AHS Faculty Favorites 2018

Prior to the end of the school year, AHS students will select one of these books to read over the summer. If a student wishes to change their selection over the summer, he/she must e-mail Mrs. Ricci ([email protected]) with their name, their original book selection, and their new book selection. Each book on the list has been chosen by members of the faculty/staff who will conduct a discussion group with students who read the book. Each book has been recommended since it appeals to readers who like certain styles or topics. They are books that are enjoyable to read. Students may buy copies of books or borrow a title through the public library. All Faculty Favorites Book Discussions will be held on Friday, September 7, 2018 regardless of whether a student has English all year, first semester, or second semester. Students do not have to write a faculty favorite journal during the summer, although they may wish to take notes to remember the book. All students will be told where they will report to have their book discussion. At the beginning of each book discussion, students will be given a brief assessment based on the book to ensure that they read the book. These assessments and participation in the discussion will count as a test grade in the student’s English class. Students selected their titles before the end of the school year. Any student who is uncertain of the title they chose can email Mrs. Ricci ([email protected]) or go to the Amesbury Public Library where Mrs. Walker will have access to titles chosen by students.

Bless the Beasts and the Children By Glendon Swarthout The neglected attendees of the Box Canyon Boys Camp find their lives turned around by Cotton, who, in a hot-wired pickup, challenges them to join efforts to save a herd of buffalo and rediscover themselves in the process. Reissue. (Amazon.com) Fiction

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time By Mark Haddon Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally. (Goodreads.com) Autism, Fiction

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Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World By Vicki Myron "Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next working by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa." (Goodreads.com) Cats, Non Fiction

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Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench By Mark Titus This book will give readers an uncensored and uproarious look inside an elite NCAA basketball program from Titus's unique perspective. In his four years at the end of the bench, Mark founded his wildly popular blog Club Trillion, became a hero to all guys picked last, and even got scouted by the Harlem Globetrotters. Mark Titus is not your average basketball star. This is a wild and completely true story of the most unlikely career in college basketball. A must-read for all fans of March Madness and college sports! An audio version is available. (Amazon.com) Sports, Non Fiction

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Drive for Five: The Remarkable Run of the 2016 Patriots By Christopher Price "Breaking into the inner-sanctuary of the New England Patriots is about as easy as breaking out of Leavenworth. Yet somehow Chris Price not only sneaks in, but takes us along on an up-close-and-personal tour of the magnificent 2016 season. Price's reporting is impeccable, his attention to detail unrivaled. This is a terrific football book." (Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author) Sports, Non Fiction

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Everything I Never Told You By Celeste Ng "The second option for the Common Reader is Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. From the first sentence of the novel, readers learn that Lydia, the middle child of a Chinese-American father and a white mother, is dead. This startling fact, known to the reader before the characters in the novel realize what has happens, becomes the catalyst around which swirl family secrets, frustrations, and anger, tempered aspirations, secrets and lies, accusations, denials, and resolutions. From National Public Radio, 'This [the novel's harrowing story] all takes place in an era when interracial marriages are only recently legal (the Supreme Court struck down interracial marriage bans in 1967). Lydia's death forces members of the Lee family to confront their individual insecurities and grapple with their identity as a biracial family in the Midwest'"(NEHS). Suspense Fiction

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Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher and Never Stop Learning By Leslie Odom, Jr. Leslie Odom Jr., burst on the scene in 2015, originating the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical phenomenon Hamilton. Since then, he has performed for sold-out audiences, sung for the Obamas at the White House, and won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. But before he landed the role of a lifetime in one of the biggest musicals of all time, Odom put in years of hard work as a singer and an actor. With personal stories from his life, Odom asks the questions that will help you unlock your true potential and achieve your goals even when they seem impossible. What work did you put in today that will help you improve tomorrow? How do you surround yourself with people who will care about your dreams as much as you do? How do you know when to play it safe and when to risk it all for something bigger and better? (Amazon.com) Self help

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The Hate U Give By Angela Thomas "Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does - or does not - say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life." (Amazon.com) Warning: Some graphic language and content Realistic Fiction

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A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership By James Comey In his book, former FBI director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader. (Amazon.com) Autobiography

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet By Jamie Ford In 1986, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japan-town. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol. This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept. Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel’s dark, dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, this work of realistic fiction is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. (Amazon.com) Historical Fiction

