Ramsey High School
Summer Reading 2024
The Ramsey Public School District is dedicated to encouraging young people to see reading as a meaningful way to understand the world better. We feel that reading now, more than ever, is an essential outlet for our young people, as it provides a medium to grow creativity, critical thinking, communication, empathy, reflection, and the literacy skills that they will need in the future. We also received feedback indicating that choice and developing a personal connection are essential to finding the right book. In essence, self-directed reading produces deeper engagement.
We would like to build upon this success this summer. Our goal is for our students to find important and enjoyable literature; therefore, this summer, students will be able to read any book, fiction or nonfiction, that they feel would be both engaging and appropriate for a high school audience. The reading must be completed by September 16, 2024; on this day, students will need to be prepared to present why they feel the book they selected will motivate young people to read, which will count as their mandatory assignment. Our research found that overly assessing reading can take away from the joy; however, we encourage students to continue using all the skills and strategies they have learned this year to be active readers, including jotting, using post-its, and writing about their reading in a reader's notebook.
We also have a list of student-generated recommendations. We encourage you to read as a family, draw upon common interests, and have conversations that create deep and lasting connections with literature. Please review the titles to decide on the best fit for your child. One resource to help with this is Common Sense Media.
All summer reading recommendations and requirements are also available digitally through the Sora App by logging in with your Ramsey email address. The Ramsey Public Library also has a variety of summer reading services and programs.
Honors / AP classes will each have a separate mandatory reading assignment, which can also be viewed below. Any Honors / AP student should feel free to read a choice book and complete the extra assignment; however, it is not mandatory.
If you have any questions about the summer reading, please feel free to call Carmen Lacherza, English Language Arts Supervisor, at 201-785-2300 extension 21572 or email clacherza@ramsey.k12.nj.us.
Summer Reading recommendations
Below are a few of the works that Ramsey High School students loved this year. Please don't feel limited by this list. You also may want to visit the Ramsey High School Media Center, the Ramsey Public Library, or speak with your peers for more recommendations. We encourage you and your family to preview any book to be sure it is appropriate.
Fiction
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest
A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel by Suzanne Collins
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Just Mercy (Young adult version) by Bryan Stevenson
Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell
Nonfiction
Where You Go Is Not Who You Will Be by Frank Bruni
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre
Crying in H Mart by Michele Zauner