Summer Reading Lists 2010

By Grade Level

9th Grade

 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. “Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television ‘family’ … Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books … When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes …” (Amazon)

 

Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. “Cameron [is] a 16-year-old slacker whose somewhat dysfunctional family has just about given up on him, when his diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jacob, ‘mad cow’ disease, reunites them. The heart of the story is a hallucinatory—or is it?—quest with many parallels to the hopeless but inspirational efforts of Don Quixote, about whom Cameron had been reading before his illness. [Cam must]  take up arms against the Dark Wizard and fire giants that attack him intermittently, and [try] to find a missing Dr. X, who can both help save the world and cure him...” (School Library Journal)

 

Brown, Jennifer. Hate List. “At the end of their junior year, Valerie's boyfriend pulls a gun in the Commons, leaving six students and a teacher dead and many others wounded. Valerie is hit by a bullet in the leg trying to stop him, just before he ends his own life. Until that point, Valerie had no idea that the ‘hate list’ that she and Nick created would be used to target victims in a vengeful shooting spree … Although the police investigation reveals that Valerie had nothing to do with the actual shootings, many people in her community, including her parents, have a hard time believing that ...” (School Library Journal)

 

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. “Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, having won the annual Games, are now rich and famous—and trapped in the fiction that they are lovers. They are seen as a threat to the Capitol, their unusual manner of winning an act of rebellion that could inspire uprisings throughout Panem. Knowing her life is in danger Katniss considers escaping with her family and friends but instead reluctantly assumes the role of a rebel, almost forced into it by threats from the insidious President Snow …” (Kirkus Reviews)

 

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. “Does Jerry Renault dare to disturb the universe? You wouldn't think that his refusal to sell chocolates during his school's fundraiser would create such a stir, but it does; it's as if the whole school comes apart at the seams. To some, Jerry is a hero, but to others, he becomes a scapegoat--a target for their pent-up hatred. And Jerry? He's just trying to stand up for what he believes …” (Amazon)

 

Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. “When Henry Fielding joined the Union army, he was filled with romantic illusions of warfare. These illusions soon disappeared under the harsh, brutal reality of war. Forces beyond his control and random chance soon drive him to cowardice in battle. The same forces later combine to make his heroism.” (Amazon)

 

Griffin, Paul. The Orange Houses. “This hard-hitting and lyrical novel opens with the apparent hanging of Jimmi Sixes, a disturbed 18-year-old veteran and street poet/junkie, back in the Bronx after his discharge from the army; the story then retraces the preceding month’s events. Stubborn 15-year-old Tamika (aka Mik), who lives in the projects called the Orange Houses, is hearing-impaired but often prefers to turn off her hearing aids and text message rather than speak. Jimmi introduces her to Fatima, an illegal refugee who has just arrived from Africa … and a friendship blossoms.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Lloyd, Saci. The Carbon Diaries 2015. “Laura Brown, a 16-year-old Londoner and punk rocker, documents a year in the very near future, 2015, in diary form. She refers to recent massive storms brought on by climate change that have ravaged the planet and led Britain to be the first country to try ‘carbon rationing.’ … As [Laura] weathers staggering uncertainty, kill-me-now family crises, and a timelessly confusing dating scene, she finds a release valve in music and her mates … Deeply compulsive and urgently compulsory reading.” (Booklist)

 

McCormick, Patricia. Purple Heart. “18-year-old Matt Duffy, a private with memory problems following a traumatic brain injury, receives the Purple Heart in Iraq and gradually unravels the contradictory events that led to the honor … Friendship, bravado and juvenile antics counteract the soldiers' guilt, paranoia and unease around Iraqis … As Matt remembers more and more, tension builds and he becomes confused about interpretations of the truth (and when to reveal them) within the chain of command.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

McCullers, Carson. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. “Deaf-mute John Singer becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine finds solace in her music … McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated.” (Amazon)

 

Miller-Lachmann, Lyn. Gringolandia. “1980 in Santiago, Chile, Daniel witnesses the violent arrest of his activist father by Pinochet's secret police. Five years later, Marcelo is released from prison and reunited with his wife and children in Madison, WI (derisively called ‘Gringolandia’). Years of torture have taken a terrible physical and emotional toll on him … Daniel, now 17, struggles to balance his volatile home situation with high school; his girlfriend, Courtney; and hopes of U.S. citizenship ...” (School Library Journal)

 

Ness, Patrick. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking: Book One). “Chased by a madman preacher and possibly the rest of his townsfolk as well, young Todd Hewitt flees his settlement on a planet where war with the natives has killed all the women and infected the men with a germ that broadcasts their thoughts aloud for all to hear. This cacophanous thought-cloud is known as Noise and is rendered with startling effectiveness on the page. The first of many secrets is revealed when Todd discovers an unsettling hole in the Noise, and quickly realizes that he lives in a much different world than the one he thought he did …” (Booklist)\

 

Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. “In 1940s Brooklyn, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Despite their differences … the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood.” (Amazon)

 

Shusterman, Neal. Unwind. “In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would ‘unwind’ them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion … these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance …” (Book Description)

 

Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World. “Marcelo Sandoval is a high-functioning, extremely self-aware teenager with Asperger's syndrome. He has an empathetic mother and a father, Arturo, who appears to be less empathetic as he pushes Marcelo to live in the ’real world’ [by taking] a summer job in the mailroom at Arturo's law office. The teen is forced to think on his feet, multitask, and deal with duplicitous people who try to take advantage of him …” (School Library Journal)

 

Voorhees, Coert. The Brothers Torres. “Frankie Torres Towers knows his older brother, Steve, is endangering his college scholarship by staying out all night with the local cholos and picking fights with his soccer teammates … Frankie figures Steve is just looking for respect and covers for him, deflecting his parents' questions and picking up the slack at Los Torres, the family's New Mexican restaurant … When he exhibits some bravado against rich kid and soccer jock John Dalton … he unintentionally incites a series of incidents that forces his brother to defend him [and] soon learns what these warring factions of older boys are willing to risk.” (School Library Journal)

 

Wells, H. G. The Time Machine. “The Time Machine, H. G. Wells’s first novel, is a tale of Darwinian evolution taken to its extreme. Its hero, a young scientist, travels 800,000 years into the future and discovers a dying earth populated by two strange humanoid species: the brutal Morlocks and the gentle but nearly helpless Eloi … [Wells] grounds his fantastical imagination in scientific fact and conjecture while lacing his narrative with vibrant action, not merely to tell a ‘ripping yarn,’ but to offer a biting critique on the world around him.” (Barnes & Noble)

 

Wray, John. Low Boy. “Wray's captivating novel drifts between psychological realities while exploring the narrative poetics of schizophrenia. The story centers on Will Heller, a 16-year-old New Yorker who has stopped taking his antipsychotic medication and wandered away from the mental hospital into the subway tunnels believing that the world will end within a few hours and that only he can save it … Wray deploys brilliant hallucinatory visuals, including chilling descriptions of the subway system and an imaginary river flowing beneath Manhattan.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. “Death is the narrator of this lengthy, powerful story of a town in Nazi Germany. He is a kindly, caring Death, overwhelmed by the souls he has to collect from people in the gas chambers, from soldiers on the battlefields, and from civilians killed in bombings. Death focuses on a young orphan, Liesl; her loving foster parents; the Jewish fugitive they are hiding; and a wild but gentle teen neighbor, Rudy, who defies the Hitler Youth and convinces Liesl to steal for fun …” (Booklist)

 

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10th Grade

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. “Poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life … " (Amazon)

 

Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone. “This gripping story by a children's-rights advocate recounts his experiences as a boy growing up in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, during one of the most brutal and violent civil wars in recent history. Beah [was] a typical precocious 12-year-old, but rebel forces destroyed his childhood innocence when they hit his village … After several months of struggle, he was recruited by the national army, made a full soldier and learned to shoot an AK-47, and hated everyone who came up against the rebels ...” (School Library Journal)

 

Eig, Jonathan. Luckiest Man: the Life & Death of Lou Gehrig. “A fascinating and well-rounded portrait of Gehrig, from his dugout rituals and historic games to his relationships with his mother, wife, coaches, and teammates. His complex friendship with Ruth, who was the polar opposite to Gehrig in nearly every respect, is given particularly vivid attention … Eig also shares some previously unknown details regarding his consecutive games streak and how he dealt with ALS during the final years of his life.” (Amazon)

 

