Honors English 2 - Summer Reading and Writing Project

This summer reading and writing project is a requirement for students who elect to challenge themselves in
Honors English 2. Since the primary qualities of an honors English student include an appreciation and an
aptitude for reading and writing, we believe this project is an essential element of WCSs honors and AP
curriculum. The Honors English 2 project reinforces the habit of lifelong learning. It also establishes a
foundation for the course and encourages an appreciation for reading the writing.
We require Honors English 2 students read a total of two books a work from the traditional canon of
American literature and a work considered to be a cultural and/or contemporary American classic. This
spectrum provides students with a diverse foundation for the course and offers a broad range of possibilities
for an enjoyable experience. Needless to say, students should select books they have not read previously. To
assist in the selection of summer reading works, the current Honors English 2 students have written and
recorded reviews of their favorite summer titles. These short reviews, in mp3 format, may be found at
www.wnhsbookreviews.podomatic.com. Additionally, we have created an annotated book list found at ??????
As students read, they should annotate the books. An annotation guide is provided to instruct students in
completing this reading strategy. Students also are required to write essays for each book, two total. The essays
should not focus on summary or recall of information. The two separate essays are a forum for students to
extend their learning and experiment with their writing. We have provided a scoring rubric to establish our
expectations and to guide students reading and writing projects. The initial class assignment in the fall will
make use of the students summer work. Because of this, students are encouraged to complete the assignment
in a timely manner. Otherwise, they may find it difficult to keep up with the class when school resumes in
August.
Half the summer reading and writing project must be submitted online by July 15, 2016. This means students
must read one book and complete one essay by the first deadline. The second book and one additional essay
must be submitted online by August 18, 2016, the first day of school. Without exception, students must
complete each part of the project by the established deadlines. Failure to do so will result in grade penalties.
Final essays mush be uploaded to Google Drive, which may be found at drive.google.com. Share the entries with
wnhonorsenglish2@gmail.com. When uploading, make sure the account has editing rights and include the
students name in the document title. When accessing Google Drive, students should use their school accounts
(xxxxxx@studentswcsoh.org). If students do not have access to their school accounts over the summer, they
may use a personal account. When accessing the school account, the password for Google Drive is the same as
the one used at school. If students cant locate their passwords, they may email the teachers for assistance.
Students should pay particular attention to the cautionary notes which accompany the reading list, as well as
the project rubric. If there are questions or concerns, please contact the teachers before school adjourns for the
summer or email teachers at hinesm@westerville.k12.oh.us or wilkersz@westerville.k12.oh.us. Enjoy the summer
and happy reading!

Zach Wilkerson and Maryann Hines

Westerville North High School

Honors English 2 - Summer Reading Project Selections

Choose two books, one from the American Canon list and one from the Cultural and Contemporary Classics list.

American Canon Choose One

Age of Innocence - E. Warton
Atlas Shrugged - A. Rand
Autobiography - B. Franklin
The Awakening - K. Chopin
The Bell Jar - S. Plath
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
East of Eden - J. Steinbeck
A Farewell to Arms - E. Hemingway
The Good Earth - P. Buck
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - C. McCullers
In Cold Blood - T. Capote
Maltese Falcon D. Hammett
Moby-Dick - H. Melville

My Antonia - W. Cather
Native Son R. Wright
On the Road - J. Kerouac
Puddnhead Wilson - M. Twain
The Red Badge of Courage - S. Crane
Slaughter-House Five - K. Vonnegut
Song of Solomon - T. Morrison
The Sound and the Fury - W. Faulkner
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Z.N. Hurston
This Side of Paradise - F.S. Fitzgerald
Uncle Toms Cabin - H.B. Stowe
Walden - H.D. Thoreau

Cultural and Contemporary Classics Choose One

American Gods - N. Gaiman
The Art of Racing in the Rain - G. Stein
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Malcolm X
The Bean Trees - B. Kingsolver
Bel Canto - A. Pachett
The Bonesetters Daughter - A. Tan
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - D. Brown
The Chosen - C. Potok
Cold Mountain - C. Fraiser
Color of Water - J. McBride
Devil in the White City - E. Larsen
Everything I Never Told You - C. Ng
The Glass Castle - J. Walls

Into Thin Air - J. Krakauer

Invention of Wings - S.M. Kidd
Kindred - O. Butler
A Lesson before Dying - E. Gaines
Lovely Bones - A. Sebold
March - G. Brooks
Nineteen Minutes - J. Picoult
The Road - C. McCarthy
Shoeless Joe - W.P. Kinsella
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - L. See
Tell the Wolves Im Home - C.R. Brunt
Women of Brewster Place - G. Naylor

CAUTION: Some of the options listed above contains events, language and themes that are intended for mature readers.
In conjunction with parents or guardians, students are responsible for selecting works that are appropriate to their
particular tastes, values and sensibilities. Ask a librarian, parents or friends for advice when making selections. If students

have specific limitations that must guide their decisions, they also may ask English teachers for assistance or
recommendations.

Honors English 2 - Summer Essay Prompt

To complete the summer reading and writing project, along with annotating the novels as you read, students
will be writing two, multiple-paragraphed, 500-essays, one for each book. Each of the responses should be
insightful and should reveal an understanding of the literature, its characters, the authors style and the
authors intent. Essays should be detailed, insightful and engaging. Students should proofread their essays
before submission. It is important that students put time and thought into this aspect of the summer project.
The project is 15 percent of the first quarter grade.
A list of dominant American values is provided to guide the writing for this assignment. The list is taken from
the American Society: A Sociological Approach by Robin M. Williams.
Students must use the Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation style for citations and works cited
pages. Assistance for documentation may be found at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/.

The Prompt: Using the provided list of dominant American values, choose three values
exhibited by the author in his or her work. In a multiple-paragraphed, 500-word essay, explain
how these values are demonstrated throughout the book. Include three specific examples/direct
textual support from the book, one example for each value. Also, include a works cited page
using MLA citations for each work.
Checklist for Summer Project Success
__________

Choose one book from each category (the American Canon and Cultural and Contemporary
Classics), a total of two books. Do not select books you have read previously.

__________

Each book must be annotated thoroughly. See annotation guide for instructions.

__________

Using the same prompt, complete one essay for each book, a total of two essays.

__________

Each essay must be written in multiple-paragraphs (a minimum of 500 words).

__________

Each essay must be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font (Times Roman or Palatino).

__________

Each essay must include the books title, as well as the students name in the heading.

__________

Use MLA documentation to create a works cited page for each book, a total of two citations.

__________

Completed essays must be uploaded to Google Drive, which may be found at drive.google.com.
The first essay and book citation must be submitted online by July 15, 2016. The second essay
and book citation must be submitted online by August 18, 2016. Share your entries with
wnhonorsenglish2@gmail.com. When uploading, make sure the account has editing rights. See
page one for additional instructions. Email us with any questions of concerns.

Honors English 2 - Scoring Guide

__________ A
Projects scored at this level exhibit these qualities:
The writer demonstrates a complete and thorough performance of the reading and writing assignment.
The writer shows remarkable insight in understanding and interpreting the reading.
The writer successfully interprets the reading on both literal and a figurative levels.
The writer communicates ideas in a sophisticated, mature and precise manner.
The writer has a distinct sense of voice and audience.
The writer skillfully meets or exceeds the expectations of the assignment.
The writer shows talent in taking creative and intellectual risks.
__________ B
Projects scored at this level primarily exhibit these qualities:
The writer demonstrates a complete performance of the reading and writing assignment.
The writer shows some insight in understanding and interpreting the reading.
The writer interprets the reading on both literal and figurative levels.
The writer communicates ideas in an intelligent manner.
The writer meets or exceeds the expectations of the assignment.
The writer takes creative and intellectual risks.
__________ C
Projects scored at this level primarily exhibit these qualities:
The writer does not demonstrate a complete performance of the reading and writing assignment.
The writer shows minimal insight or understanding of the reading.
The writer interprets the reading primarily on a literal level.
The writer communicates ideas clearly.
The writer meets the expectations of the assignment in a cursory, hasty or perfunctory manner.
The writer does not take creative and/or intellectual risks.
__________ D
Projects scored at this level primarily exhibit these qualities:
The writer demonstrates an incomplete performance of the reading and writing assignment.
The writer shows little insight or understanding of the reading
The writer interprets the reading primarily on a literal level.
The writer does not communicate ideas clearly.
The writer does not completely meet the minimum expectations of the assignment.
The writer does not take creative and/or intellectual risks.
__________ F
Projects scored at this level primarily exhibit these qualities:
The writer demonstrates an incomplete performance of the reading and writing assignment.
The writer shows little effort in executing the assignment.
The writer does not communicate ideas clearly.
The writer does not meet the minimum expectations of the assignment.

