American Literature / Honors American LiteratureYA Literature Final Project
Select the book you will read and study from the titles below. All are available in the SRHS textbook room.
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson 192 pagesEllie, an upper-middle-class white girl who has just transferred to Percy, an elite New York City prep school, and Jeremiah, one of her few African American classmates, whose parents (a movie producer and a famous writer) have just separated, are both new students. Once they discover each other, it’s love at first sight. Life is magically wonderful until the world gets in the way.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson 240 pagesWhen Melinda Sordino's friends discover she called the police to quiet a party, they ostracize her, turning her into an outcast -- even among kids she barely knows. But even worse than the harsh conformity of high-school cliques is a secret that must be hidden.
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher 304 pagesThere's bad news and good news about the Cutter High School swim team. The bad news is that they don't have a pool. The good news is that only one of them can swim anyway. A group of misfits brought together by T.J. Jones to find their places in a school that has no place for them, the Cutter All Night Mermen struggle to carve out their own turf. It's always the quest that counts. Will they gain the coveted recognition and school letter jackets??
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn 304 pagesIt was only a slap. Well, maybe more than one. And maybe Nick used his fist at the end when the anger got out of control. But his girlfriend Caitlin deserved it--hadn't she defied him by singing in the school talent show when he had forbidden her to display herself like that? Even though he'd told her that everybody would laugh at her because she couldn't sing and was a fat slob? Both were lies. Out of his desperate need for her came all the mean words and the hitting.
Whirligig by Paul Fleishman 144 pagesWith a family always on the move, popularity and the ability to fit in quickly are vital to Brent Bishop’s high school survival. When he blows his chances with the girl of his dreams in front of everyone, he’s devastated. Brent tries to end it all in a fatal car crash, but instead he finds an unlikely beginning. He’s sent on a journey of repentance—a cross-country trip building whirligigs.
We All Fall Downby Robert Cormier 208 pagesThey entered the house at 9:02 P.M. and trashed their way through the Cape Cod cottage. At 9:46 P.M. Karen Jerome made the mistake of arriving home early. Thrown down the basement stairs, Karen slips into a coma. The trashers slip away. But The Avenger has seen it all….and will take steps to make things right.
The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper 353 pagesJericho has it made—he gets a car for Christmas from his Dad and step-mother, has a pretty and intelligent girl friend, and has been asked to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction, a high school private club. This club has a long history of good deeds and public work in the community, and many prominent people Jericho knows were once members during high school. But the pledging process strikes Jericho as demeaning and weird. Are these acts hazing or just good, clean fun?
Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen & Bruce Coville 272 pagesMarina has been brought to the mountain by her mother who, in her devotion to the charismatic Reverend Beelson, virtually abandons her children, leaving the youngest ones in Marina's care. Marina wants to be a Believer, but constantly struggles with doubt. Jed has come with his father and is not a Believer. Beelson prophesizes that the end of the world will come with fire on July 27, 2000, about three weeks away. Only the 144 disciples who have quietly fled up to Mount Weeupcut in western Massachusetts will be saved. Are all others, including Marina's dad and Jed's mom, doomed?
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse 227 pagesWritten in stanza form, Out of the Dust poetically conveys the heat, dust and wind of Oklahoma along with the discontent of narrator Billy Jo, a talented pianist growing up during the Depression. Unlike her father, who refuses to abandon his failing farm ("He and the land have a hold on each other"), Billy Jo is eager to "walk my way West/ and make myself to home in that distant place/ of green vines and promise."Dreams of becoming a professional musician end with a tragic fire that takes her mother's life and reduces her own hands to useless, "swollen lumps."
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers 304 pagesA coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face-to-face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren't the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is even there at all.
Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald256 pagesIt begins with a free and joyful act--but from then on, Michael finds it impossible even to remember what it felt like to be free and joyful. When he fires his new rifle into the air on his seventeenth birthday, he never imagines that the bullet will end up killing someone. But a mile away, a maniskilled by that bullet as he innocently repairs his roof. And Michael keeps desperately silent while he watches his world crumble
Invisible by Nancy Weng212 pagesWhen Mallory Draper starts high school, her whole life seems to turn upside down. Everything is fine until her best friend Caitlin announces that her parents are getting separated and she is moving with her father to San Francisco. Mourning the move of her best friend, Mallory becomes isolated and focuses more on her grades, since joining her family doesn't seem to be an option.As Mallory deals with her best friend's move, all the attention on college-bound brother Alex, and troubles in school, her perception of being invisible becomes her reality.
Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher304 pagesDillon is living with the painful memory of his brother's suicide — and the role he played in it. To keep his mind and body occupied, he trains intensely for the Ironman triathlon. But outside of practice, his life seems to be falling apart.
Buried Onions by Gary Soto176 pagesEddie's father, two uncles, and best friend are all dead, and it's a struggle for him not to end up the same way. Violence makes Fresno wallow in tears, as if a huge onion were buried beneath the city. Making an effort to walk a straight line despite constant temptations and frustrations, Eddie searches for answers—and discovers that his closest friends may actually be his worst enemies.
Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines272 pagesTwo African-American men in rural Louisiana are pulled together by circumstance to test the heroism of resistance. A young teacher who has come back to his hometown to help raise the poor quality of education is reluctantly persuaded by his aunt to counsel a man on death row.