Grace Prep Summer Reading Assignment for 10th-12th Standard English Classes Happy Summer! This summer the English Department invites all 10th through 12 graders to embrace the joy of reading. Your high school English teachers have given recommendations for some of their favorite books. Please be encouraged to choose one from the list for your summer reading selection. If you have another selection that is of equal literary merit, you may substitute a selection of your own. The requirements for summer reading are simple: 1. Choose a book you have not previously read from the list provided. If you would like to choose another selection that is not listed, the only requirements are that is of equal literary value and it has your parent’s approval for Grace Prep work. 2. During the summer, read the novel. 3. During the first week of school, you will give a simple 2 to 3 minute presentation of why you would or would not recommend your literary choice. (See the attached handout for suggestions of information to include in your recommendation), 4. In the front cover of the book, write your first and last name. Underneath that, Write a 3 to 4 sentence recommendation in the front cover. Finally, contribute the book to the class library to be read and reviewed by other students during the following years. *Donating the book is optional, but would be greatly appreciated! Guidelines for Presentation: Be Prepared to Present the First Day of School! I. Include an introduction that includes the author, title, genre and topic of your book. II. Include at least two of the following components: a. Read a passage or passages that you especially liked or thought was important to the book. Give commentary over the passage read. b. Explain what was the writer’s purpose in writing the book. Explain how he or she achieves that purpose. c. Identify the key theme or themes of the novel. Explain how the author develops it. d. Identify a character in the literary work (whether fiction or non-fiction) who you would like to meet and explain why. e. If the setting is important, describe the setting and explain its impact. III. Conclude by telling why or why not you would recommend this book to be read by a classmate. IV. Your presentation should be anywhere from two to three minutes in length. List of Book Choices for High School (10th– 12th grade) Summer Reading with Teachers’ Recommendations Mr. Wetterling’s Recommendations: Animal Farm, by George Orwell This brutal satire is just as appropriate today as it was when it was written over a half a century ago. It teaches the impossibility of a perfect society as well as the danger of choosing leaders based on charisma over character. By telling the story as an allegory using animals rather than actual people, the story is softened, but the points still made very effectively. Wetterling words of wisdom: This gave me an appreciation for politics and the way they shape our world. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot This award winning book is the first one written by Skloot and has drawn praise for both its style and content. Through research and determination, Skloot learned the full story of how researchers in the 50s harvested the cancer cells of an unknowing African American women without her knowledge and then used them for research for decades after her death without crediting her contribution or compensating her family. The book deals with issues of racism, poverty, informed consent and medical ethics. How do the benefits of research for the many outweigh the rights of the few? Wetterling words of wisdom: I heard about this book in the news and had to read it myself to see if it was fact or hype. This is a fascinating story, all the more incredible because it is true. Another story of one life changing the world, but in this case without ever even knowing it. I would love to do a Socratic seminar with a whole class of students that have read this book. Death of a President: November 20 - November 25, 1963, by William Manchester This book was written as a result of the Kennedy family seeking a definitive written history of the assassination of the president. However, when reading the first drafts the research was so well documented and the details so personal that they fought its publication. The author uses meticulous and fascinating research to tell the definitive story of the four days in November of 1963 that reshaped world history as a result of the Kennedy assassination. Wetterling words of wisdom: This is one of the books that made me fascinated with history at an early age. Putting the events of the Kennedy assignation in human context and explaining step-by-step how this event that would change the world unfolded in real time was amazing. Rich Dad / Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Children That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, by Robert T. Kiyosaki In what has become one of the best personal finance books ever written, Kiyosaki tells of growing up with two dads: his (who was poor) and that of his best friend (who was rich) and what each one taught him about money. Reading this book at a young age and following its advice can set a young person on a path to financial freedom and teach him how to make his money work for him rather than the other way around. Wetterling words of wisdom: If you want to have a much better understanding of money and how to make it work for you (instead of the other way around) read this book while you are still young enough to implement its lessons. Then some day you can quit a job that pays well but bores you in order to take one that doesn’t but enables you to make a difference. Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Mary McDonagh Murphy By the time nearly every high school student has become a junior or senior they have probably read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Certainly if a student has attended Grace Prep as a freshman he or she has. This book is a collection of essay written by a range of famous people describing the impact the book has had on their own lives. Tom Brokaw, Rosanne Cash, Oprah Winfrey, and Jon Meacham are but a few of the people that tell the story of being impacted by reading or re-reading this book and how it shaped their views on the human condition. Wetterling words of wisdom: To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite thing to teach. (Admit it, you enjoyed that experience as a freshman.) The reason? Because it impacts everyone one who read it differently and speaks to them in different ways. This book is full of people who explain all the different ways the book impacted them personally. Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson Almost all of us walk around with or work on a device that had its roots in the fertile mind of this amazing individual. His visions helped propel the world into the twenty first century. And yet, like most genius figures, he was deeply flawed personally and fought his own demons as he changed the world around him. He never finished college, but had one of the largest impacts on the world based on his vision of technology. The business he started in his parents’ garage is now the largest in the world. This is the story of how it all happened. Wetterling words of wisdom: This is another case of one individual with a vision was able to change the world, despite all manner of setbacks and road blocks. Inspiring in some ways, tragic in others, there is something for everyone to relate to in this biography. This book helps explain how Apple became one of my Top 3 favorite brands (right up there with Volvo and Starbucks). Mrs. Bullington’s Recommendations: Love Does : discover a secretly incredible life in an ordinary world - by Bob Goff Amazon- In this book of compelling stories coupled with eye-openig truths, Goff shows a new way to live, a way that's drenched with the whimsy of God's love and the spontaneity of following where he leads. Mrs. B – this book dropped little nuggets of wisdom in my life that made me stop and think. It challenged my own walk with the Lord and helped me to remember His command to Love first. I reread it last summer – it was that good!! Radical Integrity by Michael Van Dyke Amazon-You’ll be inspired by this story of a German pastor and theologian who gave his life to oppose Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. Born into a prominent German family, Dietrich Bonhoeffer died in a Nazi prison camp, hanged for his plot against the man who’d plunged the world into war. Find out what made Dietrich Bonhoeffer the man he was—compassionate minister, brilliant thinker, opponent of the heresies of Nazism and Aryan superiority. This easy- to-read biography details both Bonhoeffer’s life and his powerful theology—of “cheap” versus “costly” grace. Mrs. B - I have not read this book but had several students read it a couple of years ago – including my daughter Maggie. It was enjoyed by many – especially the young men in my class. A Separate Peace - by John Knowles Amazon-Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence.