Buckingham Browne & Nichols Upper School
Summer 2008 Reading List
(as of 7-1-08)
Summer
Reading, English Department
The English Department’s list is in alphabetical order by author’s last name and is open to everyone in grades 9-12. Students are required to read at least one book from the list (or other books by the listed authors) and at least two books if they are not reading a book for a history course. We encourage students to read more than the required number of books. Seniors should note that one of the required books must be that listed for the senior elective.
The Reading List for English
Angelou, Maya: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (The first volume in the autobiography of the poet, set in the small, segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas. It pays tribute to the frank, resourceful grandmother who raised her from a timid child beset by the stresses of her parents' abandonment and the poverty and racism of her community to a confident, creative young woman.)
Alvarez, Julia: In the Time of the Butterflies (Based on a true story, this novel about four sisters who suffer under the brutal hands of a Dominican Republican dictator is enthralling and poignant, a portrait of ordinary people who rise to extraordinary levels of courage.)
Atwood, Margaret: Cat’s Eye (A young woman returns to the landscape of her childhood. Her return triggers memories of the tricky, often cruel dynamics of friendships among girls and the lasting effects of those relationships.)
Austen, Jane: Northanger Abbey (A wry portrait of a young woman with an active imagination and an eagerness for romantic adventure. Northanger Abbey strikes her as just the mysterious locale where her fantasies might be realized.)
Baldwin, James: Go Tell It on the Mountain (A young boy follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a preacher. An autobiographical novel, set in Harlem in the 1930's.)
Bradley, Marion Z.: The Mists of Avalon (The legendary saga
of King Arthur and his companions at Camelot is retold from the perspectives of
the women involved. Viviane is "The Lady of the Lake," the priestess
of the Isle of Avalon, a mystical, mist-shrouded island. Her quest is to find a
king who will ally himself with both Avalon and a fledgling religion:
Christianity.)
Breem, Wallace: Eagle in the Snow (The year is 406. The Roman Empire is in tatters, hanging together only through force of habit and the will of a few strong generals. One of these, Maximus, is ordered to guard the Rhine frontier against the increasingly aggressive Germanic tribes. But Maximus only has a single legion…)
Brown, Rosellen: Before and After (Brown raises questions about the nature of justice, the limits of family love, and the ways in which our knowledge of even those closest to us is determined by our own characters as she depicts the effects of Jacob Reiser’s violent crime on his family. BB&N readers will find many qualities of the Reiser family familiar and will even find themselves, for a brief time, in the familiar precincts of Harvard Square.)
Burgess, Anthony: Clockwork Orange (A classic antiauthoritarian novel (in the tradition of Brave New World and 1984), Clockwork Orange features a violent adolescent narrator who speaks his own strange slang. Fast-paced and filled with action, this novel is also a reflection on the nature and significance of free will.)
Carey, Peter: Jack Maggs (A sequel to Dickens’ Great
Expectations from the viewpoint of Abel Magwitch)
Casey, John: Spartina (Winner of the National Book Award, this
novel delves into the fiery, somewhat quirky character of a Rhode Island
fisherman building a 50-foot boat in his backyard as he confronts forces of
nature, including the human variety.)
Cather, Willa: The Song of the Lark (A gifted young woman from an isolated Colorado town yearns to escape the confines of her poor, repressive childhood and become an opera singer. Although Cather was not a musician, key aspects of the novel are autobiographical, especially in depicting the artist’s struggles and triumphs as she single-mindedly pursues her dream.)
Coetzee, J.M.: The Life and Times of Michael K. (After the death of his mother, a young man struggles to make sense of his life in a country ripped apart by strife, racism and hatred.)
Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone (Everyone is a suspect in this, the first detective story ever, set in Victorian England. Who stole the precious moonstone from the country house by the sea?)
Conroy, Pat: The Great Santini (A teenage son tries to grow up in a difficult family under a domineering father who is “all Marine.”)
Dai, Sijie: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Two teen-aged doctors' sons are sent for "re-education" into China's countryside, where they discover a suitcase full of forbidden French novels and meet an enchanting seamstress's daughter. Her secret re-education under their influence surprises everyone.)
Diamant, Anita: The Red Tent (Well-known Old Testament stories come alive with the researched and imagined experiences of Jacob's wives and only daughter, Dinah. Dinah narrates the family history from the red tent, where the women give birth and spend part of each month, before the group migrates from Mesopotamia to Canaan and Dinah ends her journey alone, as a midwife in Egypt.)
Dickens, Charles: David Copperfield (Like Great Expectations, this is a bildungsroman, or novel of growing up, that explores the role of the heart and the place of relationships with others in achieving maturity. Dickens once said that of all his fictional “children” David Copperfield was his favorite.)
DuMaurier, Daphne: Rebecca (A young woman, haunted by the spirit of her first husband's wife, discovers the shocking secret of his earlier marriage.)
Duncan, David James: The River Why (In this funny, thoughtful novel, a young man from a family obsessed with fishing sets out on a journey to pursue what he believes is the ideal life: days filled nothing but with fishing. Gus’s journey to the Oregon Coast leads him to a new understanding of himself and the larger world.)
Eire, Carlos Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy (A memoir of a boyhood just before, during, and after Fidel Castro’s revolution in Cuba. His parents send Carlos and his brother Tony out of Cuba to a very different life in the United States.)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott: Tender is the Night (Brilliant young psychiatrist Dick Diver ruins his marriage by pursuing a tragic relationship with a beautiful young patient. Set on the French Riviera during the 1920s, this novel was Fitzgerald’s next work after completing The Great Gatsby.)
Forster, E.M.: A Room With A View (Following a trip to Italy, Lucy Honeychurch realizes that she must choose between her conventional fiancé and the entirely unconventional George Emerson.)
Gardner, John: Grendel (If you would like to see into
the mind of Grendel, the terrifying creature of the night from Beowulf, then you will want to read this short but thrilling novel. In this
version of the classic epic, the story of Beowulf
is looked at through the eyes of the monster.)
Goodman, Allegra: Intuition (Set in Cambridge, this literary thriller revolves around a group of lab researchers, one of whom is about to be fired when he suddenly discovers an important cancer medication—or does he?)
Greenberg, Joanne: I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (With the help of an understanding doctor, a teenage girl struggles to overcome schizophrenia. A realistic look at the world of split personality and the courage of an indomitable spirit.)
Hardy, Thomas: The Mayor of Casterbridge (Drunk and exasperated by bad luck, Michael Henchard sells his wife at a country fair. His deed returns to haunt him eighteen years later.)
Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms (Lt. Frederick Henry discovers the fragility of love and friendship during the Italian campaign of World War I. Considered by many to be the author's most wrenchingly beautiful work.)
Herbert, Frank: Dune (Classic science fiction novel about a land of deserts and of the long-awaited Messiah.)
Hesse, Herman: Siddhartha (Herman Hesse’s novel tells the story of a young man’s search for enlightenment. Reverberating with echoes of Buddhism and Hinduism, Siddhartha delivers the reader into a journey that is at once exotic and familiar. This short novel has long been a favorite of college and high school students interested in the call of the inner life.)
Hosseini, Khaled: The Kite Runner (A novel about Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghani businessman, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, starting with their childhood games in Kabul, through a harrowing event that changes their relationship, and to the events in their adult lives that bond them once again.)
Huxley, Aldous: Brave New World (One of the great classics of science fiction, this is a thought-provoking and fascinating look at how the future may turn out.)
Irving, John: The World According to Garp (By turns dark, outrageous, and funny, this novel charts the eventful life of T.S. Garp. Despite some sad and shocking incidents, it is a page-turner. If you liked A Prayer for Owen Meaney, try this: it’s the book that made Irving famous.)
Kingsolver, Barbara: Animal Dreams (A young woman, having returned to her Arizona home town, deals with an aging father, a sister working for a cause in Nicaragua, an ex-boyfriend, and pollution of the town’s river.)
Lahiri, Jhumpa: The Namesake: (The first novel of the Pulitzer Prize-winning short story writer, it focuses on two generations of the Ganguli family. The parents, who have emigrated from Calcutta to Cambridge, Massachusetts, strive to adapt to the U. S. and yet to maintain their ties to their homeland. Their son, to whom they give the problematic name Gogol, must learn both to develop an American identity and to discover the richness of his cultural heritage.)
Lessing, Doris: Ben, In the World (In this sequel to The Fifth Child, the adult Ben Lovatt, a genetic "throwback" to Neanderthal, is on his own in a world of hard-heartedness, crime, and exploitation. The final section, set in Brazil and then Argentina, is one of this great writer's most dazzling achievements.)
Marshall, Paule: Brown Girl, Brownstones (An autobiographical account of a young Barbadian girl, who moves with her family to Brooklyn, New York in the 1930's.)
Matar, Hisham: In the Country of Men (A novel set in 1979 Libya in which a nine-year-old boy struggles to make sense of events both familial and political.)
Maxwell, William: So Long, See You Tomorrow (A farmer's murder dissolves the friendship between two boys; years later, one revisits his childhood pain to make sense of troubling memories.)
McCullers, Carson: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (The characters of this haunting novel include an enigmatic mute, a disillusioned radical, and a lonely teenage girl; their individual struggles, though set in a small southern town, are universal.)
McCullers, Carson: The Member of the Wedding (Fed up with her life in a Mississippi town, Frankie Adams changes her name and plans her escape to the world at large.)
Merullo, Roland: Revere Beach Boulevard (This page-turning story of the mob in Revere, Massachusetts experiments with multiple points-of-view and explores our optimistic yearning for the "mystery of love.")
Mishima, Yukio: The Sound of Waves (In an isolated Japanese fishing village, two teenagers from different social classes fall in love and deal with traditional ideas about honor, family, and community. A timeless, beautifully told coming-of-age story.)
Mistry, Rohinton: A Fine Balance (Four strangers, a student, a widow, and two tailors, are forced to live together in a small apartment in India. As political pressure and government intervention mounts, the four are forced to choose between their dreams and each other.)
Mitchell, David: Black Swan Green (Don’t be deterred by the slang of these small-village British teenagers or by the protagonist’s stammer; you’ll soon get the hang of both in this rich coming-of-age story set in 1982–1983. Despite the foreign background, you’ll recognize the bullying, the longing to be accepted, undercurrents of familial tensions, and the thrill of youthful adventures.)
Mosher, Howard Frank: A Stranger in the Kingdom (Set in 1950s northern Vermont, this novel may remind you of To Kill a Mockingbird in part, but it's also a murder mystery and a chronicle of a family deeply rooted in a place as told by the younger brother whose innocent eyes are opened by the events unfolding around him.)
Orwell, George: 1984 (The classic portrayal of a horrifying future in which the government knows and controls all.)
Proulx, Annie: The Shipping News (The quirky, funny,
and poignant story of how Quoyle regains control of his life by moving his
family to a bleak Newfoundland maritime town.)
Quinn, Daniel: Ishmael (With no plot to speak of, this novel is
unlike any other: a bizarre
philosophical conversation between a wise, telepathic gorilla and a disgruntled
young man interested in saving the world.
Ishmael, the gorilla, divides the planet into Leavers and Takers as he
explains his theories about what has gone wrong with human civilization.)
Salzman, Mark: Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia (The author of Iron and Silk recounts his hapless adolescent experiences with Zen Buddhism, karate, the cello, and summer employment, in 1970s Connecticut.)
Stegner, Wallace: Crossing to Safety (A semi-autobiographical novel tracing the simultaneously strong and strained friendship between two couples who meet in graduate school and then reunite later in life.)
Steinbeck, John: The Grapes of Wrath (The Joads, a family of Oklahoma farmers, set out in a dilapidated car for California, which they believe is a land of plenty and opportunity, but where they are bullied by sheriffs and labor contractors. A classic of social-activist fiction, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940.)
Tan, Amy: The Joy Luck Club (The bestseller about the conflicts and affections between four women who were born in China and their California-raised daughters. A moving and imaginative account of the modern Asian woman's search for identity.)
Theroux, Paul: The Mosquito Coast (A hilarious and then harrowing portrait of an American inventor who, abominating the decline of his country in the first two decades after World War II, takes his family to the Honduran jungle to begin civilization again.
Thoreau's Walden in the middle of nowhere, 130 years later.)
Tolkien, J.R.R.: The Lord Of The Rings, Volume I, II or III. (The great epic of Middle Earth.)
Towler, Katherine: Snow Island (As she learns about a summer visitor's mysterious past, 16 year-old Alice Dagget comes of age on a secluded island off the coast of Rhode Island during World War Two.)
Trevor, William: Felicia’s Journey (A psychological thriller: a young Irish woman runs away from home to search for her boyfriend in England where she encounters a gentle middle-aged man who is searching for a new friend to join others in his Memory Lane.)
