Ace of Spades by Abike-Iyimide, Faridah (2021)

When the secrets of two prep school seniors are exposed to the school community via anonymous text messages, they must work together to figure out who is targeting them and why, before things turn deadly. This debut thriller addresses systemic racism, structural white supremacy, microaggressions, class distinctions, and LGBTQIA+ identities.

Blackout by Clayton, Dhonielle & others (2021)

Powerhouse authors Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon intertwine tales of romance over the course of a New York City blackout. Love is represented in many forms—sizzling and sweet—and these resonant entries featuring different Black characters will have readers longing for summer nights and first love.

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray (2022)

Two Black teens must work together as they enter the magical Greater Jungle in search of the Shetani, a vicious monster that has terrorized their village for nearly a century. This debut YA fantasy has memorable characters, an expansive world, and tons of adventure.

Heroes by Robert Cormeir (1998)

Unwillingly, an 18-year-old WWII hero who was disfigured in the war comes home. He immediately plots his revenge. This novel is filled with psychological suspense and leaves readers guessing each of the protagonist's next moves.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (2011)

As their worlds change around them, two girls must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi (2018)

It's 2002, a year after 9/11. It's an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin who is a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl tired of being stereotyped for her race, religion, and the hijab she wears. As a result she’s built a tough exterior and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother. But then she meets Ocean James. He's the first person who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she's not sure she'll ever be able to let it down.

Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard by Mawi Asgedom (2002)

The story of the remarkable journey of Selamawi Haileab Asgemdo, or Mawi. He was a refugee who came to America when he was young. Through hard work and his father's influence, he became a Harvard graduate.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio (2012)

Wonder is a novel by Raquel Jaramillo, written after an incident getting ice cream with her son and published under the pen name R. J. Palacio in 2012. It tells the story of a young boy with a facial deformity who learns to live and accept who he is after going to a local school.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (1929)

The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway's frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modern literature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto — of lines of tired men marching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized — is one of the greatest moments in literary history.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899)

Chopin’s most famous novel concerns a woman dissatisfied with her indifferent husband. This is a searing depiction of the religious and social pressures brought to bear on women who transgress restrictive Victorian codes of behavior.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston (1937)

Hurston’s novel is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving self-hood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose.

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (1987)

Annie grows up in Pittsburgh and explores, seeks a life of awareness, her eyes wide open to experience. Outstanding writing of childhood and of learning.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (1996)*

"Angela’s Ashes" is a memoir by Irish author Frank McCourt that tells the story of his childhood in Brooklyn and Ireland. It was published in 1996 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (1995)

James McBride writes a powerful tribute to his white mother, one by whom he was often embarrassed yet whom he wanted protected. Growing up in an all-black project, McBride dealt with (and writes about) issues of identity, race and acceptance.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez (1991)*

The four Garcia sisters face a strange, new life in America when they are forced to flee the Dominican Republic because of the political climate. They recall memories of years past spent in their “home” country before coming to America.

Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon (1991)

A humorous yet serious play about immigrants in New York’s Yonkers and their life. Pulitzer Prize-winner.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (2007)

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Vasquez Gilliland, Raquel (2021)

Moon, a Mexican American photographer, has always played second fiddle to her social media influencer twin. But accompanying her sibling on a cross-country bus trip results in a journey of self-discovery. This poignant coming-of-age story deftly weaves first love, religion, emotional abuse, purity culture, and familial jealousy into a rich narrative.

I Will Always Write Back by Martin Ganda & Caitlin Alifirenka (2015)

Literary nonfiction can be used to inform, entertain, and teach. I Will Always Write Back is no exception. The novel not only informs the reader about life in an impoverished country but also entertains and teaches about humanity and the act of giving. While reading I Will Always Write Back, students should pay attention to how Caitlin and Martin, despite drastic cultural differences, forge a connection and enrich each other’s lives.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (2006)

A multi-narrative graphic novel about a teenage boy named Jim Wang who struggles to find and accept his cultural identity.