IMPORTANT: Any student who does not submit a summer assignment will receive an Incomplete for the course until the assignment is
completed in a satisfactory manner. At the end of the course, an unresolved Incomplete will be converted automatically to an F (no
credit) for the assignment. Half the summer project must be submitted online by July 15, 2016. Students must read one book and

complete one essay by the first deadline. The second book and the second essay must be submitted online by August 18, 2016. Without
exception, students must complete each part of the project by the established deadlines. Grades are docked 10 percent for each late day.

Honors English 2 - Annotation Guide

Annotation is an important element of close reading, and strong readers use it to effectively
interaction with a text. Throughout the course, annotation will be an essential skill used during the
year. While annotating, readers may comment on and notate a variety of elements in the text:
Passages that are confusing
Passages that are beautifully written or moving
Ideas or actions with which readers agree or disagree
Passages that inspire thought
Examples of the authors style, use of literary devices or word choice
Connections readers make between their lives, other texts, the world, etc.
The point is for readers to have a conversation with the text, and annotations help this process. It is
important that readers go beyond simply summarizing what they read to arrive at this higher, more
sophisticated level of interaction.
There are a multitude of helpful methods for marking a text through annotation. Here are just a few
that readers might choose:
Commenting: Notate thoughts about events in the book, questions, connections or anything readers
think is worthy of noting. Readers may use the margins, as well as the front and back cover of the book
for especially important notes, character lists, etc.
Underlining and/or Highlighting: Underline or highlight major points, important statements and
passages. This SHOULD be combined with commenting so readers know and remember why they
underlined a particular passage. It is important not to overuse this, otherwise readers will lose the
things that were really important. Different color highlighters can be used to notate different elements
or trace different themes or characters.
Circling, Boxing, Using Other Shapes: Use shapes like underlining and highlighting. However, each
shape may be used to notate points that connect, such as themes, motifs, characters or literary devices.
Using Abbreviations and/or Symbols: Create symbols to mean specific things. For example, use a ?
to notate something that is confusing. Star a passage that is important, etc.
Numbering: Use numbers to sequence points that the author makes to develop ideas or concepts that
are related, etc.
Working with Post-it Notes: Use Post-it Notes to question, comment, predict, list vocabulary, etc.

Students often complain that annotating text slows their reading. Thats the point! If students have
difficulty annotating during the first reading, they may choose to annotate after reading a chapter or
section. Rereading is a good strategy. E-mail us throughout the summer with questions.

