10th_Summer Reading_2009 - Friends' Central School

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group of underground rebels intent on overthrowing the government. When I read this book in high school, my understanding of the world’s potential cracked wide open. 21. Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger Ms. Lager Everyone in the world has read The Catcher in the Rye, that edgy book about growing up in New York and being the sharp-eyed Holden Caulfield. At about the same time, its author, J.D. Salinger, was writing short stories, published in one slim volume called Nine Stories. This book includes children who are too wise for their years, teenagers who steal, and unhappy and disappointed adults wishing they were children again. Altogether, the stories may be the most read short stories in contemporary fiction with the most remembered characters, like the Laughing Man, Esme, Teddy and Uncle Wiggly. 22. Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish Ms. McConnell Having spent childhood days of simple bliss on my grandparents' farm in Honeybrook, Chester County, I was immediately drawn to the possibility of reliving, or at least rethinking, some of those memories. After a chockfull school year, I find myself ready for a simple and good read like that afforded by Little Heathens. The author, Mildred Kalish, writes about growing up on her grandparents' Iowa farm during the Great Depression. Instead of focusing on the hardships presented, she tells of "the legacy of kinship, kindness and remembered pleasures." I'm looking forward to reading in the moment. Make me a promise. If you choose this book for your summer reading, you will take out your earbuds and turn off your cell phone. 23. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie Jim Rosengarten The back of this book reads, “In this darkly comic short story collection, Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation. These twenty-two interlinked tales are narrated by characters raised on humiliation and governmentissue cheese, and yet are filled with passion and affection, myth and dream.” I remember being enthralled by Alexie, not only as a story-teller, of which he is a fine one, but also with his ability to portray humanity in all its complicated beauty. I hope you join me for a great read which is bound to lead to a great chat. 24. Black Ice by Lorene Cary Ms. Johnson From randomhouse.com: In 1972 Lorene Cary, a bright, ambitious black teenager from Philadelphia, was transplanted into the formerly all-white, all-male environs of the elite St. Paul's <strong>School</strong> in New Hampshire, where she became a scholarship student in a "boot camp" for future American leaders. Like any good student, she was determined to succeed. But Cary was also determined to succeed without
selling out. This wonderfully frank and perceptive memoir describes the perils and ambiguities of that double role, in which failing calculus and winning a student election could both be interpreted as betrayals of one's skin. 25. The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr Mrs. Sabaj-Perez From amazon.com: In this funny, razor-edged memoir, Mary Karr, a prize-winning poet and critic, looks back at her upbringing in a swampy East Texas refinery town with a volatile, defiantly loving family. She recalls her painter mother, seven times married, whose outlaw spirit could tip into psychosis; a fist-swinging father who spun tales with his cronies--dubbed the Liars' Club; and a neighborhood rape when she was eight. An inheritance was squandered, endless bottles emptied, and guns leveled at the deserving and undeserving. With a raw authenticity stripped of self-pity and a poet's eye for the lyrical detail, Karr shows us a "terrific family of liars and drunks ... redeemed by a slow unearthing of truth." 26. The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard Matt Murphy The Hidden Persuaders was the first book about most of the things we take for granted about marketing. The title refers to the psychological methods advertisers use to get us to buy their products, and the book is a fascinating study about the human brain. Take yourself back to 1957, before the world at large truly knew what was being pitched to us, and this book is pioneering. Even today, it stands tall as a classic examination of how our thoughts and feelings are manipulated by business, media and politicians. Much has changed in the world, but these same tenets still hold true. Read this book and learn how to beat the people who are constantly trying to brainwash you.
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