South High School Summer Reading 2017 Menu of Books

Choose one book from the following options. You will read the book, complete the “Summer Reading Form”, and be prepared to discuss your book in September! Please note: Titles were added daily through Wednesday, June 7th, so be sure to check out the updated list!

Grendel, by John Gardner ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Akin ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ The Beowulf story retold from the monster's point of view reveals the darker side of human nature and values.

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Aloteibi ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies. Warning: strong thematic material...including sexual assault on a child

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Alvarez ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ "One sees clearly only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eye." de Saint-Exupéry's classic novella explores the negotiation of adulthood, underscoring the blindnesses of those who inhabit that world. Childlike in its structural simplicity, but complex in its reflection of philosophical perspectives, The Little Prince resonates with young and old, reminding all that "Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Baez ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Orphan Train is a story about a teenager named Molly who has spent the majority of her life in foster care. Molly finds herself in and out of trouble with the law. As punishment for her misbehavior, Molly must help an elderly woman as retribution for her crime. While serving her community service, Molly realizes that she and Vivian, although vastly different in age, have a great deal in common. With Vivian's help, Molly soon realizes the importance of unexpected friendship and second chances.

Camino Island, by John Grisham ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Bernal ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, but Princeton has insured it for twenty-five million dollars.

Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts.

Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous offer of money convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close enough to him to learn his secrets.

But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise as only John Grisham can deliver it.

Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Beyer ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ It's about a boy named Jackson whose family is going through hardships and living in a van. Crenshaw the imaginary cat comes to help Jackson.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Bonn ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ This book is about the island of Guernsey (small island) in English Channel during world war two when it was occupied by the Nazis and how a group of people band together to help each other get through the occupation. Check out the weblink: http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/guernsey/book/ for a short video on the book.

It's a powerful and fun book to read! I can't wait to read it again and share it with you!

The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Calbi ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ "A story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal which transformed the sport of rowing and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans." "The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home."

Killing the Rising Sun, by Bill O’Reilly ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Campbell ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ WW2 in the Pacific Theater--1st person stories from all sides of the conflict

The Racketeer, by John Grisham ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Cardenas ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ In the history of the United States, only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five. His body is found in his remote lakeside cabin. There is no sign of forced entry or struggle. Just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.

One man, a former attorney, knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and why. But that man, Malcolm Bannister, is currently residing in the Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland. Though serving time, Malcolm has an ace up his sleeve. He has information the FBI would love to know. Malcolm would love to tell them. But everything has a price—and the man known as the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday.

Uncle Tungsten, Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, by Oliver Sacks ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Carothers ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ A story of Oliver Sacks as a young boy who grows up in a household whose mother was a surgeon and father a family doctor. As a young boy Oliver Sacks was fascinated with chemical reactions and explosions. The louder and smellier, the better. There is much talk about his uncle who's factory produced tungsten-filament lightbulbs (his Uncle Tungsten) and also much talk about his fascination with metals in general. Quite a different book and definitely worth reading.

Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Cascio ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ It is a personal development and self-improvement book. The author studied successful people and evolved 13 principles for success. The book talks a lot about monetary success but the philosophies can be applied to any line of work. "The book asserts that desire, faith and persistence can propel one to great heights if one can suppress negative thoughts and focus on long-term goals."

Going After Cacciato, by Tim O’Brien ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Chandler ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Winner of the National Book Award, this novel combines fantasy and reality in its depiction of a soldier who walks away from the Vietnam War and the squad that pursues him.

The Boy Detective Fails, by Joe Meno ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Chavez ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Kind of like if Encyclopedia Brown grew up and had an unpleasant, absurd adulthood. The book synopsis mentions the protagonist's sister has commit suicide, so that may be uncomfortable for some readers.

Where’d You Go Bernadette, by Maria Semple ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Chiamulon ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Bernadette has been hiding a secret past for decades while living the Seattle life she never wanted. Her daughter Bee attends a private school filled with wealthy parents who do not like Bernadette, and try their best to get her kicked out of the PTA and make her look bad. Her husband works long hours at Microsoft and is becoming more and more concerned about his eccentric wife. The family is planning a trip to Antarctica to celebrate Bee's perfect grades when Bernadette disappears.

Shanghai Girls, by Lisa Lee ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Chuang ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ "Compulsively readable... an enlightening journey [that] examines the Chinese immigrant experience through the lens of two sisters' lives." - The Denver Post

The Boy Detective Fails, by Joe Meno ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Coe ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The main character is like an Encyclopedia Brown all grown up, but he is unsuccessful.

