There is no written assignment for summer reading, however incoming students of each grade level will participate in a timed writing based on the essential question listed below during the first few days of school. Note taking is not required but is encouraged.

Summer reading books must be independently acquired by the student. You may purchase yourself or borrow from your local library.

Grade 7:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

As students read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, ask them to think about injustice and risk. How do different characters consider the risks of responding, or not responding, to injustice?

Grade 8:

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

As students read The Outsiders, have them think about the pressure to be loyal to a group, whether greaser or Soc, while trying to be true to oneself. Which characters fail at this task, and which succeed?

Grade 9:

Untwine by Edwidge Danicat

What does it mean to continue living, even though the person who defined your identity has died? How do you go about redefining your life’s purpose? Are there eternal sources of strength or hope, regardless of the depth of tragic loss?

Grade 10:

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende , Translated by Magda Bogin

What lessons does the story of the Trueba family have to offer current and future generations? How does the novel convey those lessons?

Grade 11:

Americanah by Chimamda Ngozi Adichie

As students read Americanah, ask them to think about what it means to view America through an immigrant’s eyes. How do weighty topics like race, class, and gender present themselves in everyday interactions? How does the American experience differ for people of different races, and how does it differ for people born in America and those who immigrated?

Grade 12:

Fences by August Wilson

How does being black in a segregated world constrain Troy Maxon? Can one generation transcend the sins—and dreams—of their parents? How far can the ties of love and family stretch before they snap?

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

How are our stories interconnected or separated by time? What is the importance of family and heritage? What lessons do the stories of the Kashpaw and Lamartine families have to offer current and future generations? How does the novel convey these lessons?

Grade 12: AP Summer Reading Assignment

Congratulations on your acceptance into AP English Language and Composition!

In all AP classes, there is summer work to prepare you for the school year. This year, you will need to read two nonfiction books by the first day of school: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. Students can either borrow these books from their local library or buy their own copy. On the first day of school, students will be expected to turn in the paper onThe Autobiography of Malcolm X by midnight and will have a timed writing on In Cold Blood as their benchmark within the first month of school.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X Assignment: All authors have a purpose in their writing. In your past English classes, you often analyzed the theme or the moral message of a piece of writing. As we transition into reading more nonfiction and studying the art of rhetoric (argument), we shift from looking just at what the message is to why the writer is saying it, i.e. purpose. As you read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, look for what purpose Malcolm X was trying to convey in his actions and words throughout his life and explore it in a 2-5 MLA formatted paper.

Guidance for In Cold Blood: While you just need to come to class the first day of school having read the book, I wanted to leave you with some guiding questions to focus your reading, annotations and notes:
Who is the author sympathetic to in this book? Why?
How does the author portray or characterize the victims and the murderers in the book? Why?
How would different communities or groups (ex. The town of Holcomb, the murderers’ families, the victims’ families) within the book feel about the way Capote portrays different people?
When you find a passage that is vivid or stands out to you, what is the author doing to make that passage so vivid or impactful?
What is the author’s purpose in writing this book?

ISBN numbers for the books (again, any copy or edition will do, but if you want to make sure your page numbers line up, then these are the exact books your teacher will be using):
In Cold Blood: 9780679745587
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: 9780345376718