The Assessment:  Most students will be assessed (tested) in their English class. Students should prepare to write an essay about their book by noting such things as character descriptions, themes, setting, plot, mood, tone, symbols, the significance of the title, and author's techniques. Historical context, relationship to personal or world events, and evidence of author bias are other aspects to consider. Students will be permitted to refer to their notes during the assessment. If the student owns the book, he/she is encouraged to take notes, or to highlight important aspects or passages during a second reading -- the first time through should be just for pure enjoyment.

To buy or borrow the book?: The local public libraries will purchase copies of all our summer reading books, and they encourage students to visit them and borrow the books. Students may certainly do well on the assessment if they read a book from a library and take notes on paper to help them remember important aspects. The RB Library will also own at least two copies of each book on the general list, as well as many of the titles on the AP lists, but students should not count on those being available if they wait until school begins in the fall to begin their reading.

If a student wants to make notes directly on the pages of the book, he/she must purchase a copy of their own. Students may visit any of a number of local bookstores - the stores listed below have been notified of our list, and may have extra copies on hand. Online bookstores also are sources for purchasing a new or used copy of a student's selected book.

The stores we notified: Borders in LaGrange and in Oakbrook Terrace, B. Dalton in North Riverside, Barnes & Noble in Oakbrook, and Magic Tree in Oak Park.

