Summer was full of sleeping in late, going to the pool, hanging out with friends…and procrastinating on summer reading. Let’s be honest, who wasn’t cramming all the reading and homework in the night before school started? At least the summer reading books were good this year. Well, for the most part. Here’s what the students and teachers thought of the summer reading books this year.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

9th Grade English

4 Stars     “Strangely good…shows us about human nature.” – Ms. Maddie Henderson

3 Stars     “Started off a little slow and took a while for the action to get started.” – Noah Hill

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

10th Grade English

4 Stars     “The characters are engaging and it makes you feel strong emotions…heartbreaking but hopeful.” – Ms. Mary Beth Gumbart

4 Stars     “Interesting and full of action…suspenseful” – Jack Peterson

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

11th Grade A.P. English

5 Stars     “The language is gorgeous and even though we find out the ending of the book at the beginning, the ending is still so good.” – Ms. Michelle Fleming

4 Stars     “Interesting, humorous, and sweet…compelling.” – Ansley Edwards

A Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders

12th Grade A.P. Government and Politics

4.5 Stars     “A surrealistic fable about why countries go to war.” – Mr. Mike Kelley

3 Stars     “Weird…but in a good way.” – Andrew Wanna