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I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001 (I Survived, Book 6) By Lauren Tarshis The only thing Lucas loves more than football is his Uncle Benny, his dad's best friend at the fire department where they both work. Benny taught Lucas everything about football. So when Lucas's parents decide the sport is too dangerous and he needs to quit, Lucas has to talk to his biggest fan. So the next morning, Lucas takes the train to the city instead of the bus to school. It's a bright, beautiful day in New York. But just as Lucas arrives at his uncle's firehouse, everything changes -- and nothing will ever be the same again (Amazon.com) Must have teacher approval to select this book Historical Fiction

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A Matter of Trust (Bluford High Series #2) By Anne Schraff The sequel to Lost and Found. This book centers on Darcy's growing conflict with her old friend, Brisana Meeks. Amid jealousy and competition, Darcy fights for her relationship with Hakeem Randall and struggles with her fears over her own family's future. (Amazon.com) Must have teacher approval to select this book

Realistic Fiction

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Nineteen Minutes By In Sterling, , 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling’s residents. Even those who were not inside the school that morning find their lives in an upheaval, including Alex Cormier. The superior court judge assigned to the Houghton case, Alex— whose daughter, Josie, witnessed the events that unfolded—must decide whether or not to step down. She’s torn between presiding over the biggest case of her career and knowing that doing so will cause an even wider chasm in her relationship with her emotionally fragile daughter. Josie, meanwhile, claims she can’t remember what happened in the last fatal minutes of Peter’s rampage. Or can she? And Peter’s parents, Lacy and Lewis Houghton, ceaselessly examine the past to see what they might have said or done to compel their son to such extremes. Nineteen Minutes also features the return of two of Jodi Picoult’s characters—defense attorney Jordan McAfee from and , and Patrick DuCharme, the intrepid detective introduced in . Rich with psychological and social insight, Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, poignant, and thought- provoking novel that has at its center a haunting question. Do we ever really know someone? Taken from www.jodipicoult.com Realistic Fiction

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Outliers: The story of success By Malcom Gladwell In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate (Amazon.com) Non Fiction

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The Samurai's Garden By Gail Tsukyama The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama leads the reader to Tarumi, a quiet seaside village in Japan where Stephen, the Chinese protagonist, is sent to convalesce from tuberculosis. Isolated from family and friends, tended to by Matsu, the family caregiver and gardener, Stephen learns about human dignity, compassion, and rejection. From a review by Publisher's Weekly, "Tsukiyama's writing is crystalline and delicate, notably in her evocation of time and place. This quiet tale of affection between people whose countries are at war speaks of a humanity that transcends geopolitics." (nehs.us). Historical Fiction

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Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen By Arin Andrews In this revolutionary first-of-its-kind memoir, Arin Andrews details the journey that led him to make the life-transforming decision to undergo gender reassignment as a high school junior. In his captivatingly witty, honest voice, Arin reveals the challenges he faced as a boy in a girl’s body, the humiliation and anger he felt after getting kicked out of his private school, and all the changes—both mental and physical—he experienced once his transition began.

Some Assembly Required is a true coming-of-age story about knocking down obstacles and embracing family, friendship, and first love. But more than that, it is a reminder that self-acceptance does not come ready-made with a manual and spare parts. Rather, some assembly is always required. (Amazon.com) Non Fiction

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The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consiousness By Sy Montgomery Octopuses have varied personalities and intelligence they show in myriad ways: endless trickery to escape enclosures and get food; jetting water playfully to bounce objects like balls; and evading caretakers by using a scoop net as a trampoline and running around the floor on eight arms. But with a beak like a parrot, venom like a snake, and a tongue covered with teeth, how can such a being know anything? And what sort of thoughts could it think? The intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees was only recently accepted by scientists, who now are establishing the intelligence of the octopus, watching them solve problems and deciphering the meaning of their colour-changing camouflage techniques. Montgomery chronicles this growing appreciation of the octopus, but also tells a love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about consciousness and the meeting of two very different minds. (Google Books) Non Fiction

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The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit By Michael Finkel Many people dream of escaping modern life, but most will never act on it. This is the remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality—not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own. (Amazon.com) Narrative Nonfiction