Vonnegut, Kurt: Slaughterhouse Five (The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, becomes “unstuck in time," and travels among points in his life, including the bombing of Dresden, Germany in World War II and the planet Tralfamadore, whose inhabitants offer another perspective on gender, death, and time.)
Wiesel, Elie: Night (The account of a 15-year-old boy who survived the horrors of two Nazi concentration camps.)
Wolff, Tobias: Old School (Based on the author's own experiences and set after the events told in his memoir This Boy's Life, this nostalgic novel vividly describes life at a 1960's boys' boarding school. It highlights the visits of famous writers while also delving into the narrator's own struggles as a budding writer and maturing young man.)
Woolf, Virginia: Mrs. Dalloway (A stream-of-consciousness account of a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway as she walks through post World War I London, prepares for and hosts a party, and reflects on her life and times. Woolf's story is the basis for Michael Cunningham's novel (and film), The Hours.)
Wright, Richard: Native Son (Set in Chicago, this first major novel by the author of Black Boy tells of a young man’s victimization by and inevitable lashing out at racism.)
Yezierska, Anzia: Bread Givers (A Jewish immigrant girl asserts her independence to get an education and makes choices about assimilation.)
Senior Elective Books
ALIENS (Ms. Krauss): Disgrace, J. M. Coetzee
CREATIVE WRITING (Mr. Thomas) The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, G. B. Edwards
MAKING HISTORY (Mr. Staveley), Augustus, Allan Massie
MONSTROUS DUALITIES (Ms. Klingler): The Life of Pi, Yann Martel
PILGRIM SOULS: JOURNEYS OF SELF-DISCOVERY (Mr. Leith): A Month in the Country, James Lloyd Carr
REDEEMING THE PAST (Ms. McNamara): The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
SHAKESPEARE (Ms. Hamilton): The Merchant of Venice (Pelican edition)
SIBLING BONDS AND RIVALRIES (Ms. Cranston): Catfish and Mandala, Andrew X. Pham
CHINESE
Chinese II:
Laughing in Chinese ----- read
stories 1----10, they need to purchase the book, but they are not required to
do the exercises.
Chinese III:
Laughing in Chinese ------ read
stories 11---20, they already have the book
Chinese IV:
Laughing in Chinese------- read
stories 21---30, they already have the book
FRENCH
There is NO summer reading required for incoming ninth graders!
- Students entering Fr2 and Fr2Honors (Grade 10 only):
Un été pas comme les autres, by Huguette Zahler, Amsco Publication, ISBN 0-87720-479-9. Read chapters 1 to 10.
- Students entering Fr3Honors :
Le petit prince (chapters 1 to 16), by A. de Saint-Exupéry, Harcourt-Holt Rhin. & Winst., ISBN 0-156-01398-3
with the corresponding questions (only the part entitled Questions in each chapter) in Le compagnon du petit prince, Thomson Learning, ISBN 0-155-50448-7
- Students entering Fr3 :
Frissons et chair de poule, Joseph F. Conroy, Amsco, ISBN 1-56765-329-4. Read the two first stories and complete exercises A Comprehension.
- Students entering FrAPLanguage :
Un papillon dans la cité, by Gisèle Pineau, Press Pocket, ISBN (or : Editions Sépia, ISBN 2-907888-13-7).
- Students entering FrAPLiterature :
Une tempête, by Aimé Césaire, Collection Points, Editions du Seuil, ISBN 9 782020 314312.
and The tempest by Shakespeare (any edition).
- Students entering Fr4Advanced:
L’étranger, by A. Camus, Gallimard, Folio, ISBN 2-07-039371-2
- Students entering Fr5H Théâtre :
Antigone by J. Anouilh, any edition.
- Students entering Fr5Cinéma :
Le colonel Chabert, by H. de Balzac, Hachette Education, Bibliocollège, ISBN 782011 685629
LATIN
Latin III Catalina's Riddle/Steven Saylor
Latin 4 AP Vergil and Latin 4/5 Reg:
The Iliad by Homer. Trans. Robert Fagles
Required: Books 1, 2, 7, 9, 16, 18, 22, 24.
Recommended: The remaining books.
Latin 5 AP Selected
Lyric Poems
(Poems handed out by Mr. Edbrooke)
RUSSIAN
RUSSIAN
TWO
Read all the stories in First Russian
Reader and be ready to translate these stories into English and to answer
the questions that follow each story in Russian. During your second Russian
class in September each student will be assigned to translate on paper a
different story from the book and to write detailed answers in Russian to all
the questions that follow given story. You will not be allowed to use the
dictionary that appears at the end of the book. Your translation and written
answers will be graded.
Suggested Reading Timetable for reading First
Russian Reader:
·
July 1-31, read stories 1-12, p.p. 4-25
·
August 1-30, read stories 13-27, p.p. 26-55
RUSSIAN
THREE
July 1-31. Very thoroughly read the story Kanikuly v Moskve (Vacation in
Moscow). During your second Russian class you will be asked to write a minimum
200-word summary of the story in Russian. For your summary you will be allowed
to use a 50-word English Russian glossary that you will have prepared in
advance. Your summary will be graded.
August 1-31. Read the story Dorogoj gost’ (Dear Guest) in Yumoristicheskije rasskazy (Humorous
Stories). We strongly recommend that while reading this short story you make
extensive translation notes with a pencil in the text to make it easier for you
to translate the story in class in September. Your oral translation of this
story will be graded.
RUSSIAN
FOUR
Read the story Bednaja Liza (Poor Liza). We strongly recommend that while reading
this short story you make extensive translation notes with a pencil in the text
to make it easier for you to translate the story in class in September. Your
oral translation of this story will be graded.
SPANISH
There is no Spanish summer reading required for incoming 9th graders.
Spanish 2 Una mano
en la arena (classbooks)
Spanish 2H La
chica de los zapatos verdes (classbooks)
Spanish 3 Leyendas Mexicanas (classbooks): Read the first four chapters.
Spanish 3H El delantal blanco (Click
here to link to the reading.)
Spanish 4 Cajas de Carton (classbooks): Read the following chapters:
Bajo la alambra
De dentro hacia afuera
El costal de algodon
Cajas de carton
Tener y retener
Spanish AP Lang.
Cuentos de Eva Luna (classbooks): The stories to be read:
1 Dos palabras
2 El oro de Tomas
Vargas
3 Lo mas olvidado
del olvido
4 El huesped de la
maestra
5 De barro estamos
hechos
Spanish 5 Cine La aventura de Miguel Littin (classbooks) (Also, click here to link to the vocabulary and reading guides.)
