English I Pre-AP
Summer Reading 2016-2017
Pre-AP English Expectations
Please understand that Pre-AP classes require more dedication, thought, and homework than
grade-level classes. That you have been approved to take this class indicates you are ready for this
extra challenge and are willing to put forth the intellectual effort needed. Please read the
expectations below. If you do not feel you can meet these expectations, please consider whether or
not Pre-AP is the right choice for you.
All incoming 9th grade Pre-AP students must read
TWO books and complete assignments over each.
Books
1. Animal Farm by George Orwell
Read it online at http://www.georgeorwell.org/Animal_Farm/
2. CHOOSE ONE —Non-Fiction
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Always Running *
Fast Food Nation
I am Malala
The Diary of Anne Frank (very
different from the play!)
 A Hope in the Unseen: An American
Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy
League
 We are Americans: Undocumented
Students Pursuing the American
Dream
*Contains adult language and situations
Assignment
Expository essay: Write a one-page
essay explaining how sometimes the best
intentions can have negative outcomes.
Poster OR PowerPoint presentation
Information to include:
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Visual image that represents the
book
Main Points/ summary
Author Information
Favorite section with a quote/ page
number
One big “take-away”—what have
you learned by reading this book
(Information on posters can be typed or
neatly handwritten)
See the attached page for a description of book choices.
Non-fiction Choices
Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez
The award-winning and bestselling classic memoir about a young Chicano gang member
surviving the dangerous streets of East Los Angeles, Always Running is the searing true
story of one man’s life in a Chicano gang—and his heroic struggle to free himself from its
grip.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm
between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural
imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Schlosser makes them stick with an
artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai refused to
be silenced and fought for her right to an education. Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was
fifteen, she was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school,
and few expected her to survive. Instead, her miraculous recovery has taken her on an
extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United
Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the
youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The Diary of A Young Girl (Anne Frank) (very different from the play!)
In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled
their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their
whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the
"Secret Annex" of an old office building. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions
of her experiences during this period.
Find it online: http://www.readanybook.com/online/42
A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to
the Ivy League by Ron Suskind
It is 1993, and Cedric Jennings is a bright and ferociously determined honor student at
Ballou, a high school in one of Washington D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where
the dropout rate is well into double digits and just 80 students out of more than 1,350
boast an average of B or better. At Ballou, Cedric has almost no friends. He eats lunch in
a classroom most days, plowing through the extra work he has asked for, knowing that
he’s really competing with kids from other, harder schools. Cedric Jennings’s driving
ambition–which is fully supported by his forceful mother–is to attend a top-flight college.
We are Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream by
William Perez
"This fascinating look at the next generation of undocumented immigrants unpacks the
complexities of the debate and puts unforgettable human faces to its subjects. Perez, a
developmental psychologist and professor in Southern California, plumbs the stories of
students living with the constant threat of deportation for an answer to the question, 'What
does it mean to be an American?' No matter what one's position is on legalizing immigrants,
this collection of inspiring, heartbreaking stories puts a number of unforgettable faces to the
issue, making it impossible to defend any one side in easy terms or generalities."--Starred
Web Pick of the Week, Publishers Weekly