Hastings High School English Department ‐ Summer Reading 2014 Summer Reading is a requirement of every English class being offered this fall, including electives. Below is a list of the required reading for each class, along with a link to the English Department Homepage, where more information on these assignments, links for required articles, and other recommended may be found: English 9 ‐ All students must read ONE of these four books: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Paper Towns by John Green English 10 ‐ All students must read: The Book of Men: Poems by Dorianne Laux English 11 ‐ All students must read: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich English 11 Honors ‐ All students must read at least ONE of the following novels: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller Beautiful Ruins: A Novel by Jess Walter In addition, students must read at least one chapter from Stephan Hawking’s A Brief History of Time . AP English Middlesex The Writing Life ‐ All students must read BOTH: by Jeffery Eugenides by Annie Dillard SUPA English ‐ All students must read BOTH: Flight Maps: Adventures With Nature in Modern America by Jennifer Price, including the Introduction and with special attention to Chapters 1, 2, and 3 The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s‐Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan, including Introduction and with special attention to Chapters 1 and 4. Please scroll down to the next page to find the required texts for all electives 1960’s Culture ‐ All students must read: “Rock and Roll Zapruder” by Amy Taubin. Creative Writing ‐ All students must read Chapter from Bird by Bird Detective Film and Fiction ‐ All students must read BOTH: by “The Evolution of the Detective” by “The Usual Suspect: Edgar Allan Poe, Consulting Detective” by Facing Ourselves: Reading Race and Gender Anne Lammot Peter Billingham Arthur Krystal All students must read “Supporting Girls and Boys When the Line Isn’t Clear” “Do Immigrants Make us Safer?” by by Patricia Leigh Brown Eyal Press Film Studies I Students must find a movie review of their favorite film and a review of the worst film they ever saw. They must read these reviews before the start of classes and bring paper copies to the first class. Theater Arts: “Fourteen Actors Acting New York Times” Hasttings High Scho
ool English Dep
partment Su
ummer Reading 2014 English
h9
All studeents entering
g 9th grade must
m read ON
NE of the fouur books listeed below andd are encourraged
to read ad
dditional boo
oks from thee list as well.
Madelieiine Blais
-
In These Girls,, Hope is a M
Muscle
d team with a near-perfecct record, buut for five strraight years, when it cam
me to
They werre a talented
the cruncch of the play
yoffs, the Am
mherst Lady
y Hurricaness-a "Finesse"" high-schoool girls' baskeetball
team lack
ked the scrap
ppy, hard-drriving desire to go all thee way. Now
w, led by the strong back-court of All-America
A
an Jamila Wiideman and three-point sspecialist Jenn Pariseau, tthis is their yyear
to prove themselves in
i the State Championsh
C
hips. ‐ Of Mice and M
Men John Steiinbeck They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and
a quick annd dark of facce"; Lennie, a man of
tremendo
ous size, has the mind off a young chiild. Yet theyy have formeed a "family,," clinging
together in the face of
o loneliness and alienatiion. Laborerrs in Californnia's dusty veegetable fiellds,
nd-to-mouth existence. F
For George aand Lennie hhave
they husttle work wheen they can, living a han
a plan: to
o own an acrre of land and a shack theey can call th
their own. W
When they lannd jobs on a
ranch in the
t Salinas Valley,
V
the fulfillment
f
off their dream
m seems to bbe within theeir grasp.
Aldous Huxley
H
-
Braave New Wo
orld
The noveel opens in London
L
in A..F. 632 (AD 2540 in the Gregorian C
Calendar). T
The vast majoority
of the population is unified
u
underr the World State, an eteernally peaceeful, stable gglobal societty
n is permanen
ntly limited to no more tthan two billlion people, meaning gooods
where thee population
and resou
urces are pleentiful and ev
veryone is happy.
h
Natur al reproducttion has beenn done awayy with
and child
dren are creaated, "decantted", and raissed in "hatchheries and coonditioning ccenters." It’’s a
perfect world.
w
John Greeen
-
Paaper Towns
J
has spent a lifeetime loving
g the magnifiicently advennturous Marrgo Roth
Quentin Jacobsen
Spiegelm
man from afaar. So when she
s cracks op
pen a windoow and climbbs back into his life–dresssed
like a nin
nja and summ
moning him for an ingen
nious campaiign of revennge–he follow
ws.
