SWAMPSCOTT HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER READING LIST FOR FRESHMAN: 2009 The English department is pleased to present this year’s summer reading list for freshman. Please read the list carefully for appropriate titles of the course you will be taking next school year. All teachers will collect your journal assignments the first day of class. Students taking 110 must read the required text plus three additional choice books from the list provided and complete the journal assignment (see directions) for each novel they read. Students taking 111 must read the required text and two additional choice books from the list provided and complete the journal assignment for each of the novels they read. Students taking the Foundations course must read any two books from the list provided. They have no required book. Foundations students must complete the journal assignment for each book. Students enrolling after August 15 will have a two-week grace period for the reading. Books are available at the following locations: the Swampscott Public library, Borders (Peabody) and Borders Express (Swampscott), and Barnes and Nobles (Peabody). STUDENTS TAKING ENGLISH 110 OR 111 REQUIRED:
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.
CHOICES:
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford: This is the story of a young man growing up during World War II in a sleepy mountain town in New Mexico and learning what life and people are all about. Comedic and rich, this novel captures the spirit of youth and the depth of human feeling. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez: Fifteen interconnected stories portray the immigrant experience with humor and insight as the four Garcia sisters and their family come to America in 1960 from the Dominican Republic. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver: Taylor Greer flees her harsh life in Appalachia and heads west in this memorable novel of love and friendship, abandonment and belonging. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury: These stories of Earth and Mars illustrate the universal forces of love, hate, fear, and courage. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card: Ender Wiggins is the result of a genetic breeding program and years of harsh, unforgiving training. Thinking he is only playing computer-simulated war games, Ender is really commanding the last great fleet on Earth. Ellen Foster by Kay Gibbons: In a simple narrative voice, eleven-year-old Ellen tells the story of a childhood filled with family strife and parental loss. Her spunk and humor help her overcome adversity in this uplifting southern novel. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: This is the moving and beautiful autobiography of a talented black woman confronting her own life with dignity. Sophie’s World by Joestein Gaardner: A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie’s World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius ... even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil. Dune by Frank Herbert: Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud’dib. Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid: With Annie John, the story of a young girl coming of age in Antigua, Kincaid tears open the theme that lies at the heart of all her fierce, incantatory novels: the ambivalent and essential bonds created by a mother's love. The Once and Future King by T.H. White: This book is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlin and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: The story of a British earthling plucked from his planet, and his subsequent adventures elsewhere in the universe. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang American Born Chinese is made up of three individual plotlines: the determined efforts of the Chinese folk hero Monkey King to shed his humble roots and be revered as a god; the struggles faced by Jin Wang, a lonely Asian American middle school student who would do anything to fit in with his white classmates; and the sitcom plight of Danny, an All-American teen so shamed by his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee (a purposefully painful ethnic stereotype) that he is forced to change schools. Chinese Handcuffs by Dillon Hemingway is a brilliant student and athlete whose older brother, Preston, gets involved with a motorcycle gang, loses his legs in a bike accident, and later blows his head off in full view of his younger brother. Bee Season by Myla Goldberg: Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness.
Students taking FOUNDATIONS class need to choose from this list:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: This is the moving and beautiful autobiography of a talented black woman confronting her own life with dignity. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: A pathological killer systematically murders ten strangers entrapped on an island. Before Women Had Wings by Connie Fowler: Bird Johnson tells her own story about family and friends as she embarks upon a quest to find salvation as the chaos of her home plunges her into silence and devastation. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher: Eric "Moby" Calhoune, the fattest boy in high school, tries to help his badly scarred best friend, Sarah Byrnes, deal with a horrific event in her past. "A transcendent story of love, loyalty, and courage . . . Superb plotting, extraordinary characters and crackling narrative make this novel one to be devoured in a single unforgettable sitting." The Contender by Robert Lypsyte: Alfred Brooks, a seventeen-year-old boy who is struggling to become a championship boxer, must placate his Harlem gang and the white world as well. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier: High school politics, cruelty, and conformity are sparked by the annual fundraising event --- selling chocolates! Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: Melinda enters her freshman year in high school as an outcast. Her dark sense of humor and honest depiction of the high school experience will resonate with many teens. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt: Four abandoned children take a journey from Connecticut to Maryland in search of love. Hoops by Walter Dean Myers: A young man with a talent for basketball hopes that his game will be his ticket out of the ghetto. Chinese Cinderella by Yen Mah: The author returns to her roots to paint an authentic portrait of 20th century China as well as tell the story of her painful childhood. Zlata's Diary, A Child's Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic: Eleven-year-old Zlata begins her diary with the typical concerns of a young girl. But gunfire and the horrors of war change her happy world. Soon she is recording the deaths of friends, food shortages, and the horrors of life in war-torn Sarajevo. Lupita Manana by Patricia Beatty: The Torres family is in desperate straits after Mr. Torres is killed. Lupita, 13, and her older brother Salvador must journey to the U.S. to find work and send money so Mama can keep the family's home from the moneylender. Candy by Kevin Brooks: When Joe meets Candy, it seems like a regular boy-meets-girl scenario. They chat over coffee, she gives him her number, and he writes her a song. But then Joe is drawn into Candy's world --- a world of drugs, violence, and desperation. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang American Born Chinese is made up of three individual plotlines: the determined efforts of the Chinese folk hero Monkey King to shed his humble roots and be revered as a god; the struggles faced by Jin Wang, a lonely Asian American middle school student who would do anything to fit in with his white classmates; and the sitcom plight of Danny, an All-American teen so shamed by his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee (a purposefully painful ethnic stereotype) that he is forced to change schools. Chinese Handcuffs by Dillon Hemingway is a brilliant student and athlete whose older brother, Preston, gets involved with a motorcycle gang, loses his legs in a bike accident, and later blows his head away in full view of his younger brother.