Gardner Chris. The Pursuit of Happyness. “Gardner chronicles his long, painful, ultimately rewarding journey from inner-city Milwaukee to the pinnacle of Wall Street … By his own account, Gardner was a good kid who got into trouble occasionally, but stayed on a steady, upward track. [His] own weakness was women, and when one of them left him with a son, it led to a period of homelessness on the San Francisco streets … ” (Publishers Weekly)

Heiligman, Deborah. Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith. “Beginning with Darwin's notorious chart listing reasons to wed and not to wed, Heiligman has created a meticulously researched picture of the controversial scientist and the effect of his marriage on his life and work. Using the couple's letters, diaries, and notebooks, [the] author lets her subjects speak for themselves, [showing] how Darwin's love for his intelligent, steadfast, and deeply religious cousin was an important factor in his scientific work …” (School Library Journal)

 

Hornbacher, Marya. Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. “Hornbacher describes in shocking detail her lifelong quest to starve herself to death, to force her short, athletic body to fade away … Her bizarre tale includes not only the usual puking and starving, but also being confined to mental hospitals and growing fur (a phenomenon called lanugo, which nature imposes to keep a body from freezing to death during periods of famine).” (Amazon)

 

Kennedy, Edward M. True Compass. “Kennedy devotes more than half of the book to the first half of his life-growing up as the youngest of his generation … After a brief section on Chappaquiddick, Kennedy tends to the anecdotal when discussing his political career from clashing with Nixon over Supreme Court nominations to campaigning for Barack Obama … When he was a child, Kennedy's father told him, ‘You can have a serious life or a nonserious life.’ He chose the former, and at the end, seems genuinely grateful not just for what that life gave him, but what it enabled him to do for others.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Krakauer, Jon. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. “There may be no better example of the tragic aftermath of 9/11 than the story of pro-football player-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman, whose death in the wilds of Afghanistan in 2004 created a scandal of government cover-up … Drawing on interviews with family, fellow soldiers and correspondence, Krakauer’s page-turning account captures every detail--Tillman’s extraordinary character; the harshness of military training and life; the rugged terrain of remote Afghanistan, and the ravages of war.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Maynard, Kyle. No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee who became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life. “Born without arms or legs below his elbows and knees, Kyle Maynard excels as a champion athlete, inspirational speaker, college student and male model. No Excuses is his inspirational autobiography that shows how a positive can-do attitude gives someone we might see as disadvantaged the advantage over life.” (Amazon)

 

Obama, Barrack. The Audacity of Hope. “Illinois's Democratic senator illuminates the constraints of mainstream politics all too well in this sonorous manifesto. Obama castigates divisive partisanship and calls for a centrist politics based on broad American values. His own cautious liberalism is a model: he's skeptical of big government and of Republican tax cuts for the rich and Social Security privatization; he's pro-choice, but respectful of pro-lifers; supportive of religion, but not of imposing it … Obama writes insightfully, with vivid firsthand observations about politics.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Page, Tim. Parallel Play: Growing Up With Undiagnosed Asperger’s. “Although the [Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Page] wasn't diagnosed until he was in his mid-40s, it was clear from his early childhood that something distinguished him from the other children. Asperger's [is] characterized by, among other things, a pervasive difficulty in connecting with other people, the ability to amass astonishing amounts of what some might call minutia and, if the individual is lucky, a strikingly high level of intelligence. Page was one of the lucky ones [but he] floundered through school, experimenting heavily with drugs, often failing courses and struggling with loneliness and depression. His memoir is [a] lucid, sweetly sentimental testament to growing up different.” (Kirkus Reviews)

 

Richardson, Kim Michele. Unbreakable Child. “Richardson, who was raised in a Catholic orphanage in Kentucky in the 1960s, recounts the horrors that she and countless other children endured there and takes readers on her journey to rid herself of the awful memories. Her catharsis comes with a lawsuit, which she and 44 other survivors brought against the order that ran the orphanage … Richardson’s candid accounts are chilling, and the strength she shows—with a very supportive husband at her side—is inspiring … Hers is a beautifully told story about strength and an enduring faith that can lead but one place: to forgiveness.” (Booklist)

 

