Summer 2025 Reading Lists
WELCOME TO SUMMER READING!
We hope you enjoy your summer reading!
Summer reading is important because you maintain your learning throughout the summer.
Your summer reading novel(s) need to be purchased. Books can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, or wherever is convenient for you.
We strongly suggest you set up a summer reading plan to ensure your child completes the reading assignment by the first day of school (August 13, 2025).
Click on your grade level to see your summer reading book and assignment.
Please contact Ms. Lopez via email at Erika.Lopez@holycross-sa.org if you have any questions.
Happy Reading!
Middle School
9th Grade - English I & 10th Grade - English II
Due Date:
● Presentations start 1–2 weeks after school begins
● Exact dates assigned during Week 1
Who Reads What:
● English I: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
● English I Honors: Also read Anthem by Ayn Rand
● English II: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
● English II Honors: Also read 1984 by George Orwell
🗣️ Presentation Requirements
● Visual Aid: (Slides, poster, or handout) with 5–10 bullet points
● Everyone must speak
● Length: 5–7 minutes
● Choose 4+ Topics to Discuss:
○ Key characters and their significance
○ Major symbols and motifs
○ Central themes
○ Author’s tone and diction
○ Figurative language/literary devices
○ Significant quotes with analysis
Sample Slide Layout
1. Title Slide: Book title, author, group members
2. Characters Slide: Names, roles, importance
3. Themes Slide: Themes + examples
4. Symbols/Motifs Slide: Meanings, reappearances
5. Author’s Style Slide: Diction, tone, literary devices
Quotes Slide: 2 quotes with context and analysis
📊Grading Criteria (20 points total)
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11th Grade - English III
Due Date:
● Presentations start 1–2 weeks after school begins
● Exact dates assigned during Week 1
Who Reads What:
- English III and English III AP can choose from the following:
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- My Underground American Dream by Julissa Arce
- The Distance Between Us (Young Readers edition) by Reyna Grande
- Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua
- Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation by John Phillip Santos
- English III AP will also read:
- Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
🗣️ Presentation Requirements
● Visual Aid: (PowerPoint, Slides, Canva, or Prezi)
● Everyone must speak
● Length: 5–7 minutes
● Choose 4+ Topics to Discuss:
○ Character analysis
○ Major symbols and motifs
○ Central themes
○ Author’s tone and diction
○ Figurative language/literary devices
○ Significant quotes with analysis
💡 You will use a “book report” template from any of the approved formats
📊 Grading Criteria (20 points total)
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12th Grade - English IV
Due Date:
- Presentations start 1–2 weeks after school begins
- Exact dates assigned during Week 1
Who Reads What:
- English IV and English IV AP can choose from the following:
- All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
- Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel
- Kindred, Octavia Butler
- Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
- The Color Purple, Alice Walker
- The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
- The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
- The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo
- The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
- English IV AP will also read:
- Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
🗣️ Presentation Requirements
- Visual Aid: (PowerPoint, Slides, Canva, or Prezi)
- Everyone must speak
- Length: 5–7 minutes
- Choose 4+ Topics to Discuss:
- Character analysis
- Major symbols and motifs
- Central themes
- Author’s tone and diction
- Figurative language/literary devices
- Significant quotes with analysis
💡 You will use a “book report” template from any of the approved formats
📊 Grading Criteria (20 points total)
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