June 2026
To Upper School Parents, Guardians, and Students:
The English Department and the library faculty welcome you to summer! Reading outside of the school year helps students delve into new ideas, broaden their language skills, find hope and inspiration, and—we hope!—relax and have fun. We strongly encourage students to make the time to read a wide range of books.
With this in mind, the English department and the school’s librarians have put together this website to help students with their choices. Many of the titles on the recommended list are available on Sora, Waynflete’s digital library app (view login instructions or watch this video for more help). If you have questions, or if you are new to Waynflete and need a Sora account, please email Middle School Librarian Sam Stuart or Upper School Librarian Emily Graham.
All students’ English courses will begin with a unit based on their required summer reading, which consists of one assigned book and three books of their own choosing. It is essential that students complete this required summer reading before classes begin in September and arrive on the first day prepared to discuss their texts. Students should annotate their assigned book as they read to create a record of their insights and impressions.
Assigned reading by course:
Grade 9: Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Grade 10: Kindred (Octavia Butler)
Writers' Workshop: Best American Essays 2025 (ed. Jia Tolentino)
Essay Writing: Best American Essays 2025 (ed. Jia Tolentino)
The Novel and the Mind: Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)
Literature of Genocide: An Ordinary Man (Paul Rusesabagina)
Borges and Calvino: Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino)
Fantasy Literature: Parable of the Sower (Octavia Butler)
African Literature: Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
Required choice reading:
Students are also required to read at least three additional books of their own choosing. While we encourage students to explore books from any genre, the texts they choose must present at least an age-appropriate level of intellectual challenge. Reading these books will bolster students’ reading skills and stamina, making the transition back to school smoother. An early assignment will ask students to write thoughtfully and analytically about all their summer reading books, so students should read these as closely as they would read course texts. We also encourage students to pursue their own literary interests or to explore a genre, period, or set of voices that is new to them.
We look forward to an exciting year and wish all of you a summer of good reading!
John Radway
English Department Chair
Emily Graham
Director of Libraries and Upper School Librarian