10th grade reading list
Please buy the following four books by September 17, 2011
1) A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2) The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
3) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4) Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
These books can be purchased at any book store selling English books. If it is not available; ask the staff to order the book for you. It usually takes about 2 weeks for ordered books to arrive. Plan ahead and order it as soon as possible!
Additional books you might like to read for book reports:
Classics
Adams, Richard. Watership Down. c1972.
Fantasy.
Hazel and Fiver, wild rabbits, are turned out of their warren and must find a new home. The story of the dangers they encounter and the obstacles they overcome as they search for Watership Down make an amazing adventure filled with characters who will stay in your memory long after you close the book.
London, Jack. Call of the Wild. First published 1903.
Fiction, Classic
The story of Buck, a half-St. Bernard/half-Scotch shepherd, that is abducted and taken to the Klondike where it reverts to the wild and becomes a leader of a pack of wolves..
Swift, Johathan. Gulliver's Travels. First published: 1726
Fiction, Classic
Gulliver journeys to Lilliput, an imaginary land where the people are very tiny and to Brobdingnag, a land where the people are giants.
Pride and Prejudice - by Jane Austen
The Red Badge of Courage - by Stephen Crane ~ Crane's classic war novel examines important issues with the creation of his young hero, Henry Fleming.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey.
The Old Man and the Sea - by Ernest Hemingway ~ Hemingway's story of a fisherman and the fish he catches is far more than a fish story.
Fiction
Kinsella, W.P. Shoeless Joe. Houghton Mifflin, c1982.
Fiction
Shoeless Joe is about myth, magic, the power of dreams and baseball. From the first time Ray hears a voice whisper “If you build it, he will come”, his life is changed. He follows his heart and his dream, and finds the piece of him that was missing.
Malamud, Bernard. The Natural. First published: 1952.
Fiction
Gifted baseball player Roy Hobbs, his career derailed by a youthful indiscretion, makes a stunning comeback in later life, but finds himself still struggling against the temptations that would bring him to ruin.
The Good Earth - by Pearl S. Buck ~ Set in China in the early twentieth century, this story chronicles the life of a peasant family. Told in simple and realistic style, it is an unforgettable story .
Timeline - by Michael Crichton ~ A fast-paced thriller that makes history and physics fun - by the author of Jurassic Park.
The Princess Bride - by William Goldman ~ This classic “fairy tale” follows a poor farm boy named Westley, who will do anything for the woman he loves. The story includes fighting, poison, true love, hate, revenge, fantastical beasts, death, miracles, and much more!
A Walk to Remember - by Nicholas Sparks ~ If you liked the movie, you'll love the book. Variety magazine called the book "Bittersweet- A tragic yet spiritual love story."
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Little, Brown, 2007. Talented Arnold Spirit leaves the reservation school to go to an academically superior one located many miles away. How he copes with this change, both at school and on the reservation, is realistic, thought provoking, and laugh-out-loud funny.
Cavanagh, Thomas B. Head Games. St. Martin’s, 2007. The lead singer of a popular boy band disappears. A lucrative reward is offered by the band’s manager, a retired police detective, with two ex-wives, a teenage daughter, and a brain tumor he’s named “Bob.” Series
Hornby, Nick. Slam. Putnam, 2007. When fifteen-year-old skateboarder Sam "Slam" Jones learns that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, he turns to the only person he feels can help—his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Since Tony is only a poster, he doesn't offer answers, so it's up to Sam, thrust suddenly into maturity, to figure out the right thing to do.
Johnson, Maureen. 13 Little Blue Envelopes. HarperCollins, 2005. Ginny’s beloved, quirky Aunt Peg sends her on one more adventure when she dies, leaving Ginny a series of envelopes. The envelopes lead Ginny on a whirlwind tour of Europe where she finds answers to important questions about her aunt and about herself.
Crutcher, Chris. Deadline. Greenwillow, 2007. Eighteen-year-old Ben Wolf has been given less than a year to live, but he chooses not to tell anyone so his senior year will be as normal as possible. This surprisingly humorous story tracks that final year as Ben goes out for football, finds romance, and realizes that his secret has a serious impact on others.
Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass. Roaring Brook, 2002. A group of cool high school boys transform Simon Glass, the school nerd, into one of the most popular boys in school. Then they kill him.
