Dear Families,
This summer, all rising 9th-12th grade students will be required to read at least one book in preparation for next year’s Sulam English class. We strongly encourage parents to read along with students as a way to model lifelong learning and to help students engage meaningfully. Please select one book from the following list. In addition to reading your selected book, please bring it with you to class during the first week of school. Students will be expected to complete a written assignment related to their summer book during the first week of school. Texts that are bolded are not required reading for our students, but we wanted to include them as options as some of their peers will be reading those books as a Berman required text.
Alternatively, students may choose a different book, but it must be approved by either Mrs. Scherr Scherra@mjbha.org and cc Mrs. Houben at houbenl@mjbha.org.
Graphic Novel or Sports-Related
American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
Dragon Hoops, Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
March, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (graphic novel)
Displacement, Kiku Hughes
The Running Dream, Wendelin Van Draanen
Tumbling, Caela Carter
QB1, Mike Lupica
Game Seven, Paul Volponi
Golden Arm, Carl Deuker
A Map to the Sun, Sloane Leong
Nonfiction
The Young Champion’s Mind: How to Think, Train, and Thrive Like an Elite Athlete, by Jim Afremow, PhD (nonfiction)
Mental Toughness for Young Athletes, Moses and Troy Horne (nonfiction)
What If? (Book 1 and/or 2), Randall Munroe
Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World, Matt Parker
Economic Facts and Fallacies, Thomas Sowell
The Man Who Went to the Far Side of the Moon, Schyffert, Bea Uusma
Alive! Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People Who Survived Deadly Tornadoes, Avalanches,Shipwrecks, and More, Editors of Readers’ Digest Association
Memoir or based on true story:
Refugee, Alan Gratz
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
Kent State, Deborah Wiles
The Color of Water, James McBride
Into the Wild, Jack Krakauer
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah
A Long Way Home, Saroo Brierly
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek, Maya Van Wagenen
Fantasy or Sci-Fi:
The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
The Martian, Andy Weir
Dragonfruit, Makiia Lucier
Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross
Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things, Margie Fuston
The Word for World is Forest, Ursula K. Le Guin
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (*required for incoming 11th/12th graders enrolled in Berman English- Politics & The Art of Persuasion Class)
Realistic Fiction:
We Are Not Free, Traci Chee (*required for incoming 10th graders enrolled in Berman English)
The Chosen, Chaim Potok
Sunrise Over Fallujah, Walter Dean Myers
Frontera, Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo
Windfall, Jennifer E. Smith
Destination Anywhere, Sara Barnard
Chloe and the Kaisho Boys, Mae Coyiuto
A Heart in a Body in the World, Deb Caletti
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
Thieves Gambit, Kavion Lewis
The Catcher in the Rye
Code of Honor, Alan Gratz
Squirm, Carl Hiaasan
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
The Call of the Wild, Jack London
Peak, Roland Smith
*Sulam English students are not required to read the bolded titles. It is only on this list as a possible recommendation in case students want to read the same book as their Berman peers. Berman incoming 9th graders will read 2 graphic novels from a recommended list, while incoming 11th/12th Berman English students enrolled in Film & Literature will read 2 short stories posted on Berman’s Summer Reading site.
