Summer Assignments

Students are to read ONE book: 

• The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs Rose

Students are to read TWO books from the following list: 

• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 
• Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
• Shadowed, by Carl Deuker
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Rising from the Ashes. by Paula Yoo

Students are to read ONE book from the following list: 

• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
• Shadowed by Carl Deuker 
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 
• Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
• The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
• Victory, Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes

Students are to read ONE book: 

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (non-fiction)

Students are to read ONE book: 

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (non-fiction)

Students are to read ONE book of their choice. 

We have three requests for you this summer:

• Read the novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize).

• Read and annotate the bulkpack of nonfiction (journalistic, analytical, and memoir) articles. (You’ll have to access it through your RTSD account).

• Watch the film The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

  • RTSD School Board policy states that any R-rated film requires parent permission for viewing, so your obligation is to speak to your parent to get permission; if they’re uncomfortable with having you watch it, please contact Mr. Rosin (carl.rosin@rtsd.org) or Mr. Wright (paul.wright@rtsd.org) to discuss alternatives.)

  • Assuming you have permission to watch the film and you don’t encounter any technological glitches, you can stream it for free by clicking this link; you can also find it at any library.

Students are to read the following: 

• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (non-fiction)
• RHS AP Lang Summer Bulkpack 2025 (compiled by Mrs. Pearsall and Ms. Fuhr)

Students are to read TWO books (one novel and one memoir that considers growing up through childhood and/or young adulthood in America):

• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (fiction)
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (memoir)

Students are to read ONE book:  

• The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls (memoir)  

Students are to read ONE book of their choice. 

Students are to read TWO books:  

• Kent State by Deborah Wiles (non-fiction)  

and ONE book from the following Mountain Lauren Book Award List (formerly known as the PA Reader's Choice Awards) Nominees 2025-2026 list:

• Looking for Smoke, by K.A. Cobell
• Shadowed, by Carl Deuker
• Twelfth Knight, by Alexene Farol Follmuth
• Swarm, by Jennifer D. Lyle
• Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States, by J. Albert Mann
• Bad Graces, by Kyrie McCauley
• The Prince and the Apocalypse: A Novel, by Kara McDowell
• Such Charming Liars, by Karen M. McManus
• When the World Tips Over, by Jandy Nelson
• Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…: A Love Story, by Jason Reynolds
• Divine Rivals: A Novel, by Rebecca Ross
• The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
• Lunar New Year Love Story, by Gene Luen and LeUyen Pham
• Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire by Paula Yoo
• Sunrise Nights, by Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro

Students are to read ONE book: 

• Station Eleven:  A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel (fiction)

Students are to read ONE book: 

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (fiction)

Students are to read ONE book: 

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (fiction)