Spanish AP Lit. La
casa de Bernarda Alba (Click
here to link to the reading.)
History and Social Sciences Department
What spectacle can be more edifying or more
seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for
mutual support? James Madison
GRADE 9 (all courses)
Gunnar’s Daughter Sigrid Undset
World History (choose
one)
Cod Mark Kurlansky
This engaging history of a "1000-year fishing spree," traces the relationship of cod fishery to medieval Christianity and Christian observances, international conflicts between England and Germany over Icelandic cod, slavery, the molasses trade, and the dismantling of the British Empire. Kurlansky writes in an entertaining style while providing accurate scientific information. The story does not have a happy ending, however. The Atlantic cod has been fished almost to extinction.
Physiology professor
Jared Diamond argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the
modern world. Societies that had a head start in food production advanced
beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed writing, technology,
government, and organized religion—as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of
war—and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate
cultures.
Daughter of Fortune Isabel Allende
Raised in the
British colony of Valparaiso, Chile after being abandoned as a baby, a pregnant
Eliza follows her lover to California at the height of the Gold Rush and finds
adventure and adversity on her road to independence and love. This novel exposes the reader to
mid-nineteenth-century life in the bustling ports of Chile, Great Britain,
Northern California, and China.
No True Glory Bing West
The most hard-fought campaign since the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces in April 2003, the battle for Fallujah seems to embody most every facet of the American military experience in that country--inordinate courage by the fighting men and their immediate superiors, indecision and contradiction by U.S. leaders from the top down, a disconnect between military will to succeed in Iraq and a lack of dollars and troops to support it, and a treacherous relationship between Fallujans and those Americans who would do everything to "help" them.
The Quiet American Graham Greene
In this acclaimed novel of romance and political intrigue set in Cambodia and Vietnam, Greene makes a strong case against American involvement in Vietnam. And he made this case back in the 1950's towards the end of French involvement in Indochina.
Women of the Silk
Gail Tsukiyama
The author takes her
readers back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood
amidst the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory
from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the
young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to
achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman
To many people, World War I seems like ancient history. It
is when the modern world began, or, in Barbara Tuchman's opinion, when the 19th
Century ended. This was the same war that saw the debut of the airplane,
submarine, tank, poison gas, machine gun, flamethrower, and hand grenade.
With attention to
fascinating detail, she explains just how the war started and why it could have
been stopped but wasn't.
The United States in the Modern World I
(choose one)
Daughter of Fortune Isabel Allende
Raised in the
British colony of Valparaiso, Chile after being abandoned as a baby, a pregnant
Eliza follows her lover to California at the height of the Gold Rush and finds
adventure and adversity on her road to independence and love. This novel exposes the reader to mid-nineteenth-century
life in the bustling ports of Chile, Great Britain, Northern California, and
China.
Flashman, George MacDonald Fraser
The quasi-historical
personal recollections of a British Army officer of the mid-19th
century, recounting his service in Afghanistan and India. Always emerging a hero from the most
dastardly acts of cowardice, Harry Flashman is the picaresque rogue par
excellence. As a man he can stoop lower,
hit fouler, lie smoother, deceive further and, above all, run faster than
anyone else. The first packet of the
Flashman Papers.
1831
Louis Masur
In
his study of the events of 1831, historian Louis Masur argues that America's
future faced inevitable upheaval directly linked to the failure of the founders
to resolve two issues: slavery and the federal-state conflict. Topics included
in this book: slave rebellion leader Nat Turner, abolitionist William Lloyd
Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Andrew Jackson & nullification, and the
plight of the Cherokee.
Master and Commander Patrick O’Brian
This is the first in a long
series of novels about the dashing Brit Jack Aubrey and life on the open seas
during the early 19th century.
Set against the backdrop of the Napoleon Wars, Captain Aubrey lead his
men through many a naval battle and develops a strong friendship with the
ship’s surgeon, Steven Maturin.
The
Bridge of San Luis Rey,
Thornton Wilder
In this Pulitzer Prize winner, a bridge
collapses in eighteenth-century Peru; five die. Who were they? In the answer to
that question lie numerous cosmic ironies, which are related in a melancholy
narrative of great power, simplicity and beauty. Brother Juniper, a thoughtful
friar, witnesses the event, views this event as an opportunity to prove the
existence of god and, finally, to elevate theology and prove God’s plan.
Modern European History (choose one)
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the
Plague Geraldine Brooks
When the plague arrives at a
small English village on a bolt of cloth from London, the minister devises a
challenging plan to cope with the disease.
Housemaid Anna Firth becomes the unlikely heroine. Based on an actual event.
Eleni Nicholas Gage
A true story written by the son
of a woman in the Greece of 1948. Communism, civil war and the traditions of
village life converge and the woman is imprisoned, tortured, and executed.
Gage, an investigative reporter, goes to Greece to discover the truth about his
heroic mother and her death.
The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows
of Josephine B.
Sandra
Gulland
This is a fictional account of
the life of the woman who eventually became Napoleon’s wife. It begins long before when Josephine is a
child growing up in the Caribbean in a French colony. It provides insights into the political
intrigue before, during and after the French Revolution.
Nicholas and Alexandra Robert Massie
Massie offers a moving, tragic,
and unforgettable account of the extraordinary Imperial dynasty of Tsar
Nicholas II, his doomed empire, and a revolution that would inexorably change
the world forever. "A larger than life drama."
Master and Commander Patrick O’Brian
This is the first in a long
series of novels about the dashing Brit Jack Aubrey and life on the open seas
during the early 19th century.
Set against the backdrop of the Napoleon Wars, Captain Aubrey lead his
men through many a naval battle and develops a strong friendship with the
ship’s surgeon, Steven Maturin.
All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Marie Remarque
Remarque has written the classic
story of youthful, enthusiastic young men who enlist in the German army of
World War I and learn the ravages of war.
Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Dava Sobel
Sixteenth Century Italy is
revealed through the letters exchanged between Galileo and his beloved
daughter, who is confined to a convent.
Their relationship supports the scientists as his discoveries lead him
to be tried for heresy by the Catholic Church.
Modern European History AP (choose one)
All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque
Remarque has written the classic story of youthful, enthusiastic young men who enlist in the German army during World War I and learn the ravages of war.
Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Dava Sobel
Sixteenth-century Italy is revealed through the letters exchanged between Galileo and his beloved daughter, who is confined to a convent. Their relationship supports the scientist as his discoveries lead him to be tried for heresy by the Catholic Church.
