2012 Summer Reading - Brewster Academy

2012 Brewster AcademySummer ReadingDear New and Returning Students:Greetings from Brewster Academy’s English Department.Each summer, Brewster Academy encourages you to read during the school break. This year,Brewster faculty and students have created a summer reading list, and we are asking you toselect one or more of the books from the list to read over the summer. While the summerreading list contains more than 70 suggestions, we do realize that you might want to read adifferent book that is more interesting to you. If you would like to read a different book, or ifyou have any other questions about the summer reading program, please contact Matt Butcherat matt_butcher@brewsteracademy.org.We hope you will select books that are interesting to you, and we also hope you will readthoroughly and thoughtfully. When you return to campus and begin the school year, we willask you to complete a writing assignment (to be determined by your teacher). We also will askyou to give a “book talk” where you will stand before your class and explain why you would orwould not recommend your book to other students. To help prepare for the “book talk” andwriting assignment, you may want to read actively by annotating, taking notes, and perhapsjournaling.Please note that if you are enrolled in AP courses, you will have a mandatory summer readinglist (see the final page of this document), but we encourage you to read other books from thesummer reading list as well.We appreciate your effort to develop your reading and thinking skills over the summer.Sincerely,Matt Butcher, English Department Chair

2012 Brewster Academy Summer ReadingSarah Anderson recommends:• Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey: In this book, Abbey passionately describes the beauty ofArches National Monument in Utah, while he rejects the changes the park undergoes.• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: This classic centers on censorship and mind control, forcingus to question our ideas about truth and knowledge.Bret Barnett recommends:• The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa: A mathematician who can only produce 80minutes worth of memories shares the beauty of numbers, equations, and life with hishousekeeper and her son, Root.• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card: The original Harry Potter meets the Hunger Games; afavorite high school book about a young boy on a mission to save the world. Also,recommended by Rob O’Blenis.Matt Butcher recommends:• Dune by Frank Herbert: from Amazon.com: “A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism,environmentalism and politics, … the grandest epic in science fiction.”• The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle: A non-fiction exploration of talented individuals and thecircumstances and requirements that allowed them to become great.• Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson: a history of tactics in soccer from the origins of thegame to the modern day. Did you know that teams used to field 5 forwards at once?• A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich: an excellent survey of world history with afocus on Europe. Accessible for young readers, but interesting enough for all readers, ALittle History is a great primer for history courses, especially Modern World History.Laura Cooper recommends:• Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness Brown: The story opens when James Jack Wrightfinds his 94-year-old adoptive grandmother dead in the woods. The novel encourages us tobroaden our understanding of maternity, loyalty, commitment, love, and death.Dr. Michael Cooper recommends:• Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella: A baseball story about having dreams and how they can makeyou come alive.• Reflections from the North Country by Sigurd Olson: A collection of essays reflecting thephilosophy and thinking of a man who spent his life in the Quetico-Superior wildernessobserving nature and its rhythms, using them to bring understanding of "man's longrelationship with nature, all living things, and the universe itself."Nick Docter recommends:• Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur, a.k.a. Monster KodyScott: A gripping story of the upbringing and initiation of one of the most notorious Crips inSouth Central, spanning his time on the streets, behind bars, and his reformation.