A Whole New Engineer - The Coming Revolution in Engineering Education, by David E. ​ ​ Goldberg, Mark Somerville, and Catherine Whitney Book Chat Facilitator: Denisiu ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ This amazing book is about how joy, trust, openness and connection are the key to unleashing young, courageous minds and how emotion and culture are the crucial elements of change, not content, curriculum and pedagogy (shocking, I know ). A series of engaging stories of real-life effective change in education. A remarkable book - a call to action and a blueprint to reinventing all education for the 21st century. Students can be those agents of change not just educators. It is also about how a couple of engineers have nailed the importance of love, empathy, and caring as crucial in rethinking education. Will you be a part of this needed change?

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Drehs ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Pulitzer prize winning novel of a French girl and German boy who cross paths in France during World War II. Warning: graphic descriptions of the horrors of war ​

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Esquivel ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho continues to change the lives of its readers forever. With more than two million copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic, universally admired.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found.

The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams. - Amazon

I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Fournier ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them.

Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor.

The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.

Do I Make Myself Clear?, by Harold Evans ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Geber ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ About the importance of writing well.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Guest ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal atrocities are symbolic of an evil ages old yet forever new, endures as the quintessential story of suspense and horror. The unbridled lusts and desires, the diabolical cravings that Stoker dramatized with such mythical force, render Dracula resonant and unsettling a century later. (From lexile.com) Dracula is the classic tale of good versus evil and it's still popular today. Come see what all the fuss is about!

A Dog’s Purpose, by Bruce Cameron ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Hagiya ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ Sometimes it takes more than one lifetime to figure out the meaning of it all. Bailey the dog learns this firsthand as his journey takes him, and the reader, through a series of unforgettable canine lives.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Harris ​ Best for Grades: 10-11 ​ This book is a coming of age story set in the early 1990's. It is written in the form of a diary/letters from the perspective of a high school freshman. Warning: Contains some mature content. ​

Botchan, by Natsume Soseki ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Hetman ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ A story of a young man and his tribulations as he enters adult life.

From the Kitchen of Half Truth, by Maria Goodin ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Hildreth ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ Meg May's mother has created a life out of stories. Outlandish stories that can't possibly be true. And when sickness threatens to hide the truth of her past forever, Meg must convince her imaginative and free-spirited mother tell her what is real. As charming as the stories she's been told are, they aren't enough for Meg anymore. As she and her mother spend one last summer together, Meg tries to convince her mother to reveal a thing about who they used to be-and who they are now.

The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Iacono ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

Fox Tossing, by Edward Brooke-Hitching ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Imamura ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ This is a book about games, sports or pastimes that are no longer around. There are about 90 different ones that are highlighted in the book, and many of them are no longer around because of safety or animal cruelty. Some of my favorites are baby boxing, balloon jumping, auto polo, ice tennis, and octopus-wrestling.

One Bullet Away, by Nathaniel Fick ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Kaneshiro ​ Best for Grade: 12 ​ This autobiography depicts Daniel Fick's entrance into the US Marine Corps at OCS and leads the reader through his career in the infantry up to his time in Afghanistan as a member of a recon unit.

Eusebius - The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine, by Eusebius and Andrew ​ ​ Louth Book Chat Facilitator: King ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Eusebius's account is the only surviving historical record of the Church during its crucial first 300 years. Bishop Eusebius, a learned scholar who lived most of his life in Caesarea in Palestine, broke new ground in writing the History and provided a model for all later ecclesiastical historians. In tracing the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth century, and ending with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, his aim was to show the purity and continuity of the doctrinal tradition of Christianity and its struggle against persecutors and heretics.

Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Kruse ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

WARNING: Does discuss complicated topics of: Affairs, Spousal Abuse (Physical and Verbal), divorced families and the complications, Single Parenting

Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Kutsch ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The story of Nike, how the company started and how it grew to what it is today.

The Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Lee, D. ​ Best for Grade: 9 ​ The Uglies is a story about a dystopian world in which young people all have surgery to be beautiful and not feel different. What could be so bad about that?

Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Lee, L. ​ Best for Grades: 9-11 ​ The book is based on a vampire who falls in love with a human.

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Lockwood ​ Best for Grades: 9-11 ​ Set against the turbulent years of the Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure story is one of the most widely read romantic novels of all time. In it the dashing young hero, Edmond Dantès, is betrayed by his enemies and thrown into a secret dungeon in the Chateau d'If -- doomed to spend his life in a dank prison cell. The story of his long, intolerable years in captivity, his miraculous escape, and his carefully wrought revenge creates a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigue and paints a vision of France -- a dazzling, dueling, exuberant France -- that has become immortal.

And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Lyne ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide.