Nicholas and Alexandra Robert Massie
Massie offers a moving, tragic, and unforgettable account of the extraordinary imperial dynasty of Tsar Nicholas II, his doomed empire, and a revolution that would change the world forever. “A larger than life drama.”
Girl With a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier
Chevalier imagines the subject of Vermeer’s famous painting to be the artist’s young maidservant, and explores the gradual development of their relationship. Chevalier provides vivid descriptions of the Dutch Golden Age as well as the world of seventeenth-century painting.
King Leopold’s Ghost:
A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Adam Hochschild
A gripping account of how King Leopold II of Belgium took over the and his brutal treatment of its native peoples. The narrative focuses on the unlikely hero Edmund Morel, a Liverpool shipping agent who discovered Leopold’s atrocities and worked tirelessly to end them.
The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of King Louise XIV and Marie-Antoinette Deborah Cadbury
A fast-paced narrative that describes the French royal family on the eve of the French Revolution as well as the fate of each member of the family during the Revolution. Cadbury pays particular attention to the story of the young prince, Louis XVII, seeking to unravel the mystery surrounding his final days.
The United States in the Modern World II
(choose one)
Angels in America Tony Kushner (both parts)
In two full-length plays--Millennium Approaches and Perestroika--Kushner tells the story of a handful of people trying to make sense of the world. Prior is a man living with AIDS whose lover Louis has left him and become involved with Joe, an ex-Mormon and political conservative whose wife, Harper, is slowly having a nervous breakdown. Winner of two Tony Awards and the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
White Noise Dom DeLillo
Something is amiss in a small college town in Middle America. Teachers and students at the grade school are falling mysteriously ill. J.A.K. Gladney, world-renowned as the living center, the absolute font, of Hitler Studies in North America in the mid-1980s, describes the malaise affecting his town in a superbly ironic and detached manner. There is menace in the air, and ultimately it is made manifest by an industrial accident in the town, requiring evacuation. In the aftermath Gladney and his family must confront their own self-deceptions, and secrets.
Dreaming in Cuban Cristina
Garcia
Garcia's first novel is about Cuba, her native country, and three generations of del Pino women who are seeking spiritual homes for their passionate, often troubled souls. Celia del Pino and her descendants also share clairvoyant and visionary powers that somehow remain undiminished, despite the Cuban revolution and its profound effect upon their lives.
Mona in the Promised Land Gish Jen
Mona--a self-described "self-made mouth" goes to temple, loves pickles, is boy-crazy, worries about getting into the right college and keeping up with her over-achieving sister, and wishes her parents were less strict. Mona may be Jewish by choice (and voice) and American by nationality, but her surname is Chang and so she is considered less an expert on Seders and schmaltz than China.
The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe
After an opening chapter on the terror of being a test pilot's wife the story’s focus shifts to America’s first astronauts. Wolfe traces Alan Shepard's suborbital flight and Gus Grissom's embarrassing panic on the high seas. The author also produces an admiring portrait of John Glenn's apple-pie heroism and selfless dedication. The most vivid book ever written about America's manned space program.
Uprooted from their
family home in the Dominican Republic, the four Garcia sisters arrive in New
York City in 1960 to find a life far different from the genteel existence of
maids, manicures, and extended family that they left behind. Julia Alvarez
evokes the tensions and joys of belonging to two distinct cultures in this
novel.
The Quiet American Graham Greene
In this acclaimed novel of romance and political intrigue set in Cambodia and Vietnam, Greene makes a strong case against American involvement in Vietnam. And he made this case back in the 1950's towards the end of French involvement in Indochina.
The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman
World War I is when the modern world began, or, in Barbara Tuchman's opinion, when the 19th Century ended. This war saw the debut of the airplane, submarine, tank, poison gas, machine gun, flamethrower, and hand grenade. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning history, Tuchman writes about the turning point in 1914--the month leading up to the war and the first month of the war.
United States History (choose one)
The Alienist Caleb Carr
It is 1896, and a serial murderer is on the loose in New York City. The twist here is that the unofficial investigation (sanctioned by Chief of Police Theodore Roosevelt) uses a doctor specializing in the new science of psychology to help solve the crimes. The result is a fascinating discussion of a city poised on the edge of modernity.
Common Ground J. Anthony Lukas
The climax of this humane account of ten years in Boston that began with news of Martin Luther King's assassination is a watershed moment in the city's modern history--the 1974 riots that followed the court-ordered busing of kids to integrate the schools. Lukas focuses on two working-class families, one headed by an Irish-American widow and one by an African-American mother, and on the middle-class family of a white liberal couple.
A Hope in the Unseen Ron
Suskind
Cedric Jennings is the illegitimate son of an off-and-on drug dealer/ex-con and a hardworking, badly paid mother; it is her single-minded vision to have the boy escape the mean ghetto streets unscathed. Cedric has listened to her and is, as the book opens, an A student at a run-down, dispirited Washington, DC, high school, where he treads a thin line between being tagged a nerd and being beaten by gang leaders. Suskind, a Wall Street Journal reporter, follows the African-American youth through his last two years of high school and freshman year at Brown University.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X
Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. Although many believe his ethic was directly opposed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights struggle of the '60s, the two were not so different.
Uprooted from their
family home in the Dominican Republic, the four Garcia sisters arrive in New
York City in 1960 to find a life far different from the genteel existence of
maids, manicures, and extended family that they left behind. Julia Alvarez
evokes the tensions and joys of belonging to two distinct cultures in this
novel.
1831
Louis Masur
In
his study of the events of 1831, historian Louis Masur argues that America's
future faced inevitable upheaval directly linked to the failure of the founders
to resolve two issues: slavery and the federal-state conflict. Topics included
in this book: slave rebellion leader Nat Turner, abolitionist William Lloyd
Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Andrew Jackson & nullification, and the
plight of the Cherokee.
The Hub Thomas O’Connor
A comprehensive
history of Boston from the arrival of the Puritans to the present day by one of
Boston’s preeminent historians.
Out of this Furnace
Thomas Bell
Using a narrative
style that relies on information gathered from several primary sources, this
novel describes the struggles faced by workers in the steel industry outside
Pittsburgh. It follows several
generations in one particular family; themes stressed in it include
immigration, assimilation, and the obstacles faced by organized labor.
Time and Again Jack
Finney
This novel describes
a late 20th century man’s journey back through time to the year
1882. It includes a fascinating
description of New York City in the late nineteenth century.
