Magnificat High School
Magnificat High School
Lakewood Public Library
Summer Reading List 2009

Pre- Freshmen | Pre-Sophomores | Pre-Juniors | Pre-Seniors

Pre-Freshmen

English 9 Honors English 9
A Separate Peace by John Knowles A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Babe Didrikson Zaharias:
The Making of a Champion
by Russell Freedman 		The biography of Babe Didrikson, who broke records in golf, track and field, and other sports, at a time when there were few opportunities for female athletes.
Letters to a Young Gymnast
by Nadia Comaneci 		Comaneci, the Romanian teen gymnastics star of the 1976 Olympics, who later defected to the West, combines her memoir with advice to up-and-coming young athletes on discipline and training.
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton Just a month after losing her arm in a horrific shark to attack while surfing, fourteen-year-old Hamilton got back on her board. In this moving account of
her young life, she credits determination and spirit to a close-knit family and her overriding faith in God.
A Whole New Ball Game by Sue Macy This is the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, created in 1943 as an alternative to the war-depleted men's major leagues. Playing until 1954, the league was popularized in the film A League of Their Own.
Wilma Rudolph: A Biography
by Maureen M. Smith		 Stricken with polio as a young girl, Wilma's love of sports motivated her to overcome her physical disabilities and learn to walk and run again. She would go on to become the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at the 1960 Olympics.
Women Olympic Champions
by Nathan Aaseng		 A collection of true stories, profiling the lives and struggles of seven female Olympic champions from the 1920's figure skater Sonja Henie to the 1980's and 1990's track and field star, Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

 

Pre-Sophomores
English 10 Honors English 10
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli
Hiroshima by John Hersey
Night by Elie Wiesel
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

AP World History

Directions: Students are required to read two books. It is encouraged to read two books from two different regions of the world off the Summer Reading List. (The regions include: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America). Sometime in the first two weeks of school, each student will have a 15 point quiz on each book for total possible points of 30.

The Small Woman by Alan Burgess about abandoned Chinese babies in the 1930s that were rescued by a European woman (Asia)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver the tale of the life of a missionary family in Africa in the early 1900s (Africa)
Hiroshima by John Hersey on the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945 (Asia)
Black Rain by Ibuse Masuji on the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945 (Asia)
Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution and his persecution of Intellectuals (Asia)
Rabbit Proof Fence: The True Story of One of the Greatest Escapes of All Time by Doris Pilkington Australia’s forced education of aboriginals and how three sisters tried to defy the system (Australia)
Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody American woman’s experience during the 1979 Iranian Revolution (Middle East)
Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi a story of a young girl in Japan (Asia)
Bridge to the Sun by Gwen Terasaki an Amerasian child’s experience during World War II (Asia) 2009
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped To Hide the Frank Family by Miep Gies This is Anne Frank’s story told through Mr. Frank’s secretary who tried to protect them in hiding (Europe)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo Victor Hugo’s story of French injustice in the late 1800s (Europe)
Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli a young girl’s adventure of growing up during the Renaissance
Period (Europe)
The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley a young British girl’s experience growing up in Kenya, Africa (Africa)
The Haj by Leon Uris Leon Uris’ tale of what happened to the Arabs after Israel became a nation in 1948 (Middle East)
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson setting up female schools in the Himalayan mountain area of
Pakistan and Afghanistan by a former American mountain climber (Middle East)
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad a description of what life was life for women in Afghanistan before and
after the Taliban (Middle East)
My Early Life: 1874-1904 by Winston Churchill the early life of Winston Churchill from 1874-1904 (Europe)
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque a book on World War I from the perspective of a German soldier (Europe)
The Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah how a young female in China is treated by her family members because her mother died giving birth to her (Asia)
The Road from Coorain
by Jill Ker Conway		 the life of Jill Ker Conway, the first female president of Smith College in America, who grew up on a sheep farm in New South Wales, Australia (Australia)
Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer the life of Queen Mary I of England (Europe)
Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer the life of Queen Elizbeth I of England (Europe)
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen a story about the Jewish Holocaust (Europe)
Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine a young woman’s suitcase from Germany arrives at the Holocaust Education Center in Japan. This is a true story of finding out who Hana was and what she endured. (Europe)
Last Train from Kummersdorf
by Leslie Wilson		 two young people flee Nazi Germany and learn what it is like to be a refugee in other countries. (Europe)

Sisterland by Linda Newbery		 a young Jewish girl sent to England to be away from Hitler’s Germany finds out the hidden stories of her family. (Europe)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak		 protecting books in Nazi Germany by young adults (Europe)
God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir by John Bul Dau a memoir of a Lost Boy from Sudan to the United States (Africa)
Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter A story about two friends in Hitler's Germany – one is a German boy and the other is a German Jewish boy. The story is unusual because it is narrated by the non-Jewish character. (Europe)

The House of The Spirits by Isabel Allende		 about a Chilean family, especially a young girl growing into womanhood who communicates with spirits (South America)

Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters		 a murder mystery novel set in the Middle Ages. (Europe)

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell		 set in 1943 during World War II, where 14 year old Claudette Blum is hoping that Italy will treat her better than the Nazis in Germany. She soon learns that Italian Catholics want to help save the Jewish people from the Holocaust.
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell set in Egypt after World War I and the Spanish influenza of 1919, a 40 year old Ohio school teacher takes a trip to Egypt and meets the people who are tryingto form the new countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan.

 

Pre-Juniors
 
Pre- Seniors

Personal Finance

The Automatic Millionaire
 by David Bach

Magnificat High School
Lakewood Public Library