Upper School Summer Reading 2013
All books are available in the Oakridge library, local bookstores, and on-line.
Required for students entering grade 9:
The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt
During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to extra curriculum
classes, Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker‟s classroom where they read the plays of William
Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world where he lives.
Required for students entering grade 10:
Last Days of Richard III and the fate of his DNA, John Ashdown-Hill
John Ashdown-Hill‟s The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA explores the historical,
scientific, and literary significance of England‟s most controversial leader. The author carefully examines
King Richard III‟s final days before his legendary death at the Battle of Bosworth Field and then devotes his
attention to details of the aftermath of Richard‟s demise. Ashdown-Hill also relates the story of how Richard
III‟s DNA was rediscovered, thereby completing the account by offering his hypothesis for the whereabouts
of the lost leader‟s remains. This is the study that inspired the recent, successful dig, thereby confirming and
making famous Ashdown-Hill's recent research. The text will prepare sophomore students for several things
related to their continued educational experience at The Oakridge School. Fall semester, all sophomores will
be reading William Shakespeare‟s Richard III, a play which presents a very different account of the king‟s
last days. The Oakridge School is also planning to host another collaborative, inter-institutional conference
both on the Shakespeare‟s play and on the actual historical figure sometime in the spring of 2014.
**Also, some of the text is challenging at first, especially for the reader that lacks knowledge of
England’s Wars of the Roses. Mr. Colley will be writing about the book this summer and updating an
interactive blog to assist students as they read. The web address will be WeReadR3.blogspot.com, and
the blog will serve as a place where students may find resources, updates that explain chapters, as well
as other links of interest to aid the student reader.
Required for students entering grade 11:
Shakespeare the world as Stage, Bill Bryson
William Shakespeare left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of
wild supposition arranged around scant facts. Shakespeare had unimaginable talent and enormous
inventiveness, a coiner of phrases („vanish into thin air,” “foregone conclusion,” “one fell swoop”) that even
today have common usage.
Required for students entering grade 12:
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
This National Book Award winner is truly a masterpiece of contemporary American literature. A modernday Odyssey, it is the story of a man‟s journey home from the horrors of the American civil War, and of the
tribulations of the woman he left behind. Students should note: the motion picture adapted from this novel
distorts some important facets of the book, and omits others. The writing prompt you will be given assumes
you possess knowledge of these facets as they appear in the novel, and not as they are shown in the movie.
Grades 9-12 - Choose Two:
All students entering grades 9-12, except those enrolled in AP English Language or AP English
Literature, must choose two books not previously read from the list below in addition to the required
book. AP English students should refer to the separate AP reading lists enclosed.
Dune, Frank Herbert
Forced by the Emperor of the known universe to live in exile on a barren planet, Duke Leto Atreides and his
son lead the struggle against the Empire.
Food Rules, Michael Pollan
Eating doesn‟t have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health
advice, Food Rules brings a welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. It‟s an easy-to-use guide
that draws from a variety of traditions, suggesting how different cultures through the ages have arrived at the
same enduring wisdom about food. This is the perfect guide for anyone who ever wondered, “What should I
eat?”
Insignia, S. J. Kincaid
Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin
training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in world War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do
the actual fighting off-planet.
Legend, Maria Lu
In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous
criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common
enemy.
Our Town, Thornton Wilder (play)
A play in three acts portraying life in Grover's Corner, New Hampshire, in the early 1900's through the
routine daily events and the major moments in the lives of George Gibbs, Emily Webb, and their families;
and how their lives, although mundane, are touched by the universal forces of love, despair, apathy, nature,
and death.
Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
In the year 2044, Wade Watts, like the rest of humanity, chooses to escape reality and spends his waking
hours in the limitless, utopian virtual world of the OASIS, but when Wade stumbles upon the first of the
fiendish puzzles set up by OASIS creator James Halliday he finds he must compete with thousands of
others—including those willing to commit murder—in order to claim a prize of massive fortune.
Steve Jobs, Karen Blumenthal (biography)
Examines the life and accomplishments of Apple mogul Steve Jobs and discussed the impact of his ideas on
life in the twenty-first century.
A Troubled Peace, Laura Elliott
Nineteen-year-old pilot Henry Forester, having returned home to Virginia after fighting in world War II, is
consumed by worry over the well-being of the people who helped him escape Nazi-occupied Germany and
returns to France, where he is shocked to see the ravages of war and tries to regain internal peace.
Uncommon, Tony Dungy (religious subject matter discussed)
When Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy took home the trophy in Super Bowl XLI, fans around the
world looked to him as the epitome of success. Athletic victory, professional excellence, fame and celebrity,
awards and honors—he had it all. But even in that moment, he knew those achievements had little to do
with his ultimate significance as a man.
Do you have a book suggestion for next year‟s list? Let Ms. Smith know the title and author, and she‟ll read
and consider it!