The Burning Tim Madigan
A gripping account
of the 1921 Tulsa race riots.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic,
and Madness at the Fair that Changed America Erik Lawson
Not
long after Jack the Ripper haunted the ill-lit streets of 1888 London, H.H.
Holmes murdered somewhere between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women,
in the churning new metropolis of Chicago.
Many of the murders occurred during the city's finest moment, the
World's Fair of 1893. Larson's book is a novelistic yet wholly factual account
of the fair and the mass murderer who lurked within it.
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir Doris Kearns Goodwin
When historian Goodwin was six years old, her father taught her how to keep score for "their" team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. While this activity forged a lifelong bond between father and daughter, her mother formed an equally strong relationship with her through the shared love of reading. Goodwin recounts some wonderful stories in this coming-of-age tale about both her family and an era when baseball truly was the national pastime that brought whole communities together.
Love Medicine
Louise Erdrich
This
novel describes the multigenerational saga of two extended families who live on
and around a Chippewa reservation in North Dakota.
The Things They Carried Tim
O’Brien
A
powerful collection of interrelated short pieces on the experiences of ten US
soldiers of the Alpha Company fighting in Vietnam.
All
the
President’s
Men
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Journalists Carl
Bernstein and Bob deliver the stunning revelations and pieces in the Watergate
puzzle that brought about Nixon's scandalous downfall.
American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne
Hutchinson, the Woman who Defied the Puritans Eve LaPlante
Anne
Hutchinson's words are preserved in this well-researched account of her
testimony against charges of heresy and sedition before the Massachusetts
General Court in 1637. Hutchinson, a mother of 16, portrayed here as a feminist
and a fighter for religious freedom who wielded great political power and
eventually was banished to Rhode Island.
Mother Night Kurt Vonnegut
American Howard W.
Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi
war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true
gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray
with a verdict that will haunt us all.
The Wizard of Oz L.
Frank Baum
It
has been suggested that as an allegory of the Gilded Age political economy and
a comment on the gold standard, The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz highlights the possible political and monetary
symbolism by relating characters, settings, and incidents in it to the
historical events and figures of the 1890s, the decade in which Baum wrote his
story. The result is a unique way for readers to acquaint themselves with a
classic of children's literature that is a bit different and darker than the
better-known film version
The Jungle Upton Sinclair
Originally published
in 1906 by Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
sent shockwaves throughout the United States that resulted in cries for labor
and agricultural reforms. It should be noted that Sinclair, a devout Socialist,
traveled to Chicago to document the working conditions of the world-famous
stockyards. This resulting book utilized the metaphor of the jungle (survival
of the fittest, etc.) throughout to reflect how the vulnerable worker was (at
that time) at the mercy of the powerful packers and politicians.
Hard Times: An Oral History of
the Great Depression Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel captures the Depression in all its vast
complexity, assembling a mosaic of memories as told by those who faced
destitution as well as those who stayed rich. The book is a gold mine of
information--much of it hitherto unknown--combined with a fascinating interplay
of fact and memory.
Jack: Straight from the Gut Jack Welch
They called him Neutron Jack. In his
20-year career at the helm of General Electric, Jack Welch defied conventional
wisdom and turned an aging behemoth of a corporation into a lean, mean engine
of growth and corporate innovation., Welch recounts his career and the style of
management that helped to make GE one of the most successful companies of the
last century.
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
One of the greatest and most socially
significant novels of the twentieth century, Steinbeck's controversial
masterpiece indelibly captured America during the Great Depression through the
story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads.
The
Great Crash 1929 John Kenneth
Galbraith
Rampant
speculation. Record trading volumes. Assets bought not because of their value
but because the buyer believes he can sell them for more in a day or two, or an
hour or two. Welcome to the late 1920s. Of course, Galbraith notes, every
financial bubble since 1929 has been compared to the Great Crash. Especially
timely as the bubble bursts once again in 2008.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Dai
Sijie
Presidential Politics in a Global Age
The Second Civil War Ronald Brownstein
Ragtime
E. L Doctorow
The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot Naomi Wolf
An impassioned call to action to Americans from all walks of life to restore the checks and balances and our time-honored protections against abuses of power outlined by our Founding Fathers.
The Revolution: A Manifesto Ron Paul
Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul identifies the core truths behind everything threatening America, from the reasons behind the collapse of the dollar and the looming financial crisis, to terrorism and the loss of our precious civil liberties.
The Conscience of a Conservative Barry Goldwater
Written at the height of the Cold War and in the wake of America's greatest experiment with big government, the New Deal, Goldwater's message was not only remarkable, but radical. He argued for the value and importance of conservative principles--freedom, foremost among them--in contemporary political life.
Conscience of a Liberal Paul Krugman
Krugman's great theme is economic equality and the liberal politics that support it. America's post-war middle-class society was not the automatic product of a free-market economy, he writes, but was created by the policies of the Roosevelt Administration.
World Religions
Ramayana William Buck
General Summer
Reading List
About a Boy Hornby, Nick
Will Lightman's hip and single life takes an abrupt turn when a fatherless 13-year-old boy shows up on the doorstep of his London flat.
Bel Canto Patchett, Ann
Somewhere in South America, a birthday
celebration for a Japanese businessman turns into a nightmare when terrorists
take all of the guests hostage. A
world-famous opera singer and her music transform the situation.
The Blue Star Early,
Tony
In the sequel to Jim The Boy, Jim is a senior in high
school in rural North Carolina in the summer of 1941. Love and war intersect in
the life of Jim Glass in this highly acclaimed novel.
Caucasia Senna, Danzy
A biracial family with 2 daughters moves between black militants and white suburbanites exploring the complicated legacies of race.
Crooked McNeil, Tom and Laura
Clara's parents seem to be splitting up,
Amos' father is ill, the town bullies have mastered the juvenile justice
system, and one of them becomes fixated on Clara.
In the Night Time Haddon, Mark
As an autistic boy searches for the murderer of the dog next door, he uncovers deeply buried family secrets and discovers his own gifts in the process.
Fault Line Tashjian, Janet
Becky dreams of becoming a stand-up
comic, and when Kip, already a rising star in the San Franciso comedy scene
comes into her life, she is thrilled.
But there is a dark side to Kip.
The author explores relationship abuse from the point of view of both
the victim and the perpetrator.
Geography Club Hartinger, Brent
Navigating the turbulent waters of high School is tough enough, but for gay students, revealing one's true self can mean social suicide. Fortunately a determined group of kids form the "Geography Club" and create a space where they can be themselves.
