Summer Reading Assignment 2017: Junior English Honors
Essential Questions:
 What does it mean to become an American? How do authors portray this constant process?
 How do authors use setting, symbolism, and characterization to make an argument about the American Dream?
 How can structure help to create meaning?
 How do I see myself in these characters? How has my American experience been different?
Welcome!
Welcome to Junior English Honors! I’m excited to meet all of you and work with you next year.
Throughout the year, we’ll read, analyze, and write about American literature, so our Summer Reading assignment
will help to begin conversations that we’ll have all year. In order to begin the year with focused discussions and skill
review, you will all read the same novel, Cristina Henriquez’s The Book of Unknown Americans. Either a physical
copy or Kindle copy is fine by me, but please don’t rely on your phone to be your sole source of reading the novel.
Any questions? Contact Ms. Lobb at [email protected] or Mr. Palmer at [email protected].
The Book:
A boy and a girl who fall in love. Two families whose hopes collide with destiny. An
extraordinary novel that offers a resonant new definition of what it means to be
American.
Arturo and Alma Rivera have lived their whole lives in Mexico. One day, their beautiful
fifteen-year-old daughter, Maribel, sustains a terrible injury, one that casts doubt on
whether she’ll ever be the same. And so, leaving all they have behind, the Riveras
come to America with a single dream: that in this country of great opportunity and
resources, Maribel can get better.
When Mayor Toro, whose family is from Panama, sees Maribel in a Dollar Tree store, it
is love at first sight. It’s also the beginning of a friendship between the Rivera and Toro
families, whose web of guilt and love and responsibility is at this novel’s core.
Woven into their stories are the testimonials of men and women who have come to the United States from all over
Latin America. Their journeys and their voices will inspire you, surprise you, and break your heart.
Suspenseful, wry and immediate, rich in spirit and humanity, The Book of Unknown Americans is a work of rare force
and originality.
*from amazon.com
Overview and Focus:
As you read, consider asking yourself the following:
 How do the mini-chapters complement the main narrative?
 How does Henriquez depict the American experience?
 How does the title help us to understand Henriquez’s message?
 How do characters evolve?
 What passages stand out to you? Why?
Be sure to mark the text for quotations and passages that help you answer the questions above. We’ll use this novel
to write our first essay of the year. It’s a quick read, so pick it up in late July or early August so you have some fresh
ideas on the first day of school.