Sey, Jennifer. Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams. “Sey writes of her career in internationally competitive gymnastics, which culminated when she won the 1986 U.S. national championship at age 17. From the start Sey was an underdog, ever the second-best athlete on the team hoping to prove herself with tenacity and toughness. She endured numerous injuries—including a broken femur, which could have ended her career—as well as an eating disorder, depression, isolation and tremendous strain on her family … After claiming the U.S. title, Sey was ‘shell-shocked and exhausted’ … Overall, she has written a courageous story befitting a comeback kid.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Sheff, David. Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction. “Sheff chronicles his son's downward spiral into addiction and the impact on him and his family. A bright, capable teenager, Nic began trying mind- and mood-altering substances when he was 17. Use became abuse, then abuse became addiction. By the time Sheff knew of his son's condition, Nic was strung out on meth … While his son struggles to get clean, his second wife and two younger children are pulled helplessly into the drama. Sheff, as the parent of an addict, cycles through denial and acceptance and resistance ...” (Publishers Weekly)

Souad. Burned Alive. “Enticed into a relationship with a handsome neighbor, 17-year-old Souad’s short-lived romance leaves her pregnant. Forbidden to marry until her older sisters find husbands and having brought shame to her family, Souad faces the only acceptable punishment: death. How her family plots to kill her, her harrowing struggle to survive burns over 90% of her body after her brother-in-law douses her with gasoline and sets her on fire, her dramatic escape from Jordan, and her resolve to build a new life for herself is a tale of heartbreaking drama and remarkable courage.” (Amazon)

Smithson, Ryan. Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-year-old GI. “In this raw and powerful memoir, veteran Smithson recounts his time as an army engineer in Iraq. As a student in suburban Albany, he joins the army after 9/11. While in Iraq, he's shot at and faces mortar attack, but he spends more time on responsibilities like methodical cleanups of roadside bomb craters-work that's as vital, if not as sexy, as actual combat. Smithson's interactions with Iraqi children and families, as much as with his fellow soldiers, drive the story ...” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Van Pelt, Lori. Amelia Earhart: The Sky’s No Limit. ”As a tomboy growing up in Kansas, Amelia Earhart delighted in trying new and risky things, once even building a roller-coaster in her grandparents' backyard. In her 20s she fell in love with flight while watching an aerobatics exhibition and grew even more enthralled when she took her first airplane ride …To Amelia Earhart, even the sky was no limit to those with the courage to test new boundaries.” (Amazon)

 

Welch, Diana, and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch. The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir. “In 1983, the Welch children—19-year-old Amanda, 16-year-old Liz, 14-year-old Dan and 8-year-old Diana—were living happy, sheltered lives in a New York City suburb. But this idyllic existence was shattered by the death of their businessman father, leaving them not only grief-stricken but saddled with debt. Their mother, an actress in soap operas, was soon diagnosed with cancer and died three years later after a long, agonizing battle. Left on their own, the Welch children struggled to maintain the often frayed bonds among them … A brutally honest book that captures the journey of four people too young to face the challenges they nevertheless had to face.” (Kirkus Reviews)

 

Weller, Sheila. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—and the Journey of a Generation. “Weller examines the careers of singer-songwriters whose success reflected, enervated and shaped the feminist movement that grew up with them. After short sketches of their early years, Weller begins in earnest with the 1960s, switching off among the women as their public lives begin. A time of extremes, the 60s found folk music and feminist cultures just beginning to define themselves … Pioneering success in the music business led inevitably to similar roles in women’s movement, but Weller doesn’t overlook the content of their songs and the effect they have on a generation of women facing a lot more choice, but with no one to guide them ... A must-read for any fan of these artists." (Publishers Weekly)

 

White, Timothy. Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley. ”Bob Marley, reggae superstar and pop culture icon, left an indelible mark on modern music. Catch a Fire delves deep into the life of the lionized leader of a musical, spiritual, and political explosion that still reverberates decades after his death … The final product is rich with elements of spiritual tome, rock biography, and history text; it is a hagiographic epic--the story of a man and his legend.” (Amazon)

 

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11th Grade

Barbery, Muriel. The Elegance of the Hedgehog. “An enchanting New York Times and international bestseller about life, art, literature, philosophy, culture, class, privilege, and power, seen through the eyes of a 54-year old French concierge and a precocious but troubled 12-year-old girl. A moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.” (Barnes & Noble)

 