Girl with a Pearl Earring Chevalier, Tracy
Griet, a young maid in Dutch painter Vermeer's household, develops a fascination for the master and his work that is reciprocated and nearly leads to disaster.
Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides
A novel about a female child
growing up in suburban Detroit who slowly finds out he's not actually a girl.
This is a riveting saga spanning generations and continents, and a realistic,
original and emotional coming-of-age story.
My Father had a Daughter Tiffany, Grace
William Shakespeare's neglected daughter
runs away to London to sabotage his latest play. She disguises herself and joins the Globe
Players only to discover that her father's life as a playwright is more
complicated than she ever imagined.
My Sister's
Keeper Jodi
Picoult
Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of
leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for
procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so
that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how
her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. This page-turner explores
relationships between family members facing heart-breaking challenges and
dilemmas.
My Year of Meats Ozecki, Ruth
Bizarre things happen when a quirky documentary filmmaker sets out to film ideal American housewives preparing wholesome, meat-centered meals to sell the idea that "beef is best" to Japanese housewives.
A Northern Light Donnelly, Jennifer
In 1910, Mattie, a gifted writer, earns a
full scholarship to Barnard and a chance to escape her upstate New York
home. When a young woman's drowning
becomes a homicide, Mattie's plans are put on hold as she weighs family
obligations, first love, and desire to become a writer.
The Passion of Artemisia Vreeland, Susan
Women in 17th century Rome and Florence were not expected to be painters, but Artemisia Gentileschi is driven by her fervor and talent to overcome all obstacles.
Poisonwood Bible Kingsolver, Barbara (or others by this author)
Nathan, a Baptist missionary, arrives in
the about-to-erupt Belgian Congo with his wife and four daughters. Culture shock, over-confidence, and
unawareness of the political climate lead to more than they bargained for.
Pompeii Harris, Robert
Just days before Mt. Vesuvius erupts, a young engineer is
dispatched from Rome to see why the aqueduct is failing. While solving the problem, Marcus falls in
love, meets Admiral Pliny, and finds himself in the middle of a political
scandal.
The Secret Life of Bees Kidd, Sue Monk
The only mother 13-year-old Lily has ever
known is her black housekeeper, Rosaleen.
When Rosaleen insults a white man, the two escape to Tiberon, North
Carolina and to the home of three sister bee-keepers. Here Lily learns about love and trust from
these strong black women.
Someone Like You Beck, Timothy James
At the Mall of
the Universe, you can buy anything, and four friends have gathered to talk
about what they need most.
Those Who Save Us Blum,
Jenna
This novel is a
story of a mother, a daughter, and the wartime secrets of a mother who did what
she needed to do in order to survive with her child. The novel moves back and
forth from Nazi Germany in the late 30’s and ’40, to present day rural
Minnesota.
When Elephants Dance Holthe, Tess Uriza
Papa explains
the war like this: "When elephants dance, the chickens must be
careful." So begins this novel,
part history, part supernatural tale, part love story.
Zorro Allende,
Isabel
A re-telling of
the adventures of Diego de la Vega, born to an aristocratic Spanish father and
a Shoshone mother. Diego's crisis of
identity and love for an unattainable woman make captivating reading.
The Glass Harmonica Marley Louise
The ethereal music of the glass harmonica mysteriously intertwines the lives of two unique heroines – one living in Benjamin Franklin's 18th century household, and the other living in 21st century Seattle.
To Say Nothing of the Dog Willis, Connie
A wild and funny excursion to rebuild Coventry Cathedral through time, space, and the course of history.
Snow in August Hamill, Pete
An Irish kid in Brooklyn and a Rabbi who survived the Holocaust join forces against the destructive violence of bigotry. In doing so, they make a miracle.
Starfish Watts, Peter
The continental power grid that lies at
the bottom of the Pacific Ocean has been handed over to a group of humans
altered for deep ocean living and who have become borderline psychos. What will happen when they realize how
powerful they really are?
Atticus Hansen, Ron
Atticus Cody, a rancher in Colorado, hears that his son has committed suicide. When he travels to Mexico to recover the body, he suspects murder. The intensity of a father's love for his son is the core of this mystery.
Disordered Minds Walters, Minette (or others by this author)
A 1970's murder
is re-investigated when the person convicted of the crime commits suicide. The unlikely pair of an anthropologist and a
London Councillor probe a possible miscarriage of justice, uncovering prejudice
and abuse. A tale of psychological
suspense.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon King, Stephen
Trisha, a
plucky nine-year-old hiking with her family, steps off the Appalachian Trail
for a moment and becomes lost. Being
alone in the woods at night is terrifying. Her only reprieve is listening to
the Red Sox on her walkman, and "connecting with" her favorite relief
pitcher, Tom Gordon.
Harvard Yard Martin,
William
The serenity of a small island off
Cornwall is shattered when a distinguished guest is found hanging from the
lighthouse, apparently murdered. It's a
job to be handled with the utmost discretion- a job for Adam Dalgliesh.
Innocence Hosp,
David
A Boston lawyer finds himself defending an illegal El
Salvador immigrant with gang ties. The man has served 15 years for murder, but
evidence emerges that might prove him innocent if his lawyer can reopen the
case, and stay alive. This well written legal thriller is authored by an
attorney and native Bostonian who captures the city well, and tells a
compelling story.
Paranoia Joseph Finder
An exciting page-turner about corporate espionage and blackmail. A young, bright financial whiz cuts a corner in order to do a good deed, but to protect himself, finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble.
Rule of Four Caldwell, Ian
The Sinister Pig Hillerman, Tony
Sgt. Jim Chee
of the Navaho tribal police has just been informed of a corpse found at the
Jicarilla Apache gas field and the FBI is insisting that it take over the case.
Through a Glass Darkly Leon, Donna (or others by this author)
A family owned
glass factory just off the Italian coast near Venice may have contributed
through its toxic chemicals to a child's birth defects. A Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery.
Chu Ju's House (China) Whelan, Gloria
Under the Sun (Yugoslavia) Dorros, Arthur
Pobby and Dingan (Australia) Rice, Ben
The setting is a gritty opal-mining
town. It is an enchanting tale about the
power of familial love and of believing in the unseen and unbelievable
Me talk Pretty One day Sedaris, David
In laugh-out-loud essays, Sedaris recounts his early speech
therapy sessions to correct a lisp and moves on to his attempts to explain
American culture in French to the French.
Persepolis: the story of a
childhood Satrapi, Maryam
Told as a graphic novel, it is the story
of a young Iranian girl growing up first in a relatively free society, then in
a more oppressive one. Her politically
involved family sees its share of horrors during the revolution.
