In preparation for your studies of U.S. History you will read one of the following books during summer vacation. Be sure you choose the correct book from the list if you are going into the 9th grade choose books that are listed as U.S. I books, all 10th & 12th grade students will choose a book listed as U.S. II. All honors students in grades 9, 10, & 12 will also read two additional books during the year from the list or another approved book by the teacher. Any books over the summer can be approved by Mr. Metivier at metivierm@worcesterschools.net
Assignment based on the book
- Write a one page summary of the main ideas that are brought out in the book.
- Choose 10 quotes from the book that will help you to learn about the time period that the book is written in and explain how the quotes tell you about the time period and the overall meaning of the story.
- What do you believe is the author’s purpose for writing the book? (one paragraph)
- Rate this book: Good, bad, or indifferent explain your answer. (one paragraph)
You will also need to be prepared to discuss your book in class possibly in literary circles or short presentations depending on your teacher, who may also ask for a more formal assignment based on the book at the beginning of the semester. This assignment is worth 10% of your first quarter grade.
9th Grade U.S. History I only
| Title | Subject | Author |
| Heart & Soul: The story of America & African Americans | Kadir Nelson | African Americans |
| Women of Influence | Mark Betka | American History |
| 1776 | David McCullough | American Revolution |
| Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution | L Carroll Judson | American Revolution |
| The True Story of Ben Franklin | Ben Franklin | |
| Gods and Generals | Jeff Shaara | Civil War |
| Cold Mountain | Charles Frazier | Civil War |
| The Red Badge of Courage | Stephen Crane | Civil War |
| The Killer Angels | Michael Shaara | Civil War |
| This Hallowed Ground | Bruce Catton | Civil War |
| Gone With the Wind | Margaret Mitchell | Civil War |
| Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War | Nathaniel Philbrick | Colonial America |
| The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain | Culture/Race |
| Pride & Prejudice | Jane Austin | Culture/Women |
| Last Of The Mohicans | James Fenimore Cooper | French & Indian War |
| A People’s History of the United States | Howard Zinn | General |
| How Democratic is the American Constitution? | Robert A. Dahl | Government |
| The Miner’s Daughter | Gretchen Moran Lask | Industrial Revolution |
| Auto Biography of Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson | Jefferson |
| Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | Dee Brown | Native Americans |
| His Excellency: George Washington | Joseph J. Ellis | Presidents |
| John Adams | David McCullough | Presidents |
| Lincoln | David Herbert Donald | Presidents |
| Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln | Doris Kearns Goodwin | Presidents |
| Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History | Fawn Brodie | Presidents |
| Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer | James L. Swanson | Presidents |
| Up From Slavery | Booker T. Washington | Race |
| The Sound and the Fury | William Faulkner | Reconstruction Era |
| Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl | Harriet Jacobs | Slavery |
| Beloved | Toni Morrison | Slavery |
| Roots | Alex Haley | Slavery |
| Uncle Tom’s Cabin | Harriet Beecher Stowe | Slavery |
| Time’s Memory | Julius Lester | Slavery |
| Ordeal by Hunger | George Stewart | Westward Expansion |
| Undaunted Courage | Stephen E. Ambrose | Westward Expansion |
| Witch Hunt Mysteries of Salem Witch Trials | Marc Aronson | Witch Trials |
| Little Women | Louisa May Alcott | Women/Civil War |
U.S. History II for 10th & 12th grade only
| Title | Author | Subject |
| The Roosevelt Myth | John Flynn | 1900-1945 |
| Diva | Jillian Larkin | 1920’s |
| The Decline of the American Republic | John Flynn | 1930’s and 1940’s |
| Dropping of the Atomic Bomb: Truman’s True Intentions | Dominick Abel Severance | Atomic bomb |
| Black Like Me | John Howard Griffin | Civil Rights |
| Warriors Don’t Cry: a Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High | Melba Pattillo Beals | Civil Rights |
| The Autobiography of Malcom X | Malcom X & Alex Haley | Civil Rights |
| Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-63 | Taylor Branch | Civil Rights |
| Free at Last | Michael J Friedman | Civil Rights |
| The Ugly American | Burdick & Lederer | Communism |
| Countdown | Deborah Wiles | Cuban Missile Crisis |
| Only Yesterday | Fredrick Allen | Culture (1920’s) |
| The Natural | Bernard Malamud | Culture (baseball) |
| The Right Stuff | Tom Wolfe | Culture (Space Exploration) |
| The Color of Water | James McBride | Culture/Race/Religion |
| The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl | Timothy Egan | Depression |
| The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck | Depression |
| Silent Spring | Rachel Carson | Environment |
| All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky | Joe R Lansdale | Great Depression |
| Esperanza Rising | Pam Munoz Ryan | Great Depression |
| Your Eyes in Stars | M.E. Kerr | Great Depression |
| Bean Trees | Barbara Kingslover | Immigration |
| Devil on My Heels | Joyce McDonald | KKK |
| Assassination Vacation | Sarah Vowell | Presidents/Culture |
| The Jungle | Upton Sinclair | Progressive |
| Era/Urbanization | ||
| How the Other Half Lives | Jacob Riis | Progressive Era |
| The Maltese Falcon | Dashiell Hammet | Prohibition |
| Black Duck | Janet Taylor Lisle | Prohibition |
| Chicano | Richard Vasquez | Race |
| Go Tell It on the Mountain | James Baldwin | Race/Depression |
| An American Tragedy | Theodore Dresier | Social Issues |
| Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam | Cynthia Kadohata | Vietnam |
| If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home | Tim O’Brien | Vietnam War |
| The Things They Carried | Tim O’Brien | Vietnam War |
| Making of the Atomic Bomb | Richard Rhodes | War |
| All the President’s Men | Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward | Watergate |
| The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath | Women |
| All Quiet on the Western Front | Erich Remarque | WW I |
| The Bedford Boys | Alex Kershaw | WW II |
| Band of Brother | Stephen E Ambrose | WW II |
| Unbroken | Lara Hillenbrand | WWII |
| Joy Luck Club | Amy Tam | WW II/Women/Race |