English 10 All students must read The Book of Men: Poems by Dorianne Laux T.S. Eliot once suggested that “genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” Put another way, a poem, if we allow it, can get under our skin and get us thinking, imagining, and seeing before our brains fully make sense of it. This year’s summer reading may mark the first time you have read an entire book of poetry by one author. As with anything new, you may find yourself unsure about how to read it. We challenge you to keep an open mind and to listen out for what poems interest you, annoy you, surprise you and baffle you. We look forward to exploring your reactions! English 11 Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich English 11 Honors Students must read at least ONE of the following novels: The Dog Stars – Peter Heller or Beautiful Ruins: A Novel – Jess Walter In addition, students must read at least one chapter from Stephan Hawking’s A Brief History of Time . AP English Students must read both Middlesex, by Jeffery Eugenides, and The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard. SUPA English Students must read both Flight Maps: Adventures With Nature in Modern America, by Jennifer Price, including the Introduction and with special attention to Chapters 1, 2, and 3 and The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s‐Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan, including Introduction and with special attention to Chapters 1 and 4. Senior Electives 1960’s Culture: Google “Rock and Roll Zapruder” by Amy Taubin. The Zapruder in the title refers to the film that shows JFK being shot in 1963. The events that Amy Taubin writes about in “Rock and Roll Zapruder” happened at the Altamont concert given by the Rolling Stones in 1969. http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/103‐gimme‐shelter‐rock‐and‐roll‐zapruder After reading the article, does the title seem appropriate? Why? Be ready to talk and write about it when we see each other…this is big stuff. Creative Writing – Please read the attached chapter from Bird by Bird, by Anne Lammot by Mark Billingham Detective Film and Fiction – “The Evolution of the Detective” The Evolution of the
Detective.pdf
“The Usual Suspect: Edgar Allan Poe, Consulting Detective” by Arthur Krystal The Usual Suspect Edgar Allan Poe, Cons
Facing Ourselves: Reading Race and Gender Summer Reading These articles raise some of the central themes and controversies we will explore in this class. Please read them both and come to class prepared to discuss! “Supporting Girls and Boys When the Line Isn’t Clear” by Patricia Leigh Brown http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/02/us/02child.html?pagewanted=all “Do Immigrants Make us Safer?” by Eyal Press http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/magazine/03wwln_idealab.html?pagewanted=all Film Studies I – Students are required to find a movie review of their favorite film and a review of the worst film they ever saw. They must read these reviews before the start of classes and bring paper copies to the first class. Theater Arts: Go to You Tube and enter “Fourteen Actors Acting New York Times.” Watch each of the fourteen (they are very brief). Choose a few that are provocative and compelling. What makes them so effective? http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/12/magazine/14actors.html Be ready to discuss during the first class. Some Recommended Books These are a few books we have read recently and enjoyed, some of which address themes that connect to texts and ideas that we often consider in our classes. You are not required to read them but if you are looking for a book to pick up, they definitely get our recommendation! 
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The Circle by Dave Eggers. This fictional story, set in a world strikingly like our own, follows a young woman who is hired by the world’s largest, most powerful internet company, the Circle. What she discovers as she becomes embedded into the web of this insular world raises big questions about power, privacy, and technology. The Round House by Louise Erdrich. When a 13‐year old boy, living on the Ojibwe reservation, discovers a horrible crime committed against his mother, he vows to find our who is responsible and to seek out justice. Part mystery and part social commentary, the book puts you in the middle of a world thrown into chaos. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. This is the story of a rising baseball star named Henry Skrimshander who is scouted as one of the best shortstops in the history of Michigan. His world is turned upside down when he misses a routine throw to first base and cannot seem to shake the mistake. However, this book is about much more than baseball. With an expansive cast of characters, it ruminates on the nature of self‐doubt, friendship, and the ways we can internalize fate.