Students must choose and read two (2) books from the following list. Reading should be completed prior to the first day of school. The English faculty will evaluate the completed reading within the first month of the 2009 - 2010 school year.
Alloso, Dan. Outside of the Box.
Teenager Reid Anderson knows there's something wrong with society, otherwise he wouldn't feel so alienated. He has a problem with authority but can't decide: "Am I antisocial or does society suck?" So he goes through life pretending he doesn't care.
A new Wii console and simulation game show up in his rec room, and Reid is just bored enough to try them out. When a demon from inside the game threatens him in reality, Reid is plunged into a world of troubled teens he didn't know existed. The demon's challenge takes him on a journey of discovery. Suddenly exposed to other outsiders, Reid learns to question authority and find his own answers. He finds true friends among those labeled defective and cast aside by society – and together, they learn to fight for themselves. Set against a background of video games, teen mental illness, and anticonsumer counterculture; told through the eyes of Reid and his friends, Outside the Box challenges the safe, orthodox picture of the world championed in many popular teen novels. -- From the Publisher
Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.
The story of four girls who move from Santa Domingo to the Bronx, how they rebel against the old island ways and their parents’ strict discipline and embrace all America has to offer.
Avi. Nothing But the Truth.
A ninth-grader’s suspension for singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during homeroom becomes a national news story.
Cashore, Kristin. Graceling.
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.—Request
Coben, Harlan, Just One Look.
When Grace Lawson picks up a newly developed set of family photographs, there is a picture that doesn't belong-- a photo from at least 20 years ago with a man in it who looks strikingly like her husband, Jack. And though Jack denies it, he disappears that night, taking the photo with him. Now, to save her family from a fierce, silent killer who will stop at nothing to get the photo, Grace must confront the dark corners of her own tragic past. – Summary from Request
Cormier, Robert. Rag & Bone Shop.
Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.
Crutcher, Chris. Running Loose.
He’s got a starting spot on the football team, good friends, and a smart, beautiful girlfriend who loves him as much as he loves her. Early in the fall, he sees all his ideas of fair play go up in smoke; by spring, what he cares about most has been destroyed. How can Louie keep going when he has lost everything?
Dorris, Michael. Yellow Raft in Blue Water.
The emotional terrain of lives led without the steady presence of fathers or husbands is common ground for the three generations of American Indian women who successively tell their stories in this absorbing novel. Rayona, 15, half black and half Indian, is abandoned by her mother and in turn abandons her Aunt Ida. She disappears from their Montana reservation one summer and gains independence through a job at Bear Paw Lake State Park and a surprising foray into rodeo stardom. Her mother faces what appears to be the last day of her often wild life in the kind company of a misunderstood man who was both a childhood friend and enemy on the reservation. Linked to both is Aunt Ida, the stony family matriarch who lost her favored son to the Vietnam War and now warms her heart before the electronic fires of television soap operas. The bitter rifts and inevitable bonds between generations are highlighted as the story unravels and spills out a long-kept family secret. Rayona wishes that if she could stare long enough at a yellow wooden raft in the blue waters of the lake, her troubles would be resolved. Readers, too, will wish for the best in the lives of these wonderfully unique characters. – School Library Journal
Fama, Elizabeth. Overboard.
Escaping from a sinking ferry in the waters off Sumatra, fourteen-year-old Emily fights for survival for herself and a young Indonesian boy, who draws courage from his quiet but firm Islamic faith.
Flinn, Alex. Breathing Underwater.
Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.
Flinn, Alex. Fade to Black.
Alex Crusan, an HIV-positive Hispanic teen, is brutalized by an attacker wearing a high school letter jacket, and all fingers point to Clinton Cole, the narrow-minded jock/jerk known for making Alex and his family’s lives miserable since they arrived in the rural, north Florida town. Daria Bickell, a special-ed student with Down’s Syndrome, is the only witness to the crime. ---School Library Journal
Griffin, John. Black Like Me.
The author, a white man, recounts his experiences when he darkened his skin and traveled through the South as an African-American.
Grisham, John. Bleachers.
“High school All-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since the glory days, and Neely has come home to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.” For Neely, a man who must forgive his coach and himself before he can get on with his live, the stakes are especially high. ---Book Jacket
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don’t You Dare Read This Mrs. Dunphrey.
In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two year absence.
Haddon, Mark. Curious Incident of the Dog.
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor’s dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea.
It is the story of an old Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal: a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Using the simple, powerful language of a fable, Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic.
Johnson, Maureen. 13 Little Blue Envelopes.
When seventeen-year- old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.
Koontz, Dean. Lightning.
Lightning strikes - and the blond-haired stranger appears to save Laura from tragedy again and again. Is he the guardian angel he appears to be - or the devil in disguise?
McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes.
