All In The Campaign for Blair Academy 2018-2025
Summer 2018 Reading Assignments
Melissa Collins
textbooks

Reading broadly and intelligently are essential components of a good education, and Blair faculty members encourage reading throughout the year. The summer is no exception, which is why all Blair students are expected to read a minimum of five fiction or nonfiction books over the summer, and they are urged to read even more.

Students must read a minimum of five books over the summer months, including titles of their choosing in addition to those required by their teachers, and depending upon their courses, they may also have associated assignments and/or assessments to complete.

Titles for 2018 summer reading assignments are listed below. New and returning students enrolled in certain language courses for the 2018-2019 academic year must also complete summer work. Details about the summer work for language courses is linked in the list below.

All School Read for 10, 11, 12’s 

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Click here for more on this year's all-school read.) 
*Ninth-grade students should wait to read Homegoing until it it covered during the school year in their English 1 class.

Requirements for Selected Courses (listed by department) for 2018-2019

English

English 1: The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)


English 2: Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
English 3: Into the Wild (Krakauer)
English 3 AP or 4 AP Literature: Let the Great World Spin (McCann)
English 4 AP Language: Between the World and Me (Coates)

History

Global Issues; Western Civilization; US History: In lieu of summer reading, these courses are allowed to assign a book over either the winter or spring break.
AP US History: Students should read Charles Mann's article on "1491" from the March 2002 issue of The Atlantic magazine. Instructions and a link to the article are located here.
AP European History: Darkness at Noon (Koestler); please review instructions here from Dr. Miller for this reading.
AP Comparative Government:  Mr. Jenkins will email you an assignment in August.

Science

Chemistry Honors: Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape our Man-made World (Miodownik). Dr. Sayers will email a related assignment in August.
AP Chemistry: The Elements:  A Visual Exploration (Mann/Grey). Dr. Sayers will email a related assignment in August.
AP BiologyRiddled With Life  (Zuk); Campbell 10th Ed AP Biology text Chapt. 1-3. Mrs. Hadden will email a related assignment in August.
Physics AP C (Mechanics): 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know (Baker)
Physics AP C (Electricity & Magnetism): Relativity Simply Explained (Gardner)

Language

Summer work in language courses differs by grade level and language studied. Please review the below requirements closely and click on the appropriate link.

Spanish 4/4H:  Click here for the assignment from Mr. Devaney.
AP Spanish Language:  Click here for the assignment from Mrs. Lang.
All Classics students: Click here for the assignment from Ms. Fralick and Mr. Sheppard.
French 4 and above:  Click here for the assignment from Mme. Lavalle.
All Chinese students: Click here for the assignment from Mr. Facciani and Mrs. Wang.

Music & Performing Arts

Music Theory AP: The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences…  (Palmer, Manus, Lethco)

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