"Poole"-side Reading List Summer 2019

A selection of titles generated by Mrs. Poole, members of the MHS Book Club, and some of the winning titles from the Fall 2018 "MHS Drop Everything And Read Day."

 

FICTION


Alexander, Kwame and Mary Rand Hess. Swing.

High school junior Noah has a crush on his friend Samantha, and when he discovers a handful of love letters from the 1960s, he is inspired to create mixed-media poetry that expresses his feelings. Noah had never planned to share the work with Sam, but then his well-meaning best friend, Walt (aka Swing), sends one of the poems to her anonymously. At the same time, numerous American flags are being left around town. While some think it's a harmless prank and others see it as a form of peaceful protest, Noah can't shake the feeling something bigger is happening to his community. Especially after he witnesses events that hint divides and prejudices run deeper than he realized.


Balog, Cyn. Alone.

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda's almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it's fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate--which means they're not going back to the city...or Seda's friends and school.  Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion--and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality...


Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. In the year 2044, Wade Watts, like the rest of humanity, chooses to escape reality and spends his waking hours in the limitless, utopian virtual world of the OASIS, but when Wade stumbles upon the first of the fiendish puzzles set up by OASIS creator James Halliday he finds he must compete with thousands of others--including those willing to commit murder--in order to claim a prize of massive fortune.

Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist.

Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, sets out from his home in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of buried treasure, but through his encounters with a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself a king, and an Alchemist, he learns the value of the treasures found within himself.


Davis, Lane. I Swear.

After years of abuse from her classmates, and thinking she had no other options, Leslie took her own life. Now her abusers are dealing with the fallout. In the eyes of the accused girls, they are not to blame: Leslie chose to take her life. She chose to be the coward they always knew she was. As criminal proceedings examine the systematic cyber bullying and harassment that occurred, the girls vow to keep their stories straight and make Leslie seem weak. But as the events leading up to her death unfold, it becomes clear that although Leslie took her own life, her bullies took everything else.


De La Cruz, Melissa.  Alex & Eliza.

Based on the imagined courtship of two historical figures, the story seamlessly weaves together fact with fiction, resulting in a tale that is interesting and engaging, that sparks curiosity about the lives of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, and that gives these two real-life characters personality and voice.


Dietrich, Cole. The Love Interest.

There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets. Caden is a Nice: The boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection. Dylan is a Bad: The brooding, dark-souled guy, and dangerously handsome. The girl they are competing for is important to the organization, and each boy will pursue her. Will she choose a Nice or the Bad? Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to be - whoever the girl doesn't choose will die. What the boys don't expect are feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both.


Doerr, Anthony. All the Light We Cannot See. (2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.)

Shifting among multiple viewpoints but focusing mostly on blind French teenager Marie-Laure and Werner, a brilliant German soldier just a few years older than she, this novel has the physical and emotional heft of a masterpiece. The main protagonists are brave, sensitive, and intellectually curious, and in another time they might have been a couple. But they are on opposite sides of the horrors of World War II, and their fates ultimately collide in connection with the radio-a means of resistance for the Allies and just one more avenue of annihilation for the Nazis.


Dumas, Alexandre. Count of Monte Cristo. (Abridged version recommended!)  

Set against the turbulent years of the Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure story  is one of the most widely read romantic novels of all time. In it the dashing young hero, Edmond Dantès, is betrayed by his enemies and thrown  into a secret dungeon -- doomed to spend his life in a dank prison cell. The story of his long years in captivity, his miraculous escape, and his revenge creates a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigue and paints a vision of France that has become immortal.


Giles, Amy. That Night.

The year since a mass shooting shook their Queens neighborhood has played out differently for Jess and Lucas, both of whom were affected by that night in eerily similar and deeply personal ways. As Jess struggles to take care of her depressed mother and Lucas takes up boxing under the ever-watchful eye of his overprotective parents, their paths converge. They slowly become friends and then something more, learning to heal and move forward together. But what does it mean to love after an unspeakable tragedy?

Gratton, Tessa.  Strange Grace.

In the town of Three Graces, death is a knowable thing. The crops do not fail, childbirth happens free of incident, and injuries heal quickly and without infection. And every seven years when the Slaughter Moon rises, a boy runs into Devil's Forest as a sacrifice. But the Slaughter Moon has risen four years early, and the bargain may be weakening. Rhun has always known he would be the anointed saint; he just thought he had more time. Mairwen, a witch, feels the pull of the forest as well, as does Arthur, a boy whose mother raised him as a girl so he would never be a saint. The three go into the forest, and neither they nor it will be the same.


Howard, A.G. Stain.

