Pelham High School English Department
2018-2019 Required Summer Reading Program
Students read books that have related themes and literary conventions. Their independent reading promotes critical thinking, encourages creative written expression, and builds life-long reading skills. Students learn to appreciate reading and literature when they can read independently at their own pace. They will have the opportunity to share insightful responses to their reading in discussions and assessments during the first unit in their English classes.
Outside reading activities: read selected title, complete journal template
Classroom activities: respond to a writing prompt, discuss book, practice MLA format and style, write MLA essay on book
Journal due date: submit to your English teacher(s) within the first five days of school by Wednesday, 5 September 2018.
Grade 12 (Justice/responsibility)
Grade 10 (Journeys/self-discovery)
The Tempest (Shakespeare)
Into Thin Air (Krakauer)
August Gale (Walsh)
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky (Deng)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (See)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (Chevalier)
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Hosseini)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Riggs)
Aleutian Sparrow (Hesse)
The House of the Scorpion (Farmer)
Life as We Knew It (Pfeiffer)
Elephant Run (Smith)
The Water Is Wide (Conroy)
Robinson Crusoe (Defoe)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Conan Doyle)
Grade 11 (American dream)
Grade 9 (Friendship/love)
Up the Down Staircase (Kaufman)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith)
Flags of Our Fathers (Bradley)
Friday Night Lights (Bissinger)
Half Broke Horses (Walls)
Ashes of Roses (Auch)
Black Boy (Wright)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II
(Rowling, et al.)
The First Part Last (Johnson)
Touching Spirit Bear (Mikaelsen)
Big Papi (Ortiz)
Great Expectations (Dickens)
Jane Eyre (Bronte)
- If you are taking more than one English class, give a copy of your Summer Reading Journal to each of your English teachers by the due date.
- Always retain a copy of your Summer Reading Journal for your own records.
- Due within the first 5 days of school by Wednesday, 5 September 2018.
The mission of Pelham High School is to educate our students as life-long learners to meet the challenges of the 21st century so that they may pursue life goals, participate fully as active citizens, and be socially responsible members of the global community.