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Summer Reading

Book at the BeachRecommended Summer Reading

Summer reading helps students maintain and strengthen literacy skills, reducing learning loss and preparing them for the upcoming school year. It fosters a lifelong habit of reading, encourages empathy by exposing students to diverse perspectives, and supports social-emotional growth through relatable themes. By offering choice and engaging content, summer reading builds confidence, promotes academic readiness, and inspires curiosity beyond the classroom.

Please note: Summer reading is not assessed at the start of school, however, students are strongly encouraged to read.

Grade 9    

  • Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë: the tale of an orphaned girl. She fights against all odds through a difficult childhood to attain the things most dear to her heart. In the novel, she is mistreated by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and accosted by her cousins.
  • Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah: The story of a young boy navigating a racially divided world, his relationship with his fiercely independent and religious mother, and the challenges of their difficult lives. The book is both humorous and poignant, exploring themes of race, identity, and the strength of a mother's love.
  • Gym Candy, by Carl Deuker: Running back Mick Johnson has dreams: dreams of cutting back, finding the hole, breaking into the open, and running free with nothing but green grass ahead. This novel explores the dark corners of the heart of a young football player as he struggles for success under the always glaring - and often unforgiving - stadium lights.
  • Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline: Set in a near dystopian world where people use a virtual reality world called the Oasis to escape their lives, it tells the story of one player and his efforts participating in a competition that with decide the fate of the entire universe. When the eccentric creator of the Oasis dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the world.
  • An Ember in the Ashes, by Sabaa Tahir: Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free. Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. For lovers of fantasy and action.

Grade 10

  • Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy: Follow the life of Tess Durbeyfield, a young woman from a poor rural family, as she faces adversity and societal expectations in Victorian England. The story explores themes of fate, injustice, and the double standards imposed on women, particularly regarding sexuality. Tess's journey is marked by a series of unfortunate events and the devastating consequences of social judgment.
  • The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline: Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden - but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
  • All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr: The beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
  • Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green: Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Grade 11

  • Dune, by Frank Herbert follows Paul Atreides as he travels to the harsh desert planet Arrakis, where he is forced to confront a dangerous world and his own destiny. He must navigate political intrigue, religious belief, and ecological challenges while struggling with his growing powers and the threat of a prophecy.
  • The Once and Future King, by T. H. White: The story of the title character King Arthur from his birth until his death. In The Sword in the Stone, Arthur is known by the nickname Wart. He learns from the wizard Merlyn how to rule, and each of these lessons follows him throughout the rest of his rule.
  • City of Thieves, by David Benioff, the director of Game of Thrones: Leningrad, Russia -- WWII: two teenage boys thrown in prison.  Lev Beniov is caught looting a German paratrooper’s corpse. Even though the punishment is execution, Colonel Grechko instead sends him on a mission. He is paired with Kolya, a Russian army deserter, and “they set off on a journey that takes them through a series of nightmarish war zones, populated by cannibals, prostitutes, starving children, and demonic Nazi chess enthusiasts.” (The New Yorker)
  • Foundation, by Isaac Asimov: For twelve thousand years, the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future--to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire - both scientists and scholars - and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
  • A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan: The novel is a collection of linked stories and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. “Most of her characters live within popular music: They play it, write it, produce recordings of it, or sell it. We follow them from the excitement of high-school punk bands in San Francisco to the disappointment and disillusionment of their New York lives.”
  • The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde is a witty and satirical play that explores the absurdity of Victorian society's expectations and the importance of identity. Two characters, Jack and Algernon, invent fictional alter egos named "Ernest" to escape the constraints of their social lives and pursue their desires. The play is renowned for its sharp wit, memorable dialogue, and exploration of themes like love, marriage, and societal hypocrisy.

Grade 12

  • Murder in the Cathedral, by T.S. Eliot: A compelling drama exploring the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket, who is murdered in his own cathedral by King Henry's knights, which serves as a poignant commentary on the conflicts between authority, loyalty, and individual conscience.
  • Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson: On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Ursula's world is in turmoil, facing the unspeakable evil of the two greatest wars in history.
  • A Guide for the Perplexed, by Dara Horn: Software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi has invented an application that records everything its users do. When an Egyptian library invites her to visit as a consultant, her jealous sister Judith persuades her to go. But in Egypt’s post-revolutionary chaos, Josie is abducted, leaving Judith free to take over Josie’s life at home, including her husband and daughter.
  • A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki: Full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.

Advanced Placement Summer Work