Hopkins GUIDE TO Summer Reading 2021 A Greeting from the Committee Contents Welcome to the 2021 Guidelines 2 A Word About Content 2 Summer Reading Guide! Required Books 4 List for Grades Seven and Eight In this publication, you will find reading recommendations General Fiction 5 that range across genre, identity, era and region, put Historical Fiction 9 together by your peers, your teachers, and your librarians. Nonfiction 10 If you are looking for Victorian romance, modernist poetry, Plays + Poetry 12 cultural critique, or hard sci-fi, you are in the right place. Mystery 13 If you are hankering for a play or a novella or a graphic Science Fiction + Fantasy 14 novel, welcome. If you do not know what you are looking for yet, that’s even better. List for Grades Nine through Twelve General Fiction 19 The Summer Reading Committee has been working all Historical Fiction 33 year to bring you an intuitive, streamlined publication that Nonfiction 39 will introduce you to new authors, new ideas and new Philosophy 51 texts. We have trimmed and edited, opened up space on Plays + Poetry 53 our metaphorical shelf, and added new titles that we feel Autobiographies + Memoirs 60 appeal to the adventurous, modern and diverse interests Mystery 65 of Hopkins School. Science Fiction + Fantasy 68 Short Stories + Essays 73 On the inside cover, you’ll find a bookmark. Think of this as a summer companion designed to keep your place in your current read, as well as help you discover other titles of interest. It has suggestions which will inspire you to explore the Guide more broadly, and it will travel with you into your new school year as a reminder of the books you’ve enjoyed over the break. We are so excited to share the Guide with you. We know you will find great things to read this summer, and we are looking forward to the fall, when we can come together again and discuss all the places we travelled from the comfort of our reading chairs. Happy Reading! Sincerely, THE SUMMER READING COMMITTEE Students Maisie Bilston ‘22, Alima Conde ‘25, Andrew Cotaj ‘22, Leela DeSilva ‘22, Aaron Gruen ‘21, Ava Hamblett ‘22, Ramey Harper-Mangels ‘21, Amelie Khiar ‘22, Finnbar Kiely ‘22, Abigail Kruger ‘23, Alexandra Mathews ‘22, Caroline McCarthy ‘22, Sebastian Merce ‘22, Kainda Nzinga ‘25, Isabel Pizarro ‘24, Eesha Rao ‘22, Prairie Resch ‘21, Lucy Reymond ‘26, Christopher Ruano ‘22, Sofia Schaffer ‘23, Lauren Sklarz ‘22, Nati Tesfaye ‘22, Cora Turk-Thomas ‘26, Kaelin Vasseur ‘25 Faculty Advisers Catherine Casanova, Brad Czepiel, Leah Fry, Gabriela Gerstenfeld, Alexandra Kelly, Jennifer Nicolelli, Thom Peters Guidelines solely for academic purposes. Any use of the word out- side of these parameters will be treated as Very Serious Your years at Hopkins and the years that follow are your best Misconduct as outlined in the Hopkins Student Handbook for reading; for becoming a good reader; for becoming a habit- and, therefore, subject to disciplinary consequences which ual reader; for reading both to enjoy and to learn from books. may include expulsion. The Summer Reading Guide should start, not finish, your quest for intellectually engaging and pleasurable reading. There are texts in theGuide that include usage of the “n-word.” Regardless of an author’s identity or purpose for using the Each grade is assigned one required book for English class. word, reading the word has the potential to cause harm. We Since the required book will be discussed during opening encourage parents and guardians to engage in conversations English classes in September, it should be read toward the end with their children about their reading choices and to even of the summer. As usual, students will be expected to write read along with them. Researching a title before engaging with on the required book, and to either write on or discuss the the text may be appropriate for some readers. If a parent or other three texts they choose when they return in the fall. In student needs additional support in regards to encountering addition, many History courses have a required reading book. specifically triggering content, please contact Head of the Be sure to check out the list to see if your History course is one Summer Reading Guide Committee Jenny Nicolelli, English of them. Department Chair Joe Addison, and Director of Equity and Community Becky Harper. A Word About Content Please adhere to the following requirements: Titles in the Hopkins Summer Reading Guide do not include ~~ Students must read the required books for their grades explicit content warnings. However, there are books in the and three other previously unread books from the appro- Guide that feature emotionally and intellectually challenging priate lists. Required reading for History courses does not content, such as: ableism, abuse, alcoholism, drugs, eating