Maine South Summer Reading 2009

Summer Reading 2009 Choice List Maine South High School English Department with support from the Maine South Library Resource Center Presentation prepared by N. Mellendorf, Librarian

The 9/11 Report: a Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon A graphic novel adaptation of "The 9/11 Commission Report," the results of the investigation of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Suggested grade levels: 10-12

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

When Rosemary is almost sixteen, she decides she is sick of being overweight, mocked at school and at Heavenly Hair--her mother's beauty salon. Feeling out of control, she slowly loses weight, and realizes that she is able to cope with her mother's cancer, having a boyfriend for the first time, and discovering that other people's lives are not as perfect as they seem from the outside.

Suggested grade levels: 9-11

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis Details the life of University of Mississippi football player Michael Oher, who was raised by a crack addicted mother and adopted at the age of sixteen by a wealthy family, and explores the rising importance and salary of the offensive left tackle in the game of football. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz Schuyler Van Alen, a loner at a prestigious New York City private school, sets out to learn the secrets of the Blue Bloods, an ancient group of vampires. Suggested grade levels: 9-11

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos.“ Suggested grade levels: 9-10

Dreams from My Father : a Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama Barack Obama tells the story of his life as the son of a black African father and a white American mother, searching for a workable meaning to his life as an African American. Suggested grade levels: 9-12

The Driver : My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World by Alexander Roy

A career biography of Alexander Roy, an international outlaw rally driver who competed in outlaw racing such as the Gumball 3000 and the Bullrun in his modified BMW M5, evading police officers and attempting to draw the attention of The Driver, the organizer of a secret race.

First Shot by Walter Sorrells

During his sophomore year, high school senior David Crandall's mother was murdered; and now, after learning about a family embezzlement secret and witnessing his father burying a shot gun, he starts to suspect his dad was the murderer. Suggested grade levels: 9-10

Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland by Mark Kreidler Jay Borschel and Dan LeClere aspire to be four-time high school wrestling champions in Iowa. Suggested grade levels: 9-12

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh Sudhir Venkatesh recounts how he managed to work his way into one of Chicago's must brutal crack-dealing gangs and describes the horrific events he witnessed, and sometimes participated in. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti Young Ren, an orphan in nineteenth-century New England, is rescued from the orphanage by Benjamin Nab, who claims to be Ren's brother; but as time goes on Ren begins to question who he can and cannot trust. Suggested grade levels: 10-12

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace of killing and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a grave competition hosted by the Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the death.

I Am the Messenger by Mark Zusak After capturing a bank robber, nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness. Suggested grade levels 9-11

Left for Dead: a Young Man’s Search for Justice for the U.S.S. Indianapolis by Pete Nelson In July 1945, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub and sank in a mere fourteen minutes, spilling more than a thousand men into deadly, shark-infested waters. Ultimately, only 317 men were rescued, making it the worst disaster in U.S. naval history. The Navy made the ship's captain a scapegoat, though the sailors who served under him fought valiantly to clear his name. It wasn't until the intervention of an eleven year old boy named Hunter Scott -- and his history fair project -- that the tide turned for the Indianapolis . Suggested grade levels: 9-10

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Suggested grade levels: 9-10

The Lone Survivor: the Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell American Navy SEAL and team leader Marcus Luttrell tells his story of the loss of his teammates in July 2005 along the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border to al-Qaeda insurgents. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

In 1899 Manhattan, the drowning of beautiful Elizabeth Holland, daughter of New York society's ruling family, brings to the surface the scandalous behavior of several teenagers of varying social class. Suggested grade levels: 9-12

Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell The author explores why some people are high achievers and others are not, citing culture, family, and upbringing as possible reasons some people are not as successful as others. Grade levels: 10-12

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: the Pox Party by M.T. Anderson Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age sixteen, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War. Suggested grade levels: 10-12

The Power of One: a novel by Bryce Courtenay Follows Peekay, a white British boy in South Africa during World War II, between the ages of five and eleven, as he survives an abusive boarding school and goes on to succeed in life and the boxing ring, with help from a chicken, a boxer, a pianist, black African prisoners, and many others. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Red Badge of Courage is the story of a young and confused Union soldier under fire for the first time. Suggested grade levels: 9-12

The Road by Cormac McCarthy A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-—and each other. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

Run by Ann Patchett Bernard Doyle, former Boston Mayor and father of two adopted sons, has done his best to keep his sons interested in politics; however, one snowy evening an accident triggers into motion a series of events that will change their lives forever. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

A tale reminiscent of "Hamlet" that also celebrates the alliance between humans and dogs follows speech-disabled Wisconsin youth Edgar, who bonds with three yearling canines and struggles to prove that his sinister uncle is responsible for his father's death.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Marvin is stuck in New York City for the summer working at her quirky family's historic hotel, but her brother's attractive new friend and a seasonal guest who offers her an intriguing and challenging writing project improve her outlook.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin In 1993, Greg Mortenson was an American mountain-climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of a Pakistani village, he promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time--Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. Suggested grade levels 11-12

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts. Suggested grade levels: 9-10

What is the What: the Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng : a Novel by Dave Eggers A fictionalized memoir of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee who was forced from his home by the Second Sudanese Civil War and faced many difficulties before coming to the United States. Suggested grade levels: 11-12

What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn Lisa, working as an assistant manager at a record store in Green Oaks mall in 2004, teams up with security guard Kurt to investigate sightings of a little girl clutching a toy monkey that have begun to appear on security tapes and which Lisa believes must have some link to the disappearance of ten-year-old Kate Meaney twenty years earlier--a crime that ruined her brother's life when he became a suspect. Suggested grade levels: 11-12