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What Is the Summer Reading Initiative?
Summer reading is part of a broad Redwood High School reading initiative. Redwood is committed to promoting reading for its humanistic values as well as an activity vital to the academic growth of students.
REQUIRED READING FOR ENGLISH CLASSES
Students should choose their one book (AP students should read both books) from the appropriate list below. Instruction for completing the written component of the assignment were given out in Spring English classes. The instructions can also be accessed from the Redwood home page or by logging on to <http://learn.tamdistrict.org>. And, of course, besides these required readings you are encouraged to read as much as you can over the summer.
--Redwood High School English Department |
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If you purchase your books from Book Passage, the Bessie Chin Library will get 5% of the purchase price.
Just let them know you're from Redwood.
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| Incoming 9th Graders
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky
A series of letters to an unknown correspondent reveals the coming-of-age trials of a high-schooler named Charlie. |
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay / Michael Chabon
In 1939 New York City, Joe Kavalier, a refugee from Hitler's Prague, joins forces with his Brooklyn-born cousin, Sammy Clay, to create comic-book superheroes inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams. |
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The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place. |
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
Chronicles the off-beat and occasionally extraterrestrial journeys, notions, and acquaintences of galactic traveler Arthur Dent. |
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The Glass Castle / Jeannette Walls (non-fiction)
The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home. |
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Incoming 10th graders
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Water for Elephants / Sarah Gruen (for mature readers)
Ninety-year-old Jacob Jankowski finds himself haunted by memories of his past in the circus and the freaks, exotic animals, and other people he encountered as a performer. |
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What Is the What / David Eggers
Valentino Achak Deng, real-life hero of this work, was a refugee from the Sudanese civil war of the 1980s and 90s. In this fictionalized memoir, he becomes an icon of globalization. Separated from his family when Arab militia destroy his village, Valentino joins thousands of other "Lost Boys" on their march to squalid refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where Valentino pieces together a new life. He eventually reaches America, but finds his quest for safety, community and fulfillment in many ways even more difficult there than in the camps. |
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Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking / Malcolm Gladwell (non-fiction)
Presents a study of how people think without thinking, looking at the brain processes involved in making snap decisions, discussing why some people seem to have great instincts while others consistently choose unwisely, and examining ways to control the process.
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao / Junot Diaz (for mature readers)
Overweight and nerdy Oscar lives with his Dominican American mother and sister in New Jersey and dreams of becoming a renowned author and finding true love, but unfortunately, a family curse stands in the way of his wishes. |
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| Incoming 11th graders
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Cat's Cradle / Kurt Vonnegut
In the year 2000, a young man discovers ice-nine, which can set off a chain reaction more deadly than a nuclear bomb, and a new prophet whose teachings sweep the world. |
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The Samurai's Garden / Gail Tsukiyama
Stephen, 20, leaves Hong Kong for Japan to recuperate from tuberculosis just as the Chinese prepare to invade, and in a small town, he develops strong relationships. |
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The Turnaround / George Pelecanos
Thirty-five years after a devastating accident that irrevocably shapes the lives of six people, a pair of redemption-seeking survivors reaches out to one another in an effort that is compromised by a fellow survivor's release from prison.
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Outliers: The Story of Success / Malcolm Gladwell (non-fiction)
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. |
Incoming 12th graders
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The Year of the Flood / Margaret Atwood
When a natural disaster predicted by God's Gardeners leader Adam One obliterates most human life, two survivors trapped inside respective establishments that metaphorically represent paradise and hell wonder if any of their loved ones have survived. |
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay / Michael Chabon
In 1939 New York City, Joe Kavalier, a refugee from Hitler's Prague, joins forces with his Brooklyn-born cousin, Sammy Clay, to create comic-book superheroes inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams. |
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Nine Stories / J.D. Salinger
"DeDaumier-Smith's Blue Period," "Teddy," and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" are among the nine works in a collection of Salinger's perceptive and realistic short stories.
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The Ask / Sam Lipsyte
After he loses his job as a development officer at a university, family man Milo Burke is given a chance to regain his position, but only if he can reel in a potential donor, one who has requested his involvement and turns out to be his sinister college classmate. |
AP English Literature (students should read both titles)
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