Members
of the English Department have compiled the following list of summer reading; it is based
entirely on books that Boston Latin School Students read in their English courses in
Classes VI and V. You are required to read a total of seven books from this list
before school opens in September: the three books from the required list and four
additional books from the other list.
Since you will be asked to write about these books in September, you
must take notes on all seven books. Use the format provided, and expect
that your teacher will collect these notes.
The Three Required Books
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
The Sea-Wolf, Jack London
Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
Other Books (Choose four.)
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
April Morning, Howard Fast
The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
The Friends, Rosa Guy
The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, James Hilton
Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid
Inherit the Wind, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
The Contender, Robert Lipsyte
The Call of the Wild, Jack London
The Giver, Lois Lowry
The Learning Tree, Gordon Parks
The Yearling, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Friedrich, Hans Peter Richter
The Pearl, John Steinbeck
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson*
Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson*
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain*
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain*
Farewell to Manzanar, Jean Wakatsuki Houston
Night, Elie Wiesel
Dragonwings, Laurence Yep
* Read only one book by any author on this second list
NOTES ON SUMMER READING
Use this format for recording your notes on each of the seven books you read this
summer.
Title:
Author:
Setting (both time and place):
Major Characters (names and most salient traits):
Plot Summary (limited to three well-written sentences):
Theme (a generalization about life or human nature stated in a
single declarative sentence):
Personal Reaction/Evaluation: