2009 Summer Reading For High School English
2009 SUMMER READING for HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH
Relax and enjoy reading this summer! Nine months a year does not give us enough time to learn all that the world’s
greatest writers and thinkers have to say to us, to experience the human condition beyond our own existence, to think
about new and old ideas, and to discover more about ourselves. The books are available in the public libraries and in local
bookstores. If the book you need is not in stock, the bookstore will order it for you.
If you are enrolled in HONORS ENGLISH, you must read at least THREE books. If you are in AVERAGE ENGLISH,
select TWO titles. Choose at least one title from the appropriate grade level list, a higher grade level, or the Virginia
Readers Choice, Alex or Classics lists. In the fall, be prepared to discuss and/or write about these required books. Keep
a reading log. You may refer to the log as you discuss/write about your reading, and you may turn your Reading Log in for
extra credit. This list and the Reading Log are also published online at http://sbo.nn.k12.va.us.
This list includes suggested titles from the Virginia Readers’ Choice program, Alex Awards, classics recommended by the
College Board, and books recognized by our faculty and other teachers as meaningful reading choices for students of
high school age. See descriptions of the Virginia Readers’ Choice books at http://www.vsra.org/VRCindex.html. You are,
of course, encouraged to read as many books as you like!
9th Grade:
11th Grade:
We Beat the Streets, Davis, Jenkins & Hunt
Undaunted Courage, Stephen E. Ambrose
Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury
Colibri, Ann Cameron
American Eyes: New Asian-American Short
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Stories for Young Adults, Lori Carlson
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes, Chris Crutcher
Gingerbread, Rachel Cohn
Tears of a Tiger, Sharon Draper
Athletic Shorts, Chris Crutcher
Aquamarine, Alice Hoffman
A Lesson Before Dying, Earnest T. Gaines
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural
The Last Juror, John Grisham
Revolution, Ji-Li Jiang
Needful Things, Stephen King
Heaven, Angela Johnson
Color of Water, James McBride
Bad Boy, Walter Dean Myers
Hoops, Walter Dean Myers
Somewhere in the Darkness, Walter Dean Myers
A Step From Heaven, An Na
The Hot Zone, Richard Preston
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, James Patterson
Living Up the Street, Gary Soto
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
The Red Pony, John Steinbeck
Tortilla Flat, John Steinbeck
Ordeal by Hunger, George Stewart
Can’t Get There from Here, Todd Strasser
The Time Machine, H. G. Wells
10th Grade:
12th Grade:
Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century Girl, Tonya
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya
Bolden
Angelou
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Wish You Well, David Baldacci
All-American Girl, Meg Cabot
Ironman, Chris Crutcher
Gifted Hands, Ben Carson
The Bingo Palace, Louise Erdrich
House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Grendel, John Gardner
Romiette and Julio, Sharon Draper
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time,
Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy
Mark Haddon
Dark Sons, Nikki Grimes
The Stand, Stephen King
Bleachers, John Grisham
Jake Reinvented, Gordon Korman
The First Part Last, Angela Johnson
Finding My Voice, Marie G. Lee
Slam, Walter Dean Myers
Scorpions, Walter Dean Myers
Local News, Gary Soto
Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell
Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne
Jesse, Gary Soto
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder
The Rule of Four, Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason
Copper Sun, Sharon M. Draper
Senioritis, Tate Thompson
Other Great Reading Choices for High School Students
Virginia Readers Choice is a program sponsored by the Virginia State Reading Association. Selections include recently
published and noteworthy titles in the field of young adult literature. This list includes selections from 2007-2010.
Asher, Jay
Thirteen Reasons Why
Oates, Joyce Carol
Freaky Green Eyes
Bartoletti, Susan
Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's
Pausch, Randy
the Last Lecture
Campbell
Shadow
Peet, Mal
Tamar
Bell, Hilari
The Last Knight
Pfeffer, Susan Beth
Life as we Knew It
Booth, Coe
Tyrell
Picoult, Jodi
My Sister's Keeper
Caletti, Deb
Fortunes of Indigo Skye
Pierce, Tamora
Trickster's Choice
Davidson, Dana
Jason & Kyra
Rees, Douglas
Vampire High
Davis, Jenkins & Hunt
The Pact
Schmidt, Gary
Trouble
Draper, Sharon M.
Copper Sun
Shivack, Nadia
Inside Out: Portrait of an Eating Disorder
Elliott, Laura
Annie Between the States
Shusterman, Neal
Unwind
Erskine, Kathryn
Quaking
Stein, Tammar
Light Year
The Christopher Killer:
Ferguson, Alane
Forensic Mystery 1.
Unger, Zac
Working Fire: The Making of a Fireman
Giles, Gail
Shattering Glass
Westerfeld, Scott
Uglies
Green, John
Looking for Alaska
Wittlinger, Ellen
Sandpiper
Lubar, David
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
Zevin, Gabrielle
Elsewhere
Zoya, with Follain and
Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's
Lynch, Chris
Inexcusable
Cristofari
Struggle
Marillier, Juliet
Wildwood Dancing
Zusak, Markus
Book Thief
McNamee, Graham
Acceleration
Nelson, Marilyn
A Wreath for Emmett Till
Alex Awards are given to ten books each year from the previous year’s publishing output. Sponsored by the Young Adult
Library Services Association of the American Library Association, the award recognizes books written for adults that have
special appeal to young people aged 12-18.
Iggulden, Conn
Genghis: Birth of An Empire
Lutz, Lisa
The Spellman Files
Jones, Lloyd
Mister Pip
Rothfuss, Patrick
The Name of the Wind
Some classics are just too good to miss. The following titles have been selected from “101 Great Books for the College
Bound Student,” published by College Board <http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/23628.html>.
Beowulf
Marquez, Gabriel
Austen, Jane
Pride and Prejudice
Garcia
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Chopin, Kate
The Awakening
Melville, Herman
Moby Dick
Conrad, Joseph
Heart of Darkness
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Cooper,James Fenimore
The Last of the Mohicans
Pasternak, Boris
Doctor Zhivago
de Cervantes, Miguel
Don Quixote
Salinger, J.D.
The Catcher in the Rye
Defoe, Daniel
Robinson Crusoe
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Dickens, Charles
A Tale of Two Cities
Steinbeck, John
The Grapes of Wrath
Douglass, Frederick
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Stevenson, Robert
Dumas, Alexandre
The Three Musketeers
Louis
Treasure Island
Ellison, Ralph
The Invisible Man
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
Hardy, Thomas
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Thackery, William
Vanity Fair
Heller, Joseph
Catch 22
Thoreau, Henry David
Walden
Hemingway, Ernest
A Farewell to Arms
Turgenev, Ivan
Fathers and Sons
Homer
The Iliad
Twain, Mark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.
Slaughterhouse-Five
Joyce, James
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Wilde, Oscar
The Picture of Dorian Gray
London, Jack
The Call of the Wild
Wright, Richard
Native Son