Dominant American Values

Achievement and Success
In our competitive society, stress is placed on personal achievement. This is measured in accomplishments, such as economic ones.
Success lays emphasis on rewards. Failure is often assigned to character defects. Success is often equated with bigness and newness.
Activity and Work
Americans also value busyness, speed, bustle, action. The frontier idea of work for survival is still with us, as is the Puritan ethic of
work before play. Work becomes an end in itself. A persons worth is measured by his or her performance.
Moral Orientation
Americans think in terms of good and bad, right and wrong. Early Puritan ideas of working hard, leading an orderly life, having a
reputation for integrity and fair dealing, avoiding reckless display, and carrying out ones purposes still holds weight.
Humanitarianism
Emphasis is placed on disinterested concern, helpfulness, personal kindliness, aid and comfort, spontaneous aid in mass disasters, as
well as philanthropy. This emphasis is related to equalitarian democracy, but often it clashes with our value of rugged individualism.
Efficiency and Practicality
Germans refer to our Fordismus or belief in standardization, mass production and streamlined industrialism. We like innovation,
modernity expediency, getting things done. We value technique and discipline in science.
Progress
Americans look forward more than backward. We resent the old-fashioned, the outmoded. We seek the best yet through change.
Progress is often identified with the Darwinian idea of survival of the fittest and with the free private enterprise system.
Material Comfort
Americans enjoy passive gratification drink this, chew that, take a vacation. We enjoy consumption. Americans also enjoy culture and
do-it-yourself hobbies and vacations.
Equality
America stresses the equality of opportunity, especially economic opportunity. We feel guilt and shame when inequality exists.
Discrimination still exists. Equality is not a pure concept but largely two-sided; social rights and equality of opportunity.
Freedom
Americans also seek freedom from some restraint, having confidence in the individual. Freedom enters into free enterprise, progress,
individual choice and equality. It does not mean the absence of social control.
External Conformity
Americans believe in adherence to group patterns, especially for success. Economic, political, and social dependence and
interdependence call for some conformity. If all are equal, each has a right to judge and regulate conduct to accepted standards.
Science
Americans have faith in science and its tools. Science is rational and functional. It adds to our material comfort and progress.
Nationalism and Patriotism
Americans feel some sense of loyalty to their country, its national symbols and its history. Foreigners observe how we value our flag
and our national anthem, how we believe that America is the greatest country in the world.
Democracy
Americans have grown to accept majority rule and representative institutions. They accept law, equality and freedom.

Individual Personality
We protect our individualism by laws and by the belief in ones own worth.
Racism and Group Superiority
This is a deviant theme, not central, but still widespread in American society.
adapted from American Society: A Sociological Interpretation by Robin M. Williams

North - English 2 - Honors - Summer Project 2016-2017

Summaries adapted from GoodReads

The American Canon Choose One

Age of Innocence - E. Warton
Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is Edith Whartons masterful portrait of desire and
betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people dreaded scandal
more than disease.
Atlas Shrugged - A. Rand
This novel presents an astounding panorama of human life from the productive genius who becomes a
worthless playboy to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own
destruction to the philosopher who becomes a pirate to the composer who gives up his career on the
night of his triumph to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad to the lowest track worker in her
Terminal tunnels.
Autobiography - B. Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was a statesman, author, inventor, printer, and scientist who helped draft the Declaration of
Independence and later was involved in negotiating the peace treaty with Britain that ended the Revolutionary
War. He also invented bifocals, a stove that is still manufactured, a water-harmonica, and the lightning rod.
Franklin's extraordinary range of interests and accomplishments are brilliantly recorded in his Autobiography.
The Awakening - K. Chopin
The Awakening shocked readers with its honest treatment of marital infidelity. Audiences were taken aback by
Chopin's daring portrayal of a woman trapped in a stifling marriage, who seeks and finds passionate love
outside the confines of her domestic situation.
The Bell Jar - S. Plath
Sylvia Plath's shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel about a woman falling into the grip of
insanity. Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under
maybe for the last time. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human
psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Holden Caulfield is synonymous with "cynical adolescent." The 16-year-old narrates the story of a couple of
days in his life, just after he's been expelled from prep school. His constant wry observations about what he
encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the
eternal teenage experience of alienation.
East of Eden - J. Steinbeck

Set in the rich farmland of Californias Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the
intertwined destinies of two familiesthe Trasks and the Hamiltonswhose generations helplessly reenact
the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
A Farewell to Arms - E. Hemingway
An English nurse and an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I fall in love, but the horrors
surrounding them test their romance to the limit.
The Good Earth - P. BuckThis tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China.
Hard times come upon Wang Lung and his family when flood and drought force them to seek work in the city.
The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows
mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as others fall.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - C. McCullers
At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia
mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small-town life. McCullers spins a haunting,
unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated.
In Cold Blood - T. Capote
On Nov. 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely
murdered. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues, but Truman Capote
reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he
generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy.
The Maltese Falcon - D. Hammett
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their
quest for a priceless statuette
Moby-Dick - H. Melville
Moby-Dick, written in 1851, recounts the adventures of the narrator, Ishmael, as he sails on the whaling ship,
Pequod, under the command of Captain Ahab in search of a great white whale.
My Antonia - W. Cather
The novel takes the form of a fictional memoir written by Jim Burden about an immigrant girl named ntonia
with whom he grew up in the American West.
Native Son R. Wright
Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of
hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in
America. Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty
larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a
downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.
On the Road - J. Kerouac
Jack Kerouac's classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be part of the Beat Generation.
Inspiring generations, On the Road chronicles Kerouac's years roaming the North American continent with his
friend, Neal Cassady, in a quest for self-knowledge and experience.