McCourt is the eldest of eight children born to Angela Sheehan and Malachy McCourt in the 1920’s. The McCourts began their family in poverty in Brooklyn, yet when Angela slipped into depression after the death of her only daughter (four of eight children survived), the family reversed the tide of emigration and returned to Ireland, living on public assistance in Limerick. McCourt’s story is laced with the pain of extreme poverty, aggravated by an alcoholic father who abandoned the family during World War II. Given the burdens of grief and starvation, it’s a tribute to his skill that he can serve the reader a tale of love, some sadness, but at least as much laughter as the McCourts “Yankee” children know growing up in the streets of Limerick. His story, almost impossible to put down, may well become a classic. A wonderful book; strongly recommended for readers of any age. –Library Journal 1996
Mason, Bobbie. In Country.
Sam Hughes, whose father was killed in Vietnam, lives in rural Kentucky with her uncle Emmett, a veteran whom she suspects is suffering from exposure to Agent Orange. Sam is a typical teenager, trying to choose a college, anticipating a new job at the local Burger Boy, sharing intimacies with her friend Dawn, breaking up with her high school boyfriend, and dealing with her feelings for Tom, one of Emmett's buddies. Sam feels that her life is bound to the war in Vietnam and becomes obsessed with the idea because of the reluctance of her family and Tom to talk about it. Her father's diary finally provides the insight she seeks insight she cannot accept until she has visited the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. In Country is both a powerful and touching novel of America that analyzes the impact of the 1960s on the culture of the 1980s and a beautiful portrayal of an often forgotten area of the country. Essential for adult and YA collections. -- Library Journal
Martinez, Victor. Parrot in the Oven.
Tells the story of a Mexican-American boy’s coming of age in the face of poverty, abuse, and cultural discrimination.
Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko’s Daughter.
After her mother’s death when she is twelve years old, Yuki spends years living with her distant father and his resentful new wife, cut off from her mother’s family and relying on her own inner strength to cope with the tragedy.
Myers, Walter Dean. Hoops.
A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point-shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.
Orr, Wendy. Peeling the Onion.
The car accident changed everything. Before, Anna knew who she was and what she looked like--a pretty, popular girl who loved karate. But now she’s a stranger to her family, her friends, and even herself. Anna’s body has betrayed her, and she knows it will never be the same. All the layers that made up the old Anna---her looks, her friends, and her sport---have been peeled away, leaving her to face the question of who she really is, and what she wants to be.
Peters, Julie Anne. Luna: a novel.
Peters tells two stories in this groundbreaking novel--one about Regan, and the other about Liam, Regan's transgender brother, who is the son his father expects by day but a young woman, Luna, by night. Fiercely protective of Liam/Luna, Regan has put her life on hold; she worries about her brother's female self being discovered and the family's reaction, and she fears that her brother may someday give in to despair. While Regan wonders if she will ever be able to have a life separate from the needs of her sibling, Liam seriously begins to consider a permanent change. Peters isn't putting forward a political agenda here. Rather, she's bringing the circumstances surrounding a difficult situation to light, and her sensitively drawn characters realistically encompass a wide range of reactions--from tentative acceptance by a best friend to Mom's feigned ignorance and Dad's total disbelief. The subject matter and occasional rough language will undoubtedly raise some eyebrows, but this book belongs in most YA collections. --- Booklist 2004
Voight, Cynthia. Izzy Will-Nilly.
A car accident causes fifteen-year-old Izzy to lose one leg and face the need to start building a new life as an amputee.
Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard Love.
After starting to publish a zine in which he writes his secret feelings about his lonely life and his parents’ divorce, sixteen-year-old John meets an unusual girl and begins to develop a healthier personality.
Yolen, Jane. 2041: 12 Stories about the Future by Top Science Fiction Writers.
Yolen has selected 12 short, readable stories, each depicting a different thought-provoking vision of what life will be like 50 years hence. Although humor appears in several of the tales, there are underlying serious warnings about what the future may hold. Connie Willis’s “Much Ado About (Censored)” depicts a Shakespearean play reduced to a mere couple of lines after all objectionable references have been removed. Bruce Coville’s “Old Glory” takes a grim look at a future society in which SOS troops see to it that there is no possibility of free speech. Carol Farley’s fanciful “Lose Now, Pay Later”, describes two new stores at the mall—one that gives away free sweets and the other, a costly instant weight loss center. Yolen’s own story, “Ear”, is an ironic tale of a young woman who defiantly refuses to remove her artificial ear that provides her with the only sounds of her world. Other stories deal with life in space, family problems, and predictions about the Earth of the next century. This collection will have wide appeal, whether readers are science fiction fans or not. It would make a good starting point for classroom discussion in literature or social studies. For YAs of today, 2041 gives a chance to speculate on the quality of life when they’re 64. – School Library Journal
Zusak, Markus. Fighting Ruben Wolfe.
This stunning debut novel introduces Cameron and Ruben Wolfe, brothers from a working class family. To make money, the boys hook up with a sleazy fight promoter who sees something marketable in the untrained brothers’ vulnerability. But the Wolfe brothers are fighting for more than tips and pay-off money—it soon becomes a fight for identity, for dignity, and for each other. ---Request
Zusak, Markus. Getting the Girl.
Tired of being the underdog, Cameron Wolfe hungers to become something worthwhile and finally finds a girl with whom he can share his words and feeling—his popular brother Rube’s ex-girlfriend. ---Request |
