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Read This Summer

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT READING REQUIREMENTS

Pre-AP and AP Program
As an honors English student, you will be responsible for the material in the following works.  These books and plays should be completed by the first day of the class; a test will be given. 

These books should be purchased on your own.  They are available in paperback form and can probably be found at the used bookstore; Hastings and Waldenbooks will also have copies. Taking notes while you read is recommended, and you will need to bring the books to class for reference.

English I Pre-AP (Mrs. Wilkinson)

  • The Odyssey Homer (unabridged version) (I recommend getting a prose version rather than one written in poetry form).
  • Animal Farm Orwell (unabridged version)
English II Honors (Mrs. Schlueter)
  • The Good Earth  unabridged version Buck
  • The Count of Monte Cristo *abridged version Dumas
English III Honors (Mrs. Gaiovnik)
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
  • Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller
Purchase the following texts which we will be using during the year; there is no required pre-reading for the senior classes.

English IV (Mrs. Kulidge)

  • The Blair Reader Sixth edition, which they can purchase at SJC or Amazon… ISBN-13: 978013230869-4 
  • Keys For Writers Fourth edition ISBN 0-618-49650-5
Technical Writing
  • Successful Writing at Work Philip C. Kolin’s (Concise Edition) (ISBN0-618-48111-7).
**Do not neglect your reading until the last minute; you will be held accountable for the material.  Make sure that you are not purchasing an abridged or annotated version of the book (unless noted on the list above); these versions are often not accurate and do not include the entire text.

ALA’s Outstanding Books for the College Bound!


Students, administrators, teachers, and the library program are working to build a school-wide culture of reading so that students may achieve higher levels in reading comprehension. Reading for personal interest is encouraged and across the curriculum objectives include reading components.
Recreational Reading Improves:
  • vocabulary
  • spelling
  • grammar
  • comprehension
"Written Language Tends to have a Higher Frequency of Complex, Uncommon Words." - Heather Booth, Serving Teens through Readers’ Advisory. (Chicago: American Library Association, 2007), 8-9.

"Research Indicates Those Individuals Who Read more are Identified as Creative, Good Thinkers, and Demonstrating Greater Levels of Cultural Literacy." - Stephen D. Kristen, the Power of Reading: Insights from the Research, 2nd 3d. (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006), 26. 

"Reading Reduces Stress and Promotes a Healthy Lifestyle so that Academic Achievement is More Probable" - by Laurie Treat, Librarian

Reading is important to your academic success. Read as Much as Possible!
Design Content by
Laurie Treat,
Aztec High School Librarian