After Lyra--a princess incapable of speech or sound--is cast out of her kingdom of daylight by her wicked aunt, a witch saves her life, steals her memories, and raises her in an enchanted forest . . . disguised as a boy known only as Stain. Meanwhile, in Lyra's rival kingdom, the prince of thorns and night is dying, and the only way for him to break his curse is to wed the princess of daylight--for she is his true equal. As Lyra finds her way back to her identity, an imposter princess prepares to steal her betrothed prince and her crown. To win back her kingdom, save the prince, and make peace with the land of the night, Lyra must be loud enough to be heard without a voice, and strong enough to pass a series of tests--ultimately proving she's everything a traditional princess is not.


Leviathan, David. Every Day.

Every morning A wakes up in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.  How do you stay with the one you love when every day you are someone else?


Marino, Andy. Autonomous.

William Mackler is about to go on the road trip of a lifetime. After winning a contest, he becomes the proud owner of Autonomous, a driverless car that knows where you want to go before you do. To sweeten the deal he gets to pick three friends to go with him on a cross-country trip. For William, a reckless adrenaline junkie, this is the perfect last hurrah before he and his friends go their separate ways after graduation. But Autonomous is more than just a car without a steering wheel. It's capable of downloading all of the passengers' digital history-from the good, to the bad, to the humiliating. Think you know Autonomous? The real question is, how much does Autonomous know about you?


McManus, Karen M. Two Can Keep A Secret.

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.  The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone has declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.


Myers, Walter Dean. Monster.

Arrested and charged with murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is writing a screenplay of his ordeal. Balancing courtroom drama and a sordid jailhouse setting with flashbacks to the crime, Myers adeptly allows each character to speak for him or herself, leaving readers to judge for themselves the truthfulness of the defendants, witnesses, lawyers, and, most compellingly, Steve himself.


Schwab, V.E. A Darker Shade of Magic.

Meet Kell, a young man with an extraordinary gift: he can travel from one version of London to another, moving between parallel worlds the way ordinary people walk from one room to another. His job: carrying correspondence between the rulers of Red London (a city rich in magic), White London (where the relentless fight to control magic is destroying the city), and Grey London (where magic no longer exists—the London of our own past). Kell also has a secret sideline: he smuggles artifacts from one London to another, getting top prices from collectors. When he gets caught up in a bad deal in Grey London, he goes on the run, at his side a clever thief named Delilah, who helps Kell elude his pursuers, desperately trying to find a way not only to save Kell’s life, but also to protect the parallel worlds themselves. An ingeniously clever tale.


Scholte, Astrid. Four Dead Queens.

Four dead queens. Three days to catch a killer. Two forbidden romances. One shocking twist you won't see coming.  17-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she is one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs into trouble when Keralie steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.  The two decide to join forces to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation's four dead queens.


Stone, Nic. Odd One Out.

A poignant and necessary book for teens. It is a story about self-discovery, identity, love, and uncomfortable and staggering emotions.. Courtney Cooper and Jupiter Sanchez (Coop & Jupe!) have been next-door neighbors and best friends since they were seven-years-old. But lately, Cooper can't ignore he might want something more than friendship from Jupiter.  When Rae Chin moves to town she can't believe how lucky she is to find Coop and Jupe. Being the new kid is usually tough, but around these two, she feels like she belongs. She's so grateful she wants to kiss him...and her. Jupiter has always liked girls. But when Rae starts dating Cooper, Jupe realizes that the only girl she ever really imagined by his side was her.

One story. Three sides. No easy answers.


Yoon, Nicola. Everything, Everything.

The story of a teenage girl who's literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she's ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.  



NON - FICTION

Fleming, Candace.  The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia.

History comes to vivid life in Fleming’s sweeping story of the dramatic decline and fall of the House of Romanov. Her account provides not only intimate portraits of Tsar Nicholas; his wife, Alexandra; and the five Romanov children, but it also offers a beautifully realized examination of the context of their lives—Russia in a state of increasing social unrest and turmoil. This story is complemented with generous excerpts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and more that are seamlessly interspersed throughout the narrative. All underscore the incredible disparity between the glittering lives of the Romanovs and the desperately impoverished ones of the peasant population. Strongly recommended for those who think reading history is dull  - this is fascinating and well-written.


Gaiman, Neil. Norse Mythology.

A retelling the classic stories of Norse mythology, filled with adventures and misadventures of the Norse gods and goddesses.  The myths are transformed into short stories that lead the reader onward to Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. Giants, ogres, dwarves, fantastic beasts, and the occasional human freely mingle with Thor, Odin, Loki, Freya, and other, less well-known gods and goddesses, all of whom are passionate, flawed, weird, and divinely entertaining. A spectacularly entertaining and elucidating collection of stories with wide crossover appeal.


