The document provides information about the HGHS Summer Read program which aims to encourage teenage students to read quality literature over the summer. The program selects books that will engage and interest teens, representing a variety of genres and perspectives. While books may involve mature topics, the program also notes that not every book will appeal to every student. Guidelines are provided for nominating and selecting books, with the expectation that students will read at least two titles and complete a book report for each.

1. Mission Statement
HGHS Summer Read
HGHS Summer Read mission is to HGHS Literacy Team Initiative
encourage our teens to read enjoyable,
quality literature that will stimulate
Disclaimer
imagination, awaken curiosity, expand
horizons, enhance verbal fluency, and This program is designed to entice our
foster critical thinking and a lifelong love students to read. In order to engage
for reading and learning. their interest and to provide a spur to
critical thinking, the book selections
include those that involve sensitive
Guidelines issues. The content of some of the titles
Books nominated for the HGHS Summer Read may be more mature than younger
will be chosen to: students may have encountered. Not
every book selected will suit every
* Engage high school students.
student. In a democratic society, a
* Reflects interests of high school
variety of ideas must find voice. As a
students
reader, teens have a choice to read the
* Represents a variety of genres, formats,
HGHS
more mature titles or to close the book.
reading levels, viewpoints, and ethnic and
cultural perspectives
* Include both books written for young
Summer
people and those written for adults.
Please email questions to
carmenconcepcion@dadeschools.net
Books may be fiction or non-fiction.
The copyright of the books will be within the
last three years.
READ
Teachers and students are eligible to
nominate titles.
It is understood that all books on the list may
not appeal to all teen readers; however,
books selected for the list will be of interest
to a general young audience and will deal 2009-2010
with relevant issues and topics of interest in
http://mrscreadingstrategies.blogspot.com/
the lives of teenagers.
Students will be encouraged to read all
hghs.dadeschools.net BOOK FAIR
of the books on the list of nominations, 11700 Hialeah Gardens Blvd.
but it is recommended that students will Hialeah Gardens, Florida, 33018
have read two books over the summer
and completed a creative book report on
Phone: 305-698-5000 Ext. 2167
each book.
Fax: 305-698-5001

2. Hialeah Gardens High School
Summer Reading List
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian $8.99 The Hunger Games $17.99
by Sherman Alexies Reading Level 3 and Above by Suzanne Collins Reading Level 5 and Above
Interest Level – Ages 12-17 Interest Level Ages 12 and Up Suck It Up $8.99
Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, humorously looks back on his freshman In a futuristic America, a boy and a girl from each of twelve provinces are by Brian Meehl Reading Level 4 and Above
year when he transferred from the reservation school to a nearby chosen lottery style each year to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised Interest Level Ages 12 - 17
all-white school and dealt with racism, was viewed as a traitor to reality show where only one will emerge alive to earn wealth and extra food When skinny, geeky, 16-year-old Morning McCobb
his community, lost his best friend, and coped with family deaths. for their province. When 17-year-old Katniss Everdeen’s little sister is graduates from the International Vampire League, he
selected, Katniss volunteers to go in her place. Will she survive? reluctantly becomes the spokesvamp for vampires, telling
The Disreputable History of Frankie the world they really exist. But, he discovers that coming
Landau-Banks: a novel $8.99 The Last Exit to Normal $6.99 out isn’t easy as he tries to convince humans that blood-
by E. Lockhart Reading Level 6 and Above by Michael Harmon Reading Level 3 and Above substitute-drinking vampires can peacefully co-exist with
Interest Level – Ages 12-17 Interest Level Ages 12 and Up humans.
Former ugly duckling Frankie Landau-Banks returns to her elite Since his father came out and his mother left, spiky-haired skateboarder Ben
boarding school tired of being underestimated. She infiltrates her Campbell has gotten into trouble. In order to put him on the right path, his Suite Scarlett $8.99
boyfriend’s all-male secret society and begins to orchestrate their two dads move the family to rural Montana where city-born Ben finds animal by Maureen Johnson Reading Level 4 and Above
elaborate pranks. The unexpected consequences could change her carcasses, trucks, a tough country grandma, a cute farm girl, a town villain, and Interest Level Ages 12 and Up
life forever. a troubled kid. When Scarlett Martin turns 15, she becomes responsible
for a room in her family’s run-down hotel and its
Generation Dead $8.99 Little Brother $9.99 flamboyant occupant, Mrs. Ambrose, who hatches wacky
by Daniel Waters Reading Level 5 and Above by Cory Doctorow Reading Level 6 and Above schemes to save the family business, help Scarlett’s love
Interest Level Ages 12 and Up Interest Level Ages 13 and Up life, and jumpstart Scarlett’s brother’s acting career.
