12th GRADE
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team,
and a Dream
In Odessa, Texas high school football is regarded as a religious experience by many people; and the faithful show up for the games by the thousands. This is a recounting of the 1988 football season by a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist.
Cahill, Thomas How the Irish Saved Civilization
The Irish played a pivotal role in preserving and transmitting the classical literature of both Greece and Rome. Right after the fall of Rome during the 5th century, newly literate Irish scribal scholars copied every piece of Western literature they could uncover. In doing this they created a critical bridge between ancient Rome and medieval Europe.
Cisneros, Sandra Caramelo
A coming-of age tale, based on Cisneros’s childhood. Caramelo refers to an unfinished caramel colored shawl that comes to symbolize the interconnectedness of the entire extended Mexican American family.
Dillard, Annie Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
A series of essays on the natural world based on the author’s childhood neighborhood in Tinker Creek, Virginia. Dillard’s essays combine scientific observation, philosophy, and deeper introspection on the world around us.
Ehrenreich, Barbara Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting
By in America
Ehrenreich goes undercover as an unskilled minimum wage worker in the United States. Although she is White and English-speaking, she is unable to provide even the necessities of life (rent, transportation and food) on a salary of $7./hour. After three months of enduring substandard living, she suggests that the working poor must sacrifice their families, health and leisure so that the rest of us can live comfortably.
Ellison, Ralph Invisible Man
Although this book was published in 1952, it still rings true. The narrator is a Black man who is in search of himself, and on the way discovers that the people he encounters are unable to see him for who he is.
Guterson, David Snow
Falling on Cedars
During a 1954 murder trial in an island community, a local reporter looks back at his life and his childhood relationship with the accused murderer’s wife. The book examines the characters’ viewpoints on war, race and human motivation.
Haddon, Mark The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
It all starts with a mysterious murder…..of a dog. The main character is a 15 year old autistic boy who decides to solve the mystery, but in the process he learns much more than he wanted to know.
Hosseini, Khaled
The Kite Runner
Set in Afghanistan in the 1970’s, the story tells of the friendship between Amir, a rich man’s son, and Hassan, an ethnic Afghani minority. Their friendship is tested when tragedy strikes Hassan and Amir does not come to his rescue.
Junger, Sebastian
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
In October 1991, weather conditions combined to form the “storm of the century”. Journalist Junger tells the story of the crew members of the Andrea Gail, by interviewing the survivors and doing meticulous research on the New England fishing industry.
Krakauer, Jon Into
Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
During an expedition to Mt. Everest in May 1996, a freak blizzard challenged even the most skilled climbers. Unfortunately many of the climbers on this particular expedition were amateurs who just had the money to pay for the experience. Sadly, it became a tragic and deadly climb for many.
Lansing, Alfred Endurance:
Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
An account of the voyage by Ernest Shackleton and his crew in 1914, in which the ship became locked inside an island of ice and drifted for 10 months before being crushed.
Mason, Bobbie Ann
In Country
In the summer of her 17th year (1984) Sam questions the mysteries of the Vietnam war. She lives with her uncle, a Vietnam vet, who refuses to talk about the war or about her own father who was killed there before she was born. It all comes together for her when she reads her father’s diary and makes a pilgrimage to the Vietnam War Memorial.
Paton, Alan Cry
the Beloved Country
Set in South Africa in the 1940’s, this is the story of Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom.
Potok, Chaim The
Chosen
Reuven Malther (modern Orthodox Jew with an intellectual Zionist father) and Danny (brilliant son and heir to a Hassidic rebbe) are thrown together because of an accident in 1940’s Brooklyn. They form an unlikely friendship despite the religious pressures put on each boy.
Shaara, Michael The
Killer Angels
The Battle of Gettysburg is seen through the eyes of leaders from both sides. There are many excellent maps to give the reader a complete picture of what happened from July 1-3, 1863.
Sijie, Dai Balzac
and the Little Chinese Seamstress : a Novel
Two teenage friends are sent to a remote Chinese village during Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1970’s to be “re-educated”. They make the best of a bad situation by using clever tricks and humor to engage the villagers and do a little re-education of their own.
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956
Solzhenitsyn privately criticizes a Soviet soldier and is sentenced to eight years in a Russian prison (gulag). Through his writings he reveals the repression of the Soviet regime through interviews with more than 200 prisoners.
Ung, Loung First
They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
When Loung was five years old, the Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Penh and forced her affluent family to flee. The family was split apart and eventually murdered, leaving only Loung ,who became a hardened vengeful nine year old. She later channeled her anger into good works and is now the spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-free World.