Na, An. The Fold. Putnam, 2008. Joyce is faced with a dilemma when her pushy rich aunt offers her plastic surgery to change the look of her eyelids. Always compared to her beautiful, talented older sister, Joyce must decide what Korean beauty really means to her. Some amusing events occur as the result of her aunt's well-intentioned, but unwanted "gifts" to each family member.
Johnson: The First Part Last c2003 teenage, African American fiction
The birth of Bobby’s baby girl brings life changes to his carefree teenage life.
Nolan: Dancing on the Edge c2007 fiction
Miracle McCloy feels like a misfit in a dysfunctional family. Her mother died when she was born and her distant, brooding father disappears suddenly. Raised by her psychic grandmother, Gigi, Miracle searches for her identity and dancing becomes the only thing that makes Miracle feel like a whole person. After being committed to the psychiatric ward of a hospital, Miracle must face the truth about her past
Resau, Laura. The Indigo Notebook. Random House/Delacorte. 2009. Zeeta has lived in a different country every year with her mom Layla, an English teacher. Zeeta writes a different colored journal for every country, and this year’s is indigo. She longs for a boring suburban life, but then she meets Wendell.
Fantasy
The Hobbit - by J. R. R. Tolkien ~ Enter the world of magic and mystery created in this classic tale of good vs. evil.
Tolkien, J.R. Fellowship of the Rings. First published: 1954.
Frodo the hobbit and a band of warriors from the different kingdoms set out to destroy the Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control.
War of the Worlds - by H.G. Wells ~ First published in 1898, Wells classic "pseudo-scientific" tale tells of an invasion from Mars.
Gill, David Macinnis. Soul Enchilada. Greenwillow/Harper Teen. 2009. El Paso teen Eunice (Bug) Smoot’s grandfather sold his soul to the devil for a Cadillac and reneged on the deal. When a demon repo agent shows up, she finds out that her deceased grandfather pledged both the car and her soul as collateral, and she has 60 hours to figure out what to do.
Herbert, Frank. Dune. First published 1965. The Atreides family is banished to planet Dune where the ferocious Fremen live. Series
Jordan, Robert. Eye of the World. Tor, 1990. During the Third Age, the Age of Prophecy, the world and time itself hang in the balance in danger of falling under the Shadow. Series
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little, Brown, 2005. After transferring to a new school in Forks, Washington, seventeen-year-old Bella is attracted to an exquisitely handsome boy who, she comes to realize, is not wholly human. Series
Michaelis, Antonia. Tiger Moon. Amulet, 2008. Farhad is a thief destined for greater things. When the god Krishna catches him stealing an amulet, Farhad must make a choice between becoming a great hero or spending the rest of eternity as a worm. He chooses the hero's path and, with the help of a magical white tiger named Nitish, he embarks upon a quest to rescue Krishna's daughter from a demon who is holding her captive.
Moore, Perry. Hero. Hyperion, 2007. Thom Cr
Historical Fiction
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - by Betty Smith ~ A wonderful book about a girl growing up. Although set in the early 1900's, the tribulations faced by the young heroine will ring true with readers of the new millennium.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - by Christopher Paul Curtis ~ It is 1963 and an African American family from Michigan heads for Birmingham for a family visit. There they find hatred and more.
The Grapes of Wrath - by John Steinbeck ~ Steinbeck's stark novel about a family's migration from Oklahoma to California during the days of the dust bowl.
Shoeless Joe - by W.P. Kinsella ~ This great book is about baseball, fulfilling your dreams, and believing in those you love. Based on the story of legendary ball player "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, the story is a home run hit! The popular movie "Field of Dreams" was based on this work.
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. First published 1929. A British nurse and an American ambulance driver fall in love during World War I.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five, or, The children's crusade : a duty-dance with death. First published 1969. After surviving the bombing of Dresden in World War II, Billy Pilgrim returns to civilian life and has a successful career until he is kidnapped by aliens and displayed in a zoo on the planet of Tralfamador.
Biography
Delany, Sarah & Elizabeth. Having Our Say. c.1993.
Biography
Chronicles the experiences of two African-American women growing up in North Carolina at the turn-of-the-century
The Agony and the Ecstasy - by Irving Stone ~ The biography of Renaissance sculptor and artist Michelangelo, this book does just what its title promises-showing the torment and triumph of this gifted genius. It is a book you will never forget.