dis- count toward these three additional titles. orders, homophobia, racism, sexual violence, suicide, violence, and xenophobia. Additionally, the Hopkins School policy on ~~ The list represents authors and offers short descriptions of the “n-word” is as follows: specific works to entice students. Students may read any book by an author on the appropriate list, except in the Hopkins School represents a diversity of lived experiences, case of the required books. backgrounds, and identities. In order to maintain a sup- ~~ Students entering grades 7–8 may read authors from the portive, affirming, and safe environment for all and respond list for students entering grades 7–8, as well as authors to the necessity for anti-racist practices, we, as the Hopkins Community ban the use of the “n-word” (used here as a from the list for students entering grades 9–12. Students stand-in for the racial slur) among our community members entering grades 9–12 will only receive credit for authors on and on our campus, including online and on social media. the latter list. The history and legacy of this racial epithet continue to Use these additional criteria to help guide your selections: communicate hate, incite violence, and cause harm in our ~~ Many History courses have a required book. Consult the world. Hopkins bans its use, in all contexts in which the word might be spoken or written, whether in a classroom list below to see if you need to read a required book for setting or otherwise, including the listening to and singing the History course you are signed up to take next year. along to music; in conversation, whether academic or Reading for History courses is additional to the four socially; and otherwise, on and beyond Hopkins’ campus. books required for English classes. ~~ Students taking Atlantic Communities II or Atlantic However, to avoid overlooking or erasing the word’s Communities III in Hopkins Summer School are not prevalence in history and culture, Hopkins still allows for teaching texts and materials that contain the “n-word.” required to do the summer reading normally required for Hopkins demands its community members approach the those courses. appearance of this word in classroom contexts with critical ~~ For advanced Classics or Modern Language students, a care and serious consideration. challenge would be to read a book in its original language, rather than an English translation. To be clear, as a school, we ban any use of the word from members of our Hopkins Community. We restrict the appearance of the “n-word” to reading and listening, and 2 3 7–8 Required Books List for Grades Seven and Eight Students entering grades 7–8 may read authors from this REQUIRED READING FOR ENGLISH and from the list for students entering grades 9–12. GENERAL FICTION GRADE 7 A Crack in the Sea by H.M. Bouwman GENERAL FICTION GRADE 8 Alexie, Sherman The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s GRADE 9 Literature. A decision to leave the Spokane Indian Reservation The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline to attend the local white high school alters Junior’s life in many ways. His experience is both hilarious and heartbreaking. GRADE 10 Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Barrie, James M. Peter Pan GRADE 11 Peter Pan and Wendy fly to Neverland—but fall into the On Writing by Stephen King clutches of the infamous Captain Hook. Cameron, Bruce GRADE 12 A Dog’s Purpose Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel This touching book chronicles a dog’s journey through several lives via reincarnation, and how he looks for his purpose through each life. REQUIRED READING FOR HISTORY Cisneros, Sandra ATLANTIC COMMUNITIES II The House on Mango Street The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton This poignant album of memories follows a Mexican-American girl who, in the midst of poverty, struggles for education and ATLANTIC COMMUNITIES III self-esteem in the Hispanic section of Chicago. Hiroshima by John Hersey Dickens, Charles AP® EUROPEAN HISTORY David Copperfield The Great Mortality by John Kelly The story of David Copperfield’s growth from an innocent, naive, and easily exploited child to a prudent, commanding, AP® US HISTORY and loving adult. Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis Enzensberger, Hans Magnus PHILOSOPHY The Number Devil Choose one text from the Philosophy section of the Guide. In a series of dreams, Enzensberger brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach it to them. Gardner, Sally Maggot Moon Set during the 1950s in an alternate timeline where England is under a totalitarian regime, Maggot Moon starts off as a novel that seems to follow a dyslexic boy’s struggle in school—until it slowly reveals its darker, overarching themes.