Reading List

Each summer the School asks all students and faculty to read a book in common, believing that the experience will be one more factor that can bring us together as a community. This year everyone will read another book as well, one that each chooses from a list of books that faculty have chosen to sponsor. Both books are required, and we will discuss them in the fall.  The all-school book will be a relatively short but provocative book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, by Wes Moore. Of course, we hope that students will read several more than just these two books, because reading expands one's perspective on life, besides being entertaining. And we hope the list of faculty-sponsored books will provide many options and ideas and create an opportunity for many discussions in school and beyond. Enjoy!

Current students may sign up at http://taftnet/signup
New incoming students may sign up by sending an email with their name and the title of the book to summerreading@taftschool.org

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Art of Fielding, The

Fiction
By Harbach, Chad

Sponsor(s): Willson, Jonathan

Astrid and Veronika

Fiction
By Olsson, Linda

Sponsor(s): Kenerson, Jennifer

Book Thief, The

Fiction
By Zusak, Markus

Sponsor(s): Chandler, Linda

Bossypants

Nonfiction
By Fey, Tina

Sponsor(s): Sanborn, Sarah

Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The

Fiction
By Boyne, John

Sponsor(s): Santos, Pilar

Caleb's Crossing

Fiction
By Brooks, Geraldine

Sponsor(s): Ryan, Rachael; Heavenrich, Ted

Cutting for Stone

Fiction
By Verghese, Abraham

Sponsor(s): May, Karen

Everything is Illuminated

Fiction
By Foer, Jonathan Safran

Sponsor(s): Hincker, Caitlin; Frew, Elizabeth

Farewell to Arms, A

Fiction
By Hemingway, Ernest

Sponsor(s): Hawes, Gregory

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream

Nonfiction
By Bissinger, H. G.

Sponsor(s): Cesarz, Thomas

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love

Nonfiction
By Sobel, Dava

Sponsor(s): Piacenza, John

Home on the Field: How One Championship Soccer Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America, A

Nonfiction
By Cuadros, Paul

Sponsor(s): Orben, Andrea; Orben, William

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The

Nonfiction
By Skloot, Rebecca

Sponsor(s): Getty, Amanda; Guidotti, Shannon

In the Water They Can't See You Cry

Nonfiction
By Beard, Amanda with Rebecca Paley

Sponsor(s): O'Shea, Ginger

Jane Eyre AND The Wide Sargasso Sea

Fiction
By Bronte, Charlotte

Sponsor(s): Saarnijoki, Linda

Laramie Project, The

Drama
By Kaufman, Moisés

Sponsor(s): Torino, Christopher; Fifer, Helena

Leave No Doubt: A Credo for Chasing Your Dreams

Nonfiction
By Babcock, Mike and Rick Larsen

Sponsor(s): Murphy, Daniel

Memoir From Antproof Case

Fiction
By Helprin, Mark

Sponsor(s): Hincker, Ken

Middlesex

Fiction
By Eugenides, Jeffrey

Sponsor(s): Palmer, Karla

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

Fiction
By Fergus, Jim

Sponsor(s): Taylor, Patricia

Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems

Nonfiction
By Chartres, Colin and Samyuktha Varma

Sponsor(s): McNeill, Andrew

Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Nonfiction
By Hanh, Thich Nhat

Sponsor(s): Ganung, Robert

Shadow of the Wind, The

Fiction
By Zafon, Carlos Ruiz

Sponsor(s): Reiff, Julie

Slaughterhouse-Five

Fiction
By Vonnegut, Kurt

Sponsor(s): Reiff, Alvin

Starboard Sea, The

Fiction
By Dermont, Amber

Sponsor(s): Valenti, Megan

Tallgrass

Fiction
By Dallas, Sandra

Sponsor(s): Serafine, Lillian

Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction, The

Fiction
By O'Brien. Tim

Sponsor(s): Dethlefs, David

Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, The

Nonfiction
By Gladwell, Malcolm

Sponsor(s): Davis, H. William

Unbroken: a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption

Nonfiction
By Hillenbrand, Laura

Sponsor(s): Antonucci, Thomas

Visit from the Goon Squad, A

Fiction
By Egan, Jennifer

Sponsor(s): Russell, Rachel

Why We Run: A Natural History

Nonfiction
By Heinrich, Bernd

Sponsor(s): Bertuglia, Dana; Monti, Laura

Wide Sargasso Sea, The AND Jane Eyre

Fiction
By Rhys, Jean

Sponsor(s): Saarnijoki, Linda

Yellow Dirt: A Poisoned Land and the Betrayal of the Navajos

Nonfiction
By Pasternak, Judy

Sponsor(s): Hostage, David


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