LibGuides: HS Summer Reading: Summer 2024

Why summer reading?

Summer is an excellent time to READ. Not for a class, not for an assignment, but just read to enjoy it!

Studies show that reading over summer vacation keeps kids' brains active and reduces setbacks in reading levels, known as the "Summer Slide". Source

Have a look at the following suggestions here in the Libguide. None of this is required reading, just suggestions for something great to read during the summer. Enjoy! Mrs. Elliott

How to use SORA

Sora has an excellent selection of online E-books and audiobooks. Visit the site or download the app to access the collection.

SORA by Overdrive: E-books & Audiobooks
E-book and audiobook library with over 1,500 titles. Borrow and read on your own devices

Survey: What will you read?

What will you read this summer?

Fiction for fun: 13 votes (76.47%)

Non-Fiction for fun: 0 votes (0%)

Fiction for school: 1 votes (5.88%)

Non-Fiction for school: 3 votes (17.65%)

Total Votes: 17

Audiobooks on SORA

These books are available in AUDIOBOOK format from SORA!

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally
Call Number: Available on SORA
ISBN: 9781728270111
Publication Date: 2023-12-26
Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there―or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He's been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos.
He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
Call Number: Available on SORA
ISBN: 9781665918169
Publication Date: 2023-08-08
The Martian meets 127 Hours in this “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.
Hot Dutch Daydream by Kristy Boyce
Call Number: Available on SORA
ISBN: 9780063160309
Publication Date: 2023-04-18
No one has ever accused Sage Cunningham of being easily distracted. She has a plan, and she won’t be swayed. She’ll spend the summer interning in her mentor's lab in Amsterdam, and then she’ll be ready for college. All she needs to do to pay for the summer abroad is agree to serve as the au pair for Dr. Reese’s three-year-old.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Call Number: Available on SORA
ISBN: 9780735269934
Publication Date: 2021-09-21
Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid's Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA listeners.
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu
Call Number: Available on SORA
ISBN: 9781250293053
Publication Date: 2024-04-02
This smoldering enemies-to-lovers novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu puts a superstar global phenomenon and a hotshot young spy on a collision course with danger―and Cupid’s arrow―in an electric new series!
The Summer of Broken Rules by K. L. Walther
Call Number: Available on SORA
ISBN: 9781728210292
Publication Date: 2021-05-04
Meredith's family's annual game of assassin at Martha's Vineyard during a summer wedding is the perfect chance to honor her sister's legacy, and finally join the world again. But when she forms an alliance with a cute groomsman, she's at risk of losing both the game … and her heart.

Visiting Author 2024-2025

The SFS Libraries are proud to welcome author, scientist & illustrator Brynn Barnard in October 2024!

Neal Shusterman: Official website

Outbreak! Plagues That Changed History by Bryn Barnard
Call Number: 614.4 BAR
ISBN: 9780553522228
Publication Date: 2015-08-04
Examines some of the world's worst diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, the Black Death, and Cholera, and describes how these epidemics helped to changed history.
The Genius of Islam by Bryn Barnard
Call Number: 297 BAR
ISBN: 9780375840722
Publication Date: 2011-04-05
An illustrated guide to the cultural and scientific contributions made by Muslims during the Middle Ages that are present in the twenty-first century, discussing numbers, marching bands, orange juice, and more.
Dangerous Planet by Bryn Barnard
ISBN: 9780375822490
Publication Date: 2003-08-12
Over and over again, natural disasters have influenced the course of human history in ways great and small. From the Great Fire of London to the Great Kanto Quake, Bryn Barnard describes ten key moments when natural disasters have played a significant role in shaping our history.

Must Read Fiction

Lemon by Kwon Kwon Yeo-sun; Janet Hong (Translator)
Call Number: F KWO
ISBN: 9781635423310
Publication Date: 2022-08-16
Parasite meets The Good Son in this piercing psychological portrait of three women haunted by a brutal, unsolved crime.
As You Walk on By by Julian Winters
Call Number: F WIN
ISBN: 9780593206508
Publication Date: 2023-01-17
After a disastrous promposal at a party, seventeen-year-old Theo has an existential crisis in an empty bedroom, but as the night progresses, various classmates also seek refuge from the party, and Theo finds he is not as alone as he thinks he is.
Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh; Sebastien Hue (Illustrator)
Call Number: F OH
ISBN: 9781620142998
Publication Date: 2017-09-14
EAST ASIA, 2199. After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the academy's ranks. Abandoned as a child in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Call Number: F NG
ISBN: 9780593492543
Publication Date: 2022-10-04
Bird's mother, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Call Number: F MUR
ISBN: 9780374600303
Publication Date: 2023-08-15
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under--but rather than face the music, he's spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewelry on eBay, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way through her final exams...And if the story has already been written--is there still time to find a happy ending?
Once upon a KProm by Kat Cho
Call Number: F CHO
ISBN: 9781368064644
Publication Date: 2022-05-17
What would you do if the world's biggest K-pop star asked you to prom? Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon, this hilarious and heartfelt novel brings the glamour and drama of the K-pop world straight to high school.

