Northern Valley Regional High School District
English Department
Summer Readings 2017-2018
All seniors must read a choice of one of the following: Where You Go Is Not Who
You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania by Frank Bruni, The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The Boys of Summer by Roger
Kahn, City of Thieves by David Benioff, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki,
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the
Lusitania by Erik Larsen, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, Once We
Were Brothers by Ronald Balson, Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett, The Tortilla
Curtain by T.C. Boyle, Time and Again by Jack Finney, or The Bonesetter’s Daughter
by Amy Tan.
Seniors taking World Mythology and Archetypal Literature must ALSO read:
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Seniors taking English Literature and Composition Advanced Placement
English must ALSO read: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C.
Foster AND The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Demarest students)/Hamlet by
William Shakespeare (Old Tappan students)
Students taking Language and Composition Advanced Placement in Demarest
must ALSO read Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood in addition to their other
assignments. Students Taking Language and Composition Advanced Placement
in Old Tappan must ALSO read Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by
Jerry Mander in addition to their other assignments.
All juniors must read a choice of one of the following: Rebecca by Daphne du
Maurier, Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion
and Folly in the Heart of Italy by Joe McGinniss, The Fear Index by Robert Harris, A
Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of
World War II by Adam Makos, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Manhunt: The
12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson, Give and Take by Adam
Grant, or Enrique’s Journey By Sonia Nazario.
Junior Honors must ALSO read: 1984 by George Orwell AND
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Old Tappan students)/”The Machine Stops”
by E.M. Forester (Demarest students)
All sophomores must read a choice of one of the following: The Art of Racing in
the Rain by Garth Stein, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana
de Rosney, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, Fast Food
Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser, The Invention of
Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old
Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting With Destiny by Laura
Schroff, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dwek, Little Gangster by
Victor Joseph Cino, or The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty
Sophomore Honors must ALSO read: The Crucible by Arthur Miller AND
the following web pages:
http://www.newsweek.com/lesson-salem-197968
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/purdef.htm
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/puritan.htm
Sophomore Honors students must ALSO view The Crucible (1996) directed by
Nicholas Hytner.
All freshmen must read a choice of one of the following:
Look me in the Eye: My Life with Aspergers by John Elder Robison, I am Malala: The
Girl Who Stood Up for Education And Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai,
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Freshmen Honors should ALSO read: Flowers for Algernon (the novel) by Daniel
Keyes