SUMMER   READING

MMS SUMMER READING PROGRAM

To comply with the MMS program, students must read the designated text for their grade level (below) and at least two additional book selections of their choosing. (Here is a link to the Darien Public Library's list of great summer reads.) There is no summer writing assignment that goes along with these readings; all summer reading tasks and activities will be assigned once the new school year begins.

MMS SUMMER READING AMBASSADORS 

Just as we have done for the past three years, our Summer Reading Ambassadors, along with Mia Orobona, the Teen Services Librarian at the Darien Public Library, have created videos of their summer reading book talks for their peers. All of the books featured in the videos represent titles on the list of the DPL's summer reading program for middle school students.  Here is the link to the brand-new book talks videos. Our great hope is that our MMS 6th- and 7th-graders will watch the videos, be inspired to investigate some of the books, and participate in the DPL summer reading program. A summer spent reading is a summer well spent!

Grade 6

RESTART is one of Gordon Korman's most popular and topical novels yet. Here is a link to a video preview.

Grade 7

Roland Smith's tale of a boy's incredible climbing quest is perfect for summer and a preview of the grade-7 survival book club unit.

Grade 8

Rising grade-8 students will select one of four options along with two other books. More info can be found at this link.

SUMMER READING AMBASSADORS:  Students in grades 6 and 7 are invited to apply for our Summer Reading Ambassador positions. Each year, we aim to select eight ambassadors from each grade level, and all successful candidates are asked to (a) commit to reading one of the Darien Library's summer reading program book selections, (b) promote their book to grade-level colleagues, and (c) produce a video to help their promotional efforts. If your student is interested, applications will be provided in March. [This year's application process has concluded.]

English 9 Accelerated

DHS SUMMER READING PROGRAM

This summer, all DHS students will be expected to engage in summer reading. 

For some courses, such as English 9 Accelerated, a single book is required (All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr). The department's other honors and AP offerings have specific titles as well as assignments, assessments, and units devoted to them. (See books at the bottom of the page.)

For other courses, students are expected to choose a book within a given genre. (See the genres for each of the 300-level English courses below, and click on the image for further details.)

English 9

"Classic" Historical Fiction 

English 10

World Literature

American Lit 11

American Historical Fiction

English 12

College/Career 

ENG 9 ACC

Doerr's second novel, this 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning coming-of-age story, one that is set against the backdrop of WWII-era France, serves as our introductory text for our English 9 Accelerated experience.

ENG 10 Honors

Eric Nguyen's debut novel, Things We Lost to the Water, depicts an immigrant Vietnamese family that finds itself relocated to New Orleans. According to The New York Times Book Review, the novel is "vast in scale and ambition, while luscious and inviting ... in its intimacy."

AP Lang 11

On Wednesday, June 14, students enrolled in AP Lang 11, as the culminating element of their "Editorial Board Project," selected E.L. Doctorow's classic Ragtime as the summer reading text for rising juniors enrolled in the course. 

AP Lang 12

Award-winning novelist Dave Eggers  takes a nonfiction journey through Katrina-ravaged New Orleans though the eyes of the Syrian-born title character, and Jay Heinrichs puts a contemporary spin on the classical art of rhetoric. (Here is a link to the summer reading assignment.)

AP Lit 12

In addition to Heaney's translation of Beowulf, AP Lit students are required to read one other book from these choices and complete this linked assignment.