SHHS Grade 10 Summer Reading Requirements 2015
These summer reading selections represent authors and issues that are addressed in the tenth grade curriculum.
This list is offered to help prepare you for next year’s studies. The faculty and administration believe that it is very
important for students to continue reading during the summer months. In September or January, teachers in
Language Arts classes will provide opportunities for students to discuss their summer reading, and will use the
required material as a springboard to assignments for their course. To this end, your teachers will test you on your
knowledge and understanding of the required readings. It is strongly recommended that you take detailed notes
about plot, characters, your questions, and your reactions as you read, and that you review your notes
carefully before the first day of class. A caution: viewing available films based on these books should not be
considered a replacement for reading the texts.
For more resources, please visit the English Department Summer Reading page on the WSSD Moodle.
 TENTH GRADE REQUIRED READINGS This year you will explore many views of the American
Dream and the American Experience.
Honors Language Arts students must read BOTH of the following books AND complete the
attached assignments. The assignments are designed to facilitate your understanding of the texts. Both
assignments will be graded and must be turned in to your English 10 Honors teacher on the first day of class.

John Steinbeck East of Eden
Even 100 years ago, people were “California Dreamin’”—viewing the West as the quintessential land of
opportunity. Steinbeck shows his readers not only “the dream,” but his take on “the reality” as well. This
very readable novel is both a family saga and a modern retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel.
Through the intertwined fates of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, Steinbeck explores the
mystery of identity and the inexplicability of love.

J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield recounts the story of his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a private high school, and takes off
on his own for a wild weekend in New York. In Holden, Salinger has created one of the best-loved and
most criticized voices in American literature. This post-World War II novel chronicles the struggle of an
American teenager to navigate the journey from childhood to adulthood.
CP and CCP Language Arts students must read the following book:

