Summer Reading 2025

High School Summer Reading 2025

Directions for All High School Students:  All students need to read two (2) books for summer reading:

1. High School One Read:  All students are to read this title:

 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

The #1 New York Times bestseller about the grumpy old man next door that’s an uplifting exploration of the unreliability of first impressions and a reminder that life is sweeter when it is shared with other people. Also a major film called A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

Fredrik Backman’s beloved first novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

* from Amazon.com

2. Free Choice:  Please choose a book that suits your interests, reading level and time constraints.  If you need help, visit the website below for some ideas.

https://www.nypl.org/books-music-movies

        3.  Special Summer Reading Directions for AP Lit and AP Lang Students

As a student registered for an AP class in English, there are special requirements for summer reading.

1. Both juniors and seniors registered for AP English classes must read the HS “One Read” title.  

2. In addition, for your AP specialty title, you must read one of the following books as indicated by the course you are registered for.

JUNIORS REGISTERED FOR AP LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

Whitehead, Colson. The Nickel Boys

When Elwood Curtis, a Black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow “delinquent” Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades.*

*adapted from Amazon.com

SENIORS REGISTERED FOR AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.*

*adapted from Amazon.com.