Knoxville Catholic High School Summer Reading List
2012-2013
Summer Reading Mission Statement: The Knoxville Catholic High School English department encourages
students to become lifelong learners. Because of this shared belief in lifelong education, we stress the
importance of our summer reading program. Not only does summer reading afford students the
opportunity to explore a variety of texts, studies have also shown that students who read widely and often,
have the greatest chance of success on high-stakes tests such as the SAT and ACT. Summer reading books
improve reading speed, increase comprehension, and enhance vocabulary.
Students,
You will choose one book from the list of authors below for your grade PLUS you must read the common
read for your grade level, for a total of two books for the summer. The book you choose must be 200
pages or more, and you should take notes as you read on characters, setting, plot development, and theme.
Please note that this reading list is for all levels of classes. The only exception to this is Junior and Senior
AP classes. They have already received a separate reading list, and thus, the list below does not pertain to
them.
Please do not wait until the last minute to get and read these books. Some may have to be ordered and will
take time to get. All teachers expect you to have read the common read and the book by the author of your
choice BEFORE the first day of school.
Be prepared to test on books the first week of school.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. Judd at 560-0313 xt. 3565 or e-mail me at
[email protected]
**** Many of these books were written for an adult audience so content, themes, and/or language
is mature. Parents, please be active participants and help your student select his or her summer
reading. You can access summaries and reviews online before you choose.
www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens
Ninth Grade
Must read common read Left to Tell by Imaculee Ilibagiza PLUS
Choose one book written by one of the authors below that is at least 200 pages.
Maya Angelou
Harry Harrison
Francesca Lia Block
Stephen King
Ray Bradbury – Not Fahrenheit 451
Robin McKinley
Meg Cabot
Walter Dean Myers
Orson Scott Card
Amy Tan
Shelby Foote
JRR Tolkein
Mark Haddon
Markus Zusak
Mark Twain – Not Huckleberry Finn
Tenth Grade
Must read common read Same Kind of Different as Me by Denver Moore and Ron Hall PLUS
Choose one book written by the authors below, or Ninth Grade authors that is at least 200 pages.
Douglas Adams
Silas House
Laurie Halse Anderson
John Knowles – NOT A Separate Peace
Jacob Boas
Jodi Picoult
Corrie Ten Boom
Rick Riordan
Arthur Conan Doyle
Stephanie Spinner
Richard Fineman
Mary Stuart
Alice Walker
Eleventh Grade
Must read common read My Antonia by Willa Cather PLUS
Choose one book written by one of the authors below that is at least 200 pages
Octavia Butler
Cormac McCarthy
Steven Chbosky
Carson McCullers
Wilma Dykeman
Toni Morrison
John Irving
Joyce Carol Oates
Robert Jordan
Tim O’Brien
Jack Kerouac
Flannery O’Connor
Barbara Kingsolver
Charlotte Perkins
John Krakauer
Kurt Vonnegut
Twelfth Grade
Must read common read Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde PLUS
Choose one book written by the authors below, or eleventh grade authors that is at least 200 pages
Chinue Achebe
Henrik Ibsen
Isabel Allende
James Joyce
Jane Austen
Christopher Marlowe
Charlotte Bronte
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Emily Bronte
Moliere
Lewis Carroll
Ayn Rand
Albert Camus
Jean Rhys
Charles Dickens (not A Christmas Carol)
Diane Setterfield
Isak Dinesen
Mary Shelley
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Jonathan Swift
George Eliot
Leo Tolstoy
E.M. Forster
Abraham Verghese
Graham Greene
Virginia Wolfe
Thomas Hardy
Khaled Hosseini
Aldous Huxley