Moloka'i, by Alan Brenner ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Malone ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ This is a beautifully written story about a young girl living in Hawaii in the 1800's. Her fate seems as if it is sealed when she is faced with leprosy and sent to Moloka'i to live in the leper colony. This book is a vivid explanation and journey of Hawaii's past through the hopeful eyes of a young child. Warning: Some parts of this book include violent sexual content.

When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Mc Elwee ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, “When Breath Becomes Air,” written as he faced a -terminal cancer diagnosis, is inherently sad. But it’s an emotional investment well worth making: a moving and thoughtful memoir of family, medicine and literature. It is, despite its grim undertone, accidentally inspiring. - Nora Krug ​ The Washington Post

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: McDowell ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Wade Watts is a teenager living in a future dystopian society where people spend their lives living in a fully immersive virtual reality MMORPG called OASIS. When the creator of OASIS dies, the world embarks on a virtual scavenger hunt for ownership of OASIS. A perfect read for video game lovers, and lovers of 1980s movies, music and trivia. The Steven Spielberg directed movie version will be released in March of 2018.

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Mendivil ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ The book is a psychological thriller about an alcoholic woman, Rachel; post divorce. She takes the train every day to work everyday, and passes by her old house where her ex husband lives with his new wife. She notices a couple that lives a few doors down, and becomes fascinated with their life. When she takes the train one day she notices something about the couple that shocks her. In a drunken rage she decides to investigate, and the next morning wakes up bruised and covered with blood. The woman that she has been spying on ends up missing, and she can't help think that she may have had something to do with it. Rachel decides to investigate the case, and makes some dreadful discoveries.

A Boy Named Thomas: The Story of a Boy, a Donkey, and an Immigrant's Struggle for Survival, by Daniel Washle ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Minahan ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Thomas Smith and his family have traveled from their home in South Scalia to seek medical care for his sister. It’s supposed to make everything better. What they discover is that their new home in North Scalia holds danger and the deepest kind of intolerance.

Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind, by Loung Ung ​ ​ ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Murata ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung became the "lucky child," the sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her one surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. Loung recalls her assimilation into an unfamiliar new culture while struggling to overcome dogged memories of violence and the deep scars of war. In alternating chapters, she gives voice to Chou, the beloved older sister whose life in war-torn Cambodia so easily could have been hers. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of war as well as in times of peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the salvaging strength of family bonds.

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: O’Brien ​ Best for Grades: 11 ​ The narrator, Jake Barnes, describes Robert Cohn, a rich Jewish man who graduated from Princeton with low self-esteem, had an unsuccessful marriage, lost most of his inheritance, and moved to Paris with an exploitative woman, Frances, to write a novel. Warning: Contains some mature content. ​

Breaking Through, by Francisco Jiménez ​ Book Chat Facilitator: O’Keefe ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ At the age of fourteen, Francisco Jimenez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for twenty hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice. How they sustain their hope, their good-heartedness, and tenacity is revealed in this moving sequel to The Circuit. Without bitterness or sentimentality, Francisco Jiménez finishes telling the story of his youth.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Paredes ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Let's talk about the magical world Harry Potter enters when he discovers who he really is!! All reading levels welcome!

Things That Tick Me Off, by Joan Mazza ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Park ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Self-help & self-reflection pieces

Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Parsons ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Charlie, an introverted teenager, begins high school and has a hard time "fitting in" or finding his place until he makes friends with some older students who are comfortable with who they are, and help Charlie figure out who he is.

Warning: this book discusses some of the heavier things teens deal with when they get to high school, including sex, drugs, and suicide. That being said, it is an incredibly powerful work that all teens should read.

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Perez ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography

Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, and intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road move, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting little-understood art.

Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Polun ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Autobiography of Trevor Noah's journey as a child from apartheid South Africa to a career in comedy and current host of the Daily Show.

The Tribes of Palos Verdes, by Joy Nicholson ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Quick ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The setting of this book is in Palos Verdes as the title implies. Twins, Jim and Medina, recently move to the area from the Midwest and become immersed in the surfing culture. Jim is welcomed by the surfer crowd, while his sister Medina has a harder time. The story is told through the voice on Medina as she learns to surf and deal with her problems at home and school.

Catch 22, by Joseph Heller ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Richardson ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Catch-22 follows Captain John Yossarian in his exploits as a bombardier (a member of a fighter plane crew that is in charge of aiming and releasing bombs) in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Yossarian has one wish: to survive the madness of war.

Do I Make Myself Clear: Why Writing Well Matters, by Harold Evans ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Rosenthal ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Evans provides practical examples of how editing and rewriting can make for better communication, even in the digital age.