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. “Chopin's The Awakening, whose heroine rejects her husband and children as she indulges in solitude and in an adulterous infatuation, was embraced by the women's movement 70 years after its publication … [In other stories], the author's social critiques demythologize women, marriage, religion and family. A women escapes ’the incessant chatter’ of other females at a party and retires to the male domain of the smoking room, where she puffs on hashish and dreams of a love affair torn asunder. The perverse Mrs. Mallard revels in her newfound freedom when informed that her husband is a casualty of a train accident and dies of a heart attack when he shows up alive … And in a twist on the plot of The Awakening, a husband, plagued by suspicions of his late wife's infidelity, casts himself in the river.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Dorris, Michael. Yellow Raft in Blue Water. “Set in the Pacific Northwest, this is a richly rewarding multigenerational exploration of family relationships. It is divided into three parts, each narrated by a different woman. The first voice belongs to Rayona, the 15-year-old daughter of a Native American woman and an African American father who runs off to Seattle after her father abandons the family in the 1980s. Her mother, Christine, narrates the second part, which takes the story back to the 1960s, and Christine's supposed mother, ’Aunt Ida,’ narrates part three, which goes back to the 1940s.” (Library Journal)

 

Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. “Oskar Schell is not your average nine-year-old. A budding inventor, he spends his time imagining wonderful creations. He also collects random photographs for his scrapbook and sends letters to scientists. When his father dies in the World Trade Center collapse, Oskar shifts his boundless energy to a quest for answers. He finds a key hidden in his father's things that doesn't fit any lock in their New York City apartment; its container is labeled ‘Black.’ Using flawless kid logic, Oskar sets out to speak to everyone in New York City with the last name of Black … The humor works as a deceptive, glitzy cover for a fairly serious tale about loss and recovery.” (School Library Journal)

 

Frank, E.R. America. “Frank's well-crafted and moving story begins with a teenage America in a treatment facility after a suicide attempt and alternates between the present mostly his therapy sessions with Dr. B. and the past. Born to a crack addict mother, America is not a saint, but readers see glimmers of his intelligence, his sense of the poetic and even his kindness. His gradual progress through therapy is especially well orchestrated … The author's ability to capture so much emotion in the details makes this book remarkable. A powerful story of forgiveness both of oneself and of others.” (Publishers Weekly)

French, Albert. Billy. “In 1937, in the small town of Banes, Miss., 10-year-old Billy Lee Turner lives with his mother in one of the miserable shanties of the black ghetto called the Patch. Headstrong Billy convinces another youngster to enter the white area of town, where they are attacked … Seeking to escape, Billy impulsively stabs one of [the attackers]; and the white community works itself into a paroxysm of rage and violence. Though Billy is too young to comprehend what he has done, he is sentenced to the electric chair … the closing episodes set in the Death House are especially searing … the novel pulses with its unnerving vision of inhumanity legalized under the name of justice.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Green, John. Paper Towns. “Quentin has been in love with his next-door neighbor, Margo, since early childhood. Their connection was forever bonded when they discovered a dead body together at the age of nine. Now they are ready to graduate from high school. Although Margo has not been part of Quentin's life for many years, she shows up at Quentin's window late one night, enlisting his help with a wild scheme of revenge against her cheating boyfriend. Despite his natural reluctance to break the law, Quentin goes along with her, imagining that this teamwork will signify a new, more romantic turn to their relationship. But then Margo disappears, leaving only wisps of clues to her whereabouts and a tormented Quentin in her wake …” (VOYA)

 

Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me. “Griffin's mid-century classic on race brilliantly withstands the test of time … Concerned by the lack of communication between the races and wondering what ’adjustments and discriminations’ he would face as a Negro in the Deep South, the late author, a journalist and self-described ‘specialist in race issues,’ left behind his privileged life as a Southern white man to step into the body of a stranger. In 1959, Griffin headed to New Orleans, darkened his skin and immersed himself in black society, then traveled to several states until he could no longer stand the racism, segregation and degrading living conditions. Griffin imparts the hopelessness and despair he felt while executing his social experiment.” (Publishers Weekly)

Guest, Judith. Ordinary People. “The Jarrets are a typical American family. Calvin is a determined, successful provider and Beth an organized, efficient wife. They had two sons, Conrad and Buck, but now they have one. In this memorable, moving novel, Judith Guest takes the reader into their lives to share their misunderstandings, pain...and ultimate healing.” (Barnes & Noble)

Hansbury, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. “Lena Younger, the strong-willed matriarch, is the glue that holds together the Younger family. Walter Lee is her married, thirty-something son who, along with his wife and sister, lives in his mother’s apartment. He is short on meeting responsibilities but long on dreams. Beneatha is Walter’s sister—an upwardly mobile college student who plans to attend medical school. Mama Lena is due a check from her late husband’s insurance [and] wants to use her new money for a new beginning—in a new house, in a new neighborhood (white) …” (Barnes & Noble)

