Wheeler High School: Literature Summer Reading 2015-2016
ALL ON-LEVEL LITERATURE COURSES (9-12 GRADE)
1. Choose and read ONE book from your assigned grade level list below.
2. Complete your book before the FIRST DAY OF THE SEMESTER.
3. NOTE: ALL 12th Grade students are expected to submit TYPED chapter notes on their
Summer Reading novel of choice to Turnitin.com the first week of the semester.
4. Be prepared to write an in-class essay the first week of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on
characters, plot, setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be
collected and kept at the end of the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable.
*Attention Parents: Some of the titles on the following lists contain mature content. Parental discretion
is advised.
9th Grade Reading List
10th Grade Reading List
Hole in My Life—Jack Gantos
Bless Me, Ultima—Rudolfo A. Anaya
Monster—Walter Dean Myers
Speak—Laurie Halse Anderson
Tears of a Tiger—Sharon Draper
The Afterlife—Gary Soto
The Beast—Walter Dean Myers
The Skin I’m In—Sharon Flake
Sarah’s Key—Tatiana de Rosnay
An Abundance of Katherines—John Green
Copper Sun—Sharon Draper
Ender’s Game—Orson Card
Feed—M.T. Anderson
Hunger Games—Suzanne Collins
Into The Wild—Jon Krakauer
My Sister’s Keeper—Jodi Picoult
Obasan—Joy Kogawa
Sold—Patricia McCormick
Song of Solomon—Toni Morrison
The Color of Water–James McBride
The Fault in Our Stars—John Green
The Namesake—Jhumpa Lahiri
The Queen of Water—Laura Resau
11th Grade Reading List
12th Grade Reading List
Black Boy—Richard Wright
Impulse—Ellen Hopkins
Kindred—Octavia Butler
Lovely Bones—Alice Sebold
Native Son—Richard Wright
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest— Ken
Kesey
Purple Hibiscus—Chimamanda Adichie
The Bridge of San Luis Rey—Thornton
Wilder
The Grapes of Wrath—John Steinbeck
The Sun Also Rises—Ernest Hemingway
Whale Talk—Chris Crutcher
Angela’s Ashes—Frank McCourt
Catch 22—Joseph Heller
Donorboy—Brendan Halpin
Glass Castle—Jeanette Walls
I Had a Hammer—Hank Aaron & Lonnie Wheeler
Invisible Man—Ralph Ellison
The Autobiography of Malcolm X—Alex Haley
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao—Junot Diaz
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time—Mark Haddon
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks—Rebecca Skloot
Three Cups of Tea—Greg Mortenson
Zorro— Isabel Allende
ALL HONORS LEVELS (9-12 GRADE)
9th Grade Honors
1. All students read and prepare outline (provided on Wheeler’s web site) on The Woman in White by Wilkie
Collins.
**TYPED outline for submission to Turnitin.com the first week of the semester.
a) Each heading and subheading must have at least two parts. Do not exceed 2 pages typed using 1”
margins and Times New Roman 12 pt font.
b) Be consistent. Use either complete sentences or brief phrases, but do not use both.
c) This outline will be submitted to www.turnitin.com once information is provided by the teacher at the
beginning of class.
**Be prepared to discuss this novel and participate in novel-related activities the first two weeks of the
semester.
2. All students will select a second book to read from the On-Level 9th grade reading list, then be prepared to
write an in-class essay on the novel the first week of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on
characters, plot, setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be
collected and kept at the end of the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable.
10th Grade Honors (British Literature)
1. All students read and prepare chapter notes on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
**TYPE chapter notes and commentary, including any questions you may have, for submission to Turnitin.com
the first week of the semester.
**Be prepared to discuss this novel and participate in novel-related activities the first two weeks of the
semester.
2. All students will select a second book to read from the On-Level 10th grade reading list, then be prepared to
write an in-class essay on the novel the first week of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on characters, plot,
setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be collected and kept at the end of
the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable.
11th Grade Honors
1. All students read and prepare chapter notes on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
**TYPE chapter notes and commentary, including any questions you may have, for submission to turnitin.com
the first week of the semester
**Be prepared to discuss this novel and participate in novel-related activities the first two weeks of the
semester.
2. All students will select a second book to read from the On-Level 11th grade reading list, then be prepared to
write an in-class essay on the novel the first week of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on
characters, plot, setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be
collected and kept at the end of the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable.
12th Grade Honors
1. All students read and prepare chapter notes on One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
**TYPE chapter notes and commentary, including any questions you may have, for submission to Turnitin.com
the first week of the semester.
**Be prepared to discuss this novel and participate in novel-related activities the first two weeks of the
semester
2. All students will select a second book to read from the On-Level 12th grade reading list, then be prepared to
write an in-class essay on the novel the first week of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on
characters, plot, setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be
collected and kept at the end of the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable.
AP LITERATURE
1. All students entering AP Literature must read and prepare chapter notes on How to Read Literature Like a
Professor by Thomas C. Foster.
**TYPE chapter notes and commentary, including any questions you may have, for submission to Turnitin.com
the first week of the semester.
2. All students entering AP Literature read As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
3. Be prepared to write an in-class essay in the first week and participate in novel-related activities the first two
weeks of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on
characters, plot, setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be
collected and kept at the end of the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable
AP LANGUAGE
1. All students entering AP Language must read and prepare chapter notes on The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf.
**TYPE chapter notes and commentary, including any questions you may have, for submission to Turnitin.com
the first week of the semester.
2. Be prepared to write an in-class essay in the first week on a book from the On-Level 11th grade Summer
Reading list and participate in reading-related activities the first two weeks of the semester.
** During the essay, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on characters, plot,
setting, etc. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will be collected and kept at the end of
the essay test. Typed and/or cut and pasted notes are NOT acceptable.
SPECIAL EDUCATION READING LIST (9-12 GRADE)
Each student will read ONE book from the assigned grade level list, regardless of course level. He or she
will read the book during the summer and take an essay test on it during the first week of the semester.
During the test, students may use one handwritten 4 x 6 index card containing notes on characters, plot,
setting, etc. which will help on an essay test. The card is NOT required, but if students use a card, it will
be collected and kept at the end of the essay test.
Teachers will focus their grading of the essay on content and the student’s ability to discuss the novel in
detail rather than on writing style or grammar.
Students are responsible for obtaining a copy of their reading choice. Sources for books include
bookstores, internet sources, public libraries, friends, and parents.
NOTE TO PARENTS: Some of the titles on this list contain mature content. Parental discretion is
advised.
9th grade
Sunny – Diary 2 – Ann M. Martin
Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
Make Lemonade – Virginia E. Wolff
11th grade
The Skin I’m In – Sharon G. Flake
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town – Kimberly Holt
Forged by Fire – Sharon Draper
Esperanza Rising – Pam Munoz Ryan
10th grade
Sweetgrass – Jan Hudson
Soldier’s Heart – Gary Paulsen
Tears of a Tiger – Sharon Draper
12th grade
Swallowing Stones – Joyce McDonald
Copper Sun – Sharon Draper
Hope was Here – Joan Bauer