Summer Reading - Suffield Academy

Introduction
The Summer Reading Program at Suffield Academy
reflects several important aims. First, we want
to encourage our students to read outside of the
classroom and beyond the school year. We also
hope to promote an appreciation for a diversity
of writing and, as such, offer our students a range
of suggested titles. Finally, we value the shared
experience of all faculty and students reading a
common text.
Suffield Academy students are expected to read
a minimum of four books over the course of the
summer. All students are required to read the
assigned community text, the English and history
selections at their grade level, and at least one book
from the supplemental reading list for that grade
level. Also, students who are enrolled in Honors or
Advanced Placement courses should check with
their teachers for any additional summer reading
required for next year’s course work.
Students should expect to write about both their
English and history books during the first week of
fall-term classes and to participate in discussion on
the community text. Summer reading selections
can be found at most major retailers and students
must obtain their own copies. Students can find
reading guides, book descriptions, and suggestions
for further reading on our website:
www.suffieldacademy.org/summerreading
If you have any questions about summer reading,
or are having difficulty obtaining a title, please
contact:
Academic Dean Sara Yeager, at 860-386-4428 or
syeager@suffieldacademy.org
Senior Reading List
All students preparing for their senior year must read the
community text, the required English and History books,
and at least one book from the supplemental reading
options listed below.
Required Community Text:
Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
Required English Reading:
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Honors students must also read Civilization: A
New History of the Western World, Roger Osborne
Required History Reading:
AP Economics and Business Ethics Students
Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the
Hidden Side of Everything, Steven D. Levitt and
Stephen J. Dubner
AP Government and Politics
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme
Court, Jeffery Toobin
Civil War/20th Century War
The Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism, Andrew J. Bacevich
Supplemental Reading (choose at least one):
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. LeGuin
The Loved One, Evelyn Waugh
Rabbit Run, John Updike
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Saturday, Ian McEwan
The Power and The Glory, Graham Greene
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
Wait Till Next Year, Doris Kearns Goodwin
Desert Solitaire, Edward Abby
Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Empire Falls, Richard Russo
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
Junior Reading List
All students preparing for their junior year must read the
community text, the required English and History books,
and at least one book from the supplemental reading
options listed below.
Required Community Text:
Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
Required English Reading:
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Honors students must also read How to Read
Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster
Required History Reading:
Chinese/East Asian Studies
Lost Names, Richard E. Kim
European Studies
The People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
Latin American Studies
In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
AP US History
The Ugly American, Eugene Burdick, William J.
Lederer
Supplemental Reading (choose at least one):
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
A Room With A View, E.M. Forster
Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwin
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
My Ántonia, Willa Cather
The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
The Ragman’s Memory, Archer Mayor
Jazz, Toni Morrison
Proof, David Auburn
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Sophomore Reading List
All students preparing for their sophomore year
must read the community text, the required English
and History books, and at least one book from the
supplemental reading options listed below.
Required Community Text:
Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
Required English Reading:
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Required History Reading:
US History students
Autobiography of an Ex Colored Man, James
Weldon Johnson
Honors US History students
Rise to Rebellions, Jeff Shaara
Supplemental Reading (choose at least one):
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
The Once and Future King, T. H. White
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency,
Alexander McCall Smith
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
The Bingo Palace, Louise Erdrich
1984, George Orwell
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,
Mark Haddon
Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Freshman Reading List
All students preparing for their freshman year must read
the community text, the required English and History
books, and at least one book from the supplemental
reading options listed below.
Required Community Text:
Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
Required English Reading:
A Bell for Adano, John Hersey
Required History Reading:
Dead Guy Interviews, Michael A. Stusser
Supplemental Reading (choose at least one):
Dove, Robin Lee Graham
Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Julia Alvarez
The Old Man and The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hound of the Baskervilles,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
Summer
Reading List
For the summer preceeding the
2010-2011 Academic Year
Mission Statement
Suffield Academy is a coeducational independent secondary school
serving a diverse community of day and boarding students. Our
school has a tradition of academic excellence combined with a strong
work ethic. A commitment to scholarship and a respect for individual
differences guide our teaching and curriculum. We engender among
our students a sense of responsibility, and they are challenged to grow
in a structured and nurturing environment. The entire academic,
athletic, and extracurricular experience prepares our students for a
lifetime of learning, leadership, and active citizenship.
Non-discrimination Statement
Suffield Academy does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race,
color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, physical
attributes, disability, age, or sexual orientation. We administer our
admissions, financial aid, educational, athletic, extracurricular, and
other policies so that each student is equally accorded all of the rights,
privileges, programs, and facilities made available by the school.