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NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - The Ruth Keeler Library is ready for the new school year. The library has stocked up on the required reading for students in grades four through 12.
The Summer Reading Picks for fourth and fifth graders are:
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
Lost and Found by Andres Clements
The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Steward
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Replay by Sharon Creech
The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
In the fall, PQ students will vote on their three favorites. The winners will then become finalists for the Tall Tree Award. In the spring, students will vote for the final winner.
Ruth Keeler Childrens Librarian Cathleen Sulli said her favorite on the new list is The Magic Thief. I like fantasy, she explained. The character in this book is really likable. Hes such an unlikely hero. Its the basis of a trilogy.
The English reading lists for the Middle and High Schools are:
6th Grade: Shakespeares Secret by Elise Broach
7th Grade: The Call of the Wild by Jack London
8th Grade: Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
9th Grade: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
9th Grade Honors: Childhoods End by Arthur C. Clarke and Once and Future King by T. H. White
10th Grade: The Color of Water by James McBride
10th Grade Honors: The Color of Water by James McBride and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
11th Grade: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
11th Grade AP Language: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich and Into the Wild by John Krakauer
12th Grade: Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
12th Grade AP English: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Library Director Carolyn Reznick noted that two of her favorite books are on the list. Both Nickel and Dimed and The Grapes of Wrath are stories of impoverished people and what they need to do to survive. Nickel and Dimed is a contemporary account of the authors undercover experiences trying to find work as an untrained but needy woman. The Grapes of Wrath, the 1939 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Nobelist John Steinbeck, has a similar theme, but is set in the Depression era.
You get so caught up in the story, you cant put it down, Reznick said. She also pointed out that the 1940 film based on the book is an excellent adaptation. Its as though the book merges with the movie. Theyre both marvelous.
Of Mice and Men is one of Supervisor Warren Lucass favorite books. He wrote on the Keeler website, This story of two migrants is simple by enjoyable with depth and symbolism.
The Social Studies Reading list is:
9th Grade Regents and Honors: Arabian Nights by Geraldine McCaughrean
10th Grade Regents and Honors: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
11th Grade Regents: Founding Brothers by Joseph P. Ellis
11th Grade AP American History: Love and Hate in Jamestown by David A. Price
12th Grade Participation in Government: Freakonomics by Stephen D. Levitt
12th Grade Economics: Freakonomics by Stephen D. Levitt
AP World: Plagues and Peoples by William H. McNeill
Some of these books are also available on CD and on the librarys new Nooks. Just ask at the desk.
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