Friday Night Lights - by H.G. Bissinger ~ The amazing true story of a high school football team. See how the Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas transformed their community.
Alive - by Piers Paul Read ~ Two dozen rugby players must survive in the Andes mountains when their plane crashes.
Diary of a Young Girl - by Anne Frank ~ Anne Frank's diary of her time in hiding from the Germans is a classic of hope in a world of despair.
Abadzis, Nick. Laika. Roaring Brook, 2007. An abandoned puppy, Laika, was destined to become Earth’s first space traveler in the Soviet Union’s Sputnik program. This non-fiction graphic novel portrays the preparation for her fatal journey and the agony of her special handler, who knows that there are no plans for her to come back.
Beschloss, Michael. Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989. Simon & Schuster, 2007. A presidential scholar provides historical examples of presidents, including Jackson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, Kennedy, and Reagan, who faced adversity with courage and wisdom to change the future of the country.
Breashears, David and Audrey Salkeld. Last climb: the Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory. National Geographic, 1999. In 1924 the explorer, George Mallory, disappeared on Mount Everest only to be found 75 years later on the icy slopes. Breashears, himself a renown mountaineer, reveals the astounding facts of early climbing on Mt. Everest, describes the events of Mallory’s adventurous life, and suggests scenarios that may have led to his death on this most dangerous climb.
Runyon, Brent. The Burn Journals. Knopf, 2004. In this fast-moving and excruciatingly true story of a fourteen-year-old burn victim, Brent struggles to recover from his self-inflicted burns and psychological depression.
McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels. HarperCollins, 2006. Focusing on the storytelling aspects of drawing comics, the author's avatar uses a skillful mix of dry humor and instruction to offer insights into designing and drawing a comic strip.
Science Fiction
Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy c1980 humor, science fiction
After narrowly escaping Earth’s destruction, Arthur Dent travels the galaxy with the help of tour guide Ford Prefect, on a quest to save the universe
Farmer: The House of the Scorpion c2002 science fiction
In the future, clones are looked down upon by humans. However, Matt, a clone of a powerful leader, experiences special privileges.
Please buy the following four books by September 17, 2011
1) A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2) The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
3) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4) Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
These books can be purchased at any book store selling English books. If it is not available; ask the staff to order the book for you. It usually takes about 2 weeks for ordered books to arrive. Plan ahead and order it as soon as possible!
Additional books you might like to read for book reports:
Classics
Adams, Richard. Watership Down. c1972.
Fantasy.
Hazel and Fiver, wild rabbits, are turned out of their warren and must find a new home. The story of the dangers they encounter and the obstacles they overcome as they search for Watership Down make an amazing adventure filled with characters who will stay in your memory long after you close the book.
London, Jack. Call of the Wild. First published 1903.
Fiction, Classic
The story of Buck, a half-St. Bernard/half-Scotch shepherd, that is abducted and taken to the Klondike where it reverts to the wild and becomes a leader of a pack of wolves..
Swift, Johathan. Gulliver's Travels. First published: 1726
Fiction, Classic
Gulliver journeys to Lilliput, an imaginary land where the people are very tiny and to Brobdingnag, a land where the people are giants.
Pride and Prejudice - by Jane Austen
The Red Badge of Courage - by Stephen Crane ~ Crane's classic war novel examines important issues with the creation of his young hero, Henry Fleming.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey.
The Old Man and the Sea - by Ernest Hemingway ~ Hemingway's story of a fisherman and the fish he catches is far more than a fish story.
Fiction
Kinsella, W.P. Shoeless Joe. Houghton Mifflin, c1982.
Fiction
Shoeless Joe is about myth, magic, the power of dreams and baseball. From the first time Ray hears a voice whisper “If you build it, he will come”, his life is changed. He follows his heart and his dream, and finds the piece of him that was missing.
Malamud, Bernard. The Natural. First published: 1952.
Fiction
Gifted baseball player Roy Hobbs, his career derailed by a youthful indiscretion, makes a stunning comeback in later life, but finds himself still struggling against the temptations that would bring him to ruin.
The Good Earth - by Pearl S. Buck ~ Set in China in the early twentieth century, this story chronicles the life of a peasant family. Told in simple and realistic style, it is an unforgettable story .
