Class VIII Summer Reading 2020

Welcome to the 2020 Summer Reading List for students entering Class VIII this fall!

This summer, you are required to read a total of five books. Read the required book for Class VIII, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, plus four other books of your choosing from the summer reading list. Of course, we welcome and encourage you to read more than five, if you’d like!

Keep a record of what you read by writing down the title and author of each book to share with your teacher and your classmates in September.

Students are asked to avoid reading the following works, which are part of Middle and Upper School English curriculum: T his Boy’s Life, The Crucible, Macbeth, Annie John, Romeo and Juliet, The Glass Menagerie, The Little Foxes, Twelfth Night, A Doll’s House, The Great Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and As I Lay Dying.

New & Noteworthy

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertall & Aisha Saeed Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate--as long as he's behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let's face it, speaking at all to almost anyone), Jamie's a choke artist. There's no way he'd ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes until he meets Maya. Maya Rehman's having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing--with some awkward dude she hardly knows--is beyond her. Going door to door isn't exactly glamorous, but maybe it's not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer--and so are Maya and Jamie. ( Realistic Fiction)

Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman Harley Milano has dreamed of becoming a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her heart and soul that she would be up there herself one day. A fter a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family, and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Mystere. There, she is thrust into a world that is both brutal and beautiful, where she learns the value of hard work, passion, and collaboration. At the same time, Harley must come to terms with the truth of her family and her past--and reckon with the sacrifices she made and the people she hurt in order to follow her dreams. (Realistic Fiction)

All American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney Sixteen-year-old Allie, aged seven when she knew her family was different and feared, struggles to claim her Muslim and Arabic heritage while finding her place as an American teenager.( Realistic Fiction)

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz Fifteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz is torn between two worlds, passing for white while living in Harlem, being called Jewish while attending her mother's Baptist church, and experiencing first love while watching her parents' marriage crumble. ( Realistic Fiction)

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake Inspired loosely by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, teenaged Violet is shipped off to Maine after her brother's hospitalization, where she searches for the lost shipwreck that her great-great grandmother survived and for answers about her family's long struggle with mental illness, all while falling in love. ( Realistic Fiction)

They Went Left by Monica Hesse Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else went left. Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past. But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her--or help her rebuild her world. (Historical Fiction)

A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson As her senior capstone project, Pippa Fitz-Amobi is determined to find the real killer in a closed, local murder case, but not everyone wants her meddling in the past. ( Mystery/Thriller)

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming--mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger's massive Twitter account. Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper's side. When he isn't trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin's shadow, he's busy working in his family's deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma's iconic grilled cheese recipe, he'll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time. All's fair in love and cheese--that is, until Pepper and Jack's spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they're publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they're also falling for each other in real life--on an anonymous chat app" (Realistic Fiction)

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu Desperate to be forever remembered for her music, Nannerl Mozart makes a dangerous pact with a mysterious stranger from a magical land, which may cost her everything. (Historical Fantasy)

Atomic Women by Roseanne Montillo They were leaning over the edge of the unknown and afraid of what they would discover there: Meet the World War II female scientists who worked in the secret sites of the Manhattan Project. Recruited not only from labs and universities from across the United States but also from countries abroad, these scientists helped in -- and often initiated -- the development of the atomic bomb, taking starring roles in the Manhattan Project. In fact, their involvement was critical to its success, though many of them were not fully aware of the consequences. (Nonfiction)

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite When a school presentation goes very wrong, Alaine Beauparlant finds herself suspended, shipped off to Haiti and writing the report of a lifetime. ( Realistic Fiction)

Pumpkin Heads by Rainbow Rowell, Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends. Every autumn, all through high school, they've worked at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. They say good-bye every Halloween, and they're reunited every September 1. But this Halloween is different? Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye. Josiah's ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. (He's the melancholy type). But Deja has a plan: What if instead of moping and instead of the usual--slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut--they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! Maybe Josie could talk to that cute girl he's been mooning over for three years ( Graphic Novel)

Thirteen Doorways Wolves Behind them All by Laura Ruby When Frankie's mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary--just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That's why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans--two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive. And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, it will be up to Frankie to find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America. ( Historical Fantasy)