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (2016)

The story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist.

American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures (2019)*

In American Like Me, America Ferrara invites thirty-one of her friends, peers, and heroes to share their stories about life between cultures. We know them as actors, comedians, athletes, politicians, artists, and writers. However, they are also immigrants, children or grandchildren of immigrants, indigenous people, or people who otherwise grew up with deep and personal connections to more than one culture. Each of them struggled to establish a sense of self, find belonging, and feel seen. And they call themselves American enthusiastically, reluctantly, or not at all. Ranging from the heartfelt to the hilarious, their stories shine a light on a quintessentially American experience and will appeal to anyone with a complicated relationship to family, culture, and growing up.

Educated: a Memoir by Tara Westover (2018)

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1905)

A muck-raking novel about the problems of industry in America after the turn of the century. It is a vivid and moving account of the meat processing and slaughtering industry in the early 1900’s. The Jungle is a well-informed critique on the social, political, and economic issues of the food industry and the rapidly developing capitalist society of the early 20th century.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2003)

Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for their home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world—conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011)

This thriller deals with a high-stakes online contest that mixes puzzles with video game violence. Set in a depressed future United States, where most people escape into virtual reality, it features a bunch of tough-talking teens fighting to keep their online playground out of the hands of an evil corporation.

The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)

Published in 1942 by French author Albert Camus, The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its "100 Books of the Century" list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1981)

A man returns to the town where a baffling murder took place twenty-seven years earlier, determined to get to the bottom of the story. Just hours after marrying the beautiful Angela Vicario, everyone agrees, Bayardo San Roman returned his bride in disgrace to her parents. Her distraught family forced her to name her first lover; and her twin brothers announced their intention to murder Santiago Nasar for dishonoring their sister. Yet if everyone knew the murder was going to happen, why did no one intervene to try and stop it? The more that is learned, the less is understood, and as the story races to its inexplicable conclusion, an entire society—not just a pair of murderers—is put on trial.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (2006)

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. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008)

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life—having nothing but his own wits to help him along. Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ("Love -- Rape -- Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat (1994)

At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished village of Croix-des-Rosets to New York, to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know, and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haiti--to the women who first reared her. What ensues is a passionate journey through a landscape charged with the supernatural and scarred by political violence, in a novel that bears witness to the traditions, suffering, and wisdom of an entire people. At an astonishingly young age, Edwidge Danticat has become one of our most celebrated new novelists, a writer who evokes the wonder, terror, and heartache of her native Haiti--and the enduring strength of Haiti's women--with a vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people's suffering and courage.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)*

Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.

Pride and Prejudice (1831) by Jane Austen (or any Jane Austen Novel)

Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (1600)

In this lively comedy of love and money in sixteenth-century Venice, Bassanio wants to impress the wealthy heiress Portia but lacks the necessary funds. He turns to his merchant friend, Antonio, who is forced to borrow from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. When Antonio's business falters, repayment becomes impossible--and by the terms of the loan agreement, Shylock is able to demand a pound of Antonio's flesh. Portia cleverly intervenes, and all ends well (except of course for Shylock).

The Hangman’s Daughter (2008) - Book #1 by Oliver Pötzsch (or any of The Hangman’s Daughter series)

Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman’s son—except that the town physician’s son is hopelessly in love with her. And her father’s wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession. It is 1659, the Thirty Years’ War has finally ended, and there hasn’t been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin. Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil—a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor’s son face a terrifying and very real enemy.

BossyPants by Tina Fey (2011)

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom (2006)

This is the story of Charley, a child of divorce, who is always forced to choose between his mother and his father. He grows into a man and starts a family of his own. But one fateful weekend, he leaves his mother to secretly be with his father - and she dies while he is gone. This haunts him for years. It unravels his own young family.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer (1997)*

Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end.

