Pecos High School Mrs. Britton
Summer Reading List 2016-2017 – AP English Language and Composition
SUMMER READ-IN
SUMMER WRITE-ON
I am pleased to announce the PHS Summer Reading list. The benefits of summer reading are research-based and the highest performing high schools in the country require their students to read during the summer. The information below describes your summer reading and essay assignments. The summer reading program is an important feature in a solid AP program and it serves two functions: 1) to keep you active as readers, broadening your horizon, and 2) to forestall summer brain death through writing about what you have read. This important requirement will ease your transition into the AP English Language course while providing your individual extra credit point bank for the year.
The AP English Language course emphasizes a mix of politics, history, social sciences, current events and non-fiction prose with just a smattering of literary fiction. This makes this class different from most English or LA classes you’ve taken before; it will ask you to read less fiction and look more at language and the power and beauty of language. You’ve had lots of experience with quality fiction, and you have some experience reading non-fiction.
Choose three of the works listed below. The texts are available the Santa Fe Public Library, Hastings in Santa Fe, most used book stores, or through Amazon.com in book or ereader format. If you choose not to buy the books (and be able to write and take notes in them), you may borrow them from a library or bookmobile.
· For each of the works that you read, you need to pick two quotations or short passages that inspire you, anger you, impress you, teach you, etc…. (one quote from the first half of the book, one from the second half of the book)
· For each quotation, write a one to two paragraph explanation showing what about this quotation made you choose it.
• FOR FULL CREDIT: You must make reference to how the quotation fits into the overall work to show that you have completed the reading! You will turn your summer reading assignments in on the first day of class in August.
NonFiction Titles:
In Cold Blood Truman Capote
In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966; it details
the 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family in the small farming community of
Holcomb, Kansas. It has been especially lauded for its eloquent prose, extensive detail, and simultaneous
triple narrative, which describes the lives of the murderers, the victims, and other members of the rural
community in alternating sequences.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Dee Brown
The Indian Wars told from the perspective of the Native Americans. This was one of the first books to tell
both sides of this time in American history.
The Longitude Prize Joan Dash
The story of of a country clockmaker who developed a method for measuring longitude while at sea and
saved the lives of many sailors.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Eric Larsen
Magic, and Madness at the Fair That
Changed America
A serial killer, the World’s Fair, and the story of three men during a key time in American history.
The Autobiography of Malcom X. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley
A very inspiring autobiography of one of the most controversial figures in the Civil Rights movement.
Blood and Thunder Hampton Sides
A great read that centers on the history of the Southwest during Kit Carson’s life. Written by a Santa Fe
author.
Hellhound On His Tail: The Stalking
of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
International Hunt for His Assassin. Hampton Sides
The story of how the man who killed Martin Luther King was tracked and hunted down by law
enforcement agencies.
My Losing Season Conroy, Pat
In this memoir, Conroy re-creates his pivotal senior year as captain of the Citadel Bulldogs basketball team. He chronicles the highs and lows of that fateful 1966–67 season, his tough disciplinarian coach, the joys of winning, and the hard-won lessons of losing. Most of all, he recounts how a group of boys came together as a team, playing a sport that would become a metaphor for a man whose spirit could never be defeated.
The Assist Neil Swidy
The Assist is a gripping, surprising story about fathers, sons, and surrogates, all confronting the narrow
margins of urban life. The book follows the players on their hunt for a state title. But it also stays with
them, to see how young men who seldom get second chances survive without their coach hovering
over them—and how he survives without them.
Moneyball Michael Lewis
Lewis examines how in 2002 the Oakland Athletics achieved a spectacular winning record
while having the smallest player payroll of any major league baseball team.
Shattering the Glass: the Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball Pamela Gundy
Shattering the Glass presents a sweeping chronicle of women's basketball in the U.S.
Eight Men Out Eliot Asinof and Stephen Jay Gould
The headlines proclaimed the 1919 fix of the World Series and attempted cover-up as "the most gigantic sporting swindle in the history of America!" Eliot Asinof has reconstructed the entire scene-by-scene story of the fantastic scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players arranged with the nation's leading gamblers to throw the Series in Cincinnati. This is a graphic picture of the American underworld that managed the fix, the deeply shocked newspapermen who uncovered the story, and the war-exhausted nation that turned with relief and pride to the Series, only to be rocked by the scandal. This is a compelling slice of American history in the aftermath of World War I and at the cusp of the Roaring Twenties.
Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game Mark Edmundson
Why Football Matters is moving, funny, vivid, and filled with the authentic anxiety and exhilaration of youth. Edmundson doesn’t regret playing football for a minute, and cherishes the experience. His triumph is to be able to see it in full, as something to celebrate, but also something to handle with care. For anyone who has ever played on a football team, is the parent of a player, or simply is reflective about its outsized influence on America, Why Football Matters is both a mirror and a lamp.
You may also find nonfiction books on your own. They must be at the 11th grade level and be recognized as worthy writing. Call or email me if you find a book you would like to read and want to make sure it is appropriate for this assignment.
Any questions regarding Summer Reading should be addressed via email to Mrs. MaryBeth Britton, Pecos High School, at .