9th-Grade Summer Reading

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae , by Steven Pressfield (Bantam, 2005; ISBN 9780553383683), 386 pages

The battle of Thermopylae—the subject of the graphic novel and film 300-- here receives a fuller treatment. Publishers Weekly wrote: “Rich with historical detail, hot action and crafty storytelling, Pressfield's riveting story reveals the social and political framework of Spartan life."

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford (Three Rivers Press, 2005; ISBN 9780609809648), 312 pages

Weatherford, a professor of anthropology at Macalester College, tells the riveting true story behind the legend of Khan. Rising to power through the brutal tribal warfare of his native Mongols, Khan conquered vast swathes of land, then ruled with surprising progressiveness, stimulating the spread of civilization. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote: “Weatherford is a fantastic storyteller. . . . [His] portrait of Khan is drawn with sufficiently self-complicating depth.”

Lavinia , by Ursula K. LeGuin (Mariner, 2009; ISBN 9780156033688), 288 pages

Science-fiction titan Le Guin gives voice to Lavinia, a non-speaking character in Vergil’s The Aeneid. Booklist magazine writes: “Here, as Le Guin reworks the story, Lavinia evolves into a true woman of destiny, eventually forging a strong partnership with the legendary founder of Rome. The compulsively readable Le Guin earns kudos for fashioning a winning combination of history and mythology featuring an unlikely heroine imaginatively plucked from literary obscurity.”

The Old Way: A Story of the First People , by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (Picador, 2007; ISBN 9780312427283), 348 pages

From publisher comments: “Elizabeth Marshall Thomas was 19 when her father took his family to live among the Bushmen of the Kalahari. Fifty years later, after a life of writing and study, Thomas returns to her experiences with the Bushmen, one of the last hunter-gatherer societies on earth, and discovers among them an essential link to the origins of all human society. Humans lived for 1,500 centuries as roving clans, adapting daily to changes in environment and food supply. Those origins are not so easily abandoned, Thomas suggests, and our modern society has plenty still to learn from the Bushmen.”

The Sand-Reckoner , by Gillian Bradshaw (Forge, 2001; ISBN 9780312875817), 351 pages

Nancy Pearl of NPR writes: “Around the few facts that are known about Archimedes (c. 287-212 B.C.), well-regarded historical novelist Bradshaw has fashioned an interesting and informative tale of love, war, and family responsibilities. When the young Archimedes is called back to Syracuse after three years in Alexandria, “ he puts his mathematical and engineering ability to work to help defend the city against Roman attack. Publisher’s Weekly writes: “Bradshaw is skilled at bringing historical figures to life, and this intriguing and entertaining novel of the boyish dreamer who possessed one of the ancient world's most brilliant minds demonstrates her vivid imagination.”

Siddhartha , by Herman Hesse [translated by Joachim Neugroschel] (Penguin, 1999, originally published 1922; ISBN 9780141181233), 132 pages

From Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia: “Set in India, this novel is the story of a young Brahmin’s search for ultimate reality….Siddhartha’s search, which takes him through both profligacy and asceticism, reinforces the idea that wisdom cannot be taught; it must come from one’s own inner struggle. The story contains parallels to Buddha’s life, but it is not a fictionalized life of Buddha; Hesse uses the Buddha parallels instead to give his work a legendary and symbolic quality.”

Please note: All incoming 9th-grade ESL students will read The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros.