Summer Reading

Incoming: Freshmen | Sophomores | Juniors | Seniors

DeSales High School
English Department

"Get Out of the Starting Gate with 10th Grade Summer Reading"

Dear Colt Parent,

Now that summer is beginning, we want to remind you how important it is for your son to include reading in his vacation activities. Studies have proven that reading improves writing skills, increases vocabulary, and creates better readers.

We have selected the following books for next year’s sophomores to read before the beginning of school in August. Your son will be given an assessment on two books within the first full week of school. The assessment grade will count on his first report card.

You might find these books at local book stores, online at Amazon.com, or at the public library. Please encourage your son to read. You might want to read with him!

Required: Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft, by Thor Heyerdahl

Kon-Tiki is the record of an astonishing adventure -- a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean by raft. Intrigued by Polynesian folklore, biologist Thor Heyerdahl suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled by an ancient race from thousands of miles to the east, led by a mythical hero, Kon-Tiki. He decided to prove his theory by duplicating the legendary voyage. – Book Jacket

Choose one of the following:

It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, by Lance Armstrong

People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multi-day bicycle race famous for its grueling intensity. – Amazon.com

A Long Way From Chicago, by Scott Peck

Although the narrator, Joey, and his younger sister, Mary Alice, live in the Windy city during the reign of Al Capone and Bugs Moran, most of their adventures occur "a long way from Chicago," during their annual down-state visits with Grandma Dowdel. A woman as "old as the hills," "tough as an old boot," and larger than life ("We could hardly see her town because of Grandma. She was so big, and the town was so small"), Grandma continually astounds her citified grandchildren by stretching the boundaries of truth. In eight hilarious episodes spanning the years 1929-1942, she plots outlandish schemes to even the score with various colorful members of her community, including a teenaged vandal, a drunken sheriff and a well-to-do banker. –Amazon.com