Enjoy a good book!
Hey Kids! Don't let your mind turn to mush over the long, lazy summer break. Pick up a good book and feed the brain. To help you along that path, the crack faculty at Sandusky Central Catholic School has "recommended" some of their favorites for you to read on the beach.
Actually, these readings will be assessed and all students should be prepared for a test over their summer reading book(s) during the first week of school. For a complete description of the tasks expected of students associated with the summer reading program click here.
If you should click on the links below and travel to Amazon.com and actually purchase one of the Summer Reading Program books SCCS will receive up to 15% of the proceeds from any purchases you make.
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7th GRADE The Twenty One Balloons by William Dubois This book is about a schoolteacher named Professor William Waterman Sherman. Professor Sherman lives in San Francisco. The year is 1883. Mr. Sherman is bored, and decides to quit teaching so he can live in a hot air balloon for a whole year.
He had a humongous hot air balloon made, and a giant bamboo basket for him to live in. Unfortunately, three weeks into his voyage, something happens and he is stranded on an “uninhabitable” island. This island is the island of Krakotoa, which is between the islands of Sumatra and Java, islands of Indonesia. Krakotoa is said to be uninhabited because of an active volcano, which had erupted some years before.
It turns out that Krakatoa is actualy inhabited, by 20 families consisting of 1 father, 1 mother, 1 son, and 1 daughter. They are all very wealthy, because there are diamond mines with diamonds the size of base balls in abundance. The inhabitants of Krakatoa run restaurants, too."
Click on the book cover to learn more about The Twenty One Balloons or to make a purchase |
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8th GRADE April Morning by Howard Fast On April 19, 1775, Adam Cooper, aged 15, signed the muster roll of the Lexington militia. This book by Howard Fast is the story of the next twenty-four hours in his life – the story of the birth of a man and a nation and a way of life. It is a story of almost unbearable tension, a deceptively quiet description of a single day in a boy's life, of his moment of coming of age, of the heroism of unheroic people, and the courage that builds upon fear and hesitancy.
This is the story of a battle, but we think it is unlike any battle story you have ever read. In all truth, it is the story of the beginnings and the specific memory of America; it is for anyone and everyone who is an American or who has ever loved or cherished any part of what we call the American dream. But with that the portrait here of Adam Cooper's coming of age, of his first knowledge of love and death, and of his struggle to triumph over his own youth is the most fulfilled writing of Howard Fast, a stirring book of passion and hope, as true an account of resistance and resolution as anyone has ever written.
Click on the book cover to learn more about April Morning or to make a purchase |
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9th GRADE HONORS Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe This novel was first published in 1719 and is sometimes considered to be the first novel written in English. It is a fictional autobiography of the title character. In the story, he is a castaway who spends twenty-eight years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela encountering Native Americans, captives, and mutineers during his long ordeal.
Click on the book cover to learn more about Robinson Crusoe or to make a purchase |
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9th GRADE HONORS & REGULAR The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Sinclair wrote this novel to highlight the plight of the working class and to show the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early-20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones: poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the working class, which is contrasted with the deeply-rooted corruptions on the part of those in power. Sinclair's observations of the state of turn-of-the-century labor were placed front and center for the American public to see, suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American “wage slavery". The novel is also an important example of the “muckraking" tradition begun by journalists of the time.
Click on the book cover to learn more about The Jungle or to make a purchase |
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10th GRADE HONORS In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez Set in the Dominican Republic, In the Time of the Butterflies depicts the lives of the Mirabal family between 1938 and 1994. The chapters are narrated by the four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa, or Mate. Alvarez arranges events in roughly chronological order, though she excludes many years from the narrative and gives only brief treatment to the period between 1960 and 1994.
Click on the book cover to learn more about In the Time of Butterflies or to make a purchase |
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10th GRADE HONORS & REGULAR The Pearl by John Steinbeck A story based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the disastrous effects of stepping out of an established system, for bad things will happen if one abuses his/her spot. Due to the novella's negative portrayal of opportunity and ambition, some suspect that, like much of Steinbeck's work, it advocates socialism. In fact, its criticism of the ruling elites and their dominance in Mexican society along with their clearly negative attitude toward the poor are much stronger arguments for the "socialism" that Steinbeck purportedly advocates.
The Pearl has a strong moral that one should be content with one's life and that greed invites misfortune, which is what Kino and his family end up having plenty of after the discovery of the pearl later in the book. The novella presents this view through the character of the Priest, who participates in continuing the oppression of the indigenous people (Kino's race). The book also conveys messages of oppression and racism in a way that suggests they are negative elements in life.
Click on the book cover to learn more about The Pearl or to make a purchase |
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11th GRADE HONORS & REGULAR The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain This book follows Tom Sawyer and his friends Huck Finn and Joe Harper on their adventures along the shores of the Mississippi River. They run away to live like pirates, are presumed dead, and return just in time for their own funeral. They even witness a murder, and discover treasure beyond their wildest dreams.
Click on the book cover to learn more about The Pearl or to make a purchase |
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12th GRADE HONORS Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin The book describes Mortenson's transition from a mountain-climber to a humanitarian committed to reducing poverty and educating girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He did this by co-founding the Central Asia Institute, which has built over 131 schools in the most remote areas of the countries, educating over 58,000 students. The book's title comes from a Bali proverb: "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family..."
Click on the book cover to learn more about Three Cups of Tea or to make a purchase |
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12th GRADE HONORS & REGULAR The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman Choose this book or 1984 by George Orwell
This book analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. The title also alludes to the perceptual shift required for countries, companies and individuals to remain competitive in a global market where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Click on the book cover to learn more about The World is Flat or to make a purchase |
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12th GRADE HONORS & REGULAR 1984 by George Orwell Choose this book or The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
By George Orwell, published in 1949, is a dystopian novel about the totalitarian regime of the Party, a society where life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, public mind control, and the voiding of citizens' rights. In the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him into rebellion against Big Brother.
Click on the book cover to learn more about 1984 or to make a purchase |