- ALL Students are required to read two books this summer.
- Read the text assigned for your specific course (listed below).
- Read one text of your choosing from this list:
2020 Summer Reading Choice List
- At the start of the school year, your English teacher will explain how summer reading will be assessed. Some examples of possible assessments are an in-class essay, a Socratic seminar, a test, or a book review.
- If teachers for a course have provided a study guide or reading questions, you will find it at the link provided below.
- For general active reading strategies, please see the Guide to Success in English
To Students and Parents/Guardians: As young adults, students are increasingly encountering difficult topics in their own lives, in films, in the news, and through their use of social media. Some of the texts we use address these challenging topics, giving us an important opportunity to discuss these issues in a safe and supportive classroom environment.
Assigned Text for Each Course (in addition to Choice Text)
GRADE 12
12 CP (English 143)
The story "The Body" from the book Different Seasons Stephen King
12ACP (English 142)
On Writing Stephen King
12H (English 141)
The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri
Diverse American Voices
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
Beyond the Binary
The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
*Please note: This text includes adult content, such as physical violence and sexual assault. Please contact the instructor with any specific concerns at maxwellj@wellesleyps.org.
Senior Creative Writing
Poetry 180 selected by Billy Collins -OR- 180 More selected by Billy Collins
Available free online at: https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/p180-list.html
World Literature
Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Evolutions (11/12)
The Evolutions Primer
Please see the Summer Engagement page of the Evolutions website for more information.
GRADE 11
11CP (English 133)
American Born Chinese Gene Yang
11ACP (English 132)
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates Wes Moore
11H (English 131)
1984 George Orwell (reading question)
Evolutions (11/12)
The Evolutions Primer
Please see the Summer Engagement page of the Evolutions website for more information.
GRADE 10
10CP (English 123)
The Sun is Also a Star Nicola Yoon
10ACP (English 122)
Kindred Octavia Butler
*Please note: Kindred, a long-celebrated work by award-winning author Octavia Butler, includes some violent content and offensive language in the context of a narrative that blends science fiction with historical fiction. The Kirkus Reviews notes that unlike other science fiction settings, "the alien planet here is the antebellum South, as seen through the horrified eyes of Dana, a 20th-century black woman who time-travels...in this searing, caustic examination of bizarre and alien practices on the third planet from the sun" (Kirkus Reviews).
10H (English 121)
Behold the Dreamers Imbolo Mbue -OR- The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
*Choose ONE of these texts PLUS ONE of the texts on the Choice List (link above)
Foundations 9 / 10
Just Mercy: Adapted for Young Adults: A True Story of the Fight for Justice Bryan Stevenson -AND- Love from A to Z S.K. Ali
*Please note: because your instructor has assigned two required texts, you are not required to read an additional text from the Choice List
GRADE 9
9CP (English 113)
The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo (optional guide)
9ACP (English 112)
9H (English 111)
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Foundations 9 / 10
Just Mercy: Adapted for Young Adults: A True Story of the Fight for Justice Bryan Stevenson -AND- Love from A to Z S.K. Ali
*Please note: because your instructor has assigned two required texts, you are not required to read an additional text from the Choice List