Questions?

What is your favourite way to read?

Books in print: 18 votes (20.93%)

E-books: 1 votes (1.16%)

Audiobooks: 2 votes (2.33%)

Online news, blogs, websites: 65 votes (75.58%)

Total Votes: 86

Read it and Watch it! 2024 Releases!

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu; Ken Liu (Translator)
Call Number: F LIU
ISBN: 9780765377067
Publication Date: 2014-11-11
Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Call Number: F MAG
ISBN: 9780061350962
Publication Date: 2007-09-25
Elphaba, born with emerald green skin, comes of age in the land of Oz, rooming with debutante Glinda at the university, and following a path in life that earns her the label of Wicked.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Call Number: F TOW
ISBN: 9780143132462
Publication Date: 2016-09-06
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Call Number: F NGU
ISBN: 9780802123459
Publication Date: 2015-04-07
Follows a Viet Cong agent as he spies on a South Vietnamese army general and his compatriots as they start a new life in 1975 Los Angeles.

DUNE: the Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad'Dib by Frank Herbert; Brian Herbert; Kevin J. Anderson; Raúl Allén (Illustrator); Patricia Martín (Illustrator); Bill Sienkiewicz (Contribution by)
Call Number: GRA HER DUNE bk.2
ISBN: 9781419749469
Publication Date: 2022-08-09
Paul Atreides and his mother, the lady Jessica, find themselves stranded in the deep desert of Arrakis. Betrayed by one of their own and destroyed by their greatest enemy, Paul and Jessica must find the mysterious Fremen, or perish.

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
Call Number: F DAL
ISBN: 9780062898104
Publication Date: 2019-04-02
Exiled in a drug-oppressed refugee suburb in 1980s Australia, a twelve-year-old boy dreams of a career in journalism while fending off the local criminal element to protect his imprisoned mother.

New Books in Korean

We have been growing our collection of Korean, Chinese, French & Spanish books. Stop by the library to browse and borrow!

불안 (Status anxiety) by 알랭 드 보통 (Alain de Botton)
Call Number: KOREAN 305 DEB
ISBN: 9788956605593
Publication Date: 2011
Examines status anxiety, explaining why so many people are concerned with how others see them and whether they are viewed as a success or failure, and discussing current treatment options for the disorder.
종이 동물원 (The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories) by Liu, Ken
Call Number: KOREAN F LIU
ISBN: 9791158884680
Publication Date: 2021
검은 꽃 : 그들은 아주 멀리에서 왔다 (Black Flowers: They Came from a Very Far Place) by Kim Young-Ha
Call Number: KOREAN F KIM
ISBN: 9788954610131
Publication Date: 2003
Kim takes a small moment of Korean history . . . and transforms this moment into a powerful, sweeping epic that resonates across continents and oceans, bridging East and West . . . The scope and breadth of Kim’s talent is evident on every page of this breathtaking novel.
아몬드 (Almond) by 손원평 (Sohn Won-pyeong)
Call Number: KOREAN F SOH
ISBN: 9791198363510
Publication Date: 2017
Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He lives with his mother and grandmother above their used bookstore, decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say 'thank you,' and when to laugh. When a shocking act of random violence shatters his world, it leaves him alone and on his own.
불편한 편의점 (Inconvenient convenience store) by 김호연 (Kim Ho-yeon)
Call Number: KOREAN F KIM bk.2
ISBN: 9791161571379
Publication Date: 2022
70만 독자의 지친 하루를 위로한 얼웨이즈 편의점은 오늘도 문을 연다. 서울역 노숙인이던 독고가 편의점의 야간 아르바이트 직원으로 일하면서 시작되는 1편의 이야기 이후 1년 반이 흘렀다. ALWAYS 편의점의 여름, 독고의 후임으로 밤 시간을 책임지던 곽 씨가 그만두고 새 야간 알바를 구하면서 편의점은 다시 한 번 변화를 맞이한다. 커다란 덩치와 느린 행동이 독고를 연상시키는 이 남자, 어수룩한 수다쟁이가 황근배라는 이름 대신 홍금보라는 별명이 적힌 명찰을 가슴에 달고 마냥 느긋하게 손님들을 맞는다.
나미야 잡화점의 기적 (The Miracle of Namiya General Store) by 히가시노 게이고 (Keigo Higashino)
Call Number: KOREAN F HIG
ISBN: 9788972756194
Publication Date: 2012
2012년 3월 일본에서 출간되어 큰 화제를 불러일으킨, 히가시노 게이고 최신작. 이번 이야기에는 그동안 히가시노 게이고 하면 떠올랐던 살인 사건이나 명탐정 캐릭터는 전혀 등장하지 않는다. 그럼에도 불구하고 마치 퍼즐을 맞추어가는 듯한 치밀한 짜임새는 과연 히가시노 게이고의 작품답게 명불허전의 짜릿한 쾌감을 선사하며 감동을 자아내 작가의 고정 독자를 충분히 매료시킨다.

