2012 Summer Reading Guide - Hopkins School

Zindel, Paul The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds
Tilli, a resilient young girl, finds, through imagination and love of science, the inspiration to look
upon the world with uninhibited optimism despite the pain she suffers.
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS
Angelou, Maya I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
A remarkably poetic and very frank autobiography of a young black woman. This is the first volume.
Bauby, Jean-Dominique The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The editor of Elle when he had a massive stroke at age 42, Bauby composed this slim memoir letter
by letter by blinking his left eye as the alphabet was read to him. Deeply moving and surprisingly
funny, this is an extraordinary affirmation of the human spirit.
Beah, Ishmael A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
The inspirational, true story of Ishmael Beah’s journey through war-torn Sierra Leone, first as a
student, and then as a boy soldier in the government army.
Cleaver, Eldridge Soul on Ice
The memoirs of a Black Panther, this novel helped to change the way America viewed the civil rights
movement.
Dawidoff, Nicholas The Crowd Sounds Happy
The Hopkins’ alumnus tells the story of his youth in New Haven: his disturbed father, his remarkable
mother, and his love for baseball. A beautiful and measured treatment of a childhood.
Didion, Joan The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion’s latest masterpiece: the heart-wrenching narrative of her devastating year, the year of
magical thinking. Brutally honest and beautifully articulated, Didion achingly uncovers the shock,
disbelief and pain following the death of her husband and the hospitalization of her only daughter.
Dylan, Bob Chronicles: Volume One
Evocative and eccentric, Bob Dylan charts his intellectual development in this autobiography, an
achievement as revelatory as his best albums.
Fisher, Antwone Q. Finding Fish: A Memoir
This autobiography chronicles the life of its author, Antwone Fisher. It eloquently shows how one
young man can transform himself from a neglected and abused foster child into a successful and
influential artist and author.
Franklin, Benjamin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
An honest view - factual but amusing - of Ben Franklin as scientist, inventor, educator, diplomat,
politician, father, husband, friend, and humorist.
Grealy, Lucy Autobiography of a Face
A memoir about the pain of physical difference and the unique insight that results. Told within the
context of an extraordinary tale of survival.
Haley, Alex and Malcolm X The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X recalls his early childhood, introduction to sordid Harlem, years in prison, when he
became a disciple of Elijah Muhammud, the Black Muslim, and his journey to Mecca, which
occasioned his eventual break with Muhammud.
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