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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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...
La Ciudad de las bestias
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Alexander Cold, un joven de quince años, tiene la oportunidad de hacer el viaje de su vida. Dejando atrás a su familia y a su madre enferma, Alexander Cold se embarca con su temeraria abuela, reportera de International Geographic, en una peligrosa expedición al Amazonas. Su misión y la de sus...
The House of the spirits
Allende, Isabel.
Paper Book
Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget. ...
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 : a novel
Belfoure, Charles
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! "A gripping page-turner...a riveting reminder of sacrifices made by history's most unlikely heroes." --Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday and The Ways We Hide An extraordinary book about a gifted architect who...
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
THE #1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING PHENOMENON, WITH MORE THAN 85 MILLION COPIES SOLD "Blockbuster perfection . . . a gleefully erudite suspense novel." --The New York Times "A pulse-quickening, brain-teasing adventure." --People While in...
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,
Ebook
From the author of Blood River: "A splendid book, part memoir, part history," about the teenager who killed Archduke Ferdinand and sparked WWI (Norman Stone, author of World War One).   Sarajevo, 1914.  On a June morning, nineteen-year-old 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
Diamant, Anita.
Paper Book
In this modern classic interpretation of the biblical story of Dinah, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of The Red Tent, a New York Times bestseller and the basis of the A&E/Lifetime mini-series. Twentieth Anniversary...
Dead Mountain :
Eichar, Donnie,
Ebook
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal Nonfiction Bestseller that explores the gripping Dyatlov Pass incident that took the lives of nine young Russian hikers in 1959. What happened that night on Dead Mountain? In February 1959, a group of nine experienced...
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 York...
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,
Other
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...
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...
Book club in a bag : Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption
Hillenbrand, Laura.
Other
#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 Author A LibraryReads Pick Ten 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...
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
Watch rupi kaur live now on Prime Video. "Rupi Kaur is the Writer of the Decade." - The New Republic #1 New York Times bestseller milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence...
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....
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...
Book club in a bag : Dead wake : the last crossing of the Lusitania
Larson, Erik
Other
#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 : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Shetterly, Margot Lee
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in...
The girl with seven names : a North Korean defector's story
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 up in North Korea,...
Every falling star : the true story of how I survived and escaped North Korea
Lee, Sungju
Paper Book
Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is Sungju Lee's intense memoir about being forced at age 12 to live on the streets and fend for himself. "Presents North Korea as a horrifying real-life...
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 : a Black man's tribute to his white mother
McBride, James
Paper Book
'James McBride evokes his childhood trek across the great racial divide with the kind of power and grace that touches and uplifts all our hearts.' - Bebe Moore Campbell 'A triumph...The two stories, son's and mother's, beautifully juxtaposed, strike a graceful note at a time of racial polarization.'...

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 : a memoir in books
Nafisi, Azar.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 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. A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY
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...
Book club in a bag : 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 Medal...
The Rosie project /
Simsion, Graeme C.
Other
An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love. THE ART OF LOVE IS NEVER A SCIENCE MEET DON TILLMAN, a...
The Art of War
Sunzi
Paper Book
For more than two thousand years, The Art of Warhas stood as a cornerstone of Chinese culture-a lucid epigrammatic text that reveals as much about human psychology, politics, and economics as it does about battlefield strategy. The influence of Sun-tzu's text has grown tremendously in the West in...
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 : a daughter of Cambodia remembers
Ung, Loung
Paper Book
From a childhood survivor of the Camdodian genocide under the regime of Pol Pot, this is a riveting narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit--now a Netflix film by Angelina Jolie. Repackaged in a new...
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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