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ACS Reading list

Introduction

The ACS academic program encourages continuous learning, and reading plays a vital role in this process. The ACS Summer Reading Program has been established to help you develop your reading skills and to foster the delights of reading.

We are providing you with a considerable list of recommended books, both fiction and non-fiction. You are expected to read three titles by different authors from this list before you return to school in August. If you are new to ACS this fall, take a minute to discuss the list with someone who could advise you on what to read: a librarian, teacher, or parent.

Buy your books whenever possible. During the first semester your reading will be evaluated by your English teacher, and having the books will allow you to do your best work.

You should make notes about your books as you read and record them accurately. You will be required to show these notes to your teachers when you return to school. This preliminary note taking will help you complete accurate and interesting assignments during the first semester.

If you are fluent in a language other than English, you can read one of your books in that language.

Please note that you must read three books by three different authors.
Please choose your titles according to your interests and maturity.
Please note that titles marked with an asterisk (*) are reserved for students who are enrolled in the Student Resources Program.
Make sure that you are reading titles that you have not read before, since an important goal of summer reading is to enlarge the scope of your knowledge.

 

Reading List - Fiction

TITLE

AUTHOR

Things Fall Apart

Achebe, Chinua

Watership Down

Adams, Richard

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Adams, Douglas

A Death in the Family

Agee, John

The House of Spirits

Allende, Isabel

In the Time of Butterflies

Alvarez, Julia

Bless me, Ultima

Anaya, Rudolfo

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Angelou, Maya

Daughters of Memory

Arnold, Janis

The Dollmaker

Arnow, Harriet

Fantastic Voyage

Asimov, Isaac

The Handmaid's Tale

Atwood, Margaret

The Lone Man

Atxaga, Bernardo

Timbuktu

Auster, Paul

The Book of Illusions

Auster Paul

Every Man for Himself

Bainbridge, Beryl

Pere Goriot

Balzac, Honore

Regeneration

Barker, Pat

Union Street

Barker, Pat

*Lillies of the Field

Barrett, William

The Victim

Bellow, Saul

City of Light

Belfer, Lauren

Little Big Man

Berger, Thomas

Orri's Story

Berger, Thomas

Evening Class

Binchy, Maeve

Lorna Doone

Lackmore, R.D.

*Girl Goddess Number 9

Block, Francesca

Ficions

Borges, Jorge Luis

Century's Son

Boswell, Robert

Any Human Heart

Boyd, William

Armadillo

Boyd, William

Brazzaville Beach

Boyd, William

Stars and Bars

Boyd, William

The Tortilla Curtain

Boyle, T.C.

Farenheit 451

Bradbury, Ray

The Illustrated Man

Bradbury, Ray

Red Sky at Morning

Bradford, Richard

Theory of War

Brady, Joan

The Postman

Brin, David

Hotel du Lac

Brockner, Anita

Jane Eyre

Bronte, Charlotte

*Hammerheads

Brown, Dale

Angels and Demons

Brown, Dan

The Da Vinci Code

Brown, Dan

Before and After

Brown, Rosellen

The Good Earth

Buck, Pearl

The 39 Steps

Buchan, John

Earthly Powers

Burgess, Anthony

Malayan Triloy

Burgess, Anthony

*The Incredible Journey

Burnford, Sheila

Cold Sassy Tree

Burns, Olive Ann

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

Butler, Robert Olen

The Rule of Four

Cadwell, Ian and Dustin Thomason

Life is a Dream

Calderon Barca, P

The Outsider

Camus, Albert

The Plague

Camus, Albert

In Cold Blood

Capote, Truman

Short stories

Capote, Truman

Ender's Game

Card, Orson Scott

The Education of Little Tree

Carter, Forrest

Short Cuts

Carver, Raymond

Any short story collection

Carver, Raymond

My Antonia

Cather, Willa

Short stories

Cather, Willa

Don Quixote

Cervantes, deM

La Gitanilla

Cervantes, deM

The Cid

Cervantes, deM

N.I.K.