The right words are oxygen to our ideas, but the digital era, with all of its TTYL, LMK, and WTF, has been cutting off that oxygen flow. The compulsion to be precise has vanished from our culture, and in writing of every kind we see a trend towards more--more speed and more information but far less clarity.

Night Flight (Vol de Nuit), by Antoine de St. Exupéry ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Saddler ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Set in the 1930's in the early stages of commercial aviation, flights début out of Buenos Aires to deliver mail across the Atlantic at night. Based on the author's experiences, this story chronicles dangers, explores geography, and reveals the mindset of the time period and of the characters bent on achieving greatness at great personal risk. Short read. 23 chapters. In French or English. Made into a Korean chamber piece, an American tone poem, an Italian opera, a French parfum, and a Hollywood film.

The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Sain ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The Old Man and the Sea tells the story of a battle between an aging, experienced fisherman, Santiago, and a large marlin.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Salazar ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The 12 districts of Panem send two volunteers every year to fight to the death. This book follows the journey of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark as they compete while falling in love.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Saldana ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ "In the year 2044, the world has been gripped by an energy crisis from the depletion of fossil fuels and the consequences of global warming, causing widespread social problems and economic stagnation. To escape the decline their world is facing, people turn to the OASIS, a virtual reality simulator accessible by players using visors and haptic technology such as gloves. It functions both as an MMORPG and as a virtual society, with its currency being the most stable in the real world."

Nemesis, by Brendan Reichs ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Shapiro ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ This is a fast paced book. Synopsis: It's been happening since Min was eight. Every two years, on her birthday, a strange man finds her and murders her in cold blood. But hours later, she wakes up in a clearing just outside her tiny Idaho hometown—alone, unhurt, and with all evidence of the horrifying crime erased.

Across the valley, Noah just wants to be like everyone else. But he’s not. Nightmares of murder and death plague him, though he does his best to hide the signs. But when the world around him begins to spiral toward panic and destruction, Noah discovers that people have been lying to him his whole life. Everything changes in an eye blink.

Watership Down, by Richard Adams ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Shea ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ A tale of classic adventure that evokes epic themes, the novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a place to establish a new home, encountering perils and temptations along the way.

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Shultz ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Skipper ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Wuthering Heights is an absolute classic that explores a tragic love story. The story involves obsession and revenge, which makes the novel quite dark and violent at times.

Born on the Fourth of July, by Ron Kovic ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Stetson ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Recounts the story of a young man who served in the Marines in Vietnam and during his second tour of duty, was shot and paralyzed from the chest down. Tells how he made the transition from war supporter to war protester, and tells how he has made his life count these last fifty years.

A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Stewart ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Ove is an angry old man who complains about everything and is a stickler for rules. It's a funny story as well as a tragic one. As the story progresses he turns out to be a gentle, kind neighbor with a big heart.

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Takahashi ​ Best for Grade: 9 ​ Four children with different gifted talents are selected (after completing an intelligence test compiled with riddles) form the "Mysterious Benedict Society" to investigate a strange institution operated by the evil Mr. Curtain, who has created a mind-controlling device called "the Whisperer".

Everything Everything, by Nicola Yoon ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Tatikian ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Madeline has spent her whole life inside her house because of her illness. What will happen when a new family moves in next door? Warning: One minor adult scene. ​

Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Van Waardenburg ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ One of the most influential plays of modern times. Written in the late 1940's, this play is about mankind's search for meaning. Open to all, but recommended if you are taking or interested in taking honors/AP English or interested in drama.

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: VanTil ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ "What came first, the music or the misery? Did I listen to music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to music?"

It’s a good question. One that will be familiar to almost everyone who has read (and, if you’re like me, reread) Nick Hornby’s classic novel High Fidelity. This book was a best seller in the mid 1990s and remains as vital, funny and important as ever. "Hornby tells the story of Rob Fleming, the owner of record shop Championship Vinyl, and his difficult love life. During the course of the novel Rob remembers his all-time, top five break-ups, reconnects with some old flames and tries to answer some of life’s bigger questions."

NOTE: High Fidelity was adapted into a film in 2000 starring John Cusack and Jack Black but I would still encourage anyone to pick up the book; I promise, you'll be glad you did! You will find elements of yourself, your friends, your hobbies and your relationships making this a classic summertime read.

The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Waybright ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ One of his most popular works, it tells the story of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida.

Rain of Gold, by Victor Villaseñor ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Whitmore ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ Rain of Gold is the story of how the author's parents emigrated from Mexico during the revolution and came to settle in Southern California. Warning: Occasional coarse language, bootlegging, general ​ lawlessness, romance, and a bawdy grandmother.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Wood, J. ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.