2012 Brewster Academy Summer ReadingMichelle Dodge recommends:• A Match to the Heart by Gretel Ehrlich: The incredible story of one woman's survival afterbeing struck by lightning. She writes about her relationship with the land and the emotionaljourney she embarks upon to better understand herself and the experience she endured.• A Story Like the Wind by Laurens Van Der Post: Set near the Kalahari Desert, this noveltracks the physical and spiritual journey of Francois, a 13-year-old boy whose friendshipwith a Bushman changes his life.• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: One of my all-time favorite novels! Set in 19th centuryEngland, this Gothic novel explores the life story of Jane, who becomes a governess atThornfield Hall.Joe Fernald recommends:• Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship by David Halberstam: One of the better books aboutsports I've read—much more about friendship than the hall-of-fame players he writes about.I was hooked after the first line, "Ted was dying, and the idea for the final trip, drivingdown to Florida to see him one last time, was Dominic's."• Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes: A brutal page-turner about theVietnam War. I couldn't put it down, but not for the weak of heart.• All The Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner: A sophisticated read. A book that resonatedwith me as much as anything I've read in a long time. From The New York Times Book Review:“Award-winning and bestselling author Wallace Stegner takes on the hippy generation in anovel of "crackling vividness."Maria Found recommends:• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: The novel “focuses on the tumultuous lives oftwo Afghan women and how their lives cross each other, spanning from the 1960s to 2003”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Thousand_Splendid_Suns)Jonathan Fouser recommends:• The Game by Ken Dryden: If you love hockey, read this book! It is perhaps one of thegreatest books about hockey ever written.• Little Princes by Conor Grennan: A first-person account of a man’s journey to reunite the lostchildren of Nepal with their parents.• One Mountain Thousand Summits by Freddie Wilkinson: A New Hampshire author andprofessional climber, Wilkinson provides a captivating look at life and death on K2, thesecond highest mountain in the world. In a two-day period in August 2008, 11 climbers losttheir lives after standing on the summit. What happened?• The Book of Jamaica by Russell Banks: An intriguing and realistic look at the complexities ofpolitical and racial conflict in Jamaica. The narrator, a 35-year-old college professor fromNew Hampshire, moves to Jamaica to write a novel, but soon becomes mired in racial andpolitical tensions.• Rule of The Bone by Russell Banks: The Philadelphia Weekly claims, “It’s been too long sincethis country had a convincing coming-of-age novel. … Rule of The Bone, a working-classCatcher in the Rye for the post P.C., is a tome for the times. It should be required reading inour city’s high schools.”

2012 Brewster Academy Summer Reading• Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford: Thisinsightful and meaningful book ponders the value of work and manual labor. The bookchallenges some basic assumptions about “white collar” work and suggests an alternativepath to finding fulfillment in life.• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: The novel follows thejourney of a teenager living on the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to leave thereservation to attend an all-white school. The novel explores issues such as race, poverty,and tradition. (Note: AP Language and Composition students will read this book during theschool year and should not read it for summer reading.)• Where Men Go To Win Glory by Jon Krakauer: From The New York Times: “The story of PatTillman, the professional football player killed in Afghanistan in 2004, was simultaneouslyappalling and inspiring — which helped explain, perhaps, the mesmerizing grip it had onthe United States. It showed America at its best and worst, at a time when the country wasengaged in a deeply polarizing war” (Dexter Filkins).• Looking for Alaska by John Green: An engaging read about teenage life in a Birmingham,Alabama prep school.• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer: Follow the life and demise of Christopher JohnsonMcCandless. A young man who left the trapping of society and sought the solace of theAlaskan wilderness. (Note: AP Language and Composition students will read this bookduring the school year and should not be read for summer reading.)• Gym Candy by Carl Deuker: A high-school football player decides to take steroids and mustdeal with the success and consequences of his decision.• Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi, book description from Amazon.com: a father and sonstruggle to understand each other in New Orleans before, during, and after HurricaneKatrina.Melissa Lawlor recommends:• Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate: A story about the challenges of race, class, tradition,friendship, and equality set in a fictional all-boys’ elite boarding school in Connecticut.Michael Jacobs recommends:• The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed by John Vaillant: From Booklist:“This powerful and vexing man-versus-nature tale is set in an extraordinary place, Canada'sQueen Charlotte Islands, and features two legendary individuals: a uniquely golden 300-year-old Sitka spruce and Grant Hadwin, a logger turned champion of old-growth forestswho ultimately destroys what he loves.”• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: A darkly comic novel about Yossarian, a WWII bombardier whodoesn't want to die flying more missions. Determined to convince a military doctor that heis crazy so he won't have to fly, he soon realizes he is caught in a “Catch-22.”Bill Lee recommends:• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey: R.P. McMurphy, a roughneck working-classman full of wild spirit and testosterone, is sent to an insane asylum for his crimes. As hetries to take on the established rules of the ward, his ideas collide with Nurse Ratchet, thesupervisor of the ward. It is an American classic and a must-read.