Chambers, Aiden

Farewell, My Lovely

Chandler, Raymond

The Big Sleep

Chandler, Raymond

Wild Swans

Chang, Jung

Falling Angels

Chevalier, Tracy

Girl wih a Pearl Earring

Chevalier, Tracy

The Lady and the Unicorn

Chevalier, Tracy

Any title

Christie, Agatha

The House on Mango Street

Cisneros, Sandra

The Hunt for Red October

Clancy, Tom

Patriot Games

Clancy, Tom

The Life and Times of Michael K

Coetzee, J.M.

The Master of Petersburg

Coetzee, J.M.

The Moonstone

Collins, Wilkie

The Woman in White

Collins, Wilkie

Any title

Conrad, Joseph

The Prince of Tides

Conroy, Pat

The Great Santini

Conroy, Pat

*The Lords of Discipline

Conroy, Pat

*The Water is Wide

Conroy, Pat

*After the First Death

Cormier, Robert

*The Chocolate War

Cormier, Robert

Jurassic park

Crichton, Michael

The Great Train Robbery

Crichton, Michael

*I Hear the owl Call My Name

Craven, Margaret

All Families are Psychotic

Coupland, Douglas

Girlfriend in a Coma

Coupland, Douglas

Miss Wyoming

Coupland, Douglas

The Red Badge of Courage

Crane, Stephen

Kiss, Kiss

Dahl, Roald

*Someone Like You

Dahl, Roald

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

deBernieres, Louis

Born Confused

Desai Hidier, Tanjua

Paris Trout

Dexter, Pete

The Red Tent

Diamant Anita

Any book

Dickens, Charles

Seven Gothic Tales

Dinesen, Isak

Ragtime

Docorow, E.L.

Daughter of the Sea

Doherty, Berlie

Any book

Donleavy, J.P.

Any book

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

Any book

Doyle, Roddy

The Count of Monte Cristo

Dumas, Alexander

The Three Musketeers

Dumas, Alexander

The House on the Strand

DuMaurier, Daphne

My Cousin Rachel

DuMaurier, Daphne

Rebecca

DuMaurier, Daphne

*Jin the Boy

Earley, Tony

The Name of the Rose

Eco, Umberto

Foreign Studies

Endo, Shusaku

Love Medicine

Erdrich, Louise

Like Water for Chocolate

Esquivel, Laura

High Five

Evanovich, Janet

One for the Money

Evanovich, Janet

To the Nines

Evanovich, Janet

Playing for Time

Fanalon, Fania

The Singapore Grip

Farrell, J.G.

*April Morning

Fast, Howard

Birdsong

Faulkes, Sebastian

The Hamlet

Faulkner

The Reivers

Faulkner, William

Cimmaron

Ferber, Edna

Giant

Ferber, Edna

Any book (except The Great Gatsby)

Fitzgerald, F.S.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe

Flagg, Fanny

Madame Bovary

Flaubert, Gustav

Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Fo, Dario

Pillars of the Earth

Follet, Ken

Hornblower series, any

Forster, C.S.

Lady's Maid

Forster, Margaret

Day of the Jackel

Forsythe, Fred'k

The French Lieutenant's Woman

Fowles, John

The Magus

Fowles, John

Alas, Babylon

Frank, pat

The Corrections

Frantzen, Jonathan

*Mrs. Mike

Freedman, Bend't

Terra Nostra

Fuentes, Carlos

The Old Gringo

Fuentes, Carlos

Blood Wedding

Garcia Lorca, Fred

Love in the Time of Cholera

Garcia Marquez, G.

100 Years of Solitude

Garcia Marquez, G.

China lake

Gardiner, John

Any book

Gaskell, Elizabeth

The Fat Man

Gee, Maurice

Victory over Japan

Gilchrist, Ellen

July's People

Gordimer, Nadine

Road Walkers

Grau, Shirley Ann

Ordinary People

Guest, Judith

She

Haggard, Ryder

Archangel

Harris, Robert

Enigma

Harris, Robert

Fatherland

Harris, Robert

Pompeii

Harris Robert

Catch 22

Heller, Joseph

A Farewell to Arms

Hemingway, Ernest

The Sun Also Rises

Hemingway, Ernest

Short stories

Henry, O.