Non-Fiction
The Botany of Desire:
A Plant's eye view of the world Pollan, Michael
Memoir,
history and botany combine to tell the story of four domesticated plants and
their relationship to human life.
Brunelleschi's Dome King, Ross
The dome of
Santa Maria del Fiore is an architectural marvel today, and in the 14th
century, its engineering was astonishing.
The fascinating account of the 28-year building project is filled with
details of the men and women involved.
Driving Mr. Albert Paterniti, Michael
A fascinating look at the 1955 autopsy
that led to endless rumors, a poem, a documentary, and a cross-country
trip. Come along on the ride with the
eccentric doctor who performed the autopsy and with the Tupperware containers
in the trunk!
Fast Food Nation: the dark side of the all-American meal Schlosser, Eric
What's in that burger? Schlosser tells us in no uncertain terms what we are eating, and what it is doing to our bodies.
The Hungry Ocean Greenlaw, Linda
The only female swordfish captain tells her story of a life
at sea.
In the Heart of the Sea Philbrick, Nathanial
This is the true story of the whale ship Essex destroyed by a sperm whale in 1820. The 19-member crew, stranded in the middle of the Pacific struggle with storms, burning sun, starvation, dehydration, and cannibalism.
Lost in Mongolia: rafting the world's last unchallenged river Angus, Colin
Who would expect help from Russian
mobsters in the remotest corner of Siberia?
Three crazy guys would as they raft their way down the 5,500 km Yenisey
River.
Nickel
and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America Ehrenreich,
Barbara Ehrenreich takes a job at minimum wage to find out how it is possible
to live the way millions of Americans must.
The Professor and the Madman Winchester, Simon
How could anyone have written the Oxford
English Dictionary? It took the devoted
professor James Murray and Dr. William Minor, a surgeon who was incarcerated in
an English asylum and who contributed
most of the quotations to manage it.
This is the story of their friendship.
A Walk in the Woods: rediscovering America on the Appalachaian Trail Bryson, Bill
A hilarious trip from one end to the other of the Appalachian trail with two unprepared and out-of-shape adventurers.
All Souls Macdonald, Robert Patrick
In "Southie,"
poverty, drugs, and a shadowy gangster world are real threats. MacDonald's
mini-skirted, accordian-playing mother does her inadequate best with her family
of ten.
Catfish and Mandela Pham, Andrew X.
Son of Vietnamese immigrants, Pham returns
to his native land, traveling by bicycle through the country he barely
remembers to help him answer the question: is he Vietnamese or American?
Colors of the Mountain Chen, Da
China's Cultural Revolution could have defeated Da Chen. His irrepressible and courageous spirit enables him not only to survive, but to triumph over the ruthlessness of the Revolution.
Funny in Farsi Dumas Firoozih
When Firoozeh was fourteen
years old, her family moved from Iran to California. Talk about culture shock!
Project Girl McDonald, Janet
The author grew up in a
public housing project in NYC, the middle child of seven. Her determination enables her to graduate
from Vassar and later earn advanced degrees in journalism and law. Despite her ability, much of her life
revolves around the violence, drug abuse and poverty of her childhood.
Revenge: a story of hope Blumenfeld, Laura
Blumenfeld's searches for
the man who shot her father, and her meditations upon and mastery of revenge
have a particular force in our post-9/11 world.
Rocket Boys Hickam, Homer H.
Against overwhelming odds and little
knowledge of rocket science, Hickam and his high school buddies win the
National Science Award for rocketry
Sports
Blades of Glory Rosengren, John
The biography of Bill Belichek, the Patriots coach and 3-time winner of the superbowl.
Every Second Counts Armstrong, Lance
Good Enough to Dream Kahn, Roger
Kahn buys a near-bankrupt, low-level minor league team and spends a year with "major league rejects" who play their hearts out for an organization that pays peanuts. A funny, poignant story that captures a love for the game.
A look at what made Jordan the undisputed
king of the court during his incredible career in the NBA.
The Punch Feinstein, John
In December 1977. L.A. Lakers' Kermit
Washington decked Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich, nearly ending his
life. Journalist Feinstein investigates
that instant through interviews with the key players.
Seabiscuit Hillenbrand, Laura
During the great depression of the 1930's,
a novice horse owner, an antisocial cowboy trainer, a half-blind too-tall
jockey and an ornery, undersized racehorse combined to make a champion.
Too Far Lupica, Mike
This thriller/mystery tells of a high school basketball team whose potential championship season is clouded by the murder of its team manager and rumors sadistic hazing.
Wait Till Next Year Goodwin, Doris Kearns
The prize-winning historian writes about
her magical childhood growing up in Brooklyn during the reign of the Dodger's
great players Jackie Robinson, Peewee Reese, and Roy Campanella
1,2,3 …infinity Garnow, George
Bully for Brontosaurus Gould, Stephen Jay (or others by this author) Collection of essays which first appeared in Natural History magazine. The chapters range from ideas about the creation of earth to evolution, to the understanding of nature and are meant to include a wide audience.
Checkers Marsden, John
A rich Australian girl's life falls apart and ends up in a hospital psych ward. As she tries to remember the series of events leading to her breakdown, the mysteryand horror of it is gradually revealed.
The Chip Reid,
T.R.
The inventors of the microchip were largely obscured by the fame of the device they created. The success of the two independent inventors led to patent fights, lots of money, and trade disputes with Japan.
The Devil's Flu Davies, Pete
An account of the deadly flu of 1918, its
effect on the world at war, and the scientists who spent their lives pursuing a
cure for this deadly disease.
Flatland: a Romance in Many Directions Abbott, Edwin A.
A mathematical adventure in a two-dimensional world. The memoir of A. Square, it is populated by geometrical figures that think, speak and feel.
Joy of Pi Blattner, David
This is an intriguing little gem that
explores the many facets of pi, including memory devices to help memorize pi to
hundreds of places. There are pi-inspired
cartoons, poems, and jokes to foster new affection for the funny little symbol.
Life in the Treetops Lowman, Margaret D.
If you love exotic animals and
hair-raising stories, you will find both in this true account of
nature-watching in New Guinea.
Men of Math Bell, Eric Temple
A child in wartime England, Sacks recalls the "stinks and bangs" of his chemistry experiments and the wonderful tutelage of his family, including his adored Uncle Tungsten.
Note: We indebted to the Cooperative Library Association for many of the recommendations and annotations for these books.