Contact Information:  If you have further questions

General List Each grade level has a separate list of 7 choices.   Freshman Sophomore Junior  Senior Note: Every student except those enrolled in any SPE self-contained English class will read ONE book from this list, though there are specific requirements for students enrolled in AP Language and Composition, AP Literature, AP U.S. History, or AP European History. Students enrolled in a SPE self-contained English class will select a book from a separate list.
Freshman List:			Sophomore List:
Classic/Contemporary:	Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway An aged fisherman struggles to land a huge marlin. This story is about both mental and physical challenges. Lexile - 940		Classic/Contemporary:	Pompeii: A Novel, by Robert Harris In August, 79 B.C., Marcus Attilius Primus is an engineer who is investigating a mysterious blockage, apparently related to recent tremors, in the aqueduct that delivers water to Pompeii. The father of his new love interest is powerful but corrupt. All the mystery and suspense leads up to the cataclysmic explosion of the volcanic eruption that threatens all their lives.
Young Adult:	Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen After his anger erupts into violence, Coke, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life. Lexile - 670		Young Adult:	Tangerine, by Edward Bloor So what if he's legally blind? Even with his bottle, thick, bugeyed glasses, Paul Fisher can see better than most people. He can see the lies his parents and his football hero older brother live out, day after day. No one ever listens to Paul, though; until the family moves to Tangerine, Florida. In Tangerine, even a blind, geeky, alien freak can become cool. Lexile - 680
Nonfiction:	The Legacy of Luna: the story of a tree, a woman, and the struggle to save the redwoods, by Julia Butterfly Hill Julia Butterfly Hill founded the Circle of Life Foundation to promote the sustainability, restoration, and preservation of life. This is her story of how she saved the redwood trees of Humbolt County, California by living in a redwood tree for two years. Lexile - 980		Nonfiction:	Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, by Alfred W. Crosby Crosby explains not only how European plants, animals, and people are in so many places, but how they got into such a position, what advantages they started out with, which ones they developed, and why they failed in other places. History from an environmental perspective!
	Winterdance: the Fine Madness of Running the Iditerod, by Gary Paulsen Paulsen and his team of dogs endured snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, and hallucinations in the relentless push to go on. Lexile - 1140			Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing (Note: be sure to get the correct book. There is a similar book by Caroline Alexander called The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition) This is the awesome tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's abortive 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. His ship, Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by sea ice, leaving Shackleton and 27 men adrift on ice floes. The story of how Shackleton saved all of them and reached South Georgia Island is one of the epics in the history of survival. Lexile - 830
Science Fiction:	Firestorm (Book 1 of the Caretaker Trilogy), by David Klass After learning that he has been sent from the future for a special purpose, eighteen-year-old Jack receives help from an unusual dog and a shape-shifting female fighter. Lexile - 510		Science Fiction:	Whirlwind (Book 2 of the Caretaker Trilogy), by David Klass Almost everything Jack knew from his old life has been destroyed by killers from the future – except his girlfriend P.J. Now she is missing, and the blame falls on Jack, so he goes on the run again, hoping to rescue P.J. and avoid danger himself. His nemesis is the Dark Lord, and the only person who can stop the Dark Lord is another time traveler, who seems to have disappeared in the present. Lexile - 740
	Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer Through journal entries sixteen - year - old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Lexile - 770			Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to Mars and found Martians waiting. While seeking a new beginning, man nevertheless brought with him his oldest fears, deepest desires, and worst of all, his bad habits. Can we learn from our mistakes, or are we destined to repeat them?
Mystery/Suspense:	Skullduggery (The Bloodwater Mysteries), by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue During a Regional Studies class field trip, two teens discover an injured and confused archaeologist, Andrew Dart, raving about how he was attacked by a ghost and how they must save the bluff from being developed. The last part proves to be the trickiest for Roni, since the developer is the father of Eric Bloodwater, the classmate on whom she has a giant crush.		Mystery/Suspense:	The Weirdo, by Theodore Taylor Chip Clewt, known simply as the weirdo, lives like a hermit in the Powhatan Swamp, a National Wildlife Refuge that is at the center of a heated controversy between local hunters and environmentalists. A hunting ban on the Powhatan is about to expire. The environmentalists want to protect the wildlife; the hunters are oiling their guns. Then someone completely unexpected comes forward to spearhead the conservation effort--the weirdo. Lexile - 770
Junior List:			Senior List:
Classic/Contemporary:	On the Beach, by Nevil Shute They are the last generation, the innocent victims of an accidental war, living out their last days, making do with what they have, hoping for a miracle. As the deadly rain moves ever closer, the world as we know it winds toward an inevitable end.... Lexile - 730		Classic/Contemporary:	The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession, by Susan Orlean Orlean left New York City for the swamps of Florida--on the trail of a story about plant poaching. She got it and much more. Reading this book, we learn about the poacher, John Laroche; his Seminole friends; the orchid-grower subculture; botany and booty; and Florida history.
Young Adult:	California Blue, by David Klass A 17-year-old loner with a passion for nature discovers a new species of butterfly in the old-growth forest near his home and is thrust headlong into the battle between environmentalists and the timber industry. A gripping story of a young man holding on to personal convictions in spite of family and community pressure. Lexile - 820		Young Adult:	White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean Fourteen-year-old Sym Wates is fascinated with the Antarctic and the men who explored it, even to the point of creating an internal confidante in the form of Captain Lawrence "Titus" Oates, who was part of the doomed Scott expedition 90 years earlier. So when her "Uncle" Victor whisks the painfully shy, hearing-impaired teen away on a surprise trip to the South Pole, it seems like a dream come true. But Victor has his own agenda, seeking the legendary Symmes's Hole, portal to the interior of a hollow Earth.
Nonfiction:	A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail  by Bill Bryson Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine.  This is a comical and inspiring book that appeals to history buffs, environmentalists, and athletes. Lexile - 1210		Nonfiction:	Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis, by Pete Nelson This book explains how the research of 11-year-old Hunter Scott who was inspired by a passing reference in the movie Jaws uncovered the truth behind a historic WWII naval disaster aboard the USS Indianapolis and led to the reversal of the wrongful court martial of the ship's captain.
	The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard Theodore Roosevelt's response to the disappointment of losing the 1912 presidential election was to organize and join an uncharted expedition through the Amazon. Roosevelt, his son, their American cohorts, and a band of Brazilian guides endure starvation, Indian attacks, disease, and near drowning in the river's unforgiving rapids.			The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, by Phillip Hoose The history of the Ivory-billed woodpecker through the lives and work of those who studied it, painted it, and tried to save it from extinction as settlers and loggers reduced its habitat. Once a distinctive inhabitant of wilderness areas in the southeastern U.S. (with a related variety in Cuba), the Ivory bill has evidently died out as a result of loss of habitat. Science, economics, and social and timely political history are intertwined in this precise, chronological record.
Science Fiction:	Feed, by M. T. Anderson This novel is a dark prediction of the future as well as a cautionary tale about society's appetite for communication, technology, and sensory stimulation. The result is a future world where solicited and unsolicited information is delivered directly to the brain through an implanted microchip. No one has time for critical thinking, and people become little more than cattle feeding on what they are given. Lexile - 770		Science Fiction:	Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler In 21st-century California, a land of walled enclaves, drug-crazed arsonists, and rampant joblessness, 18-year-old Lauren Olamina discovers a new way of looking at a hopeless world. When circumstances cut her adrift from the only community she knows, she takes to the road, attempting to put her ideals into practice.
	They Came From Below, by Blake Nelson 17-year old Emily and her best friend Reese can't wait for their summer vacation on Cape Cod. Up til now, they've only dreamed of meeting some boys who will like them and want to hang out, but this year they're determined to make it happen. And when they unexpectedly meet and befriend two unbelievably cute guys, they know their summer plans are set. But then strange things begin to happen -- in the world around them, and within themselves as well. Who ARE these guys, and what's their story?			Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland Nell and Eva are two sisters who must learn to live in harmony with the northern California forest when the electricity shuts off, the phones go out, their parents die, and all civilization beyond them seems to grind to a halt. At first, the girls rely on stores of food left in their parents' pantry, but when those supplies begin to dwindle, their only option is to turn to each other and the forest's plants and animals for friendship, courage, and sustenance.
Mystery/Suspense:	Cape Perdido, by Marcia Muller A small tourist community in Northern California, dependent on fishing and boating, finds out that a powerful water exporting company has petitioned to aquaduct the water from their nearby river to a drought-ridden area of North Carolina. And soon it's the environmentalists vs. the "water-baggers," and a dramatic series of events involving a sniper's bullet, a midnight inferno, and an abduction will awaken the residents of Cape Perdido to unsavory truths about their town and each other.		Mystery/Suspense:	State of Fear, by Michael Crichton In Paris, a physicist dies after performing a laboratory experiment for a beautiful visitor. In the jungles of Malaysia, a mysterious buyer purchases deadly cavitations technology, built to his specifications. In Vancouver, a small research submarine is leased for use in the waters off New Guinea. And in Tokyo, an intelligence agent tries to understand what it all means.

