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Essex High School
2 Educational Dr. Essex Jct., VT 05452 | (802) 879-7121

Summer Reading:

Recommended by Faculty, Staff and a few students at EHS

 EF- Essex Free Library

 B- Brownell Library

EHS- Essex High School Library

U- Unavailable at Essex Libraries

Please Enjoy the Recommendations!

To submit recommendations for the next list:

Send an e-mail to Jill Abair

Please include:

The author's name and title of the book,

A brief overview of the book.

Students as well as faculty and staff

are encouraged to submit their recommendations.

 

Summer Reading Suggestions by the Vermont NEA

Click here to view their summer reading recommendations for kids.

Student Suggestions

Submitted Anonymously

The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings

"It's awesome!"

Faculty Suggestions

Suggestion submitted by Tom Preska

The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

“This novel picks up shortly following the events depicted in The Book of the Dead.  Agent Pendergast and his ward, Constance Green, are studying in Tibet with Buddhist monks; they are recuperating from the events depicted in the novel The Book of the Dead. An artifact is stolen from the monastery, and the monks ask if Pendergast can retrieve it. Pendergast pursues the thief and artifact through China, Rome, and London. Eventually, he and Constance track the individual (who has now become a killer) to a luxury ocean liner which is headed to New York City.  Pendergast and Green are thus left to identify and apprehend the killer and retrieve the artifact before the ship lands. - I just finished it. It’s a modern Sherlock Holmes detective fiction/action novel.  A fun read.” EF, B

 

Suggestion submitted by Pamela Blake

Q & A by Vikas Swarup

“Set in India, a young man, with no formal education, wins a “Who Want’s to be a Millionaire” type quiz show and is thrown in jail because it is believed he must have cheated.  How else could he have known all the answers?  The story takes you through each question and shows how his life story enables him to know these obscure facts. Very interesting!” EF, B

 

Suggestion submitted by Jackie Boucher

Escape by Carolyn Jessop.

“This book is Jessop's powerful account of her escape from her life as a plural wife in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints sect.  It is both a heartwrenching and infuriating to watch her life unfold in a society where she is expected to perform wifely duties and forced to endure abuse in the hope of attaining salvation through complete compliance with her husband's wishes.  Ultimately she flees this 21st century American bondage with her eight children in tow.  It is difficult to imagine this level of inequity being tolerated in America today.   Jessop's book is a must read.”  EF

 

Suggestion submitted by Sandy Cahill

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

"A Thousand Splendid Suns is the best thing I have read in a long time. It’s very unique!” EF, B, EHS

 

Suggestion submitted by Patricia Shea

“It's not a book, but I love reading "The Week."  It's a great magazine that condenses all the important news and editorials, book and film reviews, of the past week into one fun-to-read magazine.  You can get a week's worth of news in a day.” U

 

Suggestion submitted by Jill Kleinman

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee. “An absorbing read about a 20 something Korean/American young woman finding her path after graduation from Princeton. This book provides a closer look at her struggles navigating both Korean and American values and traditions.” EF, B

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. “I'd pronounce this his best novel yet! An up close look at the goings on in a small New York State hamlet, narrated by a young boy who grows up there. Wonderful character development.” EF, B

                                           

 

Suggestion submitted by Linda Frank

Marley & Me by John Grogan.

 “I just finished reading it, having adopted a very sweet rescue dog-lab/brittany mix 3/4 lab). This book is about a naughty lab- a book very much for dog lovers.” EF, B, EHS

 

Suggestion submitted by Jill Abair

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

“This is the story of a woman named June Nealon who experiences death first hand in a way most of us should never have too.  She looses her first husband in a car accident which her daughter Elizabeth, and her, luckily survive.   She falls in love with the police officer who helped at the scene; they get married and conceive a second child.  While preparing for the new baby, they hire a young man to help construct the nursery.  This man kills Elizabeth and the police officer.  He gets tried in court and is found guilty.  After everything June has to find a way to rid herself of her hate for this man to save the life of her second daughter Claire.  This book tackles many ideas such as love, loss, religion and the death penalty.  This is a must read!” EF, B, EHS

 

Suggestion submitted by Renee Turvey

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

“For mystery lovers, especially the hard-boiled detective/ film noir type, The Maltese Falcon is the prototype.  Sam Spade is the quintessential private detectives from the 1930s.  He seems to be rolling a cigarette every other paragraph, calling his secretary "angel", and you can just see him stealthily following some shady character down the streets of San Francisco in his fedora and trench coat.  The mystery itself is not anything spectaular, but it's just such an interesting timepiece...and then, too, you might want to see the movie classic after finishing the book!” EF, B, EHS

Suggestion submitted by Smita Narechania

Holes by Louis Sachar

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. EF, B, EHS

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter. EF, B, EHS