Diman Summer Reading List for 2007

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Click here for the special needs reading list.

Notice:

Young adult literature often deals with subjects that are controversial and realistic. Many of these books do not contain easy answers to problems and the characters do not "live happily ever after." Teens struggling with the issues and pressures of modern society often find these novels can be of help in dealing with their own problems because they are able to identify with the characters in the stories.

Parents are encouraged to review the recommended selections prior to their son/daughter reading the book.

All questions concerning the summer reading assignments can be directed to Mrs. Michelle Letendre, Academic Coordinator, at 508-678-2891 x1320.

The following books from the summer reading list are all highly recommended. Several of the selections may contain subject matter or language that might be disturbing to some readers and/or parents.

All lists are sorted by Call Number/Author.

Grade 9

FIC MAZ	Mazer, Harry. A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor. 1st Aladdin Paperbacks ed. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2002, c2001. Summary: While fishing with his friends off Honolulu on December 7, 1941, teenaged Adam is caught in the midst of the Japanese attack and through the chaos of the subsequent days tries to find his father, a naval officer who was serving on the U.S.S. Arizona when the bombs fell.
FIC MCD	McDaniel, Lurlene. Angels Watching Over Me. New York : Bantam, 1996. Summary: While staying in a hospital during the Christmas season, Leah Lewis Hall learns about angels from her roommate, an Amish girl named Rebekah, who convinces her that the spiritual guardians will look after her in her time of need.
FIC SHA	Shan, Darren. Cirque du Freak. 1st U.S. ed. Boston: Little, Brown, c2001. Summary: Two boys who are best friends visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices.
FIC WES	Westerfield, Scott. Uglies. 1st Simon Pulse ed. New York : Simon Pulse, 2005. Summary: Tally is faced with a difficult choice when her new friend Shay decides to risk life on the outside rather than submit to the forced operation that turns sixteen year old girls into gorgeous beauties, and realizes that there is a whole new side to the pretty world that she doesn't like.
FIC WOO	Woodson, Jacqueline. If You Come Softly. New York : Putnam, 1998. Summary: After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen year old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.

Grade 10

FIC MCN	McNamee, Graham. Acceleration. New York : Wendy Lamb Books, c2003. Summary: Stuck working in the lost and found department of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him.
FIC AND	Anderson, Laurie Halse. Catalyst. New York : Speak, 2003, c2002. Summary: Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.
FIC FLI	Flinn, Alex. Fade to Black. 1st ed. New York : HarperTempest, c2005. Summary: An HIV-positive high school student hospitalized after being attacked, the bigot accused of the crime, and the only witness, a classmate with Down Syndrome, reveal how the assault has changed their lives as they tell of its aftermath.
FIC DES	Dessen, Sarah. Keeping the Moon. New York : Viking, 1999. Summary: Fifteen-year-old Colie, a former fat girl, spends the summer working as a waitress in a beachside restaurant, staying with her overweight and eccentric Aunt Mira, and trying to explore her sense of self.
FIC BAU	Bauer, Joan, 1951-. Rules of the Road. New York : Puffin Books, 2000, c1998. Summary: Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.

Grade 11

FIC RIN	Rinaldi, Ann. A Break with Charity : A Story About the Salem Witch Trials. 1st Gulliver Books pbk. ed. Orlando : Harcourt, 1994, c1992. Summary: While waiting for a church meeting in 1706, Susanna English, daughter of a wealthy Salem merchant, recalls the malice, fear, and accusations of witchcraft that tore her village apart in 1692.
FIC LYN	Lynch, Chris. Inexcusable. 1st ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2005. Summary: High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong.
FIC DES	Dessen, Sarah. Just Listen : a Novel. New York : Viking, 2006. Summary: Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party that changed her life.
FIC MIK	Mikaelsen, Ben, 1952-. Touching Spirit Bear. 1st rack ed. New York : HarperTrophy, 2005, c2001. Summary: Fifteen-year-old Cole, trying to avoid prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.
FIC MEY	Meyer, Stephenie, 1973-. Twilight. 1st ed. New York : Little, Brown, 2005. Summary: When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

Grade 12

B RUN	Runyon, Brent. The Burn Journals. 1st ed. New York : Knopf :, c2004. Summary: Presents the true story of Brent Runyon, who at fourteen set himself on fire and sustained burns over eighty percent of his body and describes the months of physical and mental rehabilitation that followed as he attempted to pull his life together./td>
FIC SPR	Springer, Nancy. I Am Mordred : A Tale from Camelot. New York : Firebird, 2002, c1998. Summary: When Mordred learns the identity of his father, he struggles with feelings of hatred, but also fights the fate which determines that he kill the good and gracious king./td>
FIC SEB	Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones : A Novel. 1st ed. Boston : Little, Brown, c2002. Summary: Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon, the victim of a sexual assault and murder, looks on from the afterlife as her family deals with their grief, and waits for her killer to be brought to some type of justice./td>
FIC AND	Anderson, Laurie Halse. Prom. New York : Viking, 2005. Summary: Eighteen-year-old Ash wants nothing to do with senior prom, but when disaster strikes and her desperate friend, Nat, needs her help to get it back on track, Ash's involvement transforms her life./td>
FIC ALM	Almond, David, 1951-. Skellig. New York : Dell Laurel-Leaf, [2001]. Summary: Unhappy about his baby sister's illness and the chaos of moving into a dilapidated old house, Michael retreats to the garage and finds a mysterious stranger who is something like a bird and something like an angel.