Hello

We hope this note finds you well. At the high school, most students are not mandated to read, but rather invited to select their own books and not be limited by the type or number of books. The aim is for students to enhance their genuine curiosity through a rich and authentic reading life. There are still lists for those who are searching for titles. Due to curriculum demands, advanced classes still have required reading, but these students are invited to read beyond the lists. To promote excitement about what the teachers and students in our community are reading, please check out the PVHS Summer Reading Newsletter throughout the summer. If you’d like to contribute your own reading, please email Ms. DeMaine (mdemaine@pvcsd.org) and she will add your reader profile.

Please forward any questions about the summer reading program to Mr. Lathrop at rlathrop@pvcsd.org or Ms. DeMaine at mdemaine@pvcsd.org Thank you.

Please see the lists for students searching for texts and for students required for advanced classes

Here are some student and teacher recommended titles:

Anderson, M.T. Feed. 2002. **student recommended!** - In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble. science fiction

Bruchac, Joseph. Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two. 2005. - After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in their native tongue. historical fiction

Cather, Willa. My Antonia. 1918. - A successful lawyer remembers his boyhood in Nebraska and his friendship with an immigrant Bohemian girl named Antonia. classic (publisher’s description)

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. 1859. **student recommended!** - Paris and London during the Reign of Terror. classic (publisher’s description)

Dutton, Judy. Science Fair Season: Twelve Kids, a Robot Named Scorch and What It Takes to Win. 2011 - Dutton presents the engaging true story of kids competing in the high-stakes, high-drama world of international science fairs. non-fiction

Flanagan, John. The Ruins of Gorlan. 2006. **student recommended!** - When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger. fantasy

Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass. 2002 **student recommended!** - When Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, turns the school nerd into Prince Charming, his actions lead to unexpected violence. realistic fiction

Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face. 1994 - As a child, Grealy battled cancer and lost much of her jaw to the disease. Her memoir explores the value of beauty in our society. non-fiction (publisher’s description)

Hoffman, Alice. Turtle Moon. 1992. **student recommended!** - When Keith Rosen runs away from his Florida home taking along a motherless baby, his divorced mother is perplexed and terrified. She sets out on her own journey to find him. realistic fiction (publisher’s description)

Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm. 1997. - The incredible true account of the most extraordinary storm of the 20th century, this is the story of a tempest born from so rare a combination of factors it was deemed "perfect" and of the doomed fishing boat with her crew of six that was helpless in the midst of a force beyond comprehension. non-fiction

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Nineteen Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East. 2002. - Nineteen poems about the Middle East and about being an Arab American living in the United States. poetry (publisher’s description)

Patterson, James. Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas. 2001. **student recommended!** - Katie Wilkinson believes she has found the perfect man, until he vanishes, leaving behind a diary penned by a woman named Suzanne who wrote it for her baby boy Nicholas. realistic fiction (publisher’s description)

Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. 2011. **student recommended** - In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life. historical fiction

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. 2005. **student recommended!** - Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all. science fiction

Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose. 1992. - Haunted by tales of the Holocaust, a young American woman begins a search for her grandmother’s World War II past. historical fiction (publisher’s description)

All plot synopses courtesy of the Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Program, unless otherwise noted.

Required Summer Reading:

Select and read a memoir of your choice of no less than 250 pages. Here are some recommendations:

• Becoming by Michelle Obama,

• Educated by Tara Westover,

• Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance,

• Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan,

• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson,

• Hunger by Roxane Gay,

• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson,

• The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride,

• Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt,

• Wild by Cheryl Strayed,

• Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son by Kevin Jennings,

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Please have the book read for the first day of class.

Find and borrow e-books and audiobooks on these sites and programs. Click images to access each website!