WHEELING HIGH SCHOOL'S 2008 SUMMER READING LIST
Look through all of the books offered this year and then follow the link at the bottom of the page to select the book you will read.
Your selection needs to be submitted by
June 1, 2008
neutral (Incoming Freshmen Only) Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel loves the taste of smoked oysters and his mother's gentle hugs. Unfortunately, it's impossible for Shawn to feed himself or to hug his mom back. Shawn has cerebral palsy, a condition he has had since birth that has robbed him of all muscle control. He can't walk, talk, or even focus his eyes on his own. But despite all these handicaps, despite the frustration of not being able to communicate, Shawn is still happy to be alive: "Somehow all the things I think about and remember turn to joy... favorite movies... pinecones... chocolate pudding... the scent of Comet in a stainless steel sink.... Life can be great, even for me. Even for me." That is why he panics when he begins to suspect that his father is thinking of killing him. His dad has no idea of the rich life that Shawn lives inside his head. And Shawn, helpless and mute, has no way of telling him.
ask (Incoming Freshmen Only) Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos As part of a U.S. government crackdown on illegal immigration after 9/11, Muslim men were required to register with the government and many were arrested because their visas had long-since expired. Families who had lived and worked in this country were suddenly and forcibly reminded of their illegal status without any likelihood of changing it. For 18-year-old Aisha Hossain, this means the end of her dream of going to college to become a doctor. For 14-year-old Nadira, her younger sister and the story's narrator, it means coming out from behind the shadow of her perfect older sister to reveal her own strength and find a way to reunite her nearly shattered family. Following their father's arrest and detention, the teens put together the documentation and make a case that requires the judges to see them as individuals rather than terror suspects.
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. As Rose Mary and Rex uprooted their kids time and again, the kids were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually led them to a life of homelessness. In this memoir, though Walls describes events that could be considered abusive or neglectful, she ultimately demonstrates respect for her parents’ knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them—
despite their overwhelming self-absorption.
Chew on This by Eric Schlosser Chew on This covers the history of the fast-food industry and delves into the agriculture and animal husbandry methods that support it. From the 37-day life of the pre-McNugget chicken to the appallingly inhumane conditions of slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants, the author lays out the gruesome details behind the tasty burgers and sandwiches. Equally disturbing is his revelation of the way that the fast-food giants have studied childhood behavior and geared their commercials and free toy inclusions to hook the youngest consumers.
The Pact by Drs. Samson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Lisa Frazier Page As teenagers from a rough part of Newark, New Jersey, Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins had nothing going for them except loving mothers and above-average intelligence. Their first stroke of luck was testing into University High, a magnet high school, and their second was finding each other. They were busy staying out of trouble (most of the time) and discovering the usual ways to skip class, when a recruitment presentation on Seton Hall University reignited George's childhood dream of becoming a dentist. The college was offering an assistance package for minorities in its Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus Program. George convinced his two friends to go to college with him, where they would be each other’s support systems.
Samuri Shortstop by Alan M. Gratz Fifteen-year-old Toyo Shimada watches his beloved uncle, Koji, commit seppuku (an honorable suicide) the day before he begins his first year of boarding school. This act sets into motion a story that is firmly grounded in the transition between traditions and modern values in Japan, a place where samurai are no longer welcome in favor of Western influences. Despite the confusion and conflict in Toyo’s school, he and his classmates find unity in the game of baseball. Toyo sees the ancient warrior art of bushido in baseball and works on convincing his teammates that in order to win the game, they must first learn to balance individual accomplishments with teamwork.
The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-ucci The often-tortured class weirdo has disappeared, leaving a note on the school library computer. Is he a runaway, a suicide, a murder victim? Sixteen-year-old Torey Adams and his friends remember beating up Chris Creed when he annoyed them, but now that he is gone, they joke uneasily about him to ease their guilt. The town is full of ugly rumors, and suspicion of murder conveniently falls on Bo Richardson, an outcast from the edge of town. Soon enough, Torey and his friends try to solve the mystery of Chris's disappearance, but only succeed in implicating themselves. Torey finds himself distanced from his friends by his growing understanding of the importance of compassion toward those who are different.
The Curious Incident of the Dog and the Nighttime by Mark Haddon Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers. Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington.
