Taipei American School Upper School English Department
Summer Reading Texts & Semester Texts 2016-2017
Writers of classical antiquity understood the unique quality of art, its capacity to delight and instruct.
The hearers of tales, the audiences in the theaters, and, centuries later, the readers of books – all
immersed in story – emerged transformed from their experience with literature. The TAS English
Department follows this venerable tradition and hopes our students, too, will be enriched by and find
pleasure and knowledge in the books they read. The titles listed for each grade (see below) have been
selected for that purpose. In addition, one school-selected “community” book will be read by all
students. Teachers, students, and administrators alike will be reading this book, and discussion of this
work will extend beyond the English classroom. Students should anticipate that in August, at the
beginning of school, teachers will give an evaluated in-class essay test about all the books required for
summer reading.
Community Book: Required Text for Grades 9-12: Alex Myers, Revolutionary, Amazon ISBN-13: 9781451663327. A Kindle edition is available for this book.
ALL STUDENTS:
Students must purchase their books, including the book selected for community reading. All books
should be obtained as soon as possible, ideally by the beginning of the school year. Students should allot
the appropriate amount of time for a book shipment to arrive and should not rely on last minute
purchases at local bookstores, which may or may not have enough copies of a particular book. Kindle
editions, when available, may be purchased in place of paperback editions; however, students are not
encouraged to use e-texts on their laptops or phones in the classroom.
NEW STUDENTS:
Please select two texts from your grade level and from what you anticipate will be your course. For
instance, if in grade 11 you expect to enroll in the IB program but you are not sure if you will take IBSL or
IBHL, choose the one most likely. Teachers will be flexible when they give their in-class assessments. It is
possible that some students will not know their final placement in English classes until school begins in
August. When classes begin, your teachers will, if necessary, make arrangements for both in-class
preparation and assessment of the texts you read. Students new to TAS may not have the opportunity
to obtain books that are provided by the school. We encourage parents of these students to buy any
available edition so students can read and be prepared.
STUDENTS with TWO ENGLISH COURSES:
Students who have two English classes must read both texts for one course of their choice. They may, of
course, read four books--the two works for both classes.
Kindle: Any assigned book may be purchased and read via Kindle, if available; however, students are not
encouraged to use e-texts on their laptops or phones in the classroom.
ENGLISH 9
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
First They Killed My Father
Loung Ung
Harper
978-0060856267
Yes
Anne Frank: The Diary of a
Young Girl
Anne Frank
Bantam
978-0553296983
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros
Vintage
978-0679734772
Yes
Short Stories Course Reader
Prepared by
teacher
TAS
Must buy from
English department
NO
Romeo and Juliet
William
Shakespeare
Folger
978-1451621709
Yes
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Perigee Books;
Reissue edition
978-0399501487
Yes
J.D. Salinger
Little Brown &
Company
978-0316769488
Yes
Various
Provided by
teacher
Catcher in the Rye
Poetry
NO
HONORS ENGLISH 9
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
First They Killed My Father
Loung Ung
Harper
978-0060856267
Yes
I Am Malala: The Girl Who
Stood Up for Education
and Was Shot by the
Taliban
Malala
Yousafzai with
Christina Lamb
Back Bay Books (June 2,
2015)
978-0316322423
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Elements of Style, The
Strunk & White
Pearson, 4th Ed.
978-0205309023
Yes
Non-fiction Essays
Various
Provided by teacher
Odyssey
Homer, Trans.
Lombardo
Hackett
978-0872204843
Yes
Romeo and Juliet
William
Shakespeare
Folger
978-1451621709
Yes
Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen
Anchor
978-0307390806
Yes
No
Yes
No
Poetry
Prepared by
teacher
TAS
Must buy from
English
department
The House on Mango
Street
Sandra
Cisneros
Vintage
978-0679734772
ENGLISH 10
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Freakonomics
Levitt &
Dubner
William Morrow; Revised
& Expand
978-0061234002
Yes
Kindred
Octavia Butler
Beacon Press
978-0807083697
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Animal Farm
George Orwell
NAL; Reprint edition
978-0452284241
Yes
Gothic Short Stories
Various
Provided by teacher
The Oedipus Cycle
Sophocles
Mariner Books; 1 edition
978-0156027649
Yes
Poetry
Various
Provided by teacher
Macbeth
William
Shakespeare
Simon & Schuster
978-0743477109
Yes
Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass
Frederick
Douglass
Modern Library Classics
978-0345478238
HONORS ENGLISH 10
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles
Dickens
Dover Thrift or any edition
978-0486406510
Yes
Freakonomics
Levitt &
Dubner
William Morrow; Revised
& Expand
978-0061234002
Yes
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Non-fiction essays
Various
Provided by teacher
1984
George Orwell
Signet Classics
978-0451524935
Yes
Four Major Plays, Volume
I
Henrik Ibsen
Signet Classics
978-0451530226
Yes
Macbeth
William
Shakespeare
Simon & Schuster
978-0743477109
Yes
The Reluctant
Fundamentalist
Mohsin Hamid
Harvest Books
978-0156034029
Yes
Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri
Mariner Books
978-0395927205
Yes
Poetry
Various
Provided by teacher
AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The New Jim Crow
Michelle
Alexander
The New Press
978-1595586438
Yes
Wild Swans
Jung Chang
Touchstone Reprint
Edition
978-0743246989
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Walden
Henry David
Thoreau
Signet Classics
978-0451532169
Yes
Essays
Various
Provided by teacher
AMERICAN LITERATURE
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
We Should All Be
Feminists
Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Anchor Books
978-1101911761
Yes
Stealing Buddha's Dinner
Bich Minh
Nguyen
Penguin
978-0143113034
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Scribner
978-0743273565
Yes
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee
Williams
New Directions
978-0811216029
Yes
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
Mariner Books; First
Edition
978-0156028356
Yes
The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
Mariner Books; 1st edition
978-0618706419
Yes
American Poetry
Various
Provided by teacher
HONORS AMERICAN LITERATURE
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
All the Light We Cannot
See
Anthony Doerr
Simon & Schuster (or any)
978-1476765655
Yes
Stealing Buddha's Dinner
Bich Minh
Nguyen
Penguin
978-0143113034
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Between the World and
Me
Ta-Nehisi
Coates
The Text Publishing
978-0812993547
Yes
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Scribner
978-0743273565
Yes
Their Eyes Were Watching
God
Zora Neale
Hurston
Harper
978-0061120060
Yes
Ceremony
Leslie Marmon
Silko
Penguin Books
978-0143104919
Yes
When the Emperor Was
Divine
Julie Otsuka
Anchor
978-0385721813
Yes
God Help the Child
Toni Morrison
Vintage
978-0307740922
Yes
The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
Mariner Books
978-0618706419
Yes
SCIENCE FICTION
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The Caves of Steel
Isaac Asimov
Spectra Reprint Edition
978-0553293401
Yes
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula Leguin
Ace Science Fiction
978-0441007318
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Solaris
Stanislaw Lem
Mariner Books
978-0156027601
Yes
Kindred
Octavia Butler
Beacon Press
978-0807083697
Yes
Double Star
Robert Heinlein
SF Masterworks/Gollancz
978-0575122031
Yes
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Norton Critical Editions
978-0393927931
No
Short stories
Various
Provided by teacher
WORLD LITERATURE
Summer Reading Text
We Should All Be
Feminists
The Thing Around Your
Neck
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Anchor Books
978-1101911761
Yes
Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Penguin
978-0307455918
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Medea
Euripides
Dover Thrift
978-0486275482
Yes
Like Water for Chocolate
Laura Esquivel
Anchor
978-0385420174
Yes
Raise the Red Lantern:
Three Novellas
Su Tong
William Morrow
Paperbacks
978-0060596330
Othello
William
Shakespeare
Simon & Schuster
978-0743482820
Course Reader
Various
Provided by teacher
Yes
HONORS PSYCHOLOGICAL LITERATURE
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Karen Joy
Fowler
G.P. Putnam's Sons
978-0142180822
Yes
Self-Compassion: The
Proven Power of Being
Kind to Yourself
Kristin Neff
William Morrow
Paperback
978-0061733529