Hiroshima

Hersy, John

The Childbuyer

Hersy, John

Tales of the Master Race

Hershmann, Marcie

Steppenwolf

Hesse, Herman

Beneath the Wheel

Hesse, Herman

Strange Meeting

Hill, Susan

Skinwalkers

Hillerman, Tony

The Blessing Way

Hillerman, Tony

The Fly on the Wall

Hillerman, Tony

Lost Horizon

Hilton, James

*Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Hilton, James

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

Hoeg, Peter

Any short story collection

Hoffman, Alice

The Light Years

Howard, Elizabeth

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

The Blackboard Jungle

Hunter, Evan

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hurson, Zora Neale

Ghosts

Ibsen, Henrik

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Irving, John

The Remains of the Day

Ishiguro, Kazuo

The Haunting of the Hill House

Jackson, Shirley

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Jackson, Shirley

The Turn of the Screw

James, Henry

Platero and I

Jimenez, Juan R.

Waiting

Jin, Ha

Three Men in a Boat

Jerome, Jerome K.

Middle Passage

Johnson, Charles

Metamorphosis (story collection)

Kafka, Franz

Andersonville

Kantor, MacKinlay

Up the Down Staircase

Kaufman, Belle

Lake Wobegon Days

Keillor, Garrison

Any collection

Keillor, Garrison

Schindler's List (or Ark)

Keneally, Thomas

Ironweed

Kennedy, William

On the Road

Kerouac, Jack

*I'll Love You When You're More Like Me

Kerr, M.F.

The Poisonwood Bible

Kingsolver, Barbara

Shoeless Joe

Kinsella, W.P.

A Separate Peace

Knowles, John

Out of Ireland

Koch, Christopher

Darkness at Noon

Koestler, Arthur

*Confess-O-Rama

Koertge, Ron

Being There

Kosinski, Jerry

Death and the Penguin

Kurkov, Andrey

Any book

L'Amour, Louis

I Know This Much Is True

Lamb, Wally

Tao Te Ching

Lao, Tzu

Unheard Melodies

Leamon, Warren

A Perfect Spy

LeCarre, John

Call from the Dead

LeCarre, John

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

LeCarre, John

*Prelude

L'Engle, Madeline

Dusty Answer

Lehmann, Rom'd

The Best Little Girl in the World

Levenkron, Steven

The Boys from Brazil

Levin, Ira

Main Street

Lewis, Sinclair

Dearly Beloved

Lindbergh, Anne

*Call of the Wild

London, Jack

The Seawolf

London, Jack

White Fang

London, Jack

Fuente ovejuna

Lopa de Vega

Jewel

Lott, Brett

*The Giver

Lowry, Lois

A River Runs Through It

Maclean, Norman

The Naked and the Dead

Mailer, Norman

The Natural

Malamud, Bernard

Buddenbrooks

Mann, Thomas

Death in Venice

Mann, Thomas

Bill and Other Stories

Mansfield, Katherine

Christy

Marshall, Catherine

Life of Pi

Martel, Yann

In Country

Mason, Bobbi Ann

Short stories

Maupassant, Guy

When She Was Good

Mazer, Norma

Ferris Beach

McCorkle, Jill

All the Pretty Horses

McCarthy, Cormac

The Group

McCarty, Mary

Lovey

McCracken, Mary

Member of the Wedding

McCullers, Carson

Atonement

McEwan, Ian

Enduring Love

McEwan, Ian

Anything for Billy

McMurtry, Larry

Horseman, Pass By

McMurtry, Larry

Lonesome Dove

McMurtry, Larry

Streets of Laredo

McMurtry, Larry

Terms of Endearment

McMurtry, Larry

*Daddy Was a Number Runner

Merwether, Lousie

Caravans

Michner, James

Hawaii

Michner, James

Martin Dressler

Milhouser, Steven

The Sound of Waves

Mishima, Yuko

The Bluest Eye

Morrison, Toni

Jasmine, Middleman, and other Stories

Mukherjee, Bharati

The Good Apprentice

Murdoch, Iris

Fallen Angels

Myers, W.D.