 

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SPE classes (self-contained special education English classes only) Choose one of the following to read, and prepare to discuss it with your teacher and fellow-students:
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman The story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor, and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his father's story, and history itself. The format of this book is a graphic novel.		Bang! by Sharon Flake When Mann's younger brother, Jason, is shot to death on their porch, the family is nearly destroyed. Mann's father is so terrified about losing another son that he decides to leave Mann and his friend, Kee-lee, in the woods, forcing them to survive as they enact an ancient African tradition.
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, by Ron Koertge When MVP Kevin Boland gets the news that he has mono and won't be seeing a baseball field for a while, he suddenly finds himself scrawling a poem down the middle of a page in his journal. To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad's den - and before Kevin knows it, he's writing in verse about stuff like, Will his jock friends give up on him? What's the deal with girlfriends? Surprisingly enough, after his health improves, he keeps on writing, about the smart-talking Latina girl who thinks poets are cool, and even about his mother, whose death is a still-tender loss.		Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White Wilbur the pig was hand-raised raised by Fern, but now lives in the barn with the other animals. He is bored and unhappy until he meets Charlotte, a wise spider, and she teaches him to learn to be happy.
Make Lemonade, by Virginia Euwer In order to earn money to get out of the projects and go to college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for an unwed teenage mother. This book is written in poetic "free verse."		Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen - year - old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
Cut, by Patricia McCormick Callie cuts herself, never too deep, never enough to die, but enough to feel the pain. Now she is at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn't want to have anything to do with them.		My Louisiana Sky, by Kimberly Willis Holt A girl living in a small Louisiana town in 1957 must choose whether to continue to care for her mentally slow parents or to move in with a glamorous aunt in Baton Rouge.
Romiette and Julio, by Sharon M. Draper A tale of forbidden love with intentional references to Shakespeare's play. Romiette, an African-American girl, and Julio, an Hispanic boy, discover that they attend the same high school after falling in love on the Internet, but are harrassed by a gang whose members object to their interracial dating.		Brian's Song, by William Blinn Two men.  One is named Gale Sayers, the other Brian Piccolo.  They came from different parts of the country.  They competed fiercely for the same job.  One liked to talk; the other was shy.  One was white; the other black.  This is the story of how they came to know each other, fight each other, and help each other . . . . even after one of them is diagnosed with a fatal disease.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini Amir shares a happy, privileged life with his father and best friend Hassan in what was once a peaceful Afghanistan, but war and conflict force his father and him to leave behind not only their wealth, but Amir's childhood. Years later, Amir must sacrifice himself to absolve his childhood sins, returning to the now war-torn and extremely dangerous country of his childhood. In his struggle, Amir learns the true meaning of love and sacrifice.		Wrestling Sturbridge, by Rich Wallace In Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, pride revolves around the high school wrestling team. Ben is the second-best wrestler at 135 pounds behind Al, who is the best wrestler in the state at 135 pounds. Ben wants to be state champion as badly as Al; he just has to find the way.
Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1), by Christopher Paolini When a dragon hatches from a mysterious blue stone, beast Saphira and boy Eragon connect and fact danger together. Eragon is thrust into a new role as the first Dragon Rider in more than 100 years who is not under the evil king's control.		Hole in My Life, by Jack Gantos This is the story of the 15 months between high school and college that Gantos spent in a federal prison. He had helped to sail a boatload of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City.
Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices, by Walter Dean Myers Fifty - four poems, all in different voices but written by Myers, make a joyful noise as the author honors the people of his hometown, Harlem.		A Walk to Remember, by Nicholas Sparks The year is 1958, and Landon Carter has no idea that his falling in love with the quiet "preacher's kid," Jamie Sullivan, is about to change his life forever.

 

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AP European History
You are REQUIRED to read the following book, as well as your choice of one of the 9 books listed below. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, by Alfred W. Crosby (since this book is also on the General List, you may use this one for your English class assessment, UNLESS you are also enrolled in an AP English class) Crosby explains not only how European plants, animals, and people are in so many places, but how they got into such a position, what advantages they started out with, which ones they developed, and why they failed in other places. History from an environmental perspective!
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, by Eric Metaxas Tells of the life of a 18th and 19th-century British abolitionist, an unsung hero who truly changed the world.		The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece , by Jonathan Harr In 1992 a young art student uncovered a clue that led to the discovery of a painting lost for over 200 years. This book uncovers the world of art restoration but it’s really a detective story. We learn about Caravaggio, the violence-prone but gifted painter hounded by his fans and by the law.
Michelangelo & the Pope's Ceiling, by Ross King The story behind the art, and the history & politics that came into play, most notably those of Pope Julius II, the corrupt & autocratic leader.		The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, by Daniel Mendelsohn Both memoir and history, in this book the author tells of his search for the fate of his great-uncle’s family, lost during the Holocaust in Poland.
Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl, by Mary Mycio 20 years after the explosion at the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, the surrounding area is not the radioactive wasteland that everyone feared would result. Although people and animals are radioactive, this area forms Europe’s largest wildlife sanctuary, a flourishing – at times unearthly – wilderness teeming with large animals, many of them members of rare and endangered species		Storm of Steel, by Ernst Jünger & Michael Hofman (translator) A memoir of a German soldier who enlisted to fight in World War I. Young, tough, patriotic, but also disturbingly self-aware, Jünger exulted in the Great War, which he saw not just as a great national conflict but—more importantly—as a unique personal struggle. Leading raiding parties, defending trenches against murderous British incursions, simply enduring as shells tore his comrades apart, Jünger kept testing himself, braced for the death that will mark his failure.
The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850, by Brian M. Fagan During the Little Ice Age (approximately the 14th to the mid-19th centuries) the climate of northern Europe turned volatile and markedly cooler. As Fagan explains, while this did not directly cause major historical events, it catalyzed significant social, political, and economic changes throughout the region. Widespread reliance on subsistence farming meant that bad weather and shortened growing seasons led to food shortages, even famines. Hunger, in turn, along with disease, war, crime, and economic forces, provoked widespread sociopolitical upheaval, including the collapse of Norse settlements in Greenland, the French Revolution, and the Irish Famine.		Venice Against the Sea: A City Besieged, by John Keahey Venice is sinking - a situation provoked by its location, but also by global warming. The author discusses the significance of Venice's influence on important historical events, and suggests several possible solutions to save the city.
The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War, by Graham Robb While Gustave Eiffel was changing the skyline of Paris, large parts of France were still terra incognita. Even in the age of railways and newspapers, France was a land of ancient tribal divisions, prehistoric communication networks, and pre-Christian beliefs. French itself was a minority language. Graham Robb describes that unknown world in arresting narrative detail. He recounts the epic journeys of mapmakers, scientists, soldiers, administrators, and intrepid tourists, of itinerant workers, pilgrims, and herdsmen with their millions of migratory domestic animals. We learn how France was explored, charted, and colonized, and how the imperial influence of Paris was gradually extended throughout a kingdom of isolated towns and villages. The Discovery of France explains how the modern nation came to be and how poorly understood that nation still is today. Above all, it shows how much of France—past and present—remains to be discovered.