Hawking, Stephen and Leonard Mlodinow. The Grand Design. Stephen Hawking and Caltech physicist Mlodinow Leonard explain the cosmos according to quantum theory; provide answers to whether there is something rather than nothing, why people exist, and why a particular set of laws exist rather than not or some other; and describe how scientists use the "M-theory.”
Lamy, Matt.  Dead Strange.

This amazing collection contains entries on everything from the bizarre to the horrific, and from the spooky to the just plain confounding. The book gives essential background information on the events and the people involved, discusses the impact of particular myths and beliefs, and provides updates on the latest investigations being undertaken in an attempt to find answers to these baffling phenomena.


Kendrick, Anna.  Scrappy Little Nobody.

Actress Kendrick introduces her memoir by telling the reader not to take her stories too seriously. She asks her audience to agree that the following book is a conversation, possibly “a tweet, but longer.” She details her career from her first Broadway role in High Society at age 12 through film roles in Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect, highlighting lessons from great actors and moments from early years spent struggling in Los Angeles. Ending with Kendrick’s tongue-in-cheek “Bonus Reading Group Guide,” Scrappy Little Nobody lets readers feel like they have spent an afternoon chatting with their closest friend.


McDonough, Brendan. My Lost Brothers.

This is a harrowing story of heroism in the face of natural disaster. It perfectly illustrates the kind of teamwork and camaraderie that informed the legendary squad of hotshots working to save their hometown from utter destruction by fire. As the least likely guy ever to become a hotshot, Brendan McDonough more than lives up to his role after having been taken underwing by Granite Mountain leader Eric Marsh. That he has been able to keep on even keel as the Yarnell Hill Fire's lone survivor, having lost his mentor and his best friends, speaks volumes about his character and is a lasting testimony to the strength of his lost brothers.
Obama, Michelle. Becoming.

The former first lady opens up about her early life, her journey to the White House, and the eight history-making years that followed.  It’s not surprising that Obama grew up a rambunctious kid with a stubborn streak and an “I’ll show you” attitude. After all, it takes a special kind of moxie to survive being the first African-American FLOTUS—and not only survive, but thrive. For eight years, we witnessed the adversity the first family had to face, and now we get to read what it was really like growing up in a working-class family on Chicago’s South Side and ending up at the world’s most famous address. An engrossing memoir as well as a lively treatise on what extraordinary grace under extraordinary pressure looks like.


Perry, Tyler.  Higher is Waiting.

This is a spiritual guidebook, a collection of teachings culled from the experiences of a lifetime, meant to inspire readers to climb higher in their own lives and pull themselves up to a better, more fulfilling place. In this intimate book, Tyler Perry writes of how his faith has sustained him in hard times, centered him in good times, and enriched his life.


Rand, Jonathan. 300 Pounds of Attitude: The Wildest Stories and Craziest Characters the NFL Has Ever Seen.

Rand has covered NFL football for the past 35 years for a variety of newspapers, and most of the stories he retells here date from that same period. Of the book's 59 chapters, 30 deal with individual players, coaches, or owners. These profiled characters fall into several categories, including the mouthy and obnoxious (e.g., Shannon Sharpe), the overly intense (e.g., Dick Butkus), and the fun-loving flakes (e.g., Tim Rossovich). The remaining chapters are divided between such memorable events as the Immaculate Reception and the Miracle of the Meadowlands.  A fun selection of colorful stories, intelligently organized and crisply written.


Shakur, Tupac. The Rose that Grew from Concrete.  

A collection of poetry written by the rapper between 1989 and 1991, before he became famous. The poems are passionate, sometimes angry, and often compelling. Selections are reproduced from the originals in Shakur's handwriting, personalized by distinctive spelling and the use of ideographs (a drawing of an eye for I, etc.), and complete with scratch outs and corrections.


Skloot, Rebecca.  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Examines the experiences of the children and husband of Henrietta Lacks, who, twenty years after her death from cervical cancer in 1951, learned doctors and researchers took cells from her cervix without consent which were used to create the immortal cell line known as the HeLa cell; provides an overview of Henrietta's life; and explores issues of experimentation on African-Americans and bioethics.


Tenzer, Debbie. Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer.

This book is filled with thoughtful ideas on how to make life a little better for everyone. The stories are so moving - and so many people have been motivated to help children, animals, families, students, and US soldiers serving here and abroad. This is a great, easy, and moving read which makes me want to make the world a better place - with small acts every day.