PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF EDISON TOWNSHIP

12th Grade SUMMER READING 2015

Directions: Students must read ONE book (either fiction OR non-fiction) and ONE non-fiction article from the list below. When you return to school in September, you must also submit a Reading Quotes Organizer for the texts that you read (worksheet is attached to this packet). Please choose quotations that support the theme below. Assignments and links to the non-fiction articles are provided on the school and District Websites.

GRADE 12 THEME: Identity
In literature a protagonist often experiences a transformation and a search for identity. This change often has a lasting effect on him/ her. Include references from the fiction and/ or nonfiction texts that relate to the theme of identity.
For students entering Grade 12
Fiction
Water For Elephants, Sara Gruen- Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death.
1000 Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini- Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation.
In the Country of Men, Hisham Matar- Libya, 1979. Nine-year-old Suleiman is soon caught up in a world he cannot hope to understand—where the sound of the telephone ringing becomes a portent of grave danger; where his mother frantically burns his father’s cherished books; where a stranger full of sinister questions sits outside in a parked car all day; where his best friend’s father can disappear overnight, next to be seen publicly interrogated on state television.
Whale Talk, Chris Crutcher- A varsity letter jacket: it's exclusive, nearly unattainable, revered . . . and everything that's screwed up about Cutter High, as far as T. J. Jones is concerned. That's why T. J. is determined to have the Cutter All Night Mermen—the unlikeliest swim team a high school has ever seen—earn letter jackets of their own.
Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell- As a college freshman, Cath struggles to find her place as she tries to balance her chaotic home life, her fan-fiction writing, and school, while discovering what life is like without her twin sister.
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri- The Namesaketakes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Non-Fiction
Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy- At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit.
Band of Brothers, Steven Ambrose- Stephen E. Ambrose’s iconic story of the ordinary men who became the World War II’s most extraordinary soldiers: Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, US Army. They came together, citizen soldiers, in the summer of 1942, drawn to Airborne by the $50 monthly bonus and a desire to be better than the other guy.
Freakonomics, Steven Levitt- Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner set out to explore the inner workings of a crack gang, the truth about real estate agents, the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, and much more.Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, they show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.
Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin- In the Deep South of the 1950s, journalist John Howard Griffin decided to cross the color line. Using medication that darkened his skin to deep brown, he exchanged his privileged life as a Southern white man for the disenfranchised world of an unemployed black man. His audacious, still chillingly relevant eyewitness history is a work about race and humanity-that in this new millennium still has something important to say to every American.
Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better, Clive Thompson- Technology doesn't own us; we own technology. Thompson delves into how we use technology to better ourselves, our memories, and our society more broadly.
The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens, Brooke Hauser- Spend one year in a high school with immigrant English- language learning students from over 40 different countries who speak over 25 different languages. At times funny, heartbreaking, frustrating, and inspiring, these students discover what it means to be "the new kids" in school and out.
Non-Fiction Articles
*Links and copies of articles are also provided on the school and District Websites.
"This is What 80 Looks Like"- Gail Collins
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/opinion/sunday/collins-this-is-what-80-looks-like.html
"Our Crazy College Crossroads"- Frank Bruni
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/opinion/bruni-our-crazy-college-crossroads.html
"Law Seeks to Ban Misuse of Genetic Testing"- Steven Greenhouse
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/business/16genes.html?_r=0
"Muscular Body Image Lures Boys Into Gym, and Obsession"- Douglas Quenqua
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/health/teenage-boys-worried-about-body-image-take-risks.html?pagewanted=all
"Should I Be a Jerk or a Human Being on Facebook?"- Sam Grobart
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/should-i-be-a-jerk-or-a-human-being-on-facebook/

A reading program is a joint responsibility between school and family. Parents might very reasonably disagree about what material constitutes suitable reading for children. The titles suggested are not Board of Education approved texts. They are works that are recommended by such organizations as the American Library Association, the New York Times, and the National Council for Teachers of English. They appear on many reading lists across the nation. Nevertheless, certain titles may contain subject matter that some parents may not want their children to read (whether Grimm’s Fairy Tales for young children or books with mature themes and graphic language for older students). Only parents can determine appropriate choices for their children. Check with teachers, local librarians, and book web-sites for reading levels and information about the various titles.