South Plainfield High School English Department

2009 Summer Reading

All South Plainfield High School students are expected to select and read two (2) books as assigned below based on their grade in September. All students should be prepared to take an objective test or to write a detailed essay on the assigned books during the first week of school. (Students scheduled for honors or AP courses, see the assignment and list to the right.)

It is recommended that students take notes while reading each book, to assist them in remembering details about the characters, themes, conflicts, and plots.

Grade 9 (English 102, 103) § Bleachers, John Grisham § Where the Heart Is, Billie Letts § Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry § Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin § Heat, Mike Lupica § Raven’s Gate, Anthony Horowitz	Grade 11 (English 142, 143) § Animal Farm, George Orwell § Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Lewis Stevenson § Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt § Dracula¸ Bram Stoker § The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown § Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
Grade 10 (English 122, 123) § Brian’s Song, William Blinn § The Natural, Bernard Malamud § Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold § The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky § The Pact, Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Remeck Hunt § It Happened to Nancy, Anonymous	Grade 12 (English 162) § The Good Earth, Pearl Buck § The Stranger, Albert Camus § Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel § The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini § Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston Grade 12 (English 163) § Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel § 1984, George Orwell § The Little Prince, Antoine de St. Exupery § Go Ask Alice, Anonymous

Summer Reading for Honors and Advanced Placement Students

All students entering South Plainfield High School Honors and Advanced Placement courses are expected to complete the assigned summer readings. These novels are readily available in libraries and bookstores.

Students will be tested on these readings during the first weeks of school. Failure to demonstrate an understanding of these works may result in removal from the honors or advanced placement course.

Grade 9 (English 101)

§ Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths, Bernard Evslin

§ Anthem, Ayn Rand

Grade 10 (English 121)

§ The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne

§ Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

Grade 11 (English 141)

§ Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

§ A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

§ Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift

Grade 12 (English 161)

§ The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck

§ The Stranger, Albert Camus

§ Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse

§ The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

AP (English 160)

§ The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck

§ The Stranger, Albert Camus

§ Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse

§ The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

§ Lord of the Flies, William Golding