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys At the Castellana Hilton in 1957 Madrid, eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson connects with Ana Moreno through photography and fate as Daniel discovers the incredibly dark side of the city under Generalissimo Franco's rule. ( Historical Fiction)

This Time will be Different by Misa Siguira Seventeen-year-old CJ has never lived up to her mom's type A ambition, and she's perfectly happy just helping her aunt, Hannah, at their family's flower shop. She doesn't buy into Hannah's romantic ideas about flowers and their hidden meanings, but when it comes to arranging the perfect bouquet, CJ discovers a knack she never knew she had. A skill she might even be proud of. Then her mom decides to sell the shop--to the family who swindled CJ's grandparents when thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WWII. Soon a rift threatens to splinter CJ's family, friends, and their entire Northern California community; and for the first time, CJ has found something she wants to fight for. ( Realistic Fiction)

They Called us Enemy by George Takei Actor, author, and activist George Takei recounts his childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps for Japanese Americans during World War II and the impact the experience had on his life. ( Graphic Memoir)

Frankly in Love by David Yoon High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all. ( Realistic Fiction)

Fiction & Nonfiction

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi After their home in Syria is bombed, Tareq, his father, and his younger sister seek refuge, first with extended family in Raqqa, a stronghold for the militant group, Daesh, and then abroad. ( Realistic Fiction)

Internment by Samira Ahmed Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards. (Science Fiction)

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf Amidst the Chinese-Malay conflict in Kuala Lumpur in 1969, sixteen-year-old Melati must overcome prejudice, violence, and her own OCD to find her way back to her mother.( Historical Fiction)

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez The story of the Garcia families adjustment to life in the United States. ( Historical Fiction)

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson A memoir that shares the author's life, covering her rape at thirteen, her difficult early childhood, and her experiences surrounding her publication of 'Speak.” ( Memoir in Verse)

Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson An account of the Siege of Leningrad reveals the role played by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony in rallying and commemorating their fellow citizens (Nonfiction)

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Poet Maya Angelou chronicles her early life, focusing on her childhood in 1930s rural Arkansas, including her rape at the age of five, her subsequent years of muteness, and the strength she gained from her grandmother and Mrs. Bertha Flowers, a respected African-American woman in her town. ( Memoir)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Two sisters of opposing temperaments share the pangs of tragic love. Their mutual suffering brings a closer understanding between the two sisters, and true love finally triumphs. ( Classic)

Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and her only friend, Mal, to become the protege of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold. The sequels to this book are Seige & Storm a nd R uin & Rising. ( Fantasy)

The Reader by Traci Chee Set in a world where reading is unheard-of, Sefia makes use of a mysterious object to track down who kidnapped her aunt Nin and what really happened the night her father was murdered. The sequels to this book are T he Speaker and T he Storyteller. ( Fantasy)

What Goes On: New and Selected Poems, 1995-2009 by Stephen Dunn Collects more than ninety poems written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stephen Dunn since 1995. ( Poetry)

Time and Again by Jack Finney Illustrator Si Morley steps out of his twentieth-century New York apartment one night--right into the winter of 1882. S equel: F rom Time to Time. ( Science Fiction/Fantasy)

You’re Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardiner When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural. Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a "mainstream" school in the suburbs, where she's treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. ( Realistic Fiction)

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert Daniel, a Chinese-American teen, must grapple with his plans for the future, his feelings for his best friend Harry, and his discovery of a family secret that could shatter everything. (Realistic Fiction)

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green Aza Holmes is a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. ( Realistic Fiction)

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes In seventy poems bearing the same title, Terrance Hayes explores the meanings of American, of assassin, and of love in the sonnet form. (Poetry)

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania--derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities--and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. Sequel: Deathless Divide ( Science Fiction/Alternate Historical Fiction)

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson New at Ellingham Academy, Stevie Bell tries to both solve a murder at campus and the cold case of a double kidnapping. Sequels: T he Vanishing Stair and The Hand on The Wall. ( Mystery)

The Green Mile by Stephen King Contains all six installments of the serialized horror novel about death row prisoner John Coffey and his fellow inmates and guards in the Green Mile wing of Cold Mountain Penitentiary. ( Realistic Fiction/Suspense)

