LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

UPPER SCHOOL SUMMER READING LIST 2012

 

LCA is a community that reads, and to build our community, we would like to intentionally share what we read while expanding opportunities to get to know other faculty/staff members and students.            

Each student will read three books this summer:

1. the Bible text for your grade
2. the history text for your grade or class
3. the English choice text. For the English choice, you will choose a book that a faculty/staff member has selected; read it, and then meet with this person and your “book club” at the beginning of the year. The book club time will be allotted in the schedule. You will be graded on a short, comprehensive quiz and then your group will spend time discussing the text. The faculty leading your book discussion will grade you on the quiz and discussion, and will give the grade to your particular English teacher.

The library has this summer reading list available in hardcopy and it will be posted on both Moodle and www.lca.edu/academics. Registration for English Choice can be done by CLICKING HERE. If you are not able to secure a title from the LCA library, do check with your public library on availability or request a title on inter-library loan.

 

BIBLE                                                                                                   

Grade 9:  You Were Made to Make a Difference/ Lucado & Bishop

Grade 10:  Prodigal God/ Keller

Grade 11: Lord of the Flies/ Golding

Grade 12: The Great Divorce/Lewis

 

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Grade 9 History                               Motel of the Mysteries / Macaulay                            

Grade 10 History                             Galileo’s Daughter/ Sobel

Grade 11 US History CP                   The American Revolution/ Wood

Grade 11 US History AP                   Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America 1919/Anne Hagedorn

Grade 12 European History AP        The Day the Universe Changed/James Burke            

Grade 12 World Wars                     The Art of War/ Sun Tzu

Grade 12 US Gov & Politics:            Founding Faith / Steven Waldman

Grade 12 Psychology                       The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life/ Nicholi

ENGLISH

Once you have selected a book you would like to read, please CLICK HERE to register your first and second choice selections. YOU MUST REGISTER for the book you wish to read. Once a choice selection is full, it will no longer be available to you. Registration is on a first come, first serve basis.

       

Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold by Tom Schachtman (Grades 9-12)

Bringing the history of cold to life, Schachtman starts in the 1600s with an alchemist's attempt to air-condition Westminster Abbey and continues with the invention of thermometers and scales, the sale of Walden Pond ice to tropical countries, and the pursuit of absolute zero by scientists.

 

Amadeus, the play by Peter Shaffer + Amadeus the movie  (Grades 10-12)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a genius, the most brilliant musician the world will ever see. But the court of eighteenth-century Vienna doesn't recognize his talents - only Antonio Salieri, the Court Composer, does, and he is tortured by what he hears. Seething with rage at the genius of this flippant buffoon and suddenly aware of his own mediocrity, Salieri declares war and sets out to destroy the man he sees as God's instrument on earth. Peter Shaffer's award-winning play is a rich, exuberant portrayal of a God-like man among mortals, and lives destroyed by envy. Students are to read the play + watch the movie.

 

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Grades 9-12)

Bethia Mayfield is a restless and curious young woman growing up in Martha's Vineyard in the 1660s amid a small band of pioneering English Puritans. At age twelve, she meets Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret bond that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's father is a Calvinist minister who seeks to convert the native Wampanoag, and Caleb becomes a prize in the contest between old ways and new, eventually becoming the first Native American graduate of Harvard College. Inspired by a true story and narrated by the irresistible Bethia, "Caleb's Crossing" brilliantly captures the triumphs and turmoil of two brave, openhearted spirits who risk everything in a search for knowledge at a time of superstition and ignorance.

 

The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman (Grades 11-12)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning "Maus" tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father's story. "Maus" approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in "drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust.

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Grades 9-12)

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all. A compelling story that will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games.

 

Feed by M.T. Anderson (Grades 9-12)

Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains. For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world -- and a smart, savage satire that has captivated readers with its view of an imagined future that veers unnervingly close to the here and now.

For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin (Grades 9-12)

Walter Lewin's unabashed passion for physics shines through every page of this colorful, largely autobiographical tour of science. The excitement of discovery is infectious.

 

Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan  (Grades 9-12)

Relates how the author and his dog named Atticus M. Finch attempted to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire's four-thousand-foot peaks twice to pay tribute to a friend who died of cancer and raise money for charity.

