High School Summer Reading List

Books on the High School Summer Reading List for Trumbull students.

Updated June 13, 2024
T
Trumbull Library System
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Hamlet /
Paper Book
In Shakespeare's powerful drama of destiny and revenge, ""Hamlet"", the troubled prince of Denmark, must overcome his own self-doubt and avenge the murder of his father. This invaluable new study guide to one of Shakespeare's greatest plays contains a selection of the finest criticism through the...
Half of a yellow sun /
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi,
Paper Book
A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as "the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe," Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in...
Purple hibiscus /
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi,
Paper Book
"One of the most vital and original novelists of her generation." --Larissa MacFarquhar, The New Yorker From the bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her...
City of the beasts
Allende, Isabel
Paper Book
Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold is about to join his fearless grandmother on the trip of a lifetime. An International Geographic expedition is headed to the dangerous, remote wilds of South America, on a mission to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast. But there are many...
The house of the spirits /
Allende, Isabel,
Paper Book
This "spectacular... absorbing and distinguished work...is a unique achievement, both personal witness and possible allegory of the past, present, and future of Latin America" (The New York Times Book Review). The House of the Spirits, which introduced Isabel...
Beartown /
Backman, Fredrik,
Paper Book
Now an HBO Original Series "You'll love this engrossing novel." --People Named a Best Book of the Year by LibraryReads, BookBrowse, and Goodreads From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of...
A long way gone : memoirs of a boy soldier
Beah, Ishmael
Paper Book
In the #1 New York Times bestseller, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a...
The Paris architect /
Belfoure, Charles,
Paper Book
The New York Timesbestseller "A beautiful and elegant account of an ordinary man's unexpected and reluctant descent into heroism during the second world war." —Malcolm Gladwell A thrilling debut novel of World War II Paris, from an author who's been...
Circle of friends /
Binchy, Maeve,
Paper Book
It began with Benny Hogan and Eve Malone, growing up, inseparable, in the village of Knockglen. Benny-- the only child, yearning to break free from her adoring parents...Eve-- the orphaned offspring of a convent handyman and a rebellious blueblood, abandoned by her mother's wealthy family to be...
The Da Vinci code /
Brown, Dan,
Paper Book
#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER * While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. "Blockbuster perfection.... A...
The boys in the boat :
Brown, Daniel,
Paper Book
For readers of Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit" and "Unbroken," the dramatic story of the American rowing team that stunned the world at Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics " "Daniel James Brown's robust book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest...
The trigger :
Butcher, Tim,
Paper Book
On a summer morning in Sarajevo almost a hundred years ago, a teenager took a pistol out of his pocket and fired not just the opening rounds of the First World War but the starting gun for modern history. By killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Gavrilo...
The luminaries /
Catton, Eleanor,
Paper Book
The bestselling, Man Booker Prize-winning novel hailed as "a true achievement. Catton has built a lively parody of a 19th-century novel, and in so doing created a novel for the 21st, something utterly new. The pages fly."-New York Times Book Review It is 1866, and Walter Moody has...
Everything inside /
Danticat, Edwidge,
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2020 VILCEK PRIZE IN LITERATURE From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of Brother, I'm Dying, a collection of vividly imagined stories about community,...
The red tent / Anita Diamant.
Diamant, Anita.
Paper Book
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood - the...
Dead Mountain : the untold true story of the Dyatlov Pass incident
Eichar, Donnie
Paper Book
This popular book is now in paperback!  Imagine you are in the midst of the Siberian wilderness, the weather closing in, frozen and tired and hungry, but you can't quit yet. You can't because what you're doing is too important - you're looking for your friends...
Killers of the Flower Moon :
Grann, David.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, "one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."--New...
Homegoing /
Gyasi, Yaa.
Paper Book
Winner of the NBCC's John Leonard First Book Prize A New York Times 2016 Notable Book One of Oprah's 10 Favorite Books of 2016 NPR's Debut Novel of the Year One of Buzzfeed's Best Fiction Books Of 2016 One of Time's Top 10 Novels of 2016
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time /
Haddon, Mark,
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A modern classic--both poignant and funny--about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world. "Disorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.......
An astronaut's guide to life on Earth /
Hadfield, Chris,
Paper Book
Travel to space and back with astronaut Chris Hadfield's "enthralling" bestseller as your eye-opening guide (Slate).  Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into...
Human acts /
Han, Kang,
Paper Book
From the internationally bestselling author of The Vegetarian, a "rare and astonishing" (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice. In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is...
Unbroken :
Hillenbrand, Laura.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: Unbroken and Unbroken: Path to Redemption. "Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic."--The Wall Street...
A thousand splendid suns /
Hosseini, Khaled.
Paper Book
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, the #1 New York Times bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family,...
The code breaker :
Isaacson, Walter.
Paper Book
A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a "compelling" (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna...
Klara and the sun /
Ishiguro, Kazuo,
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER * Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is "an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a...

The National English Honor Society has chosen Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro as the common reader texts for 2024-2025.

Then she was gone /
Jewell, Lisa.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling AuthorA LibraryReads PickTen years after her teenage daughter disappears, a woman crosses paths with a charming single father whose young child feels eerily familiar. The unanswered questions she's tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Did Ellie really...
Henna artist /
Joshi, Alka.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK "Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page."--Reese Witherspoon Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman's struggle...
Milk and honey /
Kaur, Rupi.
Paper Book
The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness...
Gamer girls :
Kenney, Mary.
Paper Book
Women have always made video games, from the 1960s and the first-of-its-kind, projector-based Sumerian Game to the blockbuster Uncharted games that defined the early 2000s. Women have been behind the writing, design, scores, and engines that power one of the most influential...
The secret life of bees /
Kidd, Sue Monk.
Paper Book
The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells...

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

The girls of Atomic City :
Kiernan, Denise.
Paper Book
The incredible story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in US history. At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City....
Annie John
Kincaid, Jamaica
Paper Book
The essential coming-of-age novel by Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John is a haunting and provocative story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua. Kincaid's novel focuses on a universal, tragic, and often comic theme: the loss of childhood. Annie's voice--urgent, demanding to be...
Shoe dog : a memoir by the creator of Nike
Knight, Philip H.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game...
Dead wake : the last crossing of the Lusitania
Larson, Erik
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania "Both terrifying and enthralling."--Entertainment Weekly"Thrilling, dramatic and powerful."...
Hidden figures :
Lee Shetterly, Margot.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller -WINNER OF ANISFIELD-WOLF AWARD FOR NONFICTION -WINNER BLACK CAUCUS OF AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NAACP IMAGE AWARD BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES,...
The girl with seven names :
Lee, Hyeonseo,
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world's most ruthless and secretive dictatorships - and the story of one woman's terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom. As a child growing...
Every falling star :
Lee, Sungju.
Paper Book
Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting,...
The beekeeper of Aleppo /
Lefteri, Christy,
Paper Book
This unforgettable novel puts human faces on the Syrian war with the immigrant story of a beekeeper, his wife, and the triumph of spirit when the world becomes unrecognizable. "A beautifully crafted novel of international significance that has the capacity to have us open our...
The high mountains of Portugal /
Martel, Yann.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Fifteen years after The Life of Pi, Yann Martel is taking us on another long journey. Fans of his Man Booker Prize-winning novel will recognize familiar themes from that seafaring phenomenon, but the itinerary in this imaginative new book is entirely...
The color of water :
McBride, James,
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Good Lord Bird, winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction, and Kill 'Em and Leave, a James Brown biography. Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her...

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

A train in winter :
Moorehead, Caroline
Paper Book
In January 1943, 230 women of the French Resistance were sent to the death camps by the Nazis who had invaded and occupied their country. This is their story, told in full for the first time--a searing and unforgettable chronicle of terror, courage, defiance, survival, and the power of friendship...
Reading Lolita in Tehran :
Nafisi, Azar.
Paper Book
We all have dreams—things we fantasize about doing and generally never get around to. This is the story of Azar Nafisi’s dream and of the nightmare that made it come true. For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every...
Enrique's journey /
Nazario, Sonia
Paper Book
A Los Angeles Times journalist offers her 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning story in book form--a timely account of a young Honduran boy's perilous quest to reunite with his mother in the United States. Includes 16-page color photo insert. Young Adult.
Things I learned from falling /
Nelson, C.
Paper Book
The gripping first-person account of one woman's survival in Joshua Tree National Park against the odds. "A vibrantly physical book"--The Guardian  *  "Uplifting and brave"--Stylist  *   "A riveting account of loneliness, anxiety and survival"-...
Code talker /
Nez, Chester.
Paper Book
The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII. His name wasn't Chester Nez. That was the English name he was assigned in kindergarten. And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished for speaking his native language, as the teachers sought...
The things they carried : a work of fiction
O'Brien, Tim
Paper Book
One of the first questions people ask about The Things They Carried is this: Is it a novel, or a collection of short stories? The title page refers to the book simply as "a work of fiction," defying the conscientious reader's need to categorize this masterpiece. It is both: a collection of...

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

The tiger's wife /
Obreht, TOea.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Spectacular . . . [Téa Obreht] spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop."--Entertainment Weekly  Look...
Humble pi :
Parker, Matt
Paper Book
#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER   AN ADAM SAVAGE BOOK CLUB PICK The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, "When am I ever going to use this in the real world?"  "Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining,...
Girls burn brighter /
Rao, Shobha.
Paper Book
Best Book of the Year:The Washington Post, NPR, Shelf Awareness, Paste, LitHub,Real Simple 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist: Best Fiction Longlisted for the 2018 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize "Incandescent...A searing...
Packing for Mars :
Roach, Mary.
Paper Book
The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space...
The last resort :
Rogers, Douglas,
Paper Book
Thrilling, heartbreaking, and, at times, absurdly funny,The Last Resortis a remarkable true story about one family in a country under siege and a testament to the love, perseverance, and resilience of the human spirit. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Douglas Rogers is the son of...
Sarah's key /
Rosnay, Tatiana de,
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture! From beloved international sensation and #1 New York Times bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay come's her celebrated novel Sarah's Key. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by...

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

The god of small things /
Roy, Arundhati.
Paper Book
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An affluent Indian family is forever changed by one fateful day in 1969, from the author of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness "[The God of Small Things] offers such magic, mystery, and sadness that,...
The shadow of the wind
Ruiz Zafón, Carlos
Paper Book
"Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post "Wondrous...masterful...The ...
Snow flower and the secret fan /
See, Lisa.
Paper Book
Lily is haunted by memories-of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound...
The bookseller of Kabul /
Seierstad, UAsne,
Paper Book
This phenomenal international bestseller is "an admirable, revealing portrait of daily life in a country that Washington claims to have liberated but does not begin to understand" (Washington Post). This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man...
Between shades of gray /
Sepetys, Ruta.
Paper Book
The inspiration for the major motion picture Ashes in the Snow! "Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." --The Washington Post From New York Times and international bestseller and Carnegie...
The Rosie project
Simsion, Graeme C.
Paper Book
The international bestselling romantic comedy "bursting with warmth, emotional depth, and...humor," (Entertainment Weekly) featuring the oddly charming, socially challenged genetics professor, Don, as he seeks true love. The art of love is never a science: Meet Don...
The art of war = [Sun-tzu ping fa]
Sunzi
Paper Book
The definitive translation of Sun-tzu's timeless classic of military strategy, Art of War Sun-tzu's Art of War is almost certainly the most famous study of strategy ever written. This treatise has been credited with influencing some of the...
Drive your plow over the bones of the dead /
Tokarczuk, Olga,
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century "A brilliant literary murder mystery." --Chicago Tribune "Extraordinary. Tokarczuk's novel is funny, vivid, dangerous, and disturbing...
The lemon tree :
Tolan, Sandy.
Paper Book
The tale of a simple act of faith between two young people - one Israeli, one Palestinian - that symbolizes the hope for peace in the Middle East. In 1967, not long after the Six-Day War, three young Arab men ventured into the town of Ramle, in what is now Jewish Israel. They were...
First they killed my father :
Ung, Loung.
Paper Book
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was...
Forward :
Wambach, Abby,
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Lucid and wrenching...Forward puts [Wambach's] achievement in context with painful and beautiful candor." --NPR "Forward is the powerful story of an athlete who has inspired girls all over the world to believe in themselves."  -...
Sing, unburied, sing /
Ward, Jesmyn.
Paper Book
*WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for FICTION *A TIME MAGAZINE BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 OF 2017 *Finalist for the Kirkus Prize *Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal *Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize...

The National English Honor Society has chosen Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro as the common reader texts for 2024-2025.

Educated :
Westover, Tara.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University
The night trilogy :
Wiesel, Elie,
Paper Book
The new translation of the bestselling memoir Night in one volume with its companion novels, Dawn and Day Night is one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature. First published in 1958, it is the autobiographical account of an adolescent...
I am Malala :
Yousafzai, Malala,
Paper Book
A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE As seen on Netflix with David Letterman "I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday." When the Taliban took control of the Swat...
Don't give up, don't give in :
Zamperini, Louis,
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller More than 100,000 copies in print Completed just two days before Louis Zamperini's death at age ninety-seven, Don't Give Up, Don't Give In shares a lifetime of wisdom, insight, and humor from "one of the most incredible American lives of the past century"...

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