Kindest Regards: New and Selected Poems by Ted Kooser Firmly rooted in the landscapes of the Midwest, the author's poetry succeeds in finding the emotional resonances within the ordinary. (P oetry)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Scout Finch, the young daughter of a local attorney in the Deep South during the 1930s, tells of her father's defense of an African-American man charged with the rape of a white girl. (Classic)

March: Book One John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, Illustrated by Nate Powell Presents in graphic novel format events from the life of Georgia congressman John Lewis, focusing on his youth in rural Alabama, his meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement. The other books in this series are M arch: Book Two a nd March: Book Three. ( Graphic Nonfiction)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Spending the summers on her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer. (Mystery)

Selected Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay Sixty poems, including "City Trees," "Second April," "A Few Figs From Thistles," "Renascence." and "The Harp Weaver." ( Poetry)

Monster by Walter Dean Myers While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken. (Realistic Fiction)

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness Todd, one month away from an important birthday, learns all the tough lessons of adulthood when he is forced to flee after discovering a secret near the town where he lives. Sequels: T he Ask and the Answer & Monsters of Men. (Science Fiction)

Trapped by Michael Northrup Seven high school students are stranded at their New England high school during a week-long blizzard that shuts down the power and heat, freezes the pipes, and leaves them wondering if they will survive. (Realistic/Adventure)

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings Edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings: these are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. Sixteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia. (Short Stories/Mythology)

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older When the murals painted on the walls of her Brooklyn neighborhood start to change and fade in front of her, Sierra Santiago realizes that something strange is going on--then she discovers her Puerto Rican family are shadowshapers and finds herself in a battle with an evil anthropologist for the lives of her family and friends. Sequels: S hadowhouse Fall & S hadowshaper Legacy. ( Fantasy)

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan After her mother's suicide, grief-stricken Leigh Sanders travels to Taiwan to stay with grandparents she never met, determined to find her mother who she believes turned into a bird. (Realistic Fiction)

Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge An exploration of the Vietnam War from many different perspectives including an American soldier, a nurse, and a Vietnamese refugee. ( Nonfiction)

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know. (Realistic Fiction)

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo Amanda Hardy only wants to fit in at her new school, but she is keeping a big secret, so when she falls for Grant, guarded Amanda finds herself yearning to share with him everything about herself, including her previous life as Andrew. ( Realistic Fiction)

A Phone Call to the Future: New and Selected Poems by Mary Jo Salter A selection of new and previously published poems by contemporary American poet Mary Jo Salter. (Poetry)

Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman A lengthy California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, turning Alyssa's quiet suburban street into a warzone, and she is forced to make impossible choices if she and her brother are to survive. (Science Fiction/Thriller)

Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair The story of an African-American woman growing up on the South side of Chicago in the turbulent 60s as she tests the limits of racism and refuses to accept the fact that just because she is African American she is inferior. (Realistic Fiction)

Sadie by Courtney Summers Growing up on her own, Sadie's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. When Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him. When West McCray--a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America--overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late. (Realistic Fiction/Mystery/Thriller)

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas Sixteen-year-old Bri hopes to become a great rapper, and after her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, must decide whether to sell out or face eviction with her widowed mother. (Realistic Fiction)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Frodo the hobbit and a band of warriors from the different kingdoms set out to destroy the Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control. (Fantasy)

Monument: New and Selected Poems by Natasha Trethewey A collection of poems about the history of the United States and how to change views on race, gender, and more. (Poetry)

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini New York City teenager Craig Gilner succumbs to academic and social pressures at an elite high school and enters a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide. ( Realistic Fiction)

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells Relates the adventures of a scientist who invents a machine that transports him into the future. ( Science Fiction)

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions. ( Realistic Fiction)

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang Alternates interrelated stories about three characters, including a Chinese American trying to participate in popular culture; a Chinese folk hero attempting to be worshipped as a god; and a teenager who is so ashamed by his Chinese cousin's behavior that he changes schools. ( Graphic Novel)

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon Natasha is a girl who believes in science and facts. Daniel has always been a good son and good student. But when he sees Natasha he forgets all that and believes there is something extraordinary in store for both of them ( Realistic Fiction)

Pride by Ibi Zoboi When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can't stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding. But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick's changing landscape, or lose it all. ( Realistic Fiction)