Summer Reading 2023
Holliston High School
Incoming Freshman
Heroes take on many different forms and evolve from many situations. Select a summer reading book which explores the concept of heroism.
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
- Legend by Marie Lu
- Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- Eragon by Christopher Paolini
- Vicious by V.W. Schwab
Incoming Sophomores
- Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. William
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Incoming Juniors
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Paper Towns by John Green
- Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
- The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Every Moment After by Joseph Moldover
AP Language and Composition
In preparation for Advanced Placement Language and Composition, please read and annotate the books Thank you for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs and Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan.
In a 600 word essay apply your understanding of at least two rhetorical techniques identified in Thank you For Arguing to the book Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes. Within the analysis, also consider audience, tone, and purpose. Please turn in written responses by 11:59 PM on August 25, 2023.
Assignments will be assessed in the quiz category following small group discussions that will be planned after Labor Day weekend. Please be prepared to discuss each reading by carefully annotating the books and preparing discussion points in advance.
Incoming Seniors
- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
- Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough
- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
- My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
- March Book One by John Lewis
- And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts
AP Literature and Composition
This course places enormous importance on improving your critical reading, writing and thinking skills. In order to get you warmed up and ready to go in the fall, there is summer work for you to complete.
Choose TWO novels to read this summer from the list below:
- Round House by Louise Erdrich
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
- Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- There There by Tommy Orange
- Sing Unburied Sing by Jessmyn Ward
- On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong