ENGLISH 10

SUMMER READING 2017

Biography. Historical. Military. 2011

Book opening:

“In the predawn darkness of August 26, 1929, in the back bedroom of a small house in Torrance, California, a twelve-year-old boy sat up in bed, listening. There was a sound coming from outside, growing ever louder.”

#1 New York Times bestseller * Now a major motion picture * Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine * Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award.

Book Trailer

Fiction. Classic. 20th Century Indian novels. 1954

Book opening:

“Sometimes at night I think that my husband is with me again, coming gently through the mists, and we are tranquil together. Then morning comes, the wavering grey turns to gold, there is a stirring within me as the sleepers awake, and he softly departs.’”

Review: “I read this book for school. Having never heard of it, I assumed it would be boring. I was greatly surprised at how interesting it was.” (Truthful Consumer)

Book Trailer

Science Fiction. 1985

Nebula and Hugo awards

Book opening:

“‘I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one. Or at least as close as we’re going to get.’”

Review: “I would recommend this book to readers because of its excitement, meaning and unpredictability” (MrModenait)

Book Trailer

Horror, Gothic. 1897

Book opening:

“Jonathan Harker’s Journal -- (Kept in shorthand.)

3 May. Bistritz. - Left Munich at 8:35 p.m., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late.”

Review: “Dracula is to vampire novels as A Study in Scarlet is to detective novels: one of the first, greatest and the story which introduced the character for those genres.” (Milo)

Book trailer

Novel of manners, Romance. 1815

Book opening:

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.”

Review: “I genuinely found it a real page-turner” (Lattice)

Movie trailer

Novel of manners, Romance. 1813

Book opening:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Review: “I love the wonderful and spirited Lizzie Bennett, with her wit and humour” (Popcornapple)

Book introduction

Drama, Crime, Mystery. 1999

Michael L. Printz award, Coretta Scott King Award Honor, National Book Award Finalist

Book opening:

“The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.”

Review: “The road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps…” (Kirkus)

Questionnaire

Science Fiction, Humor. 1979

Book opening:

“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.”

Review: “To read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is to step into the garden shed of a maverick genius while he’s out.” (Secret Scribbler)

Book trailer

Historical Fiction. 1931

Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize for Buck in 38

Book opening:

“It was Wang Lung’s marriage day.”

Review: “Buck was the first western writer to describe ordinary Chinese as they really were, with warmth and depth.” (Shuyun)

Book trailer

A book of your choice

Any genre, any publication date.

Minimum of 200 pages.

Need ideas? Try the book finder! Take a look at the public library’s catalog! See the Summer Reading information on our webpage!

Works citedKirkus Reviews. "MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers." Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus, 24 June 2010, www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/walter-dean-myers/monster-myers/ .

Accessed 08 June 2016.

Lattice. "Emma by Jane Austen – Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 July 2015, www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jul/21/emma-Jane-austen-review. Accessed 08 June 2016.

Milo. "Dracula by Bram Stoker - Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 4 Feb. 2014, www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/feb/04/review-Dracula-bram-stoker. Accessed 8 June 2016.

MrModenait. "Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 14 May 2012, www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/14/enders-game-scott-card-review. Accessed 8 June 2016.

Popcornapple. "Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 14 Apr. 2016, www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/apr/14/pride-and-prejudice-jane-austen-review. Accessed 8 June 2016.

Secret Scribbler. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams – Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 9 July 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jul/09/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-by-douglas-adams-review. Accessed 8 June 2016.

Shuyun, Sun. "Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling | Book Review." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 17 Apr. 2010, www.theguardian.com/books/

2010/apr/18/burying-bones-pearl-buck. Accessed 8 June 2016.

Truthful Consumer. “Pleasantly Surprised.” Amazon.com. 3 Mar 2014, www.amazon.com/Nectar-Signet-Classics-Kamala-Markandaya/product-reviews/0451528239. Accessed 25 May 2017.