J.D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield recounts the story of his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a private high school, and takes off
on his own for a wild weekend in New York. In Holden, Salinger has created one of the best-loved and
most criticized voices in American literature. This post-World War II novel chronicles the struggle of an
American teenager to navigate the journey from childhood to adulthood.
 OTHER RECOMMENDED (OPTIONAL) READINGS
Reading for pleasure is a habit that has tremendous payoffs. Good readers generally have a better vocabulary, a
better knowledge base, and better writing skills than those who rarely read for pleasure. The faculty and
administration urge you to make time to read books that you enjoy. For your consideration, here are some
recommendations for pleasure reading:
Sara Gruen Water for Elephants
An elderly man recalls memories of his early life, when he was suddenly orphaned and joined a traveling circus.
Gruen humanizes the gritty characters of the circus, including an elephant named Rosie, in this romantic comingof-age novel taking place during The Great Depression.
Steve Lopez The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
This is a true story of the remarkable bond between a journalist and a homeless, classically trained musician.
Jeanette Walls The Glass Castle: A Memoir
In this memoir of her childhood, the author recounts her life with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity
present her with major challenges.
Kuwana Haulsey Angel of Harlem
This novel is based on the true story of May Edward Chinn, who became the first female physician of Harlem.
Weaving scenes from Civil War battlefields, where May’s father escaped from slavery, to Harlem kitchen tables,
where May is sometimes forced to operate on her patients, this story provides a vivid portrait of a woman who
changed the face of medicine.
Mark Salzman True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall
The author chronicles his first year teaching at Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for Los Angeles’s most violent
teenage offenders, and examines what his students taught him about life.
Dan Brown The Lost Symbol
A thriller with secrets, ancient rituals, and hidden symbols from the author of The Da Vinci Code.
Ken Silverstein The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade
Nuclear Reactor
This is the story of David Hahn, the Michigan teenager who built a nuclear breeder reactor in his backyard in 1994,
endangering the residents of his Michigan hometown and raising the ire of the federal government.
H.G. Bissinger Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream
This is a true story of a Texas oil town’s high school football team, and how the Permian Panthers became more
than a simple Friday night diversion.
Laura Hillenbrand Seabiscuit
Author Laura Hillenbrand brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story, one that proves life is a horse race.
Dave Eggers What is the What?
Eggers tells the story of Valentino Achak Deng, who, along with thousands of other children – the so-called Lost
Boys – was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and travel by foot to safety in African refugee
camps, and eventually, in America.
Alex Haley The Autobiography of Malcolm X
This book is the result of a unique collaboration between Malcolm X and Alex Haley, whose own search for his
African past, inspired by an encounter with Malcolm X, led him to write the celebrated bestseller Roots. The book
has since been adapted into a feature film by Spike Lee.
Veronica Chambers Mama’s Girl
This memoir chronicles the author’s rise from her underprivileged childhood in Brooklyn to a successful career in
journalism. Veronica must come to terms with the painful circumstances of her life ̶ an abusive father, her
mother’s coldness, and what it means to be black in 1970s America.
Aimee Bender The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
On the eve of her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and
discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the slice. To her horror, she finds that her
cheerful mother tastes of despair. Soon, she’s privy to the secret knowledge that most families keep hidden.
John Steinbeck Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters
If you have wondered what the dedication in East of Eden means or what Steinbeck originally called the book, this
is the place to find the answer. This book recounts the frustrations and musings of Steinbeck during the composition
of East of Eden
Honors Summer Assignment #1: East of Eden
Steinbeck draws a number of similarities – and some key differences – between the characters and events of East of Eden and the story of Cain
and Abel from the Bible’s Book of Genesis, printed below. This comparison enhances the novel’s meaning, particularly with regard to
Steinbeck’s themes about timshel, the ability to choose one’s moral path in life.
Genesis 4:1-16
The man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother
Abel. Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil. In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil, while Abel,
for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not. Cain
greatly resented this and was crestfallen. So the Lord said to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen? If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if
not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord asked Cain,
“Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord then said: “What have you done! Listen: Your brother’s blood
cries out to me from the soil! Therefore you shall be banned from the soil that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. If you till the soil,
it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a restless wanderer of the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear. Since you
have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight.” “Not so!” the Lord
said to him. “If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.” So the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Cain then left the Lord’s
presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Directions: Column A contains events from the account of Cain and Abel as found in Genesis. In Columns B and C, write brief descriptions
of events from the novel which are similar to the Genesis story. Column B should focus on Charles and Adam Trask. Column C should focus
on Caleb and Aron Trask. Jot down page numbers in order to enhance our discussion.
Column A
Genesis
1. Cain gave the fruit of the soil as
an offering to the Lord.
2. Abel gave the Lord the fat
portions of some of the first-born
of his flock as an offering.
Column B
Charles and Adam Trask
Column C
Caleb and Aron Trask
3. The Lord looked with favor upon
Abel and his offering but not
upon Cain and his offering.
4. The Lord told Cain he must do
what is right.
5. Cain attacked his brother Abel
and killed him.
6. “I must become a restless
wanderer upon the earth,” said
Cain.
7. Then the Lord put a mark on
Cain.
8. Cain went out from the Lord’s
presence and lived in the land
east of Eden.
Did you notice any other similarities or
key differences?
Reflection: What do you notice about the parallels Steinbeck draws between the biblical story and the two generations of Trask brothers?
Honors Summer Assignment #2: The Catcher in the Rye
As you complete your reading of The Catcher in the Rye, you will complete five (5) journals to be submitted to
your English 10 Honors teacher on the first day of class. Be informal in your response; avoid the voice of formal
literary analysis. Try as much as possible to make connections to today’s world and/or your life. The highest
grades will go to those who demonstrate the ability to think with depth, breadth, and creativity on a consistent
basis. One typed, double-spaced page (250-300 words) will do for each journal. Please title your journals and
include the number of the journal at the top of each journal entry you write.
Journal #1: Chapters 1-14
Select ONE of the following and respond.
1. List 101 places, people, things that we associate with New York City. Why did Salinger select this city for
his setting?
2. List 50 things that people associate with winter. Why did Salinger set his story in winter?
Journal #2: Chapters 1-14
Select ONE of the following and respond.
3. The website Oxford Dictionaries defines a misogynist as “a person who dislikes, despises, or
is strongly prejudiced against women.” A feminist is a person who supports “the advocacy of women’s rights
on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Based on the events of Chapters 1-14,
would you categorize Holden as misogynist or a feminist?
4. Discuss the sexual pressure that guys create for each other. Why don’t more resist the pressure to conform?
Journal #3: Chapters 15-26
Select ONE of the following and respond.
5. In some ways it seems that Holden has given up on life. Research Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the
symptoms and causes of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Do these deserve consideration when one considers
the state Holden is in?
6. Holden says that in school, “…all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able
to buy a goddam Cadillac…” (131). What is he really saying about school, and life, in general? (Alternately,
list examples from the novel where Holden mentions class and social status – what bothers him about class
and social status?)
Journal #4: Chapters 15-26
Select ONE of the following and respond.
7. Why did James Castle die? What does this signify to Holden?
8. Mr. Antolini: hero or villain?
Journal #5: Chapters 15-26
Select ONE of the following and respond.
9. Explain the significance of Phoebe to Holden’s “breakdown.”
10. Two parts: first, discuss Holden’s feelings for Jane. Second, using Holden’s voice, explain why you never
called her.
11. Give your reaction to the final chapter of the novel. What, in your opinion, will happen to Holden? What, if
anything, has he learned through his confession of “this madman stuff that happened to [him] around last
Christmas” (1)?