Our club has been asked by many to provide our school’s summer reading list for ninth, tenth, or eleventh grade. Thus, I’ve decided to post an article on it as I believe there are many more out there that would benefit from this information. Before the list is posted though, allow me to ramble on a bit about these reading lists, as this may also help in your usage of our school’s summer reading list to the best of your advantage.

In my opinion, reading lists should not be categorized into grade groups, and subsequently, a student shouldn’t seek their books based primarily on the grade level assigned to that book. Here’s my logic behind why: A grade level consists of more than one person. Thus, it would be beyond difficult to pinpoint what level an entire grade is at. An average can of course be calculated, primarily for the purposes of standardized testings such as STAR reading tests, but for the purposes of picking a book suitable to your OWN reading level, why conform to the “average of your grade”? Any given person in a grade may range from 3-4 grade levels ahead of their “average grade’s reading level”, or 1-2 levels below. Additionally, once a student reaches high school, the literal comprehension of a book should be no harder for a 9th grade student than it is for a 12th grade student. In other words, a 9th grade student should be able to give the same answers for basic questions such as “who what when where why” as a 12th grade student. What does set these grades apart, what does distinguish these 4 years of difference in age...is the interpretation and analysis of a book. Therefore, a good book should be a book that can be returned to again and again, and with each extra year of age, the student is able to add an extra layer of interpretation. For example, I have seen the same book Lord of the Flies taught in 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade, and even 10th grade. The reason being is that the literal comprehension is not difficult, but seventh graders may only touch on one of it’s themes, while a 10th grader would analyze and explore it fully in depth. Now we can return to my school’s reading list. We are required to read 5 books for the summer; 2 are to be chosen by your personal preference, 2 are to be chosen from the list of teacher’s recommendations, and 1 is a mandatory book required for grade levels 9-12. This book is called My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor. At first, this last requirement baffled me. I wondered how one book could be used for 4 different grade levels, but after much thought, I arrived at the conclusion above. A similar situation has happened before; previously in the year, our entire upper school, grades 9-12, watched the same film together, and every grade level discussed that same film. What separates the grade levels is what themes were explored, what discussions occurred in each. As for our teacher’s suggested reading list, I have provided it below for everyone. This reading list is not categorized into grade levels-- the only way it is categorized is by the suggestions given by each department. Thus, a 9th grade student can pick the same book as a 12th grade student. As for why, I hope I’ve explained enough on that;) The reading list please see attach: [file]http://www.findingschool.net/attachments/user_file/user2891_file/20130709102405193.pdf[/file]