AP Journalism Reading List • Summer 2007
Newton South High School
Everyone
who is enrolled in AP English Language next year needs to read ONE of these
sets of thematically related books over the summer. During the first weeks of
school, you will be asked to develop an idea in response to what you have read
and write an essay explaining this idea.
To
help you choose a set that is truly interesting to you, I'd suggest talking to
others who read a lot and visiting one of the major online booksellers to read
brief summaries of the books. I (Mr. Baron) am also happy to help you choose if
you stop by room 1201 before the end of the year.
You
don't need to write anything before the start of school, but it may help you to
jot down a few reactions after you read each book - what ideas make sense to
you? Which don't? What connections do you see with other books? Contradictions?
1) Cultural
Difference - What happens when cultures collide?
The Spirit
Catches You and You Fall Down
by Anne Fadiman
Tearing at
the Silence: On Being German in America by Ursula Hegi
The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer
2) Growing Up
Female - What particular challenges do girls face growing up today?
How do these
challenges affect girls and the women they become?
Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons
Reviving
Ophelia by Mary Pipher
Female
Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy
4) Medicine
- How does modern medicine face moral gray areas?
The Spirit
Catches You and You Fall Down
by Anne Fadiman
Complications by Atul Gawande
Mountains
Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
5) Work and
class - What is it like to be poor in America? Is government action helping
or hurting?
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
American
Dream by Jason
Deparle
Nickel and
Dimed by Babara
Ehrenreich
6) American
Culture - How does popular culture change the experience of growing up? Is
American culture healthy? Does
free consumer choice exist?
Consuming
Kids by Susan Linn
Everything
Bad Is Good For You by Steven
Johnson
The Tipping
Point by Malcolm
Gladwell
7) Technology
- Does technology improve our lives?
Better Off:
Two People, One Year, Zero Watts by Eric Brende
by Steven
Johnson
Nectar in a
Sieve by Kamala
Markandaya
8) College
Admissions - Is the process fair? Healthy?
The Big Test by Nicholas Lehmann
Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg
The
Overachievers by Alexandra
Robbins
9) Global
Poverty - Why does it exist? What are the challenges in alleviating it?
The End of
Poverty by Jeffrey
Sachs
The Elusive
Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William Easterly
The Wealth
and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Nations Are So Rich and Some So Poor by David Landes
10) High
School - What is it for? How chould it be better?
Wonderland by Michael Bamberger
Doing School by Denise Clark Pope
Election by Tom Perrotta
If you have any questions over the
summer, I can be reached at brian_baron@newton.k12.ma.us
In addition, I maintain a blog for
the class that I occasionally update during the summer:
community.livejournal.com/mrbaron
2007