Somwhere in the Darkness

Myers, W.D.

A Bend in the River

Naipul, V.S.

Portrait of Jenny

Nailian, Robert

Lisa Bright and Dark

Neufield, John

Any book

Newby, Eric

Automated Alice

Noon, Jeff

Mutiny on the Bounty

Nordhoff/Hall

The Country Girl

O'Brien, Edna

Two for Zachariah

O'Brien, Robert

The Things They Carried

O'Brien, TIm

A Good Man is Hard to Find

O'Connor, Flannery

The Famished Road

Okri, Ben

Peeling the Onion

Orr, Wendy

The Shawl

Ozick, Cyniliia

Jean de Florette

Pagnol, Marcel

Manon of the Springs

Pagnol, Marcel

Stories

Parker, Dorothy

An Instance of the Fingerpost

Pears, Iain

Remembering the Good Times

Reck, Richard

Dona Perfecta

Perez Galdos, B.

The Shell Seekers

Pilcher, Rosamond

Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance

Pirsig, Robert

My Name Is Asher Lev

Potok, Chaim

The Promise

Potok, Chaim

Accordion Crimes

Proulx, E. Annie

The Shipping News

Proulx, E. Annie

The Fountainhead

Rand, Ayn

Under an English Heaven

Radcliffe, Robert

The Last of the Wine

Renault, Mary

The Bridesmaid

Rendell, Ruth

*Friedrich

Richter, Hans P.

Scarlett

Ripley, Alexandra

Goodbye, Columbus

Roth, Philip

The Old Man and the Boy

Ruark, Robert

Iron and Silk

Salzman, Mark

Whisper of the River

Sams, Ferrol

*Shane

Schaeffer, Jack

Sybil

Schreiber, Flora

The Stone Diaries

Shields, Carol

Lovely Bones

Sebold, Alice

The Killer Angels

Shaara, Michael

Frankenstein

Shelley, Mary

In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash

Shepherd, Jean

Any other title

Shepherd, Jean

And Quiet Flows the Don

Sholokov, Mikhail

THe Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner

Sillitoe, Alan

The Jungle

Sinclair, Upton

Any book

Simenon, Georges

A Thousand Acres

Smiley, Jane

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Smith, Alexander

Tear of the Giraffe

Smith, Alexander

White Teeth

Smith, Zadie

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Solzhenitsyn, Alexander

Cancer Ward

Solzhenitsyn, Alexander

Buried Onions

Soto, Gary

The Prime of Miss Jean Brody

Spark, Muriel

Cannery Row

Steinbeck, John

The Crystal Cave

Stewart, Mary

The Hollow Hills

Stewart, Mary

Dracula

Stoker, Bram

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Stone, Irving

The Confessions of Nat Turner

Styron, William

Sophie's Choice

Styron, William

Perfume

Suskind, Patrick

*Bless the Beasts and Children

Swarthout, Glendon

The Little Friend

Tart, Donna

The Secret History

Tart, Donna

The American Boy

Taylor, Andrew

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

Taylor, Mildred

The Road to Memphis

Taylor, Mildred

Kingdom by the Sea

Theroux, Paul

Mosquito Coast

Theroux, Paul

My Secret History

Theroux, Paul

My Secret Life

Theroux, Paul

The Hobbit

Tolkein, J.R.R.

A Confederacy of Dunces

Toole, John

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Traven, B.

Any book

Trevor, William

Any book

Trollope, Anthony

Any book

Trollope, Joanna

Short stories

Twain, Mark

Any book

Tyler, Anne

Pigeon Feathers (or other short story collection)

Updike, John

Poorhouse Fair

Updike, John

Exodus

Uris, Leon

Mila 18

Uris, Leon

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Verne, Jules

A Time of Troubles

Van Raven, Pieter

The Runner

Voight, Cynthia

Slaughterhouse Five

Vonnegut, K.

