AP SUMMER READING LISTS

Ms. Boyd’s AP English Literature and Composition Summer Reading/Writing Assignment (PDF)

Ms. Boyd’s AP English Literature and Composition Summer Reading Major Works Data Sheet (Word)

Ms. Boyd’s and Ms. Kochien’s AP Language and Composition Summer Reading/Writing Assignment (PDF)

Mrs. Donahue’s English 10 Honors Summer Reading Expectations (Word)

Mr. Lamb’s AP European Studies Summer Reading List (PDF)

Mr. Willey’s AP US History Supplemental Summer/Fall Assignment (PDF)

All AP US History Classes – Summer Reading Assignment(PDF)

SCHOOL WIDE SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT

For next year, the theme for school is freedom, whether it is intellectual, political, personal, or freedom of spirit. Below is a list of some titles that your teachers have enjoyed. These are the types of books you may consider reading; however your book does not have to be on this list. It does not matter what you read as long as it interests you and that you can connect it to the topic of freedom. Keep in mind these questions when reading your book:

1. How is freedom addressed in your book?

2. What sacrifices did characters/people make for freedom?

3. How does increased freedom mean increased responsibility?

Against Forgetting: 20th-Century Poetry of Witness edited by Carolyn Forche
Collection of poetry by poets all over the world who have endured conditions of social and historical extremity during the 20th century. (poetry / political freedom / Mr. Smith)

Animal Farm by George Orwell
A satire of the Soviet Union in which the animals take over running the farm, but find their state turning into a dictatorship. (fiction / political freedom / Mr. Lamb)

Best Kind of Different by Shonda Schilling
Wife of baseball player Curt Schilling recounts how her son’s Asperger’s syndrome taught her lessons about patience, acceptance, & celebrating differences. (non-fic / freedom of spirit / Mr. Harris)

Between Two Worlds by Roxana Saberi
Saberi chronicles her experiences as an Iranian-American journalist who was accused of espionage and imprisoned while she was working in Iran in 2009. (non-fic / freedom of spirit / Mr. Ferenc)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
The author details how he ignored naysayers and brought electricity water to his Malawian village when he built a windmill out of scrap metal and spare parts. (non-fic / freedom of spirit / Ms. Baron)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A satirical novel about the utopia of the future, a world in which babies are decanted from bottles and the great Ford is worshipped. (fiction / political freedom / Ms. Lipka)

Den of Lions by Terry Anderson
Former hostage Terry Anderson reveals how he survived seven years of captivity in Lebanon. (non-fic / political freedom / Mr. Lamb)

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
A young man joins the Spartans and is forced to fight in the battle of Thermopylae where all of his fellow soldiers are killed, and he is the only man left to carry on the Spartan traditions. (fiction / political freedom / Mr. Miller)

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
A young man diagnosed with mad cow disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf, in an attempt to find a cure. (fiction / freedom of spirit / Ms. Harland)

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
A Guernsey farmer invites neighbors to write to an author with their stories, which helps her find inspiration for her next book. (fiction / political freedom / Mrs. MacLean)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
A 16-year-old accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a competition where people are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the death.  (fiction / political freedom / Mr. Schrier)

Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser
Fourteen-year-old Tara describes how her increasingly strange compulsions begin to take over her life and affect her relationships with her family and friends. (fiction / freedom of spirit / Ms. Dougherty)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Amir returns to Kabul as an adult, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing a young man from a life of slavery to a Taliban official.  (fiction / political freedom / Ms. Sanborn)

Long Walk: the true story of a trek to freedom by Slavomir Rawicz
The author describes his escape from a Soviet labor camp in 1941 and their subsequent trek out of Siberia and over the Himalayas to British India.  (non-fic / political freedom / Mr. Blais)

Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison
John Robison recounts his struggles to fit in and communicate with others as he grew up and how his life changed when he was diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 40. (non-fic / freedom of spirit / Mr. Brough)

Misery by Stephen King
A bestselling author is held captive by an angry nurse who demands he bring her favorite character back to life. (fiction / freedom of spirit / Mr. Fogarty)

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Nathan and his family move to the Belgian Congo in 1959, and the experiences they have while living in Africa affect each member of the family in a different way. (fiction / freedom of spirit / Ms. Boyd)

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Explains how to embrace the now and find the power to achieve inner peace. (non-fiction / freedom of spirit / Mr. Knowles)

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
An American journalist researches the brutal 1942 Nazi roundup in Paris. (fiction / political fiction / Ms. O’Brien and Ms. Simensen)

The Ten-Cent Plague : the Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America by  David Hajdu
Explores how, in the 1950s, comic books became popular among America’s youth, until politicians tried to ban them, encouraging the younger generations to take a stand .  (non-fic / intellectual freedom / Ms. Harland)

A Time for Freedom by Lynne Cheney
Presents a collection of chronologically arranged entries that trace a series of significant events in United States history, from the nation’s beginning to the 20th century.  (non-fic / political freedom / Mr. Despres)

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
A mysterious anarchist named “V” works to destroy the totalitarian government, changing everyone he meets.  (graphic novel / political freedom / Mr. Amtmann)

What is the What by Dave Eggers
A fictionalized memoir of a Sudanese refugee who was forced from his home by the Civil War and faced many difficulties before coming to the U.S. (fiction / political freedom / Ms. Kimball)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
A father and his eleven-year-old son take a motorcycle trip across the country, and together, the two learn about life, love, and identity. (non-fic / personal freedom / Ms. Bunkley)