Hoffman, Alice. Local Girls. ”Short stories develop the lives of Gretel Samuelson and her family and friends in a Long Island town. Divorce, friendship, addiction and growing up are the themes of Hoffman's tales, which are told in breathless nonstop words and phrases … Hoffman brings the listener her spiritual perspective for dealing with life--its tragedies, struggles and successes.” (Book Description)

Michaels, Rune. Genesis Alpha. “Josh is bewildered when his older brother, Max, is arrested for the murder of a beautiful young woman. This is the Max who fixed his bike and plays online games like Genesis Alpha with him. … [It is] revealed that the murderer developed a relationship with Karen through Genesis Alpha, carefully aggregating snippets of information about the pretty teen until he knew exactly who and where she was. Philosophical questions of free will, good and evil, and the ethics of reproductive science are at the core of this fascinating, troubling thriller.” (Booklist)

 

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. “Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for the work, which he described as ‘the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it’ in pursuit of the American Dream. After many years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman realizes he has been a failure as a father and husband. His sons, Happy and Biff, are not successful--on his terms (being "well-liked") or any others. His career fading, Willy escapes into reminiscences of an idealized past …” (Book Description)

 

Myers, Walter Dean. Sunrise Over Fallujah. “Robin's parents aspire for him to go to college, but following September 11, he feels compelled to join the Army instead. By early 2003, Robin has completed Basic Training and is deployed to Iraq … Facing the horrors of war, Robin tries to remain hopeful and comforting in his letters to his family, never showing his fear or the danger he actually faces. The story of teenagers going to war today is an important one, and it is not told often enough … Robin is only eighteen, and it is difficult to watch his innocence erased as war leaves its mark on him, but it is the reality for many young men and women.” (VOYA)

 

Perrotta, Tom. Election. “Tracy Flick wants to be President of Winwood High. She's one of those ambitious girls who finds time to do it all: edit the yearbook, star in the musical, sleep with her English teacher. But another teacher, staunch idealist Jim McAllister, thinks the students deserve better. So he persuades Paul Warren—a good-hearted jock—to throw his hat into the student council's elections. But that puts Paul's sister Tammy in a snit. So she runs too, on an apathy platform-before starting a real campaign--to get herself kicked out of school.” (From the Publisher)

Sebold, Alice. Lovely Bones. ”When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn’t happen. Susie relates the awful events of her death, and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself … With love, longing, and a growing understanding, she watches her family as they cope with their grief [and] begin the difficult process of healing.” (From the Publisher)

 

Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. “Amanda, a faded southern belle, abandoned wife, and dominating mother, hopes to match her daughter Laura with an eligible ‘gentleman caller’ while her son Tom supports the family. Laura, lame and painfully shy, evades her mother's schemes and reality by retreating to the make-believe world of her glass animal collection. Tom eventually leaves home to become a writer but is forever haunted by the memory of Laura.” (Book Description)

Wright, Richard. Black Boy. “Life in the pre-civil rights South was intensely alienating for young Richard. At every turn, his desire to communicate was stunted, whether by famiIy members who insisted he ‘hush!’ or by teachers who harassed and mocked him … Whether they were racist whites or passive, uncompassionate blacks, his fellow southerners viewed Richard’s independence and intelligence with suspicion and scorned and humiliated him for his family's poverty. He lashed out by hitting the streets: He was already drinking by the time he turned six, and he fought constantly. He finally found his outlet in writing; by the end of the book, he decided that there was nothing he could ever do to improve his life in the South and committed to moving to Chicago to pursue his art.” (Sacred Fire)

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. “Death is the narrator of this lengthy, powerful story of a town in Nazi Germany. He is a kindly, caring Death, overwhelmed by the souls he has to collect from people in the gas chambers, from soldiers on the battlefields, and from civilians killed in bombings. Death focuses on a young orphan, Liesl; her loving foster parents; the Jewish fugitive they are hiding; and a wild but gentle teen neighbor, Rudy, who defies the Hitler Youth and convinces Liesl to steal for fun …” (Booklist)

 

