A Yellow Raft in Blue Water - DORRIS (fiction) - This novel focuses on the lives of three women, a girl, her mother and her grandmother. This book is challenging as it moves from the present to the past. You will experience each character’s dreams, secrets and betrayals and develop an insight into American Indian culture. This selection is for the reader who wishes to be challenged. Reading Level 7.5

Magill Book Review: This first novel is not without flaws. The language of the first person narrator lacks credibility in places. The supporting characters are too predictable. There are moments of reverse racism; however, this makes a promising debut.

The Bean Trees - KINGSOLVER (fiction) - This is a story about love, friendship, abandonment and belonging. A young girl travels west with dreams of a bright future, only to struggle with unexpected motherhood and establishing roots.. Reading Level: 7.5

Booklist Review: Kingsolver tackles a number of depressing contemporary social ills, including child abuse, divorce, and political refugees, in a warm and generous first novel.

The Best Little Girl in the World - LEVENKRON (non-fiction) - This is a revealing story of a young girl's battle with anorexia. Realistic and relevant, extremely readable, readers will weep and cheer right along with the young woman as she struggles to find self-acceptance and life. Reading Level: 9

Kirkus Review: The diagnosis comes a bit too easily, promising a bit too zippy a cure, and this certainly doesn't furnish the eye-opening epiphany required for gripping psycho-drama. Still, Sandy is one of the more believable and reassuring fictional therapists in recent fiction, and there's enough quiet authenticity here to reward those readers interested in the disease but not interested enough to dip into Hilde Bruch's thorough, fascinating non-fiction study, The Golden Cage.

Siddartha - HESSE (historical fiction) - A young prince sheds his worldly belongings and sets out on a series of adventures in an attempt to find his true self. Reading Level: 7.1

No review available

Speak - HALSE ANDERSON (fiction) – High school freshman, Melinda, barely speaks. She is a social outcast for making the 911 call that ended a wild party. Book is for a mature reader. Reading Level: 8

School Library Journal review: This powerful novel deals with a difficult yet important topic-rape. Anderson expresses the emotions and the struggles of teenagers perfectly. Melinda's pain is palpable, and readers will totally empathize with her. This is a compelling book, with sharp, crisp writing that draws readers in, engulfing them in the story.

The Chocolate War - Cormier (mystery) - A high school boy refuses to be intimidated by those around him. Looks at the struggle of teens to be themselves and the power of a group. Reading Level: 6.7

The New York Times Book Review: “Cormier's fourth novel, written for teenagers but a strong read for adults, is a story with a highly serious message …about the usurpation and misuse of power. It is masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful; complex ideas develop and unfold with clarity. The novel may be faulted only for its general shortchanging of character. The characters are quick studies, recognizable at a glance, two-dimensional. Although humorous scenes do precede the novel's denouement, an easy out does occur.

The Library Journal: Cormier is especially sharp in showing the boys' relationship to and manipulation of each other. Realistic language and the usual horniness of adolescent boys crop up throughout in the natural way, but the brutality of the Vigil's reign of terror and Archie's dictatorial sway make this novel unique in its uncompromising portrait of human cruelty and conformity.

Song of the Buffalo Boy - GARLAND (fiction) - This selection won the ALA Best Book for Young Adults Award. The main character, Loi, is an Amerasian living in Vietnam after the war. Her fellow villagers ostracize her because she is a reminder of her country's civil war. Her misadventures begin when she attempts to escape an arranged marriage, as she loves another. Reading Level: 7

Notable Best Books (A.L.A.) This is a compelling coming-of-age novel in which Loi has lived by rules that preclude her happiness in a land she loves. Only the neat resolution and fairy-tale ending weaken the otherwise well-told story.

Rat - CHERIPKO (fiction)- The main character testifies in court about an assault the basketball coach committed against one of the team's cheerleaders. He battles the consequences of telling the truth. When the coach faces a prison term, the replacement coach enters the lives of the boys on the basketball team and transforms the team and their lives. Book is for a mature reader. Reading Level: Young Adult.

School Library Review: This is a novel that doesn't shy away from exploring the characters' spiritual sides. However, in some ways, it tries to tackle too many big issues and it starts off stronger than it finishes. The students never talk about their feelings and attitudes, and their motivations remain muddled. Still, the story is filled with emotional power, told through a skillful first-person narration.

The Wave - STRASSER (fiction) - In order to help his students understand how the German people could have followed Hitler; Mr. Ross creates a movement called The Wave. Before the week is out, The Wave governs the school. Two students set out to stop The Wave before it’s too late? Reading Level: 5.7

No review available

Never Cry Wolf - Mowat (non-fiction) - Naturalist Farley Mowat goes to live among the wolves on the frozen Artic Tundra. His book dispells the myth that the wolves are marauding killers. Reading Level: 8.9

No review available

IF YOU HAVE REGISTERED TO TAKE AN ENGLISH 9-ADVANCED HONORS COURSE NEXT FALL, YOU MUST ALSO READ THE CHOSEN BY CHIAM POTAK. YOU WILL BEGIN YOUR STUDY OF LITERATURE IN YOUR CLASS WITH THIS TEXT.

P.V. Moore High School English 10 Summer Reading List

For the past several years, we have offered you many choices of a tenth grade summer reading book. However, this year you will all be required to read one of two books on the same topic. The first, entitled Please Stop Laughing at Me, is a national best selling autobiography by Jodee Blanco. This book vividly illustrates the issue of bullying in our schools today. The second is Shattering Glass by Gail Giles, a fictional story of clumsy Simon Glass, a fat nerd loser who occupies the lowest rung on the high school social ladder. Everyone picks on him until Rob Haynes shows up. Rob, a transfer student with charisma to spare immediately becomes the undisputed leader of the senior class, and he has plans for Simon.