Breakfast of Champions

Vonnegut, K.

Any collection of short stories

Vonnegut, K.

The Color Purple

Walker, Alice

Possessing the Secret of Joy

Walker, Alice

Montana:1948

Watson, Larry

The Loved One

Waugh, Evelyn

Decline and Fall

Waugh, Evelyn

I Can Get It for You Wholesale

Weidman, Jerome

What's in it for Me?

Weidman, Jerome

Miss Lonelyhearts

West, Nathanael

The Day of the Locust

West, Nathanael

The Picture of Dorian Grey

Wilde, Oscar

Any title

Wodehouse, P.G.

The Final Club

Wolff, Geoffrey

This Boy's Life

Wolff, Tobias

The Caine Mutiny Court Martial

Wouk, Herman

Black Boy

Wright, Richard

Native Son

Wright, Richard

Midwich Cuckoos

Wyndham, John

*Loch

Zindel, Paul

*The Pigman

Zindel, Paul

Top | Content copyright ©ACS 2003-2005 unless otherwise stated.

 

Reading List - History

TITLE

AUTHOR

Any book

Bryson, Bill

The Devil That Danced...Water: A Daughter's Memoir

Forna, Aminatta

The Age of Uncertainty

Galbraith, John

Black Like Me

Griffin, John H.

Defying Hitler

Haffner, Sebastian

Wellington

Holmes, Richard

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Isaacson, Walter

History of the Modern World

Johnson, Paul

Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

Kennedy, Paul

Mister Clemens and Mark Twain

Kaplan, Justin

Walt Whitman: A Life

Kaplan, Justin

Woman Warrior

Kingston, Maxine

Survival at Auschwitz

Levi, Primo

Home Before Night

Leonard, Hugh

The Holocaust In History

Marris, Michael

Nicholas and Alexandra

Massie, Robert

Blue Highways

Moon, William

First Flight

O'Rourke, P.J.

Give War a Chance

O'Rourke, P.J.

Holidays in Hell

O'Rourke, P.J.

Cross Creek

Rawlings, Marjorie

Ten Days That Shook the World

Reed, John

Citizens

Sharma, Simon

Berlin Diary: The Nightmare Years

Shirer, William

Galileo's Daughter

Sobel, Dava

Travels with Charlie

Steinbeck, John

English History, 1914-1939

Taylor, A.J.P.

A History of the First World War

Taylor, A.J.P.

Lark Rise to Candleford

Thompson, Florence

Eats, Shoots and Leaved

Truss, Lynne

Distant Mirror

Tuchman, Barbaara

The Guns of August

Tuchman, Barbara

Autobiography

Twain, Mark

Life on the Mississippi

Twain, Mark

Night

Wiesel, Elie

The Right Stuff

Wolfe, Tom

Top | Content copyright ©ACS 2003-2005 unless otherwise stated.

 

Reading List - Science/Psychology

The Psychology of Interpersonal Behavior

Argyle, Michael

Asimov on Chemisry

Asimov, Isaac

Dibs: In Search of Self

Axline, Virginia

The Dinosaur Man

Baur, Susan

The Second Creation

Crease & Mann

The Rise of the New Physics

D'Abro, A.

The New York Times Book of Scientific Literacy

Flaste, R(ed)

The Interpretation of Dreams

Freud, Sigmund

The New Ambidextrous Universe

Gardener, M.

In Search of Schrodinger's Cat

Gribbin, John

Death Be Not Proud

Gunther, John

A Brief History of Time

Hawking, Stephen

Screwtape Letters

Lewis, C.S.

A Child Called It

Pelzer, David

The Lost Boy

Pelzer, David

Genome

Ridley, Matt

Serendipity

Roberts, Royston

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

Sacks, Oliver

Scientific American Readers on Related Subjects

Scientific American

Chemistry in the Marketplace

Selinger, Ben

The Double Helix

Watson, James

A Passion for Science

Wolpert/Richards

Top | Content copyright ©ACS 2003-2005 unless otherwise stated.

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