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis
Stevenson
Signet
978-0451532251
No
Sam Shepard
Dial Press Trade
Paperback
978-0553346114
No
Equus
Peter Schaffer
Scribner
978-0743287302
Yes
Beloved
Toni Morrison
Vintage
978-1400033416
No
The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath
Modern Classics
978-0060837020
No
One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest
Ken Kesey
Mass Market/Signet
978-0451163967
Yes
A Curious Incident of a
Dog in the Night- Time
Mark Haddon
Vintage
978-1400032716
Yes
Ellen Foster
Kaye Gibbons
Algonquin Books
978-1616203023
Yes
Summer Reading Text
We are All Completely
Beside Ourselves: A Novel
Sam Shepard: Seven Plays
IBSL ENGLISH YEAR 1
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
All the Light We Cannot
See
Anthony Doerr
Simon & Schuster (or
any)
978-1476765655
Yes
The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Broadway Books (or
any)
ISBN10: 1400052181
Yes
Summer Reading Text
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Scribner
978-0743273565
Yes
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine
Hansberry
Vintage
978-0679755333
Yes
The Thing Around Your
Neck
Chimamanda
Adichie
Anchor
978-0307455918
Yes
Fiela’s Child
Delane
Matthee
Phoenix Fiction
978-0226510835
Yes
Wild Thorns
Sahar Khalifeh
Interlink
978-1566563369
No
IBSL ENGLISH YEAR 2
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald
Scribner
978-0743273565
Yes
Waiting for Godot
Beckett
Grove Press
978-0802144423
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Hamlet
Shakespeare
Oxford University
978-0198328704
Yes
A Streetcar Named Desire
Williams
New Directions
978-0811216029
Yes
The Importance of Being
Earnest
Oscar Wilde
Signet Classics
978-0451531896
Yes
The Crucible
Miller
Penguin
978-0142437339
Yes
IB English A Literature
Course Book
Tyson
Oxford University
978-0198390084
No
Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Provided by teacher
No
IBHL ENGLISH YEAR 1
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Broadway Books
1400052181
Yes
The Street: A Novel
Ann Petry
Mariner Books
978-0395901496
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Bad Feminist: Essays
Roxane Gay
Harper Perennial
978-0062282712
Yes
The Thing Around Your
Neck
Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Anchor
978-0307455918
Yes
Vintage Books
978-0375707971
Yes
Yes
Poetry
The Reader
Selection to be Announced
Bernhard Schlink
The Lover
Marguerite
Duras
Pantheon
978-0375700521
Chronicle of a Death
Foretold
Gabriel García
Márquez
Vintage
978-1400034710
Yes
IBHL ENGLISH YEAR 2
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Americanah
Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Mariner Books
978-0307455925
Yes
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy
Penguin Classics
978-0141439594
Yes
Semester Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
IB English A Literature
Course Book
Tyson
Oxford University
978-0198390084
No
Poetry by Emily Dickinson
Emily
Dickinson
Provided by teacher
The Merchant of Venice
William
Shakespeare
Simon & Schuster
978-0743477567
Yes, not
recommended
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
Anchor
978-0385474542
Yes
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee
Williams
New Directions
978-0811214049
Yes
The Crucible
Arthur Miller
Penguin
978-0142437339
Yes
The Importance of Being
Earnest
Oscar Wilde
Signet Classics
978-0451531896
Yes
Master Harold and the
Boys
Athol Fugard
Vintage International
978-0307475206
No
AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Of Love and Shadows
Isabel Allende
Any Edition
978-1501117046
Yes
A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court
Mark Twain
Any Edition
978-0486415918
Yes
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
The Collected Poems
Sylvia Plath
Harper Perennial Modern
Classics; Reprint edition
(September 2, 2008)
978-0061558894
Yes
Pnin
Vladimir
Nabokov
Vintage; 1st edition (June
18, 1989)
978-0679723417
Yes
The Trial: A New
Translation Based on the
Restored Text (The
Schocken Kafka Library)
Franz Kafka
Schocken (May 25, 1999)
978-0805209990
Yes
Ficciones
Jorge Luis
Borges
Grove Press (February 1,
1994)
978-0802130303
Yes
In Search of Lost Time:
Swann’s Way, Vol. 1
Marcel Proust
The Modern Library;
Modern Library edition
(June 23, 2003)
978-0375751547
Yes
Chronicle of a Death
Foretold
Gabriel García
Márquez
Vintage; Reprint edition
(October 7, 2003)
978-1400034710
Yes
Don Quixote
Miguel De
Cervantes
Harper Perennial; Reprint
edition (April 26, 2005)
978-0060934347
Yes
Monsignor Quixote
(Penguin Classics)
Graham
Greene
Penguin Classics
(September 30, 2008)
978-0143105527
No
The Visit
Friedrich
Durrenmatt
Grove Press; 1 edition
(October 5, 2010)
978-0802144263
Yes
Semester Text
ALL JOURNALISM COURSES (REGULAR & HONORS)
Summer Reading Text
Author/Writer
Edition
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
Amazon ISBN-13
Kindle
version?
NONE
Semester Text
NONE
Author/Writer
Edition