Summer Reading Assignments

Elementary School: Kindergarten-Grade 5 (Updated for 2021-22)

Contact: Ms. Lisa Sirgo, Co-Director of Elementary School

Middle School: Grades 6, 7, 8  (Updated for 2021-22)

Have questions or need help? Contact Mr. Ryan Ruyle, Middle School Principal.

High School: Grades 9-12 (Updated for 2021-22)

The first step in selecting the correct summer reading text is knowing which English class you will be taking in 2021-2022 and if you receive any special supports that suggest you should read an alternate text. Typically, the course sequence is 1) Grade 9: English I, 2) Grade 10: English II, 3) Grade 11: English III, and 4) Grade 12: English IV. 

Please note these important details:

  • Some students take two English courses in a single year. 
  • Some rising 10th-grade students elected honors English classes. Honors students must read the designated honors-level text, although any student may also elect to read this text.
  • Some rising 11th & 12th graders have elected the full IB Diploma Programme (DP) or a DP English class.

If you are not certain what English course you will take in 2021-2022, please email Anna Evans, Academic Counselor at aevans@morrisjeffschool.org for assistance.

Choose the ASSIGNMENT for the course you will take in Fall 2021. 

  • English I – Choose and read 1 of the following books and complete this assignment.
    • Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
    • Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
    • The Awakening by Kate Chopin
  • English II – Choose and read 1 of the following books and complete this assignment.
    • Regular – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley or Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
    • Honors – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde or Their Eyes Were Watching God  by Zora Neale Hurston
  • English III – Read A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and complete this assignment.
  • English IV – Choose and read 1 of the following books and complete this assignment.
    • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (best choice if parent prefers no adult content)
    • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (appropriate for mature readers – a parent should be aware of adult content)
    • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (appropriate for mature readers – parent should be aware of adult content)
  • English III: IB Language & Literature – Read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, Complete this assignment.
  • English IV: IB Language & Literature – Read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, Complete this assignment.
  • The High School offers alternative texts for students who are preparing for LEAP CONNECT, and for certain students who take the ELPT.
    • Students new to the English language (Beginner or Emerging) – Choose and read 1 of the following and complete this assignment.
      • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
      • Booked by Kwame Alexander
      • Monster by Walter Dean Myers
    • Students enrolled in English I, II, III, or IV and taking LEAP Connect – Read Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl and complete this assignment.