Morning Calm 2024-2025

The Morning Calm Medal is an annual award given to deserving authors from around the world. International Librarians from across Korea nominate a range of books for the medal. Students read the books and then vote for their favourite! Student votes are counted in each division: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, Middle and High School.

High School Titles

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang; LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)
Call Number: GRA YAN
ISBN: 9781250908261
Publication Date: 2024-01-09
The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil; Takami Nieda (Translator)
Call Number: F CHE
ISBN: 9781641294263
Publication Date: 2023-03-07
What the Fact? by Seema Yasmin
Call Number: 070 YAS
ISBN: 9781665900034
Publication Date: 2022-09-20
The Talk by Darrin Bell
Call Number: GRA BEL
ISBN: 9781250805140
Publication Date: 2023-06-06
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Call Number: F KUA
ISBN: 9780063250833
Publication Date: 2023-05-16

Middle School Titles

Button Pusher by Tyler Page
Call Number: GRA PAG
ISBN: 9781250758330
Publication Date: 2022-04-12
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman
Call Number: F STE
ISBN: 9781665912747
Publication Date: 2024-02-06
You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Ellen Oh
Call Number: F OH
ISBN: 9780063239081
Publication Date: 2023-03-07
Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt
Call Number: F KUY
ISBN: 9781338816105
Publication Date: 2023-04-04
Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros
Call Number: F CIS
ISBN: 9780062881724
Publication Date: 2022-03-15

New York Times reading contest

New York Times reading contest instructions

What is the New York Times reading contest?

Any 13- to 19-year-old anywhere in the world is invited to join us
Every Friday starting on June 7 - August 16, we'll post a fresh version of the question, "What got your attention in The Times this week?"
You can choose anything you like that was published in the print paper or on NYTimes.com in 2024 (essay, article, image, podcast, video)
You can participate any or every week, but we only allow one submission per person per week
Responses must be 1,500 characters or fewer, OR a 90 second video
Provide the complete URL or headline of the article you choose
At the end of the week, judges from the Times newsroom will pick their favorites and we'll publish the top response

SORA Online Magazines -NEW!

Our online magazines are available via SORA. Login using your student google account.
Download the magazines and read on the go!

SORA by Overdrive: E-books & Audiobooks
E-book and audiobook library with over 1,500 titles. Borrow and read on your own devices

What's your favourite place to read?

Where is your favourite place to read?

Beach chair: 1 votes (5.26%)

Comfy couch: 11 votes (57.89%)

In bed: 2 votes (10.53%)

Quiet cafe: 4 votes (21.05%)

Under a tree: 0 votes (0%)

Car/subway/bus: 1 votes (5.26%)

Total Votes: 19

Thought Provoking Nonfiction

Outlive by Peter Attia; Bill Gifford (As told to)
Call Number: 612.6 ATT
ISBN: 9780593236598
Publication Date: 2023-03-28
Wouldn't you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity . . . Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.
Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho
ISBN: 1952177944
Publication Date: 2021-05-18
Growing up, Grace knew her mother as a strong woman who would cook the dishes of her homeland and forage in the forest behind their home. However, when Grace turned 15, her mother began to hear voices and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Nearer My Freedom by Monica Edinger; Lesley Younge
ISBN: 9781728464077
Publication Date: 2023-03-07
Millions of Africans were enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, but few recorded their personal experiences. Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is perhaps the most well known of the autobiographies that exist. Follow Equiano from his life in Africa as a child to his enslavement at a young age, his travels across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, his liberation, and his life as a free man.
In Limbo by Deb Jj Lee
Call Number: GRA LEE
ISBN: 9781250252661
Publication Date: 2023-03-07
A debut YA graphic memoir about a Korean-American girl's coming-of-age story―and a coming home story―set between a New Jersey suburb and Seoul, South Korea.
Ever since Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee emigrated from South Korea to the United States, she's felt her otherness...
War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan
Call Number: 355.02 MAC
ISBN: 9780593132371
Publication Date: 2021-10-05
Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919, looks at the ways in which war has shaped human history and how, in turn, changes in political organization, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight.
Impossible Escape by Steve Sheinkin
ISBN: 9781250265722
Publication Date: 2023-08-29
From three-time National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin, a true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust―one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape.
Fans by Larry Olmsted
Call Number: 306.4 OLM
ISBN: 9781616208462
Publication Date: 2021-03-02
Research into sports fandom makes the sometimes counterintuitive case for why being a fan is good for us individually and is a force for positive change in our society.
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
ISBN: 9780593653142
Publication Date: 2023-10-24
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.