Parents and students in Duxbury are in for a treat this summer.The new English Department summer reading list is out and it's FABULOUS!
No duds on this one. You can find the list here:
Duxbury Summer Reading List
I just ordered multiple copies of these books and will keep them in a separate area of the Reference Room for easy browsing. So dig in and see what the teachers and librarians chose. I think you'll be happy.
Over the course of the next weeks and months, we'll use this blog for an open and honest discussion of the books on this list, (though I reserve the right to mediate).
I agree, great list this year! Preview the DMS selections here
ReplyDeletehttp://animoto.com/play/8Uo69Zah0KeYpcCloRXF9w
Read some of my reviews of the DMS titles here
http://www.duxbury.k12.ma.us/Page/2796
Mrs Allen DMS Librarian
LOVE your Animoto, Ms. Allen!
DeleteThis list was compiled by DMS and DHS teachers and librarians, with valuable input from Ellen Snoeyenbos of the Duxbury Free Library. I am grateful to all for their help.
ReplyDeleteSome of my own personal favorites are Right Ho, Jeeves (I am a big fan of P. G. Wodehouse, an absolute wizard when it come to manipulating the English language), Unbroken (one of the most exciting true adventure stories I have ever read), and Anne of Green Gables (let there be no misunderstanding about the fact that Anne spells her name with an “e”). Mr. Pip is another personal favorite, serving, as it does, as a beautiful tribute to Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, Great Expectations.
There are many titles on this list that I have not read at all but that came highly recommended by teachers and librarians. I look forward to reading them over the summer and will look for your feedback and recommendations on this blog.
Happy reading!
Karen Baynes
ELA Supervisor
Duxbury Public Schools
Ender's Game is a beautiful and tragic epic of the corrupting nature of power. Whether it is the power of an older sibling, the power of a teacher, or the power of a government, this book demonstrates how unchecked power leads to abuse and suffering.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Ellen for starting this blog! I read Bruiser by Neal Shusterman. This is a great book for incoming 8th graders. It is a powerful and moving novel whose characters grabbed me and made me feel deeply for them. The protagonist Brewster goes to school with siblings, Bronte and Tennyson and they all develop strong friendships. It is a fast read and one that remains with you long after you have finished it. I also loved A Long Walk to the Water by Linda Sue Park that tells the story of Nya and Salva. Their two stories are fascinating and are based on real life experiences in Africa. Please check out all the fabulous titles on the summer reading list! Relax, refresh and READ this summer.
ReplyDeleteMrs. North
8th Grade English Teacher
Duxbury Middle School
The Apothecary is one of the best books I've read in a long time! It's exciting and such a page turner. Best of all, it's different from the other books that I've read lately, which helped to keep my attention.
ReplyDeleteThe Namesake and Ender's Game, from the 9th grade list, are both phenomenal reads. Jhumpa Lahiri is an artist with words, and you will thoroughly enjoy the stories Lahiri creates. Ender's Game is a fun dystopian read. I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but I was mesmerized by Orson Scott Card's depiction of our future world.
I have heard wonderful things about many of the other books, and look forward to reading them this summer!
These are fantastic selections. Wow!
ReplyDeleteBill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods is a great choice for anyone who likes the outdoors. Also, it's brilliantly funny. (And I will never bring Snickers bars on the Appalachian Trail.)
Right Ho, Jeeves!, another favorite of mine, chronicles the hapless Bertie Wooster and his genius butler/savior Jeeves. Hilarious reading.
Could the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary possibly be an rip-roaring tale? Yes. Yes, indeed. Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman weaves the complicated story of the making of the O.E.D. with murder and mayhem.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor is an invaluable tool in reading and analyzing literature. Don't think this is a dry, boring read! Thomas C. Foster writes in a very informal, entertaining style--I love this book.
Thank You For Arguing is a new addition this year, and I anticipate this will be a great introduction to the grade 11 AP English Language and Comp course.
Hope you enjoy these books!
Kendall McWilliam
English Teacher
Duxbury High School
I highly recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak to all incoming freshmen (and to any reader, of course)! It is one of my favorites on this list (in addition to Little Women and The Namesake)!
ReplyDeleteA beautifully written piece of historical fiction set in Germany in World War II, the poetic syntax and unique narrative perspective (the book is narrated by Death) makes this an intriguing read right from the start. As clichéd as it sounds, I honestly couldn’t put the book down once I opened it. If you are uncertain which book to select for your summer reading, you can’t go wrong with The Book Thief.
Meaghan Davey
9th & 10th Grade English Teacher
Duxbury High School
I think Unbroken is one of the best pieces of non-fiction that I have read in a while. The descriptions allow you to almost feel as if you are feeling shark fins slide along your back after being stuck in a raft for more than a month. This amazing and unbelievable true story of survival shows that fact really can be stranger than fiction. Little Women is one of my all time favorites, following the lives of the March family is an emotional journey of growing up, losing innocence, and finding oneself. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a great story about a village being occupied during World War II by the Nazis. This is written in the form of letters back and fourth which is an interesting form of narration and allows the reader to enter into the minds and feelings of many different characters.
ReplyDeleteMeghan Peterson
Duxbury High School
English