Spring Recess

All schools will be closed for Spring Recess starting Thursday, March 28 through Monday, April 8. The first day back from break is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9. Have a safe and enjoyable break!

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Summer Reading List – Suggested Book Titles and Authors for Summer Reading

Columbia’s English Department has compiled a list of titles as a suggestion for summer reading.  We encourage all students to read this summer.  This list is just a sampling of the many titles that students might enjoy.  There are a variety of interesting books of various reading levels and we encourage you to browse or seek the advice of teachers and librarians in selecting something appropriate.  Some book selections deal with mature themes.

Fiction

  • Achebe, Chinua Things Fall Apart
  • Albom, Mitch The Five People You Meet in Heaven
  • Alcott, Louisa May Little Women
  • Alvarez, Julia In The Time of the Butterflies
  • Anonymous Go Ask Alice
  • Atwood, Margaret The Handmaid’s Tale
  • Auel, Jean The Clan of the Cave Bear
  • Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice
  • Barron, T. A. Merlin Series
  • Berg, Elizabeth Durable Goods
  • Bissinger, H. G. Friday Night Lights
  • Blinn, William Brian’s Song
  • Bloor, Edward Tangerine
  • Blume, Judy Tiger Eyes
  • Bradbury, Ray Martian Chronicles
  • Brashares, Ann The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series
  • Bronte, Charlotte Jane Eyre
  • Burgess, Melvin Smack
  • Cabot, Meg Princess Diaries series
  • Cadnum, Michael The Book of the Lion
  • Card, Orson Scott Ender’s Game
  • Cather, Willa My Antonia, O Pioneers!
  • Chevalier, Tracy Girl with a Pearl Earring
  • Conrad, Joseph Heart of Darkness
  • Cooney, Caroline B. Ransom of Mercy Carter
  • Cormier, Robert Chocolate War
  • Crutcher, Chris Whale Talk
  • Cushman, Karen Catherine, Called Birdy
  • Dickens, Charles A Tale of Two Cities
  • Donnelly, Jennifer  A Northern Light
  • Fast, Howard The Immigrants, April Morning
  • Faulkner, William Light in August
  • Finn, Alexandra Breathing Underwater
  • Flake,  Sharon  The Skin I’m In
  • Forbes, Esther Johnny Tremain
  • Gaines, Ernest A Lesson before Dying
  • Gibbons, Kaye Ellen Foster
  • Goldman, William Princess Bride
  • Haddix, Margaret Peterson Among the Hidden, Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs.Dunphrey
  • Hayes, Daniel The Trouble with Lemons
  • Hesse, Hermann Siddhartha
  • Hesse, Karen Witness
  • Hinton, S. E. Rumble Fish
  • Hurston, Zora Neale Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • Keyes, Daniel Flowers for Algernon
  • Irving, John A Prayer for Owen Meaney
  • Jackson, Shirley The Haunting of Hill House
  • Johnson, Angela The First Part Last
  • Kadohata, Cynthia The Floating World
  • Kingsolver, Barbara Animal Dreams, The Bean Trees, Pigs In Heaven,  The Poisonwood Bible
  • Le Guin, Ursula Earthsea Series
  • L’Engle, Madeleine A Wrinkle in Time
  • Les Becquets, Diane The Stones of Mourning Creek
  • Lightman, Alan Einstein’s Dreams
  • London , Jack Call of the Wild
  • Mazer, Harry Boy at War
  • McCourt, Frank Angela’s Ashes
  • McCullers,  Carson Member of the Wedding
  • McKinley, Robin Beauty
  • Mikaelsen, Ben Touching Spirit Bear
  • Morrison, Toni Beloved, The Bluest Eye
  • Myers, Walter Dean The Beast, Fallen Angels, Shooter
  • Na, An  A Step From Heaven
  • Napoli, Donna Jo The Magic Circle
  • Nolan, Han If I Should Die Before I Wake
  • Orwell, George 1984
  • Paton, Alan Cry, the Beloved Country
  • Peck, Robert Newton A Day No Pigs Would Die
  • Powell, Randy Is Kissing a Girl who Smokes Like Licking an Ashtray?
  • Pullman , Phillip The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass
  • Quindlen, Anna Blessings
  • Rawlings, Marjorie The Yearling
  • Smith, Betty Joy in the Morning, A Tree Grows in  Brooklyn
  • Spinelli, Jerry Stargirl
  • Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club
  • Tolan, Stephanie Surviving the Applewhites
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. Lord of the Rings series
  • Trueman, Terry Stuck in Neutral
  • Tyler, Anne Saint Maybe
  • Twain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • Undset, Sigrid Kristin Lavransdatter
  • Voigt, Cynthia Homecoming
  • Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse Five
  • Walker,  Alice The Color Purple
  • Watson, Larry Montana 1948
  • Wells, H. G. The Time Machine
  • Wolff , Virginia Euwer Make Lemonade
  • Yolen, Jane Briar Rose

Non-fiction

  • Albom, Mitch Tuesdays with Morrie
  • Angelou, Maya  I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
  • Armstrong, Lance It’s Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
  • Bragg, Rick All Over but the Shoutin’
  • Bruchac, Joseph Bowman’s Store: A Journey to Myself
  • Crow Dog, Mary Lakota Woman
  • Gunther, John Death Be Not Proud
  • Hillenbrand, Laura Seabiscuit: An American Legend
  • Phillip We Were There Too!: Young People in U.S. History
  • Jones, Ron The Acorn People
  • Moody, Anne Coming of Age in  Mississippi
  • Murphy, Jim The Boys’ War: Confederate and  Union Soldiers Talk about the Civil War
  • Pfeetzer, Mark Within Reach: My Everest Story
  • Plato The Apology, The Republic or The Phaedo
  • Schlosser, Eric Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal
  • Shakespeare, William Taming of the Shrew
  • Things I Have To Tell You; Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls edited by Betsy Franco
  • Thoreau, Henry David Walden, Walking
  • Whitman, Walt Leaves of Grass
  • Wilder,  Thornton Our Town

*Note: This is just a suggested summer reading list. This is different than the summer reading assignments that get assigned by your teacher.

 

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