Mendham High School Summer Reading Choices 2013
All MHS students must pick one of the following 16 books to read. There will be a book discussion day in September, and you will also be given questions to answer in writing. Also, students taking honors-level courses should go to the end of the list for a second book that must be read before the first day of classes in September.
Note to students and their parents: Not every book is suitable for every reader. Please take care in picking a book that is suitable for you.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstressis an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China’s infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never
imagined. (Amazon.com)
Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton
Abbey" byMargaret Powell,Leigh Crutchley(Ghost writer)
Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants portrayed inDownton AbbeyandUpstairs, Downstairs, Margaret Powell’s classic memoir of her time in service,Below Stairs,is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.Powell first arrived at the servants' entrance of one of those great houses in the 1920s. (Goodreads.com)
Blindnessby José Saramago
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Death of the Dictator byAfsaneh Moqadam
Tehran, June 12, 2009. Mohsen Abbaspour, an ordinary young man in his twenties—not particularly political, or ambitious, or worldly—casts the first vote of his life in Iran’s tenth presidential election. Fed up with rising unemployment and inflation, he backs the reformist party and its candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mohsen believes his vote will count.It will not. Almost the instant the polls close, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will declare himself president by an overwhelming majority. And as the Western world scrambles to make sense of the brazenly fraudulent election, Mohsen, along with his friends and family and neighbors, will experience a sense of utter desolation, and then something else: an increasingly sharper feeling—the beginning of anger. (Betterworldbooks.com)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. (Amazon.com)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
A final, apocalyptic, world war has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending the majority of mankind off-planet. Those who remain, venerate all remaining examples of life, and owning an animal of your own is both a symbol of status and a necessity. For those who can't afford an authentic animal, companies build incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep . . . even humans.(less) (Goodreads.com)
Fahrenheit 451: A Novel by Ray Bradbury
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” (Amazon.com)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumors in her lungs... for now. Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumors tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. (Goodreads.com)
The Fantasticksby Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones
The Fantasticks tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play “The Romancers” (“Les Romanesques”) by Edmond Rostand, The story unfolds, radiating a timeless sweet and sunniness: the starry-eyed boy and girl next door fall in love, yearn for the dangerous attractions of the world outside and then opt instead for fulfillment in each other’s arms and in hearth and home. (Liveartmaryland.com)
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie’s critically celebrated first collection,The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heavenestablished its author as one of America’s most important and provocative voices. Vividly weaving memory, fantasy, and stark reality to paint a portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian reservation, this book introduces some of Alexie’s most beloved characters who inhabit his distinctive landscape.(Barnesandnoble.com)
Lost in Snangi-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
"A lost world, man-eating tribesmen, lush impenetrable jungles, stranded American fliers (one of them a dame with great gams, for heaven's sake), a startling rescue mission. This is a true story made in heaven for a writer as talented as Mitchell Zuckoff. Whew--what an utterly compelling & deeply satisfying read!"--Simon Winchester
Night Road by Kristin Hannah
NIGHT ROAD is vivid, emotionally complex novel that raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love. (Goodreads.com)
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.
Two kids named Wes Moore were born blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless in similar Baltimore neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods; both hung out on street corners with their crews; both ran into trouble with the police. How, then, did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence. Wes Moore, the author of this fascinating book, sets out to answer this profound question. In alternating narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, TheOther Wes Mooretells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world (textbooks.com)
Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry Edited by Billy Collins.
A 180-degree turn implies a turning back—in this case, to poetry. A collection of 180 poems by the most exciting poets at work today, Poetry 180 represents the richness and diversity of the form, and is designed to beckon readers with a selection of poems that are impossible not to love at first glance. Open the anthology to any page and discover a new poem to cherish, or savor all the poems, one at a time, to feel the full measure of contemporary poetry’s vibrancy and abundance. (Barnesandnoble.com)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bibleis a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa. (Kingsolver.com)
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson’s bold and revelatory novels have established her as a major figure in world literature. She has written some of the most acclaimed books of the last three decades, including her internationally bestselling first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the story of a young girl adopted by Pentecostal parents that is considered one of the most important books in contemporary fiction.
Below are assignments that all honors-level students must complete.
Freshman and Sophomore Honors students read the introduction and chapters 1-12 of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor and complete the dialectical journal as outlined below:
How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster (Read Intro and first 12 chapters)
What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey?. Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface—a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character—and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you.In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form,How to Read Literature Like a Professoris the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.
Freshman DIALECTICAL JOURNAL: How to Read Literature Like a Professor Conversations about Literature
A dialectical journal is a more sophisticated version of the readers’ response journal. It is especially effective with larger works of literature, such as epics, novels, or Shakespeare, and for intellectually advanced readers.
You will divide the journal into three columns:
The first column is for the reader’s response. Include specific “notes”: textual references, significant quotes, details, images, literary techniques, notable moments and ideas, etc.
Ø Change it up! Usually a variety of entries is advantageous. Informational quotes, interesting references, things that confuse you, definitions, explanations, etc.
Ø Change it up, Part II! These entries should be from across the text. A variety of entries from various points in the text will demonstrate a more insightful, more expansive understanding of the reading.
Ø Please include the page numbers for each note.
Ø Hint: “Variety of entries” suggests a lot more than “just a couple!” There are 12 chapters; perhaps that’s a hint as to how many entries you ought to have.
The second column is the most significant. In this column, you will respond to your notes. Ask questions, identify why you selected a certain passage, speculate about the significance of the note, agree, disagree, expand, unpack, discover. Some example questions: What is happening here? Why has the author included it? What do I mean by this? Why or how does it fit in? What have I learned from it? How does this expand on something I already know?
The third column is for response from classmates (in a group or passing the journal to the next student) and/or teacher. It may include more questions, answers, and suggestions for further speculation, additional relevant details from the text, agreement or disagreement. This column will be blank when you arrive in September.
Rubric for grading:
Quotations and details (10) / Detailed and meaningful selections from the textInterpretation (10) / Thoughtful and thoroughly explained in the student’s own voice
Questions & connections (10) / Insightful and thought-provoking literary and personal connections
Coverage of Text (10) / Covers text thoroughly; responses are taken from the text as a whole (Intro & Chapters)
Presentation (5) / Neat and organized; uses language appropriate to the assignment
Literary Elements (5) / Considers the author’s use of literary devices and specific language to convey and clarify information.
Sophomore DIALECTICAL JOURNAL: How to Read Literature Like a Professor Conversations about Literature
The dialectical journal is a more sophisticated variation on the readers’ response journal. It is especially effective with larger works of literature, such as epics, novels, or Shakespeare, and for intellectually advanced readers. The students will divide the journal into three columns (use full pages, front and back). Please type and save this document as you may be asked to upload it to turnitin.com. This assignment will be collected on the first day of class.
Assignment: Read the introduction and chapters 1-12 of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor and complete the dialectical journal as outlined below:
The first column is a readers’ response, filled with a specific number of “notes”: textual references, details, images, literary techniques, notable language, ideas, etc. Usually a variety of entries is advantageous. Please utilize the MLA internal citation format for page numbers.