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12th Grade

Bradley, James. Flags of Our Fathers. “This story stars the six soldiers who raised Old Glory over Mt. Suribachi during the bloody battle for Iwo Jima in World War II … The three surviving flag raisers, including Bradley's father, John, toured as wartime heroes, selling billions in bonds. But John Bradley, who had been badly wounded, insisted he was not a hero; only the men ’who did not come back’ were heroes. His son re-creates the backgrounds of the events as seen by his protagonists, such as amphibious assaults on fiercely defended islands; horrifying deaths and injuries to the troops; and grotesque episodes, like the torture and murder of a U.S. prisoner. These fragments of the Pacific war dramatize what the six achieved in spite of obstacles and frustrations.” (Library Journal)

 

Cullen, Dave. Columbine. “In this remarkable account of the April 20, 1999, Columbine High School shooting, journalist Cullen not only dispels several of the prevailing myths about the event but tackles the hardest question of all: why did it happen? Drawing on extensive interviews, police reports and his own reporting, Cullen meticulously pieces together what happened when 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold killed 13 people before turning their guns on themselves … According to Cullen, they lived apparently normal lives, but under the surface lay an angry, erratic depressive (Klebold) and a sadistic psychopath (Harris), together forming a combustible pair.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Dandy, Leslie, and Mel Borin. Guinea Pig Scientists. “An easy and interesting read, this book describes 18th-century Italian scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani and his research on himself to explore digestion by swallowing food encapsulated in wooden tubes or cloth satchels and then analyzing the remains of the samples upon their exit from the intestinal tract … Other topics describe guinea-pig scientists who tested internal body temperature in extreme heat and cold conditions, inhaled various gasses to discover one suitable for anesthetic uses (today's laughing gas), and seven more captivating narratives.” (Amazon)

D’Orso, Michael. Eagle Blue. “Eight miles above the Arctic Circle, there's a village with no roads leading to it, but a high school basketball tradition that lights up winter's darkness and a team of native Alaskan boys who know ‘no quit.’ D'Orso follows the Fort Yukon Eagles through their 2005 season to the state championship, shifting between a mesmerizing narrative and the thoughts of the players, their coach and their fans. What emerges is more than a sports story; it's a striking portrait of a community consisting of a traditional culture bombarded with modernity, where alcoholism, domestic violence and school dropout rates run wild … With a ghostlike presence, D'Orso lends a voice to a place that deserves to be known.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Ellis, Deborah. Off to War: Voices of Soldier’s Children. “War is hell, and not just for the soldiers who go off to fight it. In interviews with approximately 40 children, all of whom have at least one parent who is serving, or has served, in Iraq or Afghanistan, Ellis shows just how hard it is on the family members left behind. Ranging in age from 6 to 17, young people from Canada and the United States talk about the things that are on their minds. Worry about their parents' safety, pride in their service to their country, and confusion about why such service is necessary are all intermingled with the everyday concerns of friends, school, and ‘just getting on with life.’” (School Library Journal)

 

Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. “A surprising but brilliant memoir-investigation, boasting an exhaustively-argued account of one man-child's decade-long struggle with vegetarianism. On the eve of becoming a father, Foer takes all the arguments for and against vegetarianism [and] investigates everything from the intelligence level of our most popular meat providers--cattle, pigs, and poultry to the specious self-justifications (his own included) for eating some meat products and not others. Foer offers a lighthearted counterpoint in doting portraits of his loving grandmother, and her meat-and-potatoes comfort food, leaving him to wrestle with the comparative weight of food's socio-cultural significance and its economic-moral-political meaning.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Freedman, Leonard. The Offensive Art: Political Satire and its Censorship around the World from Beerbohm to Borat. “An arch and sometimes caustic look at the art of political satire as practiced in democratic, monarchical, and authoritarian societies around the world over the past century—together with the efforts by governmental, religious, and corporate authorities to suppress it by censorship, intimidation, policy, and fatwa … The multicultural and multimedia breadth and historical depth of Freedman's comparative approach frames his novel assessment of the role of political satire in today's post-9/11 world, and in particular the cross-cultural controversies it generates …” (From the Publisher)

 

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers. “Through case studies ranging from Canadian junior hockey champions to the robber barons of the Gilded Age, from Asian math whizzes to software entrepreneurs to the rise of his own family in Jamaica, Gladwell tears down the myth of individual merit to explore how culture, circumstance, timing, birth and luck account for success—and how historical legacies can hold others back despite ample individual gifts. Even as we know how many of these stories end, Gladwell restores the suspense and serendipity to these narratives that make them fresh and surprising.” (Publishers Weekly)

Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming. “In this youth-focused adaptation of Gore's 2006 adult book and Oscar-winning documentary, Gore and O'Connor distill the material, creating an eye-opening story that targets kids' concerns … The sturdy pages are filled with color photographs and charts, and the images are riveting. Like the pictures, the personal stories bring the facts close, and in addition to the urgent science, Gore's book shows how mentors can change lives … Gore's research continues to raise controversy, but few, if any, books for youth offer such a dynamic look at the climate issues threatening our planet.” (Booklist)

Grogan, John. Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. “John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same. Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever … Obedience school did no good—Marley was expelled … And yet Marley's heart was pure; through it all, he remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.” (Book Description)

 

Kluger, Jeffrey, Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio. “Kluger wonderfully illustrates the complexity of Salk and how his tenacity helped to push forward the concept of a killed vaccine despite a great deal of opposition. Kluger complements [earlier books] by providing a fresh look at events based on a historical perspective of the disease's progress and eradication attempts by the World Health Organization. As fascinating read …” (Library Journal)

 

Krakauer, Jon. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. “There may be no better example of the tragic aftermath of 9/11 than the story of pro-football player-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman, whose death in the wilds of Afghanistan in 2004 created a scandal of government cover-up … Drawing on interviews with family, fellow soldiers and correspondence, Krakauer’s page-turning account captures every detail--Tillman’s extraordinary character, including the ‘tragic virtues’ that led him to give up a comfortable life and athletic stardom for the army; the harshness of military training and life; the rugged terrain of remote Afghanistan, and the ravages of war.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Kristof, Nicholas D., and Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. “New York Times columnist Kristof and his wife, WuDunn, a former Times reporter, make a brilliantly argued case for investing in the health and autonomy of women worldwide. ‘More girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century,’ they write, detailing the rampant ‘gendercide’ in the developing world, particularly in India and Pakistan. Far from merely making moral appeals, the authors posit that it is impossible for countries to climb out of poverty if only a fraction of women participate in the labor force.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Nugent, Benjamin. American Nerd. “In his charming and disarmingly serious study of the history of the nerd in popular culture and throughout modern history, Nugent succeeds in crafting a nuanced discussion without resorting to smugness or excessive cleverness ... While there are engaging sections about more obvious nerd subjects like the rise of online gaming and the history of American science-fiction clubs, Nugent takes his book in surprising directions, such as the ethnic implications of the nerd categorization, particularly in regard to Jewish and Asian stereotypes … Swinging ably from personal anecdotes to historical perspective, Nugent's exploration of outcasts is a triumph.” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Pausch, Randy. The Last Lecture. “Over the years, numerous professors have given talks entitled ‘The Last Lecture.’ For Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, however, the topic was no mere formality. When he presented his ‘last lecture’ to hundreds of faculty and students, he already knew that he had metastatic pancreatic cancer. Despite a grim prognosis, Dr. Pausch delivered an upbeat, urgent call for his listeners to achieve their childhood dreams … This memoir recounts the story of a brave man's encounter with a sense of his own mortality. An inspiring message for anyone who ages.” (Barnes & Noble) 

 

Polly, Mathew. American Shaolin. “In this smoothly written memoir, 98-pound weakling Polly makes the age-old decision to turn his nerdy self into a fighting machine. Polly's quest for manhood leads this guy from Topeka, Kans., to the Shaolin Temple, ancient home of the fighting monks and setting for 10,000 chop-socky movies … Polly has a good eye for characters and introduces the reader to a Finnish messiah, a practitioner of "iron crotch" kung fu, and his nagging girlfriend. We get the inside dope on Chinese dating, Chinese drinking games and a medical system apparently modeled on the Spanish Inquisition ...” (Publishers Weekly)

 

Turner, Chris. Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation. “Canadian journalist Turner embarks on an encyclopedic exposition of the show's episodes, catchphrases, characters, cultural impact, social commentary, themes and influence ... Unraveling and analyzing plot threads, he views the series as 'more anti-authoritarian by far than almost anything else that's ever aired in prime time,' and he praises it as a 'cultural institution' comparable to the Beatles. Turner's fannish enthusiasm and tsunami of trivia will appeal mainly to devotees … ” (Publishers Weekly)

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