Goth-girl Phoebe, her best friend Margi, childhood buddy Adam, While skipping school, Markus is caught near the site of a terrorist attack on
and few others face opposition when they join an Undead Study to San Francisco and is intensely interrogated for six days. After his release and Three Little Words: a memoir $9.99
understand the zombies or “differently biotic” students who have the disappearance of his best friend, Markus vows to use his formidable by Ashley Rhodes-Courter Reading Level 5 and Above
begun attending their school; but when Phoebe begins to date one technical skills to network teenagers and fight back against the government’s Interest Level Ages 14 and Up
of the living impaired, the real trouble begins. increasingly frightening surveillance system. Taken from her irresponsible mother when she is 4 years
old, Ashley spends the next nine years in Florida’s foster
Gym Candy $8.99 The Market $8.99 care system where she is shuffled between 13 state
by Carl Deuker Reading Level 4 and Above by J.M. Steele Reading Level 6 and Up facilities and foster homes, some of which are horrifyingly
Interest Level Ages 12 - 17 Interest Level Ages12 and Up abusive, before being adopted by a loving family.
Mick Johnson lives and breathes football. But when lifting weights Kate Winthop has always accepted her role as a smart but geeky girl with a
and taking vitamin supplements do not give him the edge he wants, good heart, but when she finds out she was ranked 71 out of 140 girls in the Unwind $8.99
he turns to steroids. Along with becoming bigger, faster and Millbank Social Stockmarket game, she enlists the help of her two best friends by Neal Shusterman Reading Level 4 and Above
stronger, Mick must also deal with ‘roid rage, acne, and to transform her from “junk bond” to “blue chip” and win some money in the Interest Level Ages 13 - 17
depression. When he realizes he’s cheated his way to stardom, he process. In the future, parents have the option of having their
tries to quit but with dangerous results. teenagers “unwound” or “retroactively aborted” where all
Shark Girl $8.99 their body parts and organs are transplanted into needy
Homeboyz $8.99 by Kelly Bingham Interest Level Grades 7-12 recipients. Connor, Risa, and Lev narrowly escape being
by Alan Sitomer Reading Level 5 and Above After a shark attack, promising artist 15-year-old Jane Arrowood has her arm unwound and search for a safe haven amid betrayal,
Interest Level Young Adult (mature themes) amputated. In this free verse novel, she struggles to cope with her loss and the political intrigue, and harrowing, non-stop flights and fights.
Instead of prison, Teddy Anderson, who was arrested while trying changes it makes on her everyday life and future.
to avenge his sister’s accidental death from a gang-related drive-by Life of Pi $15.00
shooting, is sentenced to community service where he must The Botany of Desire $16.00 by Yann Martel Reading Level 5 and Above
mentor Micah, a 12-year-old gangsta wannabe. by Michael Pollan Reading Levels Grades 5 - 12 Interest Level Grades 9 - 12
What existential difference is there between the human being's role in this (or A 16-year old Indian boy is adrift at sea for 227 days with
Shift $17.99 any) garden and the bumblebees?" "Did I choose to plant these potatoes, or only a dangerous Bengal tiger for a companion. Pi Patel's
by Jennifer Bradbury Reading Level 4 and Above did the potato make me do it? With profound questions like these, Michael journey, and survival through the use of his wits and sheer
Interest Level Ages 12 - 17 Pollan pollinates your mind with a new world view of our relationships with determination, is one that grabs you and never lets go. It's
When buddies Chris and Win go on a cross-country bike trip plants, one in which humans are not at the center. The book focuses on four a story that seems both too real and surreal at the same
after graduation and only Chris returns, pressure from Win’s primary examples of how plants provide benefits to humans that lead humans time.
powerful father separately fuels the FBI’s and Chris’s private to benefit the plants.
investigation into Win’s disappearance.