A working knowledge of the Bible is a plus and a sense of humor is a must!

Into Thin Air, by John Krakauer ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Wood, K. ​ Best for Grades: 10-12 ​ The true story of the most disastrous Mt. Everest summit attempt in history. The author, John Krakauer, was one of the few survivors and a world renown non-fiction author.

Frederica, by Georgette Heyer ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Woodward ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Regency era, similar to Jane Austen

The Darkest Mind, by Alexandra Braken ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Young ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ After living through a disease that killed most of the world's children,16-year-old Ruby finds herself wielding a dangerous power. Together with a group of misfit kids in the same boat, she escapes the camp she's locked in and flees for the East River — which might not be safe as she believes.

What She Knew, by Gilly Macmillan ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Ashcraft ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol Park, her son Ben asks to run ahead, then he vanishes. The greatest dangers may not lie in strangers but behind smiles of those she trusts the most. Nothing is as she imagined it to be.

The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Chandley ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ The story beckons the reader to search out the timeless question of where is God in a world filled with so much pain and heartache.

Kindred, by Octavia Butler ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Creek ​ Best for Grades: 11-12 ​ Dana is a black woman living in California in the 1970's. She is transported through time to the antebellum South to save Rufus, the son of a white plantation owner. She gets transported repeatedly, and subjected to more danger each time, until she isn't sure whether she will ever reclaim her old life. This book deals with major adult themes, including violence and sex, and would not be appropriate for younger students.

The Sunflower, by Simon Wiesenthal ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Egan ​ Best for Grades: 10-11 ​ A Holocaust survivor’s surprising and thought-provoking study of forgiveness, justice, compassion, and human responsibility, featuring contributions from the Dalai Lama, Harry Wu, Cynthia Ozick, Primo Levi, and more.

While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to–and obtain absolution from–a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing. But even years after the war had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place?

In this important book, fifty-three distinguished men and women respond to Wiesenthal’s questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China and Tibet. Their responses, as varied as their experiences of the world, remind us that Wiesenthal’s questions are not limited to events of the past.

Coach Wooden and Me, by Kareem Abdul Jabbar ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Krumpe ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ In COACH WOODEN AND ME, Abdul-Jabbar reveals the inspirational story of how his bond with John Wooden evolved from a history-making coach-player mentorship into a deep and genuine friendship that transcended sports, shaped the course of both men's lives, and lasted for half a century.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, by Sean Covey ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Liu ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ "This classic book applies the timeless principles of the 7 Habits to the tough issues and life-changing decisions teens face. In an entertaining style, Covey provides a simple approach to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, and get along with their parents, as well as tackle the new challenges of our time, like cyberbullying and social media. In addition, this book is stuffed with cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes, and incredible stories about real teens from all over the world." -Amazon

The Stand, by Stephen King ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Rizzo ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ A battle between good and evil in a post apocalyptic world.

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God From Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human, by Grant Morrison ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Robertson ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ In his book Supergods, Grant Morrison chronicles the history of super-heroes and, in doing so, opens a door to the human condition. The author draws on art, archetypes, and his own life to shine a light on hero-comic characters, and their creators. At it's heart, Supergods is a humorous and enlightening exploration of pop culture and the creative process. Warning, this book contains some strong ​ language.

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Ross ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Bradbury said he composed F-451 to prevent a future, not predict it. While that may have been his intent, no piece of science fiction--heck, no piece of fiction, period!--has ever been so prescient in prognosticating a future. Spot-on in its accuracy, this future is our NOW! More than ever, we need Bradbury's words to provide solace, guidance, inspiration, and direction in an ever more complicated world of digital distraction and elusive sadness and feelings that something is just missing, could be better, may be tucked around the corner. The question is in the book; the answers will be in what we do with the book! (Oh yeah, and we may touch on Reality TV, Arnold Schwarznegger movies, and the occasional Billy Joel song!)

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Viera ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ Do you like romance? Pride and Prejudice is one of the most famous love stories in the last 200 years. Read it to find out why there have been hundreds of variations on the story. You too might never want it to end.

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Wermers ​ Best for Grades: 9-12 ​ A comedy about New Orleans in the 1960's

Lucy and Linh, by Alice Pung ​ ​ Book Chat Facilitator: Yoon ​ Best for Grades: 9-10 ​ Lucy is a smart ambitious Vietnamese immigrant girl living in Australia. After earning a ticket to attend a mostly white elite academy she finds herself juggling two very different worlds- her new shining life and her former school friends and an immigrant family survived by her father’s factory.