Summer Reading

Below are the 2023 summer reading assignments for the 2023-2024 school year.

Freshman 

English 140, 141, 144

Choose a book of your choice based on the following criteria:

  • Must be fiction
  • Must be school appropriate
  • Must be at least 200 pages (May be YA, or a graphic novel)
  • Must be a book you have not already read
     

Assignment

Choose three of the following tasks from the list below. The assignment will be due on the first week of school. 

  • Draw a picture of a character and label their character traits (Include at least 5 and a quote to go with each choice)
  • Create a comic storyboard (10 panes) for the plot in the whole story 
  • Write a plot summary of the entire book in 250 words
  • Write a paragraph giving advice to one of the characters (10-15 sentences)
  • Select a character trait that describes a character in the chapter and make an acrostic poem
  • Write a journal entry from a character's point of view (6-8 sentences)
  • Write a poem about the conflict in the story and how it is resolved
  • Rewrite one chapter and change the events to what you think would be better (should be at least 250 words)
  • Choose one quote that you think is the most important in the whole book and explain what it means and why it is important
  • If this book was from a movie, what song would be playing in the background and why?
  • If you could ask a character 5 questions, what would you ask?
  • Make a personal connection to something in the book and write about how it applies to you (6-8 sentences)
  • Create a collage with images that illustrate the tone and mood of the book
  • Make 4 predictions about what would happen after the book is over for 4 of the characters
  • Tweet what each main character in the book would post at the end of the book to summarize how they feel
  • Draw a scene that you think is the most important in the book 

Download printable assignment sheet

Sophomores

English 134

Select one of the following books to read for the summer:

  • The Kitchen Boy by Robert D. Zimmerman
  • Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
  • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah


English 131 & 130

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Juniors

AP Language and Comp 125

  • Read The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
  • Annotate 15 of the 40+ essays for reactions, observations, and questions. Be sure you choose a variety of essays. We highly recommend listening to the audiobook while reading along. Finally, please be sure to have a copy of your own book, as it will be used throughout the school year.

English 121

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

English 120

The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
 

Seniors

AP Literature and Comp 102

Read How to Read Literature Like a Professor?  by Thomas C Foster (required) and one other book from the selections below:

  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  • Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
  • Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  • The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • On the Road by Jack Kerouac
  • White Noise by Don Delillo
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  • The Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 
Annotate the novel you read. When we return to school, you will be using it to respond to prompts from How to Read like a Professor, so make sure you have a copy of the novel when school starts, as well as How to Read like a Professor. We will be using this text throughout the year.

English 111

Choose your own book following the below criteria:

  • The book can be fiction or nonfiction.
  • The student should not have read the book for another class.
  • The book should be at least 300 pages long.

       
English 110

Choose your own book following the below criteria: 

  • The book can be fiction or nonfiction
  • The student should not have read the book for another class.
  • The book should be at least 300 pages long.