The document provides Wellesley High School's English Department's summer reading recommendations and requirements for students in grades 9-12. It recommends a variety of fiction and non-fiction titles at different reading levels. Students in CP classes are required to read one book, ACP classes two books, and Honors classes two books plus an assigned text that varies by grade level.

1. Wellesley High School A Note to Students and Parents:
English Department Our hope is that our students will develop a
Summer Reading 2010 life-long love of reading. To that end, our
summer reading assignment allows students to
choose what to read, a luxury they do not often
have during the school year. We provide the
following list of recommendations as a starting
point only; we encourage students to visit
libraries and bookstores to browse in person.
Note that teachers will not give credit for texts
that are part of our regular curriculum. (See
the English Department website for a list of
literature curricula.)
Key
* least difficult
REQUIREMENTS ** more difficult
*** most difficult
Students in English 9-12CP + any work by this author is recom mended
Read one book of your choosing
Overcoming Obstacles
Students in English 9-12ACP +Buffalo Soldier C hris Bohjalian**
Read two books of your choosing Eleven Seconds T ravis Roy *
The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls**
Students English 9-12H +A Heartbre aking Work of Staggering Genius
Dave Eggers**
Read two books of your choosing pl us the
Hole in My Life Jack Gantos*
assigned text below: A Lesson Before Dying Ernest J. Gaines*
+My Sister’s Keeper Jody Picoult**
9H Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya The Perks of Being a Wallflow er Stephen Chbosky*
10H Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck +Speak Laurie Anderson*
11H 1984 Geor ge Orwell +This Boy’s Life Tobias Wolff**
12H 100 Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia
Marquez historical Fiction
Humanities (ACP and H ) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Not hing, Traitor to the
Unaccustomed Earth Jhumpa Lahiri Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party M.T. Anderson**
Clan of the Cave Bear Jean Auel**
Cold Mountain Charles Fraser**
See recommended titles ins ide!
Going After Cacciato Tim O’Brien*
Gone With the Wind M argaret Mitchell **
Jubilee Margaret Walker **
The Killer Angels M ichael Shaara**

2. +The King Must Die Mary Rena ult** Nonfiction
+Master and Commander Patrick O’Brian** Alive Piers Paul Read **
+The Source James Michen er** Common Ground J. Anthony Lucas**
Devil in the White City Erik Larson**
Sports +The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman**
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Ga me Michael Lewis** Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser**
+Only a Game Bill Littlefield* * In Cold Blood Truman Capote**
The Education of a Coach David Hal berstam* In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the
Faithful Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King * Whaleship Essex Nathaniel Ph ilbrick***
Lance Armstrong’s War Daniel Boyle* +Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
+My Losing Season Pat Conroy** Barbara Ehrenreich**
+The Natural Bernard Malamud** +Strength in What Remains Tracy Kidder**
Shoeless Joe W.P. Kinsella* Seabiscuit Laura Hille nbrand**
Values of the Game Bill Bradley** Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China** Jen
Women Who Win: Female Athletes on Being the Best Lin-Liu
ed. Lisa Taggart* Silent Spring Rachel Carson**
Mysteries, Suspense, and Biographies, autobiographies,
Adventure and Memoir s
+The Crocodile Bir d Ruth Rendell** Black Ice Lorene Cary*
+Devices and Desires P.D. James** Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert*
The Daughter of Tim e Josephine Tey** Girl, Interrupted Susanna Kaysen**
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage Alfred Lansing* +Growing Up R ussell Baker**
+Gaudy Night Dorothy Sayers** A Hope in the Unseen Ron Susskind *
+A Great Deliverance Eliza beth George** Hunger of Memory Richard Rodriguez**
+Little Drummer Girl John LeCarre** Letters from Nuremberg Christopher J. Dodd* *
+People of Darkness Tony Hillerman* Of Beatles and Angels-A Boy’s Remarkable Journey fr om a
+The Scold’s Bridle M inette Walters** Refugee Camp to Harvard Masar Asgedom*
+The Widening Gyre Ro bert Parker* A River Runs Through It Norm an MacLean**
The Road from Coor ain Jill Ker Conway*
Science Fiction and Fantasy Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson**
Travels with Charley John Steinbeck*
+Childhood’s End Arthur C. Clark**
Dune Frank Herbert *
+Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card*
+The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood** Politics
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Advise and Consent Allen Drury* *
Douglas Adams* Dreams from My Father Barack Obama **
Mists of Avalon Miriam Zimmer Bradley** Faith of my Fathers John McCain**
The Once and Future King T.H. White** +From Beirut to Jerusalem Thomas Friedman***
+Sphere Michael Crichton* The Gospel According to Larry Janet Tashijian*
+Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlein** Living History Hillary Rodham Clinton**
+The Wizard of Earthse a Ursula LeGuin** +Master of the Senate Robert Caro***
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Doris Kearns Goodwin***
Parting of the Waters: America in th e King Years-1954-1963
Taylor Branch**
+The Race Richard North Patterson**
Classics
As I Lay Dying** William Faulkner
Ballad of the Sad Café and Other St ories Carson
McCullers**