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The Teen's Guide to World Domination: Advice on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Awesomeness By Josh Shipp Josh Shipp has been serving up a healthy dose of "advice with an attitude" to millions of teens for over a decade, in front of packed auditoriums across the country. For the first time ever, Josh is pulling together all of his unique advice for "world domination" into a must-have survival guide. Hilarious, inspirational, and authentic, Josh offers golden nuggets of wisdom for everything that has you freaking out (pretty much all the stuff you can't fathom addressing with Mom and Dad). So, summon your inner hero and learn to dominate the seven "villains" that are keeping you from awesomeness. GHOSTS: All your painful memories and bad mistakes, which are holding you back and causing self-doubt. Confront them once and for all NINJAS: Back-stabbing "friends" who earn your trust to fulfill their own agendas. Call them out and they won't stand a chance PIRATES: Bullies and bad boyfriends who take advantage of you. Write them off and tune them out ROBOTS: Well-intentioned but misguided grown-ups, who want to "program" you to be like them. Understand how parents, teachers, and counselors operate to improve your communication VAMPIRES: Negative influences and addictions, which draw you in and steal your identity. Regain your self-esteem before you get bit ZOMBIES: Chronic complainers who drag you down with their pessimism. The best zombie-repellant is gratitude! Learn that it's not what happens to you, it's how you respond PUPPIES: They seem all fun and innocent on the surface, but often blindside you with hidden consequences. Learn how to think smart about money, your hot girlfriend, and other temptations (Amazon.com). Life Skills, Nonfiction

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Turning the Tide (A Quaker Midwife Mystery) By Edith Maxwell Turning the Tide, the third book in the series, released in 2018. Excitement runs high during Presidential election week in 1888. The Woman Suffrage Association plans a demonstration and Quaker midwife Rose Carroll resolves to join the protest. When she finds the body of the association’s leader the next morning, she’s drawn into delivering more than babies. Rose’s own life is threatened more than once as she sorts out killer from innocent (edithmaxwell.com). Mystery & Detective Fiction

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Turtles All the Way Down By John Green Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts (Amazon.com). Realistic Fiction

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Whittier-Land: A Handbook of North Essex Containing Many Anecdotes of and Poems by John Greenleaf Whittier By Samuel T. Pickard In honor of Amesbury’s 350th celebration of its incorporation as a community, this eclectic book gives a great overview of 19th Century Amesbury. It contains many tales of our wonderful Merrimack Valley and specifically Amesbury. Nonfiction

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Wolf Mark By Joseph Bruchac Luke King knows a lot of things. Like four different ways to disarm an enemy before the attacker can take a breath. Like every detail of every book he’s ever read. And Luke knows enough—just enough—about what his father does as a black ops infiltrator to know which questions not to ask. Luke hopes that this time, he’ll finally have a normal life. He’ll be able to ask out the girl he likes. He’ll hang out with his friends. He’ll be invisible—just as he wants. But when his dad goes missing, Luke realizes that life will always be different for him. Suddenly he must avoid his father’s kidnappers, while at the same time evading the attention of a mysterious clique of Russian hipsters, who seem much too interested in Luke’s own personal secret. Faced with multiple challenges and his emerging paranormal identity, Luke must decide who to trust as he creates his own destiny. (Amazon.com) Must have teacher approval to select this book Fantasy

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Words in Deep Blue By Cath Crowley An astonishingly realistic look at loss, grief, love, and the importance of words. Rachel Sweetie's world changed forever the day her little brother Cal drowned. In the eight months since, she's failed to graduate from school and alienated most of her friends. Rachel's family seems to think returning to live with her aunt in their old hometown will help. She's up for the change of scenery, if only it didn't mean seeing her ex-best friend Henry. Before moving, Rachel wrote a letter to Henry professing her love and left it in his family's bookstore, Letter Library. Henry never responded...This poignant tale exquisitely chronicles the journey from hopelessness to learning to live again. (School Library Journal) Romance Fiction

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You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself By David McRaney The Book in Three Sentences: 1. We have no clue why you act the way we do, choose the things we choose or think the thoughts we think 2. Our errors in thinking are caused by cognitive biases, heuristics, and logical fallacies 3. We can better deal with these biases once we understand them The Five Big Ideas: 1. We think we know how the world works, but we really don’t 2. We narratives to explain why we do what we do 3. Cognitive biases are predictable patterns of thought and behavior that lead us to draw incorrect conclusions 4. Heuristics are mental shortcuts we use to solve common problems 5. Logical fallacies are like maths problems involving language, in which you skip a step or get turned around without realizing it (Amazon.com) Nonfiction

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