Summer Reading

Accelerated English - Choose One

• Proud: Living My American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Home Remedies: Stories by Xuan Juliana Wang | Annotation Guide | PDF
• A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh, Elsie Chapman, et al. | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age by Amani Al-Khatahtbeh | Annotation Guide | PDF
• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez | Annotation Guide | PDF
• The Distance Between Us: A Memoir by Reyna Grande | Annotation Guide | PDF
• The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz | Annotation Guide | PDF

College Prep English, Academic Literacy 1, and Instructional English

Choose your own book. We expect that you will choose a book that meets the following criteria:

• It must be fiction.
• It must be a book that you have not read for another class.

If you would like a more guided experience, you can choose a book from this list:

• The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Rash by Pete Hautman | Annotation Guide | PDF
• Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi | Annotation Guide | PDF

Here is a link to additional possible book choices for freshman college prep English compiled by Mrs. Gorman and Mrs. Lopez, the SHS librarians. However, you are not required to choose a book from this list.

Accelerated English

Choose your own book:

• It must be a book you have not read before.
• It can be fiction or nonfiction.
• It must be a book that is not a movie.
• It must be a book that you have not read for another class, or will not read in the upcoming year. Books for the upcoming year include Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, Macbeth, American Like Me and When the Emperor Was Divine.

Here is a link to possible book choices for Sophomore Accelerated English for those who prefer to choose from a list. However, you are not required to choose a book from this list.

Whether you pick a book from the list or not, please fill out this Google form.

College Prep English and Instructional English

Choose your own book:

• It can be fiction or nonfiction.
• It must be grade-appropriate.
• It must be a book that you have not read for another class, or will not read in the upcoming year. Books for the upcoming year include Fahrenheit 451, Dear Martin, Love, Hate & Other Filters, Macbeth and Persepolis.

Here is a link to possible book choices for Sophomore College Prep English compiled by Mrs. Gorman and Mrs. Lopez, the SHS librarians. However, you are not required to choose a book from this list.

Whether you pick a book from the list or not, please fill out this Google form.

Advanced Placement English

• The Leavers by Lisa Ko

AP American Studies - Choose One

• Educated by Tara Westover
• Reading with Patrick by Michelle Kuo
• The Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (free version available online)

Click here to see summaries of these books, and to download/purchase (if desired).

Guiding questions as you read:

• What is the purpose of an education?
• What does the text reveal about the values of the author?
• What does the text reveal about the values of the author's larger community?

Accelerated English - Choose One

• Kindred by Octavia E. Butler | Annotation Guide
• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson | Annotation Guide
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd | Annotation Guide
• This Boy’s Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff | Annotation Guide

College Prep English and Instructional English

Choose your own book. We expect that you will choose a book that meets the following criteria:

• It can be fiction or nonfiction.
• It must be a book that you have not read for another class or will not read in the upcoming year. Books for the upcoming year include The Poet X and The Things They Carried. 

Here is a link to possible book choices for Junior College Prep English compiled by Mrs. Gorman and Mrs. Lopez, the SHS librarians. However, you are not required to choose a book from this list.

AP Themes and World Masterpieces

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel | Annotation Guide

Writing for College, Media Analysis, Text Exploration and Analysis
Creative Writing, Public Speaking, Political Thought, and Instructional English

Choose your own book:

• It can be fiction or nonfiction.

• It must be a book that you have not read for another class, or will not read in the upcoming year. Books for the upcoming year include The Road, The Art of Racing in the Rain, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, Into the Wild, The War on Normal People, Hillbilly Elegy, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Melting Pot or Civil War, Justice, and The New Jim Crow.

Here is a link to a list of possible choices for those who prefer to choose from a list. The list is organized by genre, and was compiled by Mrs. Gorman and Mrs. Lopez, the SHS librarians. However, you are not required to choose a book from this list.