Summer Reading Assignments 2017: Grades 9-12/ North Oconee High School
This summer, the English Department of North Oconee High School encourages all students to read for pleasure beyond the
requirements/ suggestions listed below. Research studies continue to confirm what we as teachers see regularly in our classrooms—
students who read widely and often are more successful with not only reading but writing across the board in all classes. The required
reading assignments for the 2017-2018 school year are due when school begins in the fall.
Please note that students in Honors classes are expected to read one required novel (specified below) and are encouraged, as an
option, to choose an additional book from the list of suggestions on the back.
Students in non-Honors classes are expected to read three required short stories (specified below) and are encouraged, as an option, to
choose a book from the list of suggestions on the back as well. Each short story title below is linked to a free online copy of the text.
The required readings (Honors novels and non-Honors short stories) will be the focus of students’ first English grades of the
semester. Although they are not required, a list of novels is provided on the back for additional enrichment. Happy reading! 
PLEASE NOTE: Students scheduled for AP Language with Mrs. Casey or AP Literature with Mrs. White should find the
summer reading link specific to those classes on the school website. Students taking 10th Honors World Literature bundled
with AP World Literature should also see the summer reading link specific to that class on the school website.
9th Grade
Short story assignments by grade level for non-Honors courses:
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs
“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury
“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury
10th Grade
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
“Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets” by Jack Finney
“The Man in the Water” by Roger Rosenblatt (nonfiction essay)
11th Grade
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
“The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” by Bret Harte
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty
12th Grade
“Demon Lover” by Elizabeth Bowen
“The Open Window” by H.H. Munro (Saki)
“The Signalman” by Charles Dickens
9th Grade Honors
Novel assignments by grade level for Honors courses:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
10th Grade Honors
Night by Elie Wiesel
11th Grade Honors
**PLEASE NOTE: Students taking 10th Grade Honors World Literature bundled with AP World
History will have a different reading assignment. Please see the school website.
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
12th Grade Honors
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
**Students are strongly encouraged to take notes as they read—whether short stories or novels. Students who read
actively by making notes about key plot events, character development, and other thoughts/ questions as they arise
will have something to which they can refer when school begins in the fall. Summarizing/ note-taking while reading
and putting information into one’s own words is infinitely more helpful than referring to someone else’s online
summary.
Ray Bradbury
Maria Semple
Fannie Flagg
Charles Martin
Terry Kay
Stephen King
John Grisham (nonfiction)
Laura Wexler (nonfiction)
Sue Monk Kidd
Erin Morgenstern
Melissa Fay Greene (nonfiction)
Janisse Ray (nonfiction)
Gabrielle Zevin
Anne Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer
Alan Moore (graphic novel)
Agatha Christie
Betty Smith
Robin Sloan
Tatiana de Rosney
Sherman Alexie
Yann Martel
J.K. Rowling
Robert Cormier
Robert Cormier
Hans Peter Richter
Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer
Orson Scott Card
Rodman Philbrick
James Dashner
Isaac Asimov
Ayn Rand
C.S. Lewis
H.G. Wells
Marissa Meyer
Michael Crichton
Neil Gaiman
Elizabeth Wein
Mark Haddon
Douglas Adams
Frank McCourt
Daphne du Maurier
Bram Stoker
Optional novel list for all grades/ levels:
Fahrenheit 451
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Fried Green Tomatoes
Chasing Fireflies
Taking Lottie Home
11-22-63
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
Fire in a Canebreak
The Secret Life of Bees
The Night Circus
Praying for Sheetrock
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Watchmen
And Then There Were None
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Sarah’s Key
Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian
Life of Pi
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Tunes for Bears to Dance To
I am the Cheese
Freidrich
Into Thin Air
Into the Wild
Ender’s Game
The Last Book in the Universe
Maze Runner
I, Robot
Anthem
Out of the Silent Planet
The Time Machine
Cinder
Eaters of the Dead
The Graveyard Book
Code Name Verity
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Angela’s Ashes
Rebecca
Dracula