Twelfth Grade Summer Reading Requirements
- Students choose one book from the titles listed below.
Note: World Literature and Dramatic Literature students must read both works in their category.
- When they return, students will take a twenty-question, multiple-choice exam during their first, full academic week. In addition, individual teachers may require further assignments.
- This test counts for 20% of first term grade.
Students enrolled in Contemporary Literature, Literature of the Adolescent, Reading Seminar,
Urban Readings, or English for the Entrepreneur must choose ONE of the following.
Go Ask Alice
by Anonymous
from Amazon.com
For thirty-five years, the acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teenage girl's harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. As powerful -- and as timely -- today as ever, Go Ask Alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction.
It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth -- and ultimately her life.
Burger Wuss
by M. T. Anderson
from Amazon.com
"It looked to be a love story for the ages. They first met as she
was handing over his order of a Big O sandwich, six-piece nuggets, small
fries, and a medium chocolate shake. He had exact change. They spent a
magical night together with a gang of young rebels, traipsing through
town on a mission to correct grammatical errors in street signs and graffiti
("Drive Slowly"). But just when it seemed things couldn't be
better, tragedy struck. Anthony caught his beloved Diana making out at
a party with another guy. And what's worse, he was a high school graduate
from the neighboring town, hailing only by his last name: Turner. Now
Anthony must devise a vengeful plan by which he can humiliate his humiliator
and win back his girl."
Parrot in the Oven
by Victor Martinez
From amazon.com
"In his debut novel, set in a dusty California town, Martinez employs
a series of compelling, frequently troubling vignettes to illuminate a
Mexican American boy's coming of age. It's not easy for Manuel Hernandez
to discover his place in the world, especially when he is constantly bombarded
with the hardships of his poor and woefully dysfunctional family. Their
tiny sheetrock house in the projects is the scene of angry arguments-even
of threats at rifle point. Manny steps onto a battlefield at every turn,
whether he is collecting his alcoholic and violent father from the local
pool hall, withstanding the ethnic slurs of white school mates, or seeking
initiation into a neighborhood gang. But as the months pass and some of
his wounds heal, Manny slowly begins to understand the sense of self that
he can derive from his role within this difficult household. "
Click here to purchase from Amazon.com
Students enrolled in World Literature and Dramatic Literature
MUST READ BOTH of the following.
The House on Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros
From Amazon.com
"Esperanza and her family didn't always live on Mango Street. Right off she says she can't remember all the houses they've lived in but "the house on Mango Street is ours and we don't have to pay rent to anybody, or share the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise, and there isn't a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it's not the house we thought we'd get." Esperanza's childhood life in a Spanish-speaking area of Chicago is described in a series of spare, poignant, and powerful vignettes. Each story centers on a detail of her childhood: a greasy cold rice sandwich, a pregnant friend, a mean boy, how the clouds looked one time, something she heard a drunk say, her fear of nuns: "I always cry when nuns yell at me, even if they're not yelling." Esperanza's friends, family, and neighbors wander in and out of her stories; through them all Esperanza sees, learns, loves, and dreams of the house she will someday have, her own house, not on Mango Street."
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
From Amazon.com
"Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically
gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents
who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that
he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange
behavior of his elders and peers.
Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington,
impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead
dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail,
Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to
discover just who has murdered Wellington."
Prometheus Bound
by Joseph Fisher
From amazon.com
"Based on the ancient Greek drama, Prometheus is chained to a mountain
on the edge of the world as punishment for disobeying the god Zeus, condemned
to see a future of violence, revenge, and destruction. As he is visited
by his family, his friends, and his torturer, he attempts to understand
the hidden truths of the universe and the true nature of the Gods."