Puddnhead Wilson - M. Twain

Switched at birth by a young slave woman attempting to protect her son from the horrors of slavery, a lightskinned infant changes places with the master's white son. This simple premise is the basis of a compelling
drama that contains all the elements of a classic 19th-century mystery: reversed identities, a ghastly crime, an
eccentric detective, and a tense courtroom scene.

The Red Badge of Courage - S. Crane

During an unnamed battle, 18-year-old private Henry Fleming survives what he considers to be a lost cause by
escaping into a nearby wood, deserting his battalion. Set during the Civil War, this is a descriptive story about
an 18-year-old who experiences his first battles.
Slaughter-House Five - K. Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse-Five introduces readers to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is
abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. Readers follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of
his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who
witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.
Song of Solomon - T. Morrison
Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt
at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. With this brilliantly imagined novel, Toni Morrison
transfigures the coming-of-age story as she follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his familys
origins, Morrison introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a
fully realized black world.
The Sound and the Fury - W. Faulkner
This is the tragedy of the Compson family, featuring some of the most memorable characters in literature:
beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the man-child Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; Jason, the brutal cynic; and
Dilsey, their black servant. Their lives fragmented and harrowed by history and legacy.
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Z.N. Hurston
Set in the 1920s, free-spirited Janie Crawford is 16 when she is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor. Her
grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man, and Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the
man of her dreams, who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds.
This Side of Paradise - F.S. Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic and witty novel is the semiautobiographical story of the handsome, indulged,
and idealistic Princeton student. This Side of Paradise captures the rhythms and romance of Fitzgerald's youth
and offers a poignant portrait of the "Lost Generation."
Uncle Toms Cabin - H.B. Stowe
Uncle Tom's Cabin, an anti-slavery novel published in 1852, the novel helped lay the groundwork for the Civil
War.
Walden - H.D. Thoreau

Walden, or, Life in the Woods, is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The
work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and
manual for self-reliance. It details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years in a cabin he built near
Walden Pond

Cultural and Contemporary Classics Choose One

American Gods - N. Gaiman
Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes
his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from
a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey
across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to
break. Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America.
You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there.
The Art of Racing in the Rain - G. Stein
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with
opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to
the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. A heart-wrenching but deeply funny
story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look
at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Malcolm X
From hustling, drug addiction and armed violence in America's black ghettos Malcolm X turned, in a dramatic
prison conversion, to the puritanical fervor of the Black Muslims. As their spokesman he became identified in
the white press as a terrifying teacher of race hatred; but to his direct audience, the oppressed American
blacks, he brought hope and self-respect. This autobiography (written with Alex Haley) reveals his quickwitted integrity and the fierce idealism which led him to reject both liberal hypocrisies and black racialism.
The Bean Trees - B. Kingsolver
Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy
and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human
condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected
child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both
motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment
and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.
Bel Canto - A. Pachett
In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a
visiting Japanese industrial titan. Alas, in the opening sequence, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vicepresidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately
stayed home. And thus, from the beginning, things go awry. Joined by no common language except music, the

58 international hostages and their captors forge unexpected bonds. Time stands still, priorities rearrange
themselves. Ultimately, of course, something has to give.
The Bonesetters Daughter - A. Tan
In a remote mountain village where ghosts and tradition rule, LuLing grows up in the care of her mute
Precious Auntie as the family endures a curse laid upon a relative known as the bonesetter. When headstrong
LuLing rejects the marriage proposal of the coffinmaker, a shocking series of events are set in motionall of
which lead back to Ruth and LuLing in modern San Francisco. The truth that Ruth learns from her mothers
past will forever change her perception of family, love, and forgiveness.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - D. Brown

Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors
of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres,
and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told
with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really
won.
The Chosen - C. Potok
It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion
they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the
other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before.
Cold Mountain - C. Fraiser
Cold Mountain is a novel about a soldiers perilous journey back to his beloved near the Civil War's end. Based
on local history and family stories passed down by Fraziers great-great-grandfather, Cold Mountain is the tale
of a wounded Confederate soldier, Inman, who walks away from the ravages of the war and back home to his
prewar sweetheart, Ada. His odyssey thru the devastated landscape of the soon-to-be-defeated South
interweaves with Adas struggle to revive her fathers farm, with the help of an intrepid young drifter named
Ruby.
Color of Water - J. McBride
The Color of Water tells the remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan, the two good men she married, and the 12
good children she raised. Jordan, born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, immigrated to America soon after birth; as
an adult she moved to New York City, leaving her family and faith behind in Virginia. Jordan met and married
a black man, making her isolation even more profound.
Devil in the White City - E. Larson
The incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's tell the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham,
the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a
charming doctor.
Everything I Never Told You - C. Ng
Lydia is dead. But they dont know this yet. So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living
in 1970s small-town Ohio. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told
You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and
daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

The Glass Castle - J. Walls

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at
once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father
captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But
when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of
domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of
themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York.

Into Thin Air - J. Krakauer

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer,
standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing
down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in
guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May
1996 disaster.
Invention of Wings - S.M. Kidd
Hetty Handful Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the
suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. On Sarah Grimkes 11th birthday, she
is given ownership of 10-year-old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. Readers follow their remarkable
journeys over the next 35 years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each others destinies
and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangemen,t and the uneasy ways of love.
Kindred - O. Butler
Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly
and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there,
she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save
her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge
shes been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother.
A Lesson Before Dying - E. Gaines
A Lesson Before Dying is set in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s. Jefferson, a young black man, is an
unwitting party to a liquor store shoot out in which three men are killed; the only survivor, he is convicted of
murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, who left his hometown for the university, has returned to the
plantation school to teach. As he struggles with his decision whether to stay or escape to another state, his aunt
and Jefferson's godmother persuade him to visit Jefferson in his cell and impart his learning and his pride to
Jefferson before his death. In the end, the two men forge a bond as they both come to understand the simple
heroism of resisting and defying the expected.
The Lovely Bones - A. Sebold
The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage
victim. The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie
Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from
school. But what the reader knows, her family does not.

March - G. Brooks
Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize, Geraldine Brooks offers the story of the absent father from Louisa May
Alcott's Little Women - and conjures a world of brutality, stubborn courage and transcendent love. An idealistic
abolitionist, March has gone as chaplain to serve the Union cause. But the war tests his faith not only in the
Union - which is also capable of barbarism and racism - but in himself. A love story set in a time of catastrophe,
March explores the passions between a man and a woman, the tenderness of parent and child, and the lifechanging power of an ardently held belief.

Nineteen Minutes - J. Picoult

Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is
shattered by an act of violence. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the
state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? As the trial
progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest
of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the
right to judge someone else, and whether people are ever really who they seem to be.
The Road - C. McCarthy
In this searing, post apocalyptic novel, a father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing
moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. Their destination is the coast, although they dont
know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the
lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged foodand each other.
Shoeless Joe - W.P. Kinsella
If you build it, he will come. These mysterious words inspire Ray Kinsella to create a cornfield baseball diamond
in honor of his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson. What follows is a rich, nostalgic look at one of our most cherished
national pastimes and a remarkable story about fathers and sons, love and family, and the inimitable joy of
finding your way home.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - L. See
As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching
out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of footbinding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of
motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a
misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
Tell the Wolves Im Home - C.R. Brunt
Theres only one person who has ever truly understood 14-year-old June Elbus, and thats her uncle, the
renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finns
company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness
her mother can barely speak about, Junes world is turned upside down.
Women of Brewster Place - G. Naylor

Gloria Naylor weaves together the stories of seven women living in Brewster Place, a bleak inner-city sanctuary,
creating a powerful, moving portrait of the strengths, struggles, and hopes of black women in America.
Vulnerable and resilient, openhanded and open-hearted, these women forge their lives in a place that in turn
threatens and protectsa common prison and a shared home.