Somerville Public Schools

Education • Inspiration • Excellence

Somerville High School – Ken Olson – Supervisor of English

81 Highland Avenue • Somerville, MA 02143-3246

kolson@k12.somerville.ma.us • www.somerville.k12.ma.us/english

T 617-625-6600 x6250 • F 617-629-4763

Somerville High School

Summer Reading Program

Expectations

Students at Somerville High School should read at least one book over the summer. Students enrolled in honors English classes are expected to read two books over the summer. Students enrolled in AP classes need to complete the reading and writing requirements for all the AP courses in which they are enrolled.

For more information visit: www.somerville.k12.ma.us/english

Suggested Titles for

Incoming Grade 9 Students

Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

After Earth is twice attacked by aliens, the world government begins breeding military geniuses, one of whom is Ender Wiggin.

Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine

This text follows the interactions among two Chippewa families in North Dakota, with each chapter narrated by a different person, and explores the many different sides of love with a mixture of lyricism and humor.

Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John

Set on the Caribbean island of Antigua, this story explores colonization, mother-daughter relationships, race, and gender through the eyes of a young girl as she becomes a woman.

Robert Lipsyte, The Brave

Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, seventeen year-old boxer Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training with Alfred Brooks, who has left the sport to become a policeman.

Mike Lupica, Travel Team

After he is cut from his basketball travel team--the very same team that his father led to national prominence-- twelve year- old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.

Suggested Titles for

Incoming Grade 10 Students

Sherman Alexie, Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

A National Book Award winner, this is an unforgettable coming of age story.

Kate Chopin, The Awakening

This is an early feminist text exploring one woman’s attempt to deal with the pressure of living up to society’s ideas of what a woman should be, when she doesn’t agree at all.

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

A young man born of Indian parents in America struggles with issues of identity from his teens to his thirties.

Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf*

A Canadian conservationist relates a true story of life among Arctic wolves.

Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea*

The author was mountain climbing in Pakistan and ended up in a small village.

To give back to the villagers, he promises to build them a school. He then goes on to build schools all over rural Pakistan.

Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Set in World War II Germany, this is the story of a young girl who steals books and shares them with her neighbors.

Borrow a book from:

Suggested Titles for

Incoming Grade 11 Students

Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods*

The author shares his experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail with a childhood friend. The two encounter eccentric character, a blizzard, getting lost, and rude yuppies along the way.

Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

Mixing Chinese Folktales with autobiographical memories of being a Chinese American, the author tells a range of tales which speak about race, the American Dream, and being a woman, all through vivid language that is both heartbreaking and funny.

Julius Lester, To Be a Slave*

This book relates the stories of former slaves told in their own words.

Toni Morrison, Beloved

Vivid characters, including a ghost, tell this heart wrenching story of the realities of slavery, including the effects it had on familial ties, gender roles and the psyche.

Richard Preston, The Hot Zone*

The author describes how the lethal Ebola virus makes its way from the rain forests of Africa to a Washington, D.C. lab and the measures taken to prevent an outbreak

Suggested Titles for

Incoming Grade 12 Students

Tom Brokaw, The Greatest Generation*

Tom Brokaw records the stories of individual men and women of the World War II generation.

Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

From the perspective of an old man, this romantic novel recounts a young man’s experiences with beast, woman, and man after he has joined a traveling circus.

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

The lives of two Afghani friends are changed forever by the treachery of one of the boys.

Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper

Thirteen year old Anna has undergone medical procedures all her life to help her sister battle leukemia. When she decides not to give up a kidney, she’s faced with a tragic moral dilemma.

Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones

While adjusting to her life in Heaven, a fourteen year old girl watches the effects of her death on those she has left behind.

ASSESSMENT/CREDIT

To receive up to four (4) additional points on their final grade for 1st Quarter in their English class, students will need to “report” on their summer reading book—after they return to school -- by means of alternative assessments such as those listed below:

writing a script

creating a commercial or an advertisement

making a comic strip

writing a book review

critiquing a main character

making a map or a time line

writing a biographical sketch

compiling a diary

creating a small newspaper

constructing a story map

writing a letter to a key character

explaining why you thought five passages were memorable

describing ideas you gained from reading the book

reimagining the book as a popular song

creating a portfolio of art work

To receive up to four (4) additional points on their final grade for 1st Quarter Grade, students enrolled in honors English classes will need to report (a) on one of their summer reading books, through one of the assessments listed above and (b) on their second book, by writing a five paragraph in-class expository essay on topics such as:

explaining a significant change in a character and the events bringing about that change

explaining the outcome of a character’s confronting a conflict or a problem

explaining how a character was changed by a traumatic or frightening event

explaining why minor characters are important to the plot

describing the interaction between two important characters

describing the motivation of an evil character

explaining the development of a social issue in the book

explaining how the author supports the premise or main idea of his book

explaining how crucial events shaped a person’s life and his/her accomplishments

explaining how events in a particular period in history impact the lives of people

explaining what you have learned about particular animal — unusual facts, myths, the future of the animal.