Timeline - by Michael Crichton ~ A fast-paced thriller that makes history and physics fun - by the author of Jurassic Park.
The Princess Bride - by William Goldman ~ This classic “fairy tale” follows a poor farm boy named Westley, who will do anything for the woman he loves. The story includes fighting, poison, true love, hate, revenge, fantastical beasts, death, miracles, and much more!
A Walk to Remember - by Nicholas Sparks ~ If you liked the movie, you'll love the book. Variety magazine called the book "Bittersweet- A tragic yet spiritual love story."
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Little, Brown, 2007. Talented Arnold Spirit leaves the reservation school to go to an academically superior one located many miles away. How he copes with this change, both at school and on the reservation, is realistic, thought provoking, and laugh-out-loud funny.
Cavanagh, Thomas B. Head Games. St. Martin’s, 2007. The lead singer of a popular boy band disappears. A lucrative reward is offered by the band’s manager, a retired police detective, with two ex-wives, a teenage daughter, and a brain tumor he’s named “Bob.” Series
Hornby, Nick. Slam. Putnam, 2007. When fifteen-year-old skateboarder Sam "Slam" Jones learns that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, he turns to the only person he feels can help—his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Since Tony is only a poster, he doesn't offer answers, so it's up to Sam, thrust suddenly into maturity, to figure out the right thing to do.
Johnson, Maureen. 13 Little Blue Envelopes. HarperCollins, 2005. Ginny’s beloved, quirky Aunt Peg sends her on one more adventure when she dies, leaving Ginny a series of envelopes. The envelopes lead Ginny on a whirlwind tour of Europe where she finds answers to important questions about her aunt and about herself.
Crutcher, Chris. Deadline. Greenwillow, 2007. Eighteen-year-old Ben Wolf has been given less than a year to live, but he chooses not to tell anyone so his senior year will be as normal as possible. This surprisingly humorous story tracks that final year as Ben goes out for football, finds romance, and realizes that his secret has a serious impact on others.
Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass. Roaring Brook, 2002. A group of cool high school boys transform Simon Glass, the school nerd, into one of the most popular boys in school. Then they kill him.
Na, An. The Fold. Putnam, 2008. Joyce is faced with a dilemma when her pushy rich aunt offers her plastic surgery to change the look of her eyelids. Always compared to her beautiful, talented older sister, Joyce must decide what Korean beauty really means to her. Some amusing events occur as the result of her aunt's well-intentioned, but unwanted "gifts" to each family member.
Johnson: The First Part Last c2003 teenage, African American fiction
The birth of Bobby’s baby girl brings life changes to his carefree teenage life.
Nolan: Dancing on the Edge c2007 fiction
Miracle McCloy feels like a misfit in a dysfunctional family. Her mother died when she was born and her distant, brooding father disappears suddenly. Raised by her psychic grandmother, Gigi, Miracle searches for her identity and dancing becomes the only thing that makes Miracle feel like a whole person. After being committed to the psychiatric ward of a hospital, Miracle must face the truth about her past
Resau, Laura. The Indigo Notebook. Random House/Delacorte. 2009. Zeeta has lived in a different country every year with her mom Layla, an English teacher. Zeeta writes a different colored journal for every country, and this year’s is indigo. She longs for a boring suburban life, but then she meets Wendell.
Fantasy
The Hobbit - by J. R. R. Tolkien ~ Enter the world of magic and mystery created in this classic tale of good vs. evil.
Tolkien, J.R. Fellowship of the Rings. First published: 1954.
Frodo the hobbit and a band of warriors from the different kingdoms set out to destroy the Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control.
War of the Worlds - by H.G. Wells ~ First published in 1898, Wells classic "pseudo-scientific" tale tells of an invasion from Mars.
Gill, David Macinnis. Soul Enchilada. Greenwillow/Harper Teen. 2009. El Paso teen Eunice (Bug) Smoot’s grandfather sold his soul to the devil for a Cadillac and reneged on the deal. When a demon repo agent shows up, she finds out that her deceased grandfather pledged both the car and her soul as collateral, and she has 60 hours to figure out what to do.
