Pottsgrove High School Summer Reading Program 2026–2027

What

All students are expected to read independently over the summer and keep a reading log of their progress. The log should include the titles of books read, dates, and the amount of reading completed.

Important: A parent/guardian signature is required to verify the student’s reading.

Summer Reading Expectations

Students are expected to read consistently over the summer and keep a reading log to track their progress.

To receive full credit, students must:

• Complete at least one full book over the summer
• Fill out a reading log with at least 15–20 entries (no minimum amount of time required)
• Include the date, book title, and amount read for each entry
• Have a parent/guardian signature on the completed log

Students should aim to read 3–4 times per week to stay on track.

Summer Reading Book Log

When

Completed and signed reading logs must be submitted in paper form to the high school library by Friday, September 4, 2026.

Who

All students are expected to complete the summer reading log except for students in the following courses:

• 9th Grade Honors: Students will read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Contact your teacher for specific expectations.
• 10th Grade Honors:  Students will read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Contact your teacher for specific expectations.
• 11th Grade AP English Language: Students will read 1984 by George Orwell, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, and Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Full expectations are available under Student Resources → Summer Work on the High School website.
• 12th Grade AP English Literature:  Students will read Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Contact your teacher for specific expectations.

Why

Reading over the summer helps students maintain and strengthen vocabulary, comprehension, writing skills, and critical thinking. Consistent reading builds habits that support success in school, college, careers, and everyday life.

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Recommended Summer Reading 2026–2027

Promoting a Culture of Reading at Pottsgrove
Danielle Small – Library Media Specialist

These titles are recommended, but feel free to choose your own summer reading book(s). 

Fiction and Graphic Novels

• Anderson, Laurie Halse – Wintergirls (Call #: REAL F AND, also available as ebook)
• Avasthi, Swati – Split (Call #: REAL F AVA)
• Bacigalupi, Paolo – Ship Breaker (Call #: SERIES F BAC)
• Backderf, Derf – My Friend Dahmer: A Graphic Novel (Call #: 364.152 BAC)
• Bognanni, Peter – The House of Tomorrow (Call #: F BOG, also available as ebook)
• Chbosky, Stephen – The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Call #: F CHB)
• Christie, Agatha – Murder on the Orient Express (Call #: MYSTERY F CHR)
• Christopher, Lucy – Stolen (Call #: ADVENTURE F CHR)
• Crowder, Melanie – Audacity (Call #: HISTORICAL F CRO)
• Demas, Corinne – Everything I Was (Call #: F DEM, also available as ebook)
• Donoghue, Emma – Room (Call #: F DON)
• Faulkner, William – The Sound and the Fury (Call #: F FAU, also available as ebook)
• Green, John – Looking for Alaska (Call #: F GRE, also available as ebook)
• Gruen, Sara – Water for Elephants (Call #: HISTORICAL F GRU)
• Haddon, Mark – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Call #: F HAD)
• Hannah, Kristin – Winter Garden (Call #: F HAN)
• Hosseini, Khaled – A Thousand Splendid Suns (Call #: F HOS, also available in audio and ebook)
• Kwok, Jean – Girl in Translation (Call #: F KWO)
• Maas, Sarah J. – Throne of Glass (Call #: SERIES F MAA)
• McManus, Karen M. – One of Us Is Lying (Call #: MYSTERY F MCM)
• Meloy, Maile – The Apothecary (Call #: ADVENTURE F MEL)
• Monk, Sue – The Invention of Wings (Call #: HISTORICAL F KID)
• Rowell, Rainbow – Fangirl (Call #: F ROW, also available as 12-month ebook)
• Saenz, Benjamin Alire – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Call #: F SAE, also available as 12-month ebook)
• Sepetys, Ruta – I Must Betray You (Call #: HIST F SEP)
• Thomas, Angie – The Hate U Give (Call #: REAL F THO)
• Yoon, Nicola – The Sun Is Also a Star (Call #: F YOO)

Nonfiction and Memoir

• Boo, Katherine – Behind the Beautiful Forevers (Call #: 305.5, also available as ebook)
• Boylan, Jennifer Finney – I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted (Call #: 921 BOY)
• Brooks, David – The Road to Character (Call #: 170.44 BRO)
• Brown, Mike – How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming (Call #: 523.49 BRO)
• Dawkins, Richard – The Greatest Show on Earth (Call #: 576.8 DAW)
• Gladwell, Malcolm – The Tipping Point (Call #: 302 TI)
• Krakauer, Jon – Into the Wild (Call #: 917.9804 KR)
• Link, Kelly & Grant, Gavin – Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (Call #: SC STE, also ebook)
• Luttrell, Marcus – Lone Survivor (Call #: 958.104 LUT)
• Manchester, William – A World Lit Only by Fire (Call #: 940.2, also ebook)
• Marx, Jeffrey – Season of Life (Call #: 796.332 MA)
• McBride, James – The Color of Water (Call #: 974.7 COL, also ebook)
• McCullough, David – 1776 (Call #: 973.3 MCC)
• Moore, Alan – Watchmen (Call #: 741.5 MOO)
• O’Reilly, Bill & Dugard, Martin – Killing Lincoln (Call #: 973.7 KIL)
• Sheinkin, Steve – Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Call #: 623.4 SHE)
• Slater, Dashka – Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed (On order)
• Yang, Kao Kalia – The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir (Call #: 959.704, also ebook)

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Other Genres

• Black, Holly – The Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air, Book 1) (Call #: FANTASY F BLA)
• Card, Orson Scott – Speaker for the Dead (Call #: SCIENCE FICTION F CAR)
• Cline, Ernest – Ready Player One (Call #: FANTASY F CLI, also available as ebook)
• King, Stephen – Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales (Call #: SC KING)
• Weir, Andy – The Martian (Call #: F WEI)