Nashua School District
Media Specialists South Printable List (PDF)
SUMMER READING SUGGESTIONS 2010
Nashua High South
Grades 9-12
The following is a list of suggested quality titles for summer reading from faculty, staff, and students at South.. Books with an * are 2010 The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award nominees.
*Click Title to Reserve a Copy*
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia. 2009.
In a small South Carolina town, where it seems little has changed since the Civil War, sixteen-year-old Ethan is powerfully drawn to Lena, a new classmate with whom he shares a psychic connection and whose family hides a dark secret that may be revealed on her sixteenth birthday.
The Devouring by Simon Holt. 2009.
The existence of Vours, supernatural creatures who feast on fear and attack on the eve of the winter solstice, becomes a terrifying reality for fifteen-year-old Reggie when she begins to suspect that her timid younger brother might be one of their victims.
The Devil's Breath by David Gilman. 2007.
When fifteen-year-old Max Gordon's environmentalist-adventurer father goes missing while working in Namibia and Max becomes the target of a would-be assassin at his school in England, he decides he must follow his father to Africa and find him before they both are killed.
Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer. 2007.
Carolyn Jessop tells the story of her life within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS). This church encourages polygamy and Jessop was one of the wives married to Merril Jessop who was 32 years her senior. Carolyn Jessop escaped from the organization along with her 8 children. The FLDS was the sect that the state of Texas moved a number of their children into protective custody upon allegations of abuse in 2008. Recommended by Kelly Migneault. If you like this book try Sister Wife (2008) by Shelley Hrdlitschka, a novel about three teens and their life in a FLDS-like community.
Fire by Kristen Cashore. 2009.
In a kingdom called the Dells, Fire is the last human-shaped monster, with unimaginable beauty and the ability to control the minds of those around her, but even with these gifts she cannot escape the strife that overcomes her world.
Going
Bovine by Libba Bray. 2009.
Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with
Creutzfeld Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed
video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.
Hate List by Jennifer Brown. 2009.
Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school
shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with
integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself
whether she was a hero or a villain.
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fanaskey. 2009.
Seventeen-year-old Jessica, adopted and raised in Pennsylvania, learns that she is descended from a royal line of Romanian vampires and that she is betrothed to a vampire prince, who poses as a foreign exchange student while courting her.
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz. 2004.
Moments before the birth of Jimmy Tock, his grandfather made 10 predictions about his life – five about his birth and the rest predicting dates of 5 terrible days in Jimmy’s life. In the same hospital, at the same time another baby was born, Punchinello who was the son of a clown and an aerialist. For years the lives of the baker’s son and the clown’s son, are intertwined. The result is the intersection of thriller and comedy with some really great food thrown in. This book including “killer clowns and sarcastic humor” was recommended by Frank Covart.
Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor. 2009.
Contains three short stores of supernatural love, each focusing on a kiss that has consequences for the kissers' souls.
Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith. 2009.
When fourteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder, he becomes an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary, where brutal inmates and sadistic guards reign, boys who disappear in the middle of the night sometimes return weirdly altered, and escape might just be possible.
Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat by David Dosa. 2010.
Dr. Dosa, a geriatric specialist, practices at Steere House working with advanced dementia patients. Several cats live in Steere House making the facility more like home and offering comfort to patients, their families and staff. However there is one cat, Oscar, that seems to have a gift, he has an uncanny ability to know when someone is dying and stays with that person through that process. This book tells the story of Oscar, but more importantly, shares stories about living life to its fullest and allowing people to die with dignity. Recommended by Sandy Dehner who found it an amazing book. This is a must read for people interested in a health care profession.
Paper Towns by John Green. 2008.
One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen
basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting
Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q's neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight
adventure and then mysteriously disappears.
Picture
Perfect by Jodi Picoult. 1995.
Cassie Barrett thought she had married the perfect man, a well-loved and admired
actor who (as Cassie later learned) had a dark side that was kept far from
the public eye. After several years of abuse, Cassie finally had enough
and sought refuge with a Native American who brought her to a reservation to
await the birth of her child. Judi Shea recommended this book which she
found a refreshing change from the typical romance/courtroom drama that Jodi
Picoult often writes. If you like this book Lisa Gingras recommends Handle
With Care a book about one family’s struggle with Brittle Bone Disease.
Shiver by
Maggie Stiefvater. 2009.
In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace
has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn,
has been watching her with increasing intensity.
A
Thousand Splendid Suns by Kaled Hosseini. 2007.
Walk in the shoes of two Afghan women, Miriam and then Laila as their lives intersect and they live with the daily punishment inherent to living as women in Afghanistan during the last 30 years. While death, arranged marriage, and starvation play a meaningful role in this story; so does recognizing the beauty and hope that keep people moving forward in even the hardest of times. Recommended by Susan Rourke, “The book is beautiful, disturbing, and ultimately redemptive.”
Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom.1997.
“Have you ever really had a teacher? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine?” Morrie was that teacher for Mitch Albom and their last lesson was prior to Morrie’s death (from Lou Gehrig's disease) and dealt with living life to the fullest and what that really means. Neil Claffey recommended this book that shares the most important aspects of life from the perspective of one who has danced with abandon. If you enjoyed this book, you might also like Albom’s Have a Little Faith: A True Story. 2009.
Under the Dome by Stephen King. 2009.
On a
beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine life goes
on as usual. A woodchuck waddles up the roadside, Claudette
Sanders (the first selectman’s wife) is taking a flying
lesson, and Dale Barbara is walking out of town until the moment
an invisible barrier cuts The Mill off from the rest of the
world. After that all is a study on a microcosm of America
where politics and greed get out of hand, the greenhouse effect
rears its ugly head, and people let their best and worse traits
out for all to see. Recommended by Sarah Paling who commented
that Stephen King was really on his game when he wrote this
one. Like this title? Try King’s The Stand recommended
by Christine Remington about the fight between good and evil
after disease wipes out the most of the population in the United
States. Matt Spaziani also recommends The
Long Walk. Spaziani shares that “Stephen King is
at his best in this book, combining human drama with an absolutely
disturbing idea. This is easily one of his most powerful novels."
Unwind by
Neal Shusterman. 2007.
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen
and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others,
three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save
their own lives.
Water
for Elephants by Sara Gruen. 2006.
An old man reminisces about his life during the depression where he dropped
out of school, hitched a ride on a train, and ended up joining a circus where
he found friendship, hardship and love along the way. A thoroughly entertaining
and insightful look at the inner workings of the circus. Recommended by Lisa
Yates because there’s
nothing like a good circus book where the protagonist is an elephant!
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. 2009.
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend's restless spirit.
