Choice Books

• Life of Pi  by Yann Martel
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• The Glass Castleby Jeanette Walls

Required Nonfiction for All Levels to Read:  The Last Lecture  byRandy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow     When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture; he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. 

Required Classic for Grade 12 Honors:  1984  by George Orwell    Orwell's final novel, 1984, is the story of one man's struggle against the ubiquitous, menacing state power ("Big Brother") that tries to dictate nearly every aspect of human life.  The novel is a classic in anti-utopian fiction, and a trenchant political satire that remains as relevant today as when it was first published.

Choose Any Two from the Following List: 

Life of Pi   by Yann Martel     In his 16th year, Pi sets sail with his family and some of their menagerie to start a new life in Canada. Halfway to Midway Island, the ship sinks into the Pacific, leaving Pi stranded on a life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After the beast dispatches the others, Pi is left to survive for 227 days with his large feline companion on the 26-foot-long raft, using all his knowledge, wits and faith to keep himself alive.

Born to Run   by Christopher McDougall     Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence.

Dracula  by Bram Stoker    The punctured throat, the coffin lid slowly opening, the unholy shriek as the stake pierces the heart—these are just a few of the chilling images Bram Stocker unleashed upon the world with his 1897 masterpiece, Dracula.  Inspired by the folk legend of nosferatu, the undead, Stoker created a timeless tale of gothic horror and romance that has enthralled and terrified readers ever since.

The Glass Castle  by Jeanette Walls   In her extraordinary memoir, Walls recalls her nomadic life with surprising affection—though she would not want to relive it. The title, which derives from her father's dream house, serves as an apt metaphor for the Walls' fragility. Yet Walls sheds no tears nor succumbs to self-pity—she probably learned early on they would get her nowhere. Instead of condemning her parents' foibles, she unblinkingly examines how they transformed hardship into family romance and adventure.