresses, and half-human wolves dwell. With the help of friends he meets in this strange land, David goes on a search for the King, who is said to have The Book of Lost Things; this book will help David find his way home. Along the way, David encounters many challenges that transform the boy into a man. In an intriguing change of pace from his crime novels (Bad Men; Every Dead Thing), Connolly's book takes readers back into the imaginations they once held as children, reminding them of the time when they created fantasy worlds before adulthood changed them forever. Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet, c2006 Non-fiction; Grades 9+, 266p. 1170L ALA 2008 Best Books for Young Adults Booklist: Although Tammet is only 27, his autobiography is as fascinating as Benjamin Franklin's and John Stuart Mill's, both of which are, like his, about the growth of a mind. Not that Tammet is a scientist- statesman or philosopher. He is an autistic savant who can perform hefty arithmetical calculations at lightning speed and acquire speaking competency in a previously unknown language in mere days (the latter capability he used to create the Web-based language-learning systems with which he supports himself). More socially competent and independent than the autistic savant famously played by Dustin New Hope-Solebury High School Summer Reading List 2012 – 2013 Academic English Hoffman in Rain Man, Tammet shares his peers' strong preferences for routine, peace and quiet, private space, and literalness, as well as aversion to chance occurrences, aural and informational noise, and figurative language (despite his arithmetical gift, he can't do algebra; he reads a lot but never fiction). He learned fellowship very gradually and says he couldn't really acknowledge his eight siblings until he grew up. He also writes some of the clearest prose this side of Hemingway; he tells his story with such concentration, precision, and simplicity that his familial poverty, schooling as a mainstreamed student, self-realization as gay, and embracing of Christianity prove as enthralling as they are, ultimately, normal. Boy 21 by Matt Quick, c2012 Fiction: Grades 9+; 250 p. Kirkus Starred Review: In a town partially controlled by the Irish mob, a quiet friendship develops between two basketball players. Finley doesn't say much, and his basketball teammates fondly call him White Rabbit, both for his quiet demeanor and for being the only white player on his high school team. He is surprised but willing when his coach introduces him to Russ Washington and asks Finley to look after him. Russ, a nationally recognized athlete, is experiencing post-traumatic stress after the murder of his parents. While there are hints that something in Finley's own past makes this assignment particularly relevant, Finley quietly but firmly refuses to discuss his own history with other characters or with readers. Instead, they see the friendship among the two boys and Finley's girlfriend, Erin, gently unfold and the mysteries surrounding Russ deepen. Does Russ want to play basketball or not? Does he really believe he is an alien called Boy21? The answers here are satisfying but never simple, and the setting, a working-class town where asking too many questions can have deadly consequences, is a bleak, haunting foil to the boys' comfortable silence. Family relationships are well-drawn, and foreshadowing is effective without being predictable. A story that, like Finley, expresses a lot in relatively few words. The Color Purple by AliceWalker, c1992 Fiction; Grades 9+; 290 p. NC670L 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Award An eloquent portrait of black women's lives that are sustained by faith, love, and trust in the face of brutality, poverty, and racism. Defining Dulcie by Paul Acampora, c2006 Fiction; Grades 7+; 168 p. 650L School Library Journal Starred Review: Strong and quirky characters who see life as an inextricable mix of sadness and humor, sorrow and hope, are the hallmark of this memorable first novel. When 16-year- old Dulcie's beloved dad dies, she and her mom leave her granddad in Connecticut and drive to California to start over. This doesn't work for the still-grieving Dulcie so she takes their truck and drives home to pick up the pieces of her old life and remember her father in all the old places.