 

Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo (Grades 9-12)

A young boy emerges from lifesaving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven. "Heaven Is for Real" is the true story of the four-year-old son of a small-town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness, enters Heaven, and then returns.

 

Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Grades 9-12)

This brilliant novel combines the delight of Kipling's "Just So Stories" with the metaphysical adventure of "Jonah and the Whale," as Pi, the son of a zookeeper, is marooned aboard a lifeboat with four wild animals. His knowledge and cunning allow him to coexist for 227 days with Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger.

 

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell (Grades 9-12)

Four U.S. Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS--Luttrell--made it out alive.

 

The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck (Grades 9-12)

In this masterful account set during World War II, Steinbeck explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors. Occupied by Nazi troops, a small, peaceable town comes face to face with evil imposed from the outside--and betrayal born within the close-knit community.

 

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston LeRoux (Grades 9-12)

Rumors abound that a ghost stalks the dark passages and cellars of the Paris Opera House. No one has actually seen this Phantom, but Christine Daaé, a beautiful and talented young singer, has heard his voice. He is her "Angel of Music," coaching her to sing as she never could before. When the handsome Viscount begins to court Christine, the mysterious Phantom--consumed by jealousy--rises up to seek revenge.

 

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (Grades 11-12)

Quiet is a paradigm-shifting book that shows how dramatically our culture has come to misunderstand and undervalue introverts, and gives introverts the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths. Cain consistently holds the readers interest by presenting individual profiles, looking at places dominated by extroverts (Harvard Business School) and introverts (a West Coast retreat center), and reporting on the latest studies. Her diligence, research, and passion for this important topic have richly paid off.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (Grades 11-12 girls only)

Rivers skillfully retells the biblical love story of Gomer and Hosea as a tale set against the romantic backdrop of the California Gold Rush.

 

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle (Grades 9-12)

After a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys. Why is life so hard when you’re a teenager? Vicky wonders. But this summer she discovers that past the darkness of tragedy comes the light of joy.

 

Seal Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden by Chuck Pfarrer (Grades 9-12)

SEAL Target Geronimo is the story of Bin Laden's relentless hunters and how they took down the terrorist mastermind, told by Chuck Pfarrer, a former assault element commander of SEAL Team Six ... After talking to members of the SEAL team involved in the raid, Pfarrer shares never-before-revealed details of the historic raid and the men who planned and conducted it in an exclusive boots-on-the-ground account of what happened during each minute of the mission--both inside the building and outside.

 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Grades 9-12)

The Classic Tale of Secret Engagements, First Loves, and Two Sisters, Opposites in Every Way.
Smile...you are about to read not only one of the classic works of English literature, but a novel filled with love, humor, and heart. Prudent Elinor Dashwood and her passionate sister, Marianne, will come vividly to life. Their search for love, their heartbroken anguish, their wit, and their unceasing loyalty to each other--all of it will remind you why they are two of Austen's most beloved characters.

 

Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien (Grades 11-12)

The definitive collection of Tolkien's classic "fairie" tales, Tolkien's four novellas (Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wootton Major, and Roverandom) and one book of poems (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil) are gathered together for the first time, in a fully illustrated volume. The book is the perfect opportunity for fans of Middle-earth to enjoy some of Tolkien's often overlooked yet most creative storytelling. With dragons and sand sorcerers, sea monsters and hobbits, knights and dwarves, this collection contain all the classic elements for Tolkien buffs of all ages.

 

Unwind by Neal Shusterman (Grades 9-12)

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them. In this work, "Boston Globe/Horn Book" Award-winner Shusterman challenges readers' ideas about life--not just where life begins.

 

Wild at Heart by John Eldredge (Grades 9-12)

Every man was once a boy. And every little boy has dreams, big dreams, dreams of being the hero, of beating the bad guys, of doing daring feats and rescuing the damsel in distress. Every little girl has dreams, too: of being rescued by her prince and swept up into a great adventure, knowing that she is the beauty. But what happens to those dreams when we grow up? Wild at Heart invites men to recover their masculine heart, defined in the image of a passionate God. And he invites women to discover the secret of a man's soul and to delight in the strength and wildness men were created to offer.