High School English/Language Arts Summer Reading 2016
Parents and students,
In grades 9-12, SMPCS students will be assigned independent, self-selected reading outside of English
class. Summer is a great time to get a head start on outside reading. Your teacher and/or school may
even offer incentives or special recognition for the reading you complete over the summer, so don’t
miss the opportunity to start the 2016-2017 school year off right! Refer to your school’s website to find
more information about summer reading incentives.
The lists on the following pages contain titles for consideration when choosing self-selected reading; the
titles are aligned to the content of our instructional units.* The suggested titles were selected based on
their literary merit and/or interest level from a variety of sources, including: the SMCPS approved novel
and trade book list, the CCSS suggested reading/Gates Foundation instructional units, the American
Library Association, and Good Reads. The titles that are not on the SMCPS approved for instruction list
may contain mature content, so be sure to review your child’s selections to help him/her make the best
choice.
TIPS FOR SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD WITH SUMMER READING
#1: Let your child choose his/her own books and abandon them when they are just not working.
 Interest in reading material enhances comprehension; therefore, students with high interest in a
topic will be more engaged and committed to reading, even if the reading level is challenging.
 Conversely, students with little interest in a topic may demonstrate low comprehension of material
that should be at an independent reading level for them.
#2: Preview the books that interest you by reading reviews on websites such as Amazon or Good
Reads and make your selections accordingly.
#3: Help your child set goals and read with him/her or form reading discussion groups with peers.
 Students who get together with friends and discuss a book are more likely to be excited about
reading. Book clubs can be rather informal and allow students to carry on a conversation about
anything related to the book they are reading.
 Ask your child nonthreatening questions about the reading by initially posing general questions that
do not create tension or feelings of resistance: “Can you give me one or two items from the chapter
that seem important?" "What section of the reading do you have questions about?" "What item in
the reading surprised you?" "What topics in the chapter can you apply to your own experience?"
 Reading motivation is linked to setting goals and working toward those goals in an active, sustained
manner, so help your child set and monitor his/her reading goals. Check in often throughout the
summer.
And don’t miss the summer reading program at the public library, which starts June 13. You can find
more information at www.stmalib.org.
Works Cited
Reed, Deborah. (2005). “Motivating Students to Read/Issue and Practices.” SEDL Letter, XVII, Number 1.
*Students enrolled in Pre-AP courses have separate reading lists. Please refer to the SMCPS website
or the flyer your child received at the end of the year.
KEY:
(+) ON SMCPS APPROVED NOVEL LIST
(*) HIGHER INTEREST, MORE ACCESSIBLE TEXTS
High School English/Language Arts Summer Reading 2016
Grade 9
UNIT 1
The Bone Collector by J. Deaver*
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Piccoult*
The Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold*
Pay it Forward by C. Hyde*
Friday Night Lights by H. Bissinger*
Blind Side by M. Lewis*
The Great Santini by P. Conroy*
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Speak by L. Halse Anderson+
A Boy’s Life by R. McCammon+
The Secret Life of Bees by S. Monk Kidd+
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Divergent by Veronica Roth
UNIT 2
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
Whale Talk by Christopher Crutcher
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd
Cupid by Julius Lester
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My
Wings, and Flew Away by Joyce Carol Oates
Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
Shooter by Walter Dean Myers
Night Hoops by Carl Deuker
A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg*
Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress*
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom*
Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse*
A Night to Remember* by Walter Lord+
The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis+
UNIT 3
River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clark*+
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse*+
Children of the Dust: The True Story of the School at
Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley*
The Crazy Ladies of Pearl Street by Trevanian*
Rainwater by Sandra Brown*
KEY:
(+) ON SMCPS APPROVED NOVEL LIST
Ironweed by William Kennedy*
Penelope’s Daughter by Laurel Corona*
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury+
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
Ella Minno Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by P. Cameron
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
UNIT 4
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
To the Last Man by Jeff Shaara
Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen
The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill
Hiroshima by John Hersey+
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Troy by Adele Geras*
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealey
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls+
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell+
American Islam: Growing Up Muslim in America by
Richard Wormser
The Kids are All Right: A Memoir by Diana, Liz, Amanda,
and Dan Welch
The Oxford Project by Stephen Bloom
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou+
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai+
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand+
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Boys on the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
(*) HIGHER INTEREST, MORE ACCESSIBLE TEXTS