Summer Reading
Summer Reading Selections 09 Part II
Mrs. Newnam
American Musicians
1. Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash
2. Paul Simon: The Definitive Biography by Laura Jackson
3. To a Young Jazz Musicians: Letters from the Road by Wynson Marsalis
4. The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Power of the Redemptive Power of Musicby Steve Lopez
5. Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans by Thomas Brothers
Mr. Pine
Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies.
The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies.
Mrs. Pizio
Required for all students taking Vergil next year.
The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer and the Aeneid by Vergil. Any translation is fine.
Mr. Sharp
Ireland: fact and Fiction
1. How the Irish Saved Civilazation by Thomas Cahill
The story of how the monks and scribes of Ireland preserved the written treasures of Western Civilization throughout the “Dark Ages” in Europe, and once stability returned to the continent how these scholars were instrumental in spreading learning.
2. Trinity by Leon Uris
This novel is a fictional account of the troubles between north and south in Ireland between May of 1985 and the Easter Rebellion of 1916.
Assessment: Two one page reaction papers focusing on the themes addressed in Cahill and the historical content found in Uris
Mrs.Olive
Biology
1. Next by Michael Crichton
2. Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner
3. Genome by Matt Ridley
4. Full House by Stephen J. Gould
5. The Panda’s Thumb by Stephen Gould
Explore the origin of the universe and the beginning of life. Examine amino acid sequencing to the human genome. A test will be given to access your experience.
Mr. Smith
The Legacy of Christopher Nolan
Irish author Christopher Nolan (September 1965 - February 2009) passed away earlier this year from complications stemming from his bout with cerebral palsy. He was afflicted with the disabling condition at birth, leaving him paralyzed and mute. For the duration of his life, Nolan had the capacity to move only his head and his eyes. For the first decade of his life Nolan was unable to communicate at all, save for the motions of his eyes and head. It wasn't until a technological breakthrough, a unique and complex computer system, allowed him to select letters one at a time and begin to form sentences. At the age of 11 Nolan was finally capable of expressing all of the ideas and thoughts and words he had been storing up in his life. He would go on to master this process (and patience, no doubt) and publish several important literary works in his life. This summer reading course will serve to honor the accomplishments of this truly remarkable man. Students will read Nolan's brief Wikipedia biography and an obituary published in The Economist (http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13176558), and complete the following books before writing a paper on the works:
Dam Burst of Dreams
Under the Eye of the Clock
Torchlight and Lazer Beams
The Banyan Tree
Mr. Tamagni
The Samurai
1. The Needle Watcher by Richard Blaker
2. The Lone Samurai by William Scott Wilson
3. The Life of Musashi by William Scott Wilson
4. The Book of 5 Ringo by Thomas Cleary and Musashi
5. The 47 Ronin Story by John Allyn
Mrs. Vermeeren
In Times of War…
Mrs. Vermeeren
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
When Germany invaded Poland, bombers devastated Warsaw - and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into the empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants and refusing to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, even as Europe crumbled around her.
· ISBN-13: 9780393333060
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· The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. Within the chapters of this great book, Zusak weaves a fantastic tale told by Death itself. Liesel, an orphaned girl whose brother dies because of breathing problems, attends her brother's funeral where the first act of thievery is committed.
ISBN-13: 9780375842207
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
A New York Times bestseller. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond.ISBN-13: 9780312370848
Assessment : Group discussion and possible essay questions.
Mrs. Wittman
Brethren: An Epic Adventure of the Knights Templar
By Robyn Young
Historical Adventure
"On the eve of the last Crusade, two men’s destinies will come together as two great civilizations go to war. Amidst conspiracy and intrigue in Europe, Will Campbell, a young knight, risks his life to recover the stolen Book of the Grail. Hidden within its pages are the heretical plans of a secret society within the Knights Templar. Meanwhile, the former slave Baybars Bundukdari and his army have taken over Egypt and Syria, and are planning a new Holy War to bring the Crusaders to their knees.
With breathtaking battle scenes, memorable characters, and a riveting mystery at its center, Brethren (being published simultaneously with book two, Crusade, in hardcover) is a heart-stopping historical drama that brings the Middle Ages vividly to life" (Amazon).
ISBN-10: 0452288339ISBN-13: 978-0452288331
Alexander: Hall of the Gods
Action-packed, highly topical, and philosophically provocative mystery
Inspired by true events Hall of the Gods chronicles the adventures of an orphan boy with a phenomenal intellect...1902 AD, Egypt. Baron Algernon Northgate breaks into an unmarked tomb. Shortly after his return to England with two mummies and a collection of mysterious artefacts he vanishes without a trace...Present-day Oxford. Young Alexander uncovers a disturbing truth while searching for his lost parents: they were burnt to death in a freak accident. Worse still, it appears that he is the sole survivor of an aristocratic dynasty, believed to have been cursed. Tracking down the location of his ancestral family home, he finds it abandoned. For Alexander and his tutor, tempestuous accident-prone professor Frank Malone, this is just the start of a strange and dangerous quest. Breaking into the eerie mansion, they stumble across the journals of the Victorian Baron. The journals tell a compelling story of excavations on the Giza plateau. Determined to unearth the secrets of the Baron, the duo return to the mansion - unaware of the incredible fate that awaits them.
ISBN-10: 1932993797
ISBN-13: 978-1932993790
Antarktos Rising
Good, old-fashioned suspense story
"THE WORLD RACES TO CLAIM A NEW CONTINENT... ONLY TO FIND IT ALREADY TAKEN.
A phenomenon known as crustal displacement shifts the Earth's crust, repositioning continents and causing countless deaths. In the wake of the global catastrophe, the world struggles to take care of its displaced billions. But Antarctica, freshly thawed and blooming, has emerged as a new hope. Rather than wage a world war no nation can endure, the leading nations devise a competition, a race to the center of Antarctica, with the three victors dividing the continent.
It is within this race that Mirabelle Whitney, one of the few surviving experts on the continent, grouped with an American special forces unit, finds herself. But the dangers awaiting the team are far worse than feared; beyond the sour history of a torn family, beyond the nefarious intentions of their human enemies, beyond the ancient creatures reborn through anhydrobiosis--there are the Nephilim" (Amazon).
ISBN-10: 1935142003