 

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AP United States History
You are REQUIRED to read the following book, as well as your choice of one of the 9 books listed below. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard Theodore Roosevelt's response to the disappointment of losing the 1912 presidential election was to organize and join an uncharted expedition through the Amazon. Roosevelt, his son, their American cohorts, and a band of Brazilian guides endure starvation, Indian attacks, disease, and near drowning in the river's unforgiving rapids.
Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell This NPR contributor takes readers on a pilgrimage of sorts to the sites and monuments that pay homage to Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley, the victims of the first three presidential assassinations. Vowell brings into sharp focus not only the figures involved in the assassinations, but the social and political circumstances that led to each.		The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X & Alex Haley A great autobiography, for many reasons: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown First published in 1970, this book changed the way Americans think about the original inhabitants of their country. Beginning with the Long Walk of the Navajos in 1860 and ending 30 years later with the massacre of Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, it tells how the American Indians lost their land and lives to a dynamically expanding white society.		Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, by Tony Horwitz A foreign war correspondent returns home and studies the lasting impact of America's Civil War along with the re-enactors who continually relive it.
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, by Joseph Ellis n a series of historical vignettes, the reader learns about (among other things) the famous but mysterious duel between Hamilton and Burr, the awkward problem of slavery in the 1790s, the collaboration between James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, George Washington's farewell, and the famous relationship between John Adams and Jefferson.		Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara Inspiring and informative accounting of the Battle of Gettysburg, including characterizations of all the major personalities on both sides of the battle.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen The author blasts history textbooks as bland and inaccurate, giving specific critiques regarding ten common topics, from the Pilgrims to the Vietnam War.		1968: The Year That Rocked the World, by Mark Kurlansky Covers topics such as the Vietnam War, student movements throughout the world, Soviet repression, The summer Olympics in Mexico City, a presidential election in the U.S., and an attempted uprising in Czechoslovakia. The author exposes both heroes and villains in world events, and brings to life an exciting and chaotic time in history.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe This book was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, "a man of humanity," as the first black hero in American fiction.  Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of pre-Civil War Americans. It is unabashed propaganda and overtly moralistic, an attempt to make whites - North and South - see slaves as mothers, fathers, and people with (Christian) souls.

 

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AP Literature You are REQUIRED to read the following selection from the General List:
The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession, by Susan Orlean Orlean left New York City for the swamps of Florida--on the trail of a story about plant poaching. She got it and much more. Reading this book, we learn about the poacher, John Laroche; his Seminole friends; the orchid-grower subculture; botany and booty; and Florida history.

 

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AP Language and Composition You are REQUIRED to read the following selection from the General List:
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail  by Bill Bryson Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine.  This is a comical and inspiring book that appeals to history buffs, environmentalists, and athletes.

 

 

Note: many summaries are excerpted from amazon.com