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    Upper School Summer Reading Posted Here

    2002 UPPER SCHOOL SUMMER READING LIST


    HEADMASTERÃ??S RECOMMENDATION

  • Touch the Top of the World by Erik Weihenmayer, an inspirational story of a blind manÃ??s journey to climb Mt. Everest. The author, a teacher and coach, lost his sight at age thirteen from a degenerative eye disorder, and plans to visit McDonogh in the fall.


    REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE NINTH GRADE

  • All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
  • The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (This novella will be taught in the Summer Program for New Freshmen.)


    REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE TENTH GRADE

  • A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving


    REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE ELEVENTH GRADE

  • The Prince of Tides, Pat Conroy


    REQUIRED FOR STUDENTS ENTERING THE TWELFTH GRADE

  • One Flew Over the CuckooÃ??s Nest, Ken Kesey


    SUGGESTED READING FOR NINTH AND TENTH GRADES
    In addition to the required reading, it is strongly recommended that rising freshmen and sophomores read at least THREE of the following titles:

  • The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton: A team of scientists unites to unravel the puzzle of a killer microorganism that has arrived from space.
  • Animal Farm, George Orwell: The allegorical story of an animal rebellion serves as a means for Orwell to attack totalitarianism.
  • Black Boy, Richard Wright: An autobiography dealing with WrightÃ??s experience growing up as an African-American in the early twentieth century.
  • Brighton Beach Memoirs, Neil Simon: a humorous look at growing up in the Bronx during the 1940Ã??s.
  • The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk: A novel depicting strife among officers in the U.S. Navy in World War II.
  • Celestial Navigation, Anne Tyler: A Baltimore novel in which a quirky artist tries to decide between a family and his art.
  • The Chosen, Chaim Potok: Friendship between two Jewish boys, one Hasidic and the other Orthodox, flourishes despite their different beliefs.
  • Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Ann Burns: This emotion-filled novel tells how the modern age comes to the Georgia town of Cold Sassy.
  • Cosmos, Carl Sagan: Wide-ranging thoughts by the famous astronomer on the history and philosophy of science, wondrous phenomena of the universe, and the nature of life and intelligence.
  • Edisto, Padgett Powell: A novel about growing up on the South Carolina coast that has been favorably compared to The Catcher in the Rye.
  • A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest Gaines: This novel tells of elderly black men in Louisiana who gain power and pride as the sheriff tries to find the killer of a Cajun farmer.
  • The Hot Zone, Richard Preston: A non-fiction account of early outbreaks of the Ebola viruses and the people fighting them.
  • In Cold Blood, Truman Capote: A non-fictional re-creation of the murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent capture of the killers.
  • Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer: The non-fictional account of a disaster on Everest.
  • The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan: The author presents an exciting retelling of D-Day and the invasion of Normandy.
  • The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkein: A trilogy of the most famous and critically acclaimed fantasy novels ever written. Read them before the second movie comes out.
  • Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich: Three generations of Native-American women survive the twentieth century.
  • Mama Day, Gloria Naylor: A contemporary love story filled with island legends, conjurers, curses, and ghosts.
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Frederick Douglass: Douglass recounts his slave experiences in his own words.
  • The Natural, Bernard Malamud: The famous baseball novel in which Roy Hobbs battles with the forces of good and evil.
  • October Sky, Homer Hickam: In this memoir, set in a small West Virginia coal town, several high school boys overcome great odds to build their own rocket and enter the 60Ã??s Ã??space race.Ã??
  • The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe: A non-fictional account of the early days of the astronaut program.
  • Rise to Rebellion, Jeff Shaara: Chronicles the years immediately prior to the writing of the Declaration of Independence from the point of view of the major participants.
  • Snow in August, Pete Hamill: A rabbi and a young Catholic boy forge a unique relationship as they share a passion for baseball and confront violence and racism in Brooklyn.
  • Wish You Well, David Baldacci: Louisa Mae Cardinal adjusts to life in the rural Virginia of the 1940Ã??s.


    SUGGESTED READING FOR ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH GRADES
    In addition to the required reading, it is strongly recommended that rising juniors and seniors read at least TWO books from the following list:

  • All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy: Two teenage boys seek adventure as cowboys in Mexico, but encounter a nightmare.
  • The Awakening, Kate Chopin: An early feminist novel depicting a modern woman trapped in a dehumanizing marriage and struggling to establish herself as an individual.
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X: This autobiography reveals the long spiritual and intellectual journey of the private Malcolm.
  • Beloved, Toni Morrison: A post-Civil War mother comes to terms with her slave history. This novel is especially recommended for AP English students.
  • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee A. Brown: A non-fiction account of the wars against Native-Americans from 1860-1890.
  • Catch-22, Joseph Heller: A satire of army life set among WWII American pilots.
  • Celestial Navigation, Anne Tyler: A novel by the Baltimore writer in which she depicts an artist who must make a choice between his art and his family.
  • A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess: A terrifying futuristic vision of teenage violence.
  • A Death in the Family, James Agee: Death rocks a family in small town America.
  • Disappearing Acts, Terry McMillan: A novel that depicts an African-American WomanÃ??s interaction with the men in her life.
  • The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck: For the ambitious studentÃ??a long novel depicting the struggles of the victims of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression.
  • Grendel, John Gardner: Gardner tells the Beowulf story from the monsterÃ??s point of view.
  • The HandmaidÃ??s Tale, Margaret Atwood: Women are enslaved in this futuristic dystopia.
  • The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers: A story of unrequited love set in the deep South.
  • House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende: This novel of magical realism tells of the loves and hates of the Truebo family from the turn of the century Chile to the violence associated with the overthrow of the Allende government in 1973.
  • I, Claudius, Robert Graves: The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is seen through the eyes of a seeming imbecile.
  • The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan: After her motherÃ??s death, a young Chinese-American woman learns of her motherÃ??s tragic early life in China.
  • The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara: A novelistic account of the battle of Gettysburg. Especially recommended for rising juniors.
  • Master and Commander, Patrick OÃ??Brian: The first novel in a lengthy series of sea novels depicting several British naval officers during the Napoleonic Wars. These novels are renowned for their realism.
  • Native Son, Richard Wright: A racially charged murder is the subject of this exploration in social realism.
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Fabulous tale of one hundred years in the life of a South American town. Famous for its magical realism.
  • A Passage to India, E. M. Forster: A young Englishwoman falls in love in an exotic land with dire consequences.
  • The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver: Nathan Price, his wife, and four daughters confront risks and challenges as they face a new life and culture in the Congo during its struggle for independence.
  • PortnoyÃ??s Complaint, Philip Roth: A young Jewish man discovers sex in 1950Ã??s New York City.
  • Silent Spring, Rachel Carson: This landmark book spurred revolutionary changes in U. S. governmental policy toward the environment.
  • The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway: This novel depicts the excursion of a group of ex-patriots to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls in 1920Ã??s Europe.
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig: The complexity of a father/son relationship is at the center of this philosophical novel. For the ambitious reader.
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