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak Nineteen-year-old cabbie Ed Kennedy has little in life to be proud of: his dad died of alcoholism, and he and his mom have few prospects for success. He has little to do except share a run-down apartment with his faithful yet smelly dog, drive his taxi, and play cards and drink with his amiable yet similarly washed-up friends. Then, after he stops a bank robbery, Ed begins receiving anonymous messages marked in code on playing cards in the mail, and almost immediately his life begins to swerve off its beaten-down path. With nothing to lose, Ed embarks on a series of missions as random as a toss of dice: sometimes daredevil, sometimes heartwarmingly safe. Ed seeks to finish each task even as they grow increasingly dangerous and mysterious.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens. Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers (aliens). Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender.
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve As the story opens, the great Traction City of London is chasing a small town. When one city takes over another, it processes all reusable materials to create power to run the motorized wheels that enable the city to travel over the land. London's mayor has bigger plans than the domination of a small town, plans involving the use of the weapon that laid waste to Earth millennia earlier. Several young people endeavor to stop the carnage--among them, Tom, an apprentice at the London Museum; a young woman who tries to kill the museum's head historian; the historian's daughter, Katherine; and an apprentice in the Guild of Engineers.
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut One of Vonnegut's most entertaining novels, Cat’s Cradle is filled with scientists and G-men and even ordinary folks caught up in the game. These assorted characters chase each other around in search of the world's most important and dangerous substance, a new form of ice that freezes at room temperature. If you liked Slaughterhouse Five, you’ll love Cat’s Cradle.
The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin Narrated by 17-year-old Matt as a letter to his youngest sister, Emmy, The Rules of Survival is his effort to come to terms with the abuse he and his two sisters suffered at the hands of their mother. One of Matt’s early memories involves getting up during the night to sneak a cookie back to bed and being caught by his mother. Giggling and yelling Cookie thief, she holds a knife to his throat, cutting him just a little bit to teach him not to steal. As much as he fears her manic highs and lows, Matt’s greater concern as he grows older is for the safety of his sisters. He shields Emmy as much as possible from their mother’s volatile moods, but finds himself caught in a world where every adult they meet seems to disappoint them.
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock D.J. Schwenk, while not really happy, never complains or questions her life on the family's small dairy farm in Wisconsin. After her father is injured, the 15-year-old girl must do the farm work almost single-handedly, including milking the cows. D.J. is a jock, so on top of all her farm chores, she takes on training Brian, the quarterback on a rival school's football team. The summer they spend together changes everything as D.J. discovers that she has lots to say about her life and what she wants out of it.
Elsewhere Gabrielle Zevin Although Liz is maturing, coping with disappointments, and controlling her anger, she is getting younger. Having been killed by a hit and run driver, she now lives in Elsewhere with the grandmother who died before she was born. After death, the residents get younger until they become babies and are reborn onto Earth again. Initially mad at the driver and sad that she will not have a boyfriend and attend the prom, Liz misses her family and is sullen and depressed. Gradually, she begins to realize that life is not so bad in the hereafter.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen years later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-yearold Laila, a girl whose only other options are prostitution or starvation. Mariam and Laila become allies in a battle against Rasheed, whose violent misogyny is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini portrays a patriarchal society in Afghanistan where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, and the bearing of male children is their sole path to social status.
Atonement by Ian McEwan Briony Tallis, a hyperimaginative 13-year-old points a finger at Robbie Turner, a fellow Cambridge student, when her cousin is assaulted; on her testimony alone, Robbie is jailed. The second part of the book moves forward five years to focus on Robbie, now freed and part of the British Army that was cornered and eventually evacuated from Dunkirk during the early days of WWII. In the third part, Briony becomes a nurse amid wonderfully observed scenes of London as the nation mobilizes. No, she doesn't have Robbie as a patient, but she begins to come to terms with what she has done and offers to make amends with him.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Nineteen Minutes deals with the truth and consequences of a small town high school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers readers a glimpse of what would cause 17-year-old Peter Houghton to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As Picoult attempts to answer this question, she shows us all sides of the equation, from the ruthless jock who loses his ability to speak after being shot in the head, to the mother who both blames and pities herself for producing what most would call a monster.
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