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park (2023)

Park’s novel follows a Korean-Argentinian teen's journey to understanding who she is. Through the comfort of her multicultural home in Queens to the hallways of her ultra-woke, elite prep school in Manhattan, Alejandra grapples with academics, the politics of school lunch, and even a microaggression from her own teacher. As author Patricia Park tells Here & Now's Robin Young, it's a story about how quickly the world is changing – and how conversations about race are or aren't keeping up.

My Selma by Willie Mae Brown (2023)

Willie Mae Brown was a little girl in Selma, Alabama in the 1960s. In her new YA book, My Selma, she recalls growing up during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. As she tells Here & Now's Robin Young, those core childhood memories include going to church to see Martin Luther King, Jr. speak – which moved Brown's mother to tears as she held the author – and her siblings getting arrested for trying to accompany teachers who were planning to register to vote. But, she says, there was also a lot of joy and community as a child on the frontlines of justice.

Who Gets Believed? by Dina Nayeri (2023)

Author Dina Nayeri was young when she found out that there's a stark difference between credibility and belief – and it's a disconnect at the center of her new book, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough. Nayeri's family came to the U.S. as refugees from Iran in 1979. As she tells NPR's Juana Summers, that asylum process showed her how subjective belief can be – and she explains why, for her, the meaning of believing continued to shift, through faith and vulnerability, even as she was writing the book.

Misery by Stephen King (1987)

Bestselling novelist Paul Sheldon thinks he's finally free of Misery Chastain. In a controversial career move, he just killed off the popular protagonist of his beloved romance series in favor of expanding his creative horizons. but such change doesn't come without consequences.

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell (2008)

Malcom Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high achievers different?

The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexander Robbins (2006)

Robbins explores how our high stakes educational culture has spiraled out of control. Robbins tackles teen issues such as intense stress, the student and teacher cheating epidemic, sports rage, parental guilt, the black market for study drugs, and a college admissions process.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)

Earth is about to be destroyed in order to make room for an intergalactic "expressway". It's going to be "one of those days". And that's just the start of this science fiction farce.

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose (2009)

As a sophomore at Brown University, Kevin Roose didn't have much contact with the Religious Right. Raised in a secular home by staunchly liberal parents, he fit right in with Brown's student body. So when he had a chance to encounter a group of students from Liberty University, a conservative Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia, he found himself staring across a massive culture gap.

AP Literature (12th grade):

Students must check out The Bedford Introduction to Literature, 9th Edition from the NAHS library.  All summer reading selections for the AP Literature course included in the text.

Prior to the start of school, students must read: 

Oedipus by Sophocles

Antigone by Sophocles

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Students may reach out to their instructor with questions: mloebighaberle@nasd.k12.pa.us

AP Language and Composition (11th grade): 

Students should pick up a copy of selected readings from Miss Boyle in room 351 before leaving for summer break.

Assignment #1: Read, annotate, analyze & evaluate all readings in the Summer Reading Packet.

DUE DATE: The first day of class (you can email the four paragraphs before the first day)

Assignment #2: Read and engage with (in any way you want--highlighting, sticky notes, underlining, annotating) E. B. White’s Elements of Style packet.

This packet’s margins are so close to the staples, that sometimes the staples cover the words, please do your best to read what is there.

DUE DATE: The first day of class

Assessment/Quiz: First Friday of the school year

Also see the AP Language and Composition Summer Vocabulary

Students may reach out to their instructor with questions: kboyle@nasd.k12.pa.us

AP Seminar:

Complete Summer Work Packet for AP Seminar.

Students may reach out to their instructor with questions: sdinenno@nasd.k12.pa.us

AP Research:

Complete Summer Work Packet for AP Research.

Students may reach out to their instructor with questions: sdinenno@nasd.k12.pa.us

*This list was developed through a survey of young adult book recommendations listed throughout Montgomery County PA and those listed on various websites including MCIU#23, American Library Association (ALA), American Association of School Librarians (AASL), Goodreads.com, Amazon.com, and The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).