Summer Reading 2012
Booknote assignment sheet may be downloaded here. Copies are also available in the Library.
Fiction |
Title & Author |
Lexile |
|
 |
The Afterlife Gary Soto |
You'd think a knife in the ribs would be the end of things, but for Chuy, that's when his life at last gets interesting. He finally sees that people love him, faces the consequences of his actions and finds in himself compassion and bravery
|
810 |
 |
Beneath a Meth Moon Jacqueline Woodson |
Having lost her mother and grandmother in Hurricane Katrina, Laurel must start life over feeling fragile and scarred. She is introduced to drugs and cut off from her old self while her new friends try to save her and bring her back.
*Also on the 2012-2013 Read for a Lifetime List
|
730 |
 |
Divergent Veronica Roth |
For Hunger Games fans! In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.
|
700 |
 |
Does My Head Look Big in This? Randa Abdel-Fattah |
Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full- time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.
|
850 |
 |
John Green |
Diagnosed with Stave IV thyroid cancer, Hazel was prepared to die until a medical miracle shrunk the tumors in her lungs. Now 16, she lives tethered to an oxygen tank and her terminal diagnosis. But when she goes to cancer kids support group and meets Augustus Waters, a smart and gorgeous boy in remission, Hazel reconsiders how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.
*Also on the 2012-2013 Read for a Lifetime List
Book Trailer |
850 |
 |
The First Part Last Angela Johnson |
Bobby is a typical teenage boy, but on his 16th birthday everything changes: his girlfriend is pregnant. Suddenly Bobby is facing difficult choices. With a social worker saying the only way the teens can lead a normal life is to give the baby up for adoption, Bobby struggles to decide if they should let their baby go or if he’s ready for parenthood.
|
790 |
 |
Roughnecks Thomas Cochran
|
A football player bearing the guilt of his team's only loss prepares for the state championship and hopes for a second chance to prove that he is a winner. |
800 |
 |
Ship Breaker Paolo Bacigalupi |
Nailer’s job is to crawl deep into the wrecks of ancient oil tankers, scavenging copper wire and turning it over to his boss. After a hurricane, Nailer and his friend Prima stumble upon the wreck of a luxury clipper filled with valuable goods that could make them rich and a girl who is barely alive. She promises to show them a world of privilege if they help her, but who is she and can she be trusted?
|
690 |
 |
Wait for Me An Na |
Harvard bound, Honor Society president, straight-A student: Mina is the picture perfect Korean-American daughter. Beneath all the superlatives, though, is an insecure teenager groping for her real identity. Her life becomes complicated by a new presence in her life who encourages her to start following her heart instead. |
670 |
 |
Why We Broke Up Daniel Handler |
In a relatable story about the heartbreak of first love, a gifted, quirky girl and a smart, athletic boy break up. She gives him a letter and a box containing things collected throughout the relationship and, item by item, explains to him why the relationship is over.
*Also on the 2012-2013 Read for a Lifetime List
|
980 |
 |
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War Max Brooks
|
The survivors of the Zombie War narrate their stories of zombie encounters, ranging from the Outbreak to the battle.
|
960 |
Non-Fiction |
|
||
 |
Becoming Anna Anna Michener |
The author’s memoir of the damage in surviving an abusive family, time spent in mental institutions, and then her self-empowering recovery in foster care. |
1030 |
 |
Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI Ryan Smithson |
The author joined the Army straight out of high school and was deployed to the Iraq War a year later. He describes what it’s like to be under fire and comes to terms with the war through is encounters with Iraqi children.
|
750 |
 |
King James: Believe the Hype - The Lebron James Story Ryan Jones |
The pressure and game involved in Lebron’s transformation from a child in poverty to a basketball legend. |
|
 |
Remembrances of the Angels: 50th Anniversary Reminiscences of the Fire No One Can Forget John Kuenster |
In 1958, a savage fire killed 92 children and 3 nuns at Our Lady of the Angels School here in Chicago. Fifty years later, firemen, parents, survivors, and others connected with the tragedy share their memories and feelings of that terrible day in this moving recollection. |
|
 |
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson |
A passionate account of the life of the Apple visionary who changed the computer, music, phone, and iPad worlds. Told through interviews with Jobs' friends, family, and the fiercely creative legend himself. | 1080 |
 |
Throw Like a Girl: How to Dream Big & Believe in Yourself Jennie Finch and Ann Killion |
The NCAA softball champ and Olympic athlete shares the lessons she gained on the field and gives a motivational discussion of issues female athletes face as they mature into leaders both in and out of their sports.
|
|
 |
We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families Philip Gourevitch |
In April 1994, the Rwandan government called upon everyone in the Hutu majority to kill each member of the Tutsi minority, and over the next three months 800,000 Tutsis perished in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the war in Rwanda, a vivid history of the tragedy's background, and an unforgettable account of its aftermath.
|
|
Accelerated/AP English |
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| Incoming accelerated freshmen in English 108 Please see the newsletter for details on your required reading |
|||
 |
Frankenstein
|
Gothic classic about a man who creates a life, is haunted by the consequences of what he has done, and becomes embattled in a life-or-death pursuit which only he or his creation can survive. *Required reading for English 419** Click here for English 419 Summer Reading assignment.
|
|
 |
Mississippi: an American Journey
|
A black Chicagoan travels to Mississippi, contemplating the history of slavery and civil rights in one of America's most racially charged states, weaving in historical stories and documents, stories of his own family, poetry, songs, and pictures as he considers racial complexity and impact of a racist past on our present. For assignment information click here. Please note that this assignment is ONLY for incoming E319 students. |
|
 |
Brave New World
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