Curtis High School Summer Reading List

Isn't it pretty?

In my second year of teaching at Curtis High School I was asked to be a part of pretty incredible program where I had the opportunity to teach the same group of students for three years of high school. It changed everything about me as a teacher and as a person. I connected with those students in a way that just isn't possible when you have a class for one semester and then they are gone. Even though I was their math teacher, I wanted to know about what was going on during their entire day. Jokingly, when they would ask why I was so interested, I would tell them to just think of me as their "in-house mommy," which, over the years, is exactly what I became.

Anyway, it was because of this desire to be a part of their everything, that I grabbed a copy of the school's summer reading list. I talked to my freshmen about what they would read for their sophomore year and asked them what they read the year before. The responses lacked enthusiasm. The students did not take this list seriously. They said all they had to do was "take a test" and "it didn't count that much, anyway," so they what they read, if anything, didn't really matter. Now, I was wise enough to know to take everything they say with a grain of salt, but the fact of the matter was, whether the grade did have a major impact or not, this assignment didn't count that much to them.

I looked at the list and there was little I could do in the ways of offering advice, since I had only read a few of the titles provided, so I made a decision: I was going to read these books.

I had a new class of freshmen coming in, this group was going to be sophomores, and the year after that they'd be juniors: I would read through as many of the books as I could, so I could bug them about these books in September! (Yes, I occasionally moonlight as an evil genius!)

As was the case for most of my "big lessons," this started out as something for my students and ended up being a wonderful gift to myself. I never read as much as I did that summer. I plowed through books - some were wonderful, some were typical "school" books, but every one had something to offer. I loved that experience. In fact, reflecting upon it now a decade later, I can not remember what the ultimate impact of this project was on my students, but I know it forever changed me.

This year I am going to attempt to do it again. This time with no students (unless I get some virtual volunteers via the Internet!!), and with the new Summer 2012 Summer Reading List that has changed so dramatically it includes TWENTY-SIX books I have not read and only eleven that I have!


So, without any further adieu, I give you the:

CURTIS HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER 2012 READING LIST

For the general population of Curtis High School students, not in IB, SIS or AP classes (which have their own instructions), the assignment is to read one book from Category A and one book from Category B.

Incoming Freshmen

Category A

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

Game by Walter Dean Meyers

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Cut by Patricia McCormick

The Heroes of Olympus Book One by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Theif by Rick Riordan

Category B

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

The King Must Die by Mary Renault

The Afterlife by Gary Soto

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Sea Monsters by Rick Riordan

Current Freshmen (entering Sophomores Sept. 2012)

Category A

The Running Dream by Wandelin Van Draanen

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Catching Fire (Book Two) by Suzanne Collins

Category B

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Color of Fire by Ann Rinaldi

Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father by Richard Rodriguez

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Mockingjay (Book Three) by Suzanne Collins

Current Sophomores (entering Junior year Sept. 2012)

Category A

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson

Category B

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Current Juniors (entering Senior year Sept. 2012)

Category A

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Category B

Lush Life by Richard Price

What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau by E. Lockhart

Here comes the crazy part: Are you with me? How many of these books have you read? If you took on this challenge, how many books would you have to read this summer? Do you want to follow the assignment and just select one book from each category? Do you want to tackle one grade? Do you go to Curtis? If so, which books are you reading this summer?

Let me know in the comments and we'll make up a fun summer reading party!