Summer Reading List

 Dear Students & Parents,

The English department at Marshfield High School recognizes that summer is a busy time, and we wish you an enjoyable and exciting summer. This year we are taking a new approach to summer reading.
• All students will read one required book for their grade level. This book will be given to students before they leave for the summer, and students should bring the book to class when they return in the fall.
• The required book will be used as the first unit in each student’s English class.
• Students entering level 0 and AP classes will read the required book as well as one additional book that will help them with the upcoming curriculum. These books are available at local libraries and bookstores.
• Students are asked, but are not required, to read an additional book for pleasure reading.
READ WHAT INTERESTS YOU!

Required Books:

Entering Ninth Grade

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (all levels). Speak will also be used in the health curriculum.
Level 0 will also read:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (the assessed book)
In addition, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, will also be read to prepare level 0 students for their history curriculum.

Entering Tenth Grade

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines (all levels)
Level 0 will also read: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Entering Eleventh Grade

The Color of Water by James McBride (all levels)
AP Language and Composition will also read: The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Hailey

Entering Twelfth Grade

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (level 1 and 2)
AP Literature and Composition will read: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Our goal is to provide students with the experience of sharing and discussing a common text while also exposing them to great books that they may not read during the school year.  Hopefully, this approach will encourage lifelong pleasure reading as well as intellectual growth.  The students will receive discussion questions, which will also appear on the Marshfield High School web site.  Students are encouraged, but not required, to answer these questions and to keep a journal that will help them with class discussion.  We encourage family members to participate. 

A detailed explanation of all the summer reading requirements, as well as a lengthy list of authors and pleasure reads, will be available on the Marshfield High School web site at http://www.mpsd.org/highschool/summer_reading_list.html .  You may also access the site by going to www.mpsd.org and following the links from the English page.  If you have any questions about the summer reading requirements, please call Patrick Sullivan at (781) 319-3565.  Have a great summer and HAPPY READING!

 

Sincerely, 

Rock Roberts
English Department Head
Marshfield High School