Summer Reading 2012-2013 / 10th Grade Reading Requirements

General Information about Summer Reading at Mt. Tabor

· Students can come by the main office of Mt. Tabor during the summer months, starting June 8^th to check out a copy of their book. We recommend that you purchase your own book if possible so that you can write in it, but we do have most titles available for checkout.

· Each book has its own writing assignment as well, which will be posted on the Mt. Tabor website by June 8^th.

In order to ensure equity for all students, ALL STUDENTS HAVE THEIR ASSIGNMENT FOR THEIR SUMMER READING NOVEL DUE ON SEPTEMBER 7^TH, REGARDLESS OF WHEN THEY ARE TAKING THE CLASS. THIS MEANS THAT ALL STUDENTS IN SPRING ENGLISH CLASSES WILL BE REQUIRED TO TURN IN THEIR ASSIGNMENT FOR THEIR NOVEL ON SEPTEMBER 7^TH TO THEIR SPRING ENGLISH TEACHER. This assignment will not be accepted in the spring.
For students in the fall semester , the book and assignment are due September 7^th, 2012. A test on the book will be given on this day.
For students in the spring semester, the assignment is due on September 7^th, 2012 and the book will be tested on February 6^th, 2013. You can opt to take the test early on the afternoon of Sept. 7^th if you sign up in the fall.
ALL SOPHOMORES NEED TO SEE THEIR ENGLISH II TEACHER AT OPEN HOUSE IN THE FALL, REGARDLESS OF WHEN THEY ARE ASSIGNED TO TAKE THE CLASS. YOU WILL GET IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT THERE.

10th Grade Standard	10th Grade Honors	10th Grade Seminar
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus	Choose one (descriptions are below): A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe	The Count of Monte Cristo* By Alexandre Dumas *Use ISBN #: 0-553-21350-4 Bantam Classic edition only

10th Grade Standard Assignment	10th Grade Honors Assignment	10th Grade Seminar Assignment
Download the English II Summer Reading Assignment Here	Download the English II Honors Summer Reading Assignment Here	Seminar Summer Reading Instructions Seminar Reader Response Journal Template Seminar Major Works Data Sheet Template

Descriptions of Honors English II Summer Reading Choices

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

"Cry, the Beloved Country is a moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set against the background of a land and people riven by racial injustice in South Africa. It is a novel about a black man's country under white man's law, and is a work of searing beauty. Remarkable for its lyricism, unforgettable for character and incident, this book is a classic work of love and hope, courage and endurance, born of the dignity of man." (Back cover of book)

Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane (This book has some graphic passages of situations that Mathabane encountered as a boy. There are other choices of books to read if this is too disturbing for you.)

"Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa's most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage. Like every other child born in the hopelessnes of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university. This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation. For Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered "Kaffir" from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do--he escaped to tell about it." (Back cover of book)

A Long Way Gone by Ismael Beah

"At the age of twelve, Ishmael Beah fled attacking rebels in Sierra Leone and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity, and finally, to heal. This is an extraordinary and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty." (Back cover of book)

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

"The novel depicts the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia—one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo people .Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected member of the Umuofia clan of the Ibo people of Nigeria in the late 1800s. Okonkwo seems to have everything: he has broken away from the weakness and disgrace of his father and is now a successful farmer with three wives and a position of leadership in his community. However, Okonkwo has difficulty controlling his temper, and one outburst of violence leads to his family’s banishment from their village for seven years. But that’s only the beginning of things falling apart for Okonkwo. While he’s away from his village, Christian missionaries from Europe arrive, bringing their own ideas about religion and life to the Ibo people. When Okonkwo finally returns, will his village be a place he can recognize, or will the missionaries have imposed on it a new culture beyond his understanding?" (Book description taken from Barnes and Noble.com)

Last Modified on June 12, 2012