Herbert, Frank. Dune. First published 1965. The Atreides family is banished to planet Dune where the ferocious Fremen live. Series
Jordan, Robert. Eye of the World. Tor, 1990. During the Third Age, the Age of Prophecy, the world and time itself hang in the balance in danger of falling under the Shadow. Series
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little, Brown, 2005. After transferring to a new school in Forks, Washington, seventeen-year-old Bella is attracted to an exquisitely handsome boy who, she comes to realize, is not wholly human. Series
Michaelis, Antonia. Tiger Moon. Amulet, 2008. Farhad is a thief destined for greater things. When the god Krishna catches him stealing an amulet, Farhad must make a choice between becoming a great hero or spending the rest of eternity as a worm. He chooses the hero's path and, with the help of a magical white tiger named Nitish, he embarks upon a quest to rescue Krishna's daughter from a demon who is holding her captive.
Moore, Perry. Hero. Hyperion, 2007. Thom Cr
Historical Fiction
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - by Betty Smith ~ A wonderful book about a girl growing up. Although set in the early 1900's, the tribulations faced by the young heroine will ring true with readers of the new millennium.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - by Christopher Paul Curtis ~ It is 1963 and an African American family from Michigan heads for Birmingham for a family visit. There they find hatred and more.
The Grapes of Wrath - by John Steinbeck ~ Steinbeck's stark novel about a family's migration from Oklahoma to California during the days of the dust bowl.
Shoeless Joe - by W.P. Kinsella ~ This great book is about baseball, fulfilling your dreams, and believing in those you love. Based on the story of legendary ball player "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, the story is a home run hit! The popular movie "Field of Dreams" was based on this work.
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. First published 1929. A British nurse and an American ambulance driver fall in love during World War I.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five, or, The children's crusade : a duty-dance with death. First published 1969. After surviving the bombing of Dresden in World War II, Billy Pilgrim returns to civilian life and has a successful career until he is kidnapped by aliens and displayed in a zoo on the planet of Tralfamador.
Biography
Delany, Sarah & Elizabeth. Having Our Say. c.1993.
Biography
Chronicles the experiences of two African-American women growing up in North Carolina at the turn-of-the-century
The Agony and the Ecstasy - by Irving Stone ~ The biography of Renaissance sculptor and artist Michelangelo, this book does just what its title promises-showing the torment and triumph of this gifted genius. It is a book you will never forget.
Friday Night Lights - by H.G. Bissinger ~ The amazing true story of a high school football team. See how the Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas transformed their community.
Alive - by Piers Paul Read ~ Two dozen rugby players must survive in the Andes mountains when their plane crashes.
Diary of a Young Girl - by Anne Frank ~ Anne Frank's diary of her time in hiding from the Germans is a classic of hope in a world of despair.
Abadzis, Nick. Laika. Roaring Brook, 2007. An abandoned puppy, Laika, was destined to become Earth’s first space traveler in the Soviet Union’s Sputnik program. This non-fiction graphic novel portrays the preparation for her fatal journey and the agony of her special handler, who knows that there are no plans for her to come back.
Beschloss, Michael. Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989. Simon & Schuster, 2007. A presidential scholar provides historical examples of presidents, including Jackson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, Kennedy, and Reagan, who faced adversity with courage and wisdom to change the future of the country.
Breashears, David and Audrey Salkeld. Last climb: the Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory. National Geographic, 1999. In 1924 the explorer, George Mallory, disappeared on Mount Everest only to be found 75 years later on the icy slopes. Breashears, himself a renown mountaineer, reveals the astounding facts of early climbing on Mt. Everest, describes the events of Mallory’s adventurous life, and suggests scenarios that may have led to his death on this most dangerous climb.
Runyon, Brent. The Burn Journals. Knopf, 2004. In this fast-moving and excruciatingly true story of a fourteen-year-old burn victim, Brent struggles to recover from his self-inflicted burns and psychological depression.
McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels. HarperCollins, 2006. Focusing on the storytelling aspects of drawing comics, the author's avatar uses a skillful mix of dry humor and instruction to offer insights into designing and drawing a comic strip.
Science Fiction
Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy c1980 humor, science fiction
After narrowly escaping Earth’s destruction, Arthur Dent travels the galaxy with the help of tour guide Ford Prefect, on a quest to save the universe
Farmer: The House of the Scorpion c2002 science fiction
In the future, clones are looked down upon by humans. However, Matt, a clone of a powerful leader, experiences special privileges.