3. Humor Classics
The Bear Went Over the Mountain W illiam Kotzwinkle* As I Lay Dying** William Faulkner
Bird by Bird An ne Lamott** Ballad of the Sad Café and Other St ories Carson
Confederacy of Dunces John Kenn edy Toole*** McCullers**
+Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Deni m David Sedaris* David Copperfield Charles Dickens**
+Flashman: A Novel George MacDonald Fr aser** Go Tell it On the Mountain James Baldwin**
+Going Postal Terry Pra tchett** +Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy***
The Inimitable Jeeves P.G. Wodehouse** +Mill on the Floss George Eliot** *
Little Big Man Thomas Berger** +Moby Dick Herm an Melville***
+Native Tongue Carl Hia asen** On the Road Jack Kerou ac**
+A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson* Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen**
War and Peace Leo Tolstoy***
Cultural Contexts Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte**
Almost a Woman Esmeralda Santiago**
Annie John Jamaica Kincaid* Other good Reads
Donald Duk Frank Chin +The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Dreaming in Cuban Cristina Garcia Michael Chabon**
Flight Sherman Alexie* +Dinner at the Homesi ck Restaurant Anne Tyler**
The God of Small Things Arun dhati Roy** The Elegance of the Hedgehog Muriel Barberty**
In the Time of Butterflies Julia Alv arez Exodus Leon Uris*
+The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan** +Family Pictures Su e Miller**
Memoirs of a Geish a Arthur Golden The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom*
The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri Fugitive Pieces Anne Micha els***
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle* The History of Love Nicole Kra uss**
A Pale View of the Hills Kazuo Ishiguro*** +The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende**
Reservation Blues Sherman Alexie +How to be Good Nick Hornby**
The Samurai’s Garden Gail Tsukiayama*** The Known World Edward P. Jones* **
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Anne Fadiman** +The Poisonwood Bib le Barbara Kingsolver**
A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini Rebecca Daphne D uMaurier**
The Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor * Rule of the Bone Russel l Banks **
Sophie’s Choice William Styron**
Award Winners +We Were the Mulvaneys Joyce Carol Oates**
American Pastoral (Pulitzer) Philip Rot h*** +The World According to Garp John Irv ing**
+Bel Canto (PENFaulkner Award) Ann Patchett**
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz
(Pulitzer)**
+The Caine Mutiny (Pulitzer) Herman Wou k**
How I Live Now (Guardian Prize) Meg Rosoff *
Independence Day (Pulitzer) Richard Ford**
+John Adams (P ulitzer) David McCullough**
Life of Pi (Booker) Yann M artel**
Olive Kitteridge (Pulitzer) Elizabeth Strout**
Snow Falling on Cedars (PEN-Faulkner Award)
David Guterson **
A Thousand Acres (Pulitzer) Jane Smiley**
Tinkers Paul Harding (Pulitzer)
Vernon God Little DBC Pierre (Man Booker)*