Academics

Summer Reading

The CBA Summer Reading Program allows students to explore compelling and topical works associated with the various subject disciplines they will encounter during the school year.

All students will be assessed on their Summer Reading books in the opening weeks of the new school year. This assessment grade will equal 10% of the first academic quarter grade in each of these classes. It is recommended that your son begins reading by July 1 so he can thoroughly read and prepare for his assessments and classroom discussions.

Assessment may be tests or may be other projects or types of assessments. Specific expectations will be explained in September.

ISBN numbers have been provided below to help you locate the correct title. You may purchase whatever format (paperback, hardcover, e-reader, audiobook, etc.) that you prefer to use.

HOW TO PREPARE

We are confident each student can do well on his assessments if he prepares accordingly:

Review the book list carefully and only read those books that pertain to courses you will take.
Get your books early!
Ask your son regularly about his reading progress.
Encourage your son to take notes for later reference. This is especially important for the first books he reads.
Remember that all fiction and most non-fiction can be reduced to these elements:
1. PLOT (what is happening?)
2. CHARACTER (who is making it happen?)
3. SETTING (where and when is it happening?)
4. THEME (what is the point of it all?)

Note: Students who change courses over the summer are still responsible for the summer reading for that new course.

2022 SUMMER READING BOOK LISTS

For Freshmen

All freshmen read this book:

THEOLOGY I (ACADEMY OATH): Season of Life, Jeffrey Marx ISBN: 978-0743269742

All freshmen read one of these books, depending on their English placement:

ENGLISH I STANDARD: Turtles All the Way Down, John Green, ISBN: 978-0525555377
ENGLISH I HONORS: The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie, ISBN: 978-0525565093

All freshmen read one of these books, depending on their History placement:

WORLD HISTORY STANDARD (2 books):

Freshmen who are in World History Standard will be reading selected chapters from two books. It is recommended that students purchase A History of the World in 6 Glasses since they will use that book throughout their freshman year and into their sophomore year. Greek and Roman Sports can be accessed through the Open Library. Students can find out how to sign up for the Open Library on the homepage for the CBA Quinn Library. This is an easy way to read the two chapters from that book for free.

World History Summer Reading Guide

Book one: A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage, ISBN: 978-0802715524 (Chapters One to Four only)
Book two: Greek and Roman Sport, Don Nardo, ISBN: 978-1560064367 (Chapters One and Two only)

WORLD HISTORY HONORS: Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall, ISBN: 978-1501121470

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, ISBN: 978-0547750330

For Sophomores

ENGLISH II STANDARD: The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, ISBN: 978-0544309760

ENGLISH II HONORS: Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, ISBN: 978-0385486804

AP WORLD HISTORY: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race To Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts, Joshua Hammer, ISBN: 978-1476777412

CHEMISTRY STANDARD: This Borrowed Earth, Robert Emmet Hernan, et al, ISBN: 978-0230619838

CHEMISTRY HONORS: Rare: The High-Stakes Race to Satisfy Our Need for the Scarcest Metals on Earth, Keith Veronese, ISBN: 978-1616149727

AP CHEMISTRY: The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, Sam Kean, ISBN: 978-0316051637

THEOLOGY II STANDARD: This Is Our Exile, James Martin , ISBN: 978-1570759239

THEOLOGY II HONORS: The Day Christ Died, Jim Bishop, ISBN: 978-0060608163

For Juniors

AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE: The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell, ISBN: 978-0316346627

ENGLISH III STANDARD or HONORS: The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro, ISBN: 978-0307455796

US HISTORY II STANDARD: Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, ISBN: 978-1501126413

US HISTORY II HONORS: Mapping America, Jean-Pierre Isbouts and Neil Asbury, ISBN: 978-1948062763

AP AMERICAN HISTORY (2 books):

Book one: Colonial America: A Very Short Introduction, Alan Taylor, ISBN: 978-0199766239

Book two (choose ONE of the following books):
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Jon Meacham, ISBN: 978-0812979480
Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow, ISBN: 978-0143034759
Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow, ISBN: 978-0143119968
Adams, David McCullogh, ISBN: 978-0743223

THEOLOGY III STANDARD: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis, ISBN: 978-0809149803

THEOLOGY III HONORS: Let Us Dream, Pope Francis, ISBN: 978-1982171865

For Seniors

ENGLISH IV STANDARD or HONORS: Born a Crime, Trevor Noah, ISBN: 978-0399588198

AP ENGLISH LIT: The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead, ISBN 978-0345804341

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY: The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friederich Engels (any edition) and The Prince, Nicolo Machiavelli (any edition)

AP ART HISTORY, Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde ISBN: 978-0486278070