Here is the FALL 2010 listing. If you want to use the same book for the fall of 2011, just cut and paste the information onto the FALL 2011 Participants and Titles page.

Thanks for volunteering!

Please CLICK EDIT on the RIGHT TAB BAR and add your name and department and the author and title of the book or play you wish to discuss on the first day of school, August 2010. Please add a "teaser" that we will use when we offer students the choices for the book discussion portion of summer reading. Then CLICK SAVE on the floating Editor tool bar.
NAME / WA DEPARTMENT / TITLE / AUTHOR/TEASER

1. Scott Crook/English/Sidelines/Albright/ Nonfiction collection of real-life short stories about the role of high school sports in issues of community and race. Written by an English teacher/football coach in North Carolina. You don't have to be a football player to enjoy the play-by-play and relationships revealed in these stories.
2. Lucy Klein/English/The Last Song/ A work of fiction written by the best selling contemporary author Nicholas Sparks who has had several of his novels made into films: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Dear John (2010), The Last Song is a coming of age story, wherein teens learn about life, love and responsibilty before going off to college. The novel includes goth teens, wealthy athletic teens, children of divorced parents, and the events surrounding the annual egg laying of the sea turtles off the coast of North Carolina.
3. Dagmar Ebaugh/Foreign Language/Fiction/Good Omens / Gaiman and Pratchett/ (1990 - nominated for World Fantasy Award). The end of the world is nigh! At least according to the prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a witch whose predictions are usually accurate but seldom heeded. Eleven years before the deadly Last Saturday Night, the ancient rivals of good and evil personified by the angelic Aziraphale (otherwise living as a London book dealer) and the demonic devil and former serpent Crowley clash in substituting the Antichrist during the birth of a baby. But the babies are switched as an unexpected third child enters the picture. The confusion picks up pace as witch hunters Sgt. Shadwell and Newton Pulsifer pursue modern Nutter follower Anathema Device. Along the way, countless puns, humorous footnotes, and satirical illusions enliven the story.
4. Joanne Baker/Carlos Library/Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand/ "Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world--and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man's body, but about the murder--and rebirth--of man's spirit." WARNING: This book is over 1,000 pages in length.
5. Kathleen McManus and Sam Mugavero/Drama and Science/A Confederacy of DuncesI Meet Ignatius J. Reilly, hot dog vendor, factory revolutionary and medievalist, as he rips through 1960s New Orleans, railing against modern life and the necessity of getting a job, all the while believing the edict of Jonathan Swift who once said, “when a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign--that the dunces will all be in confederacy against him!”
6. Amber Player/Spanish/Pride and Prejudice/The original romantic comedy, Pride and Prejudice provides a fascinating window into the social conventions of author Jane Austen's era in England. The cleverly drawn characters and sharp humor make this a fun read, while also giving readers insight into socioeconomic and gender roles in the late 18th/early 19th century.
7. Kelli Stanyard/Foreign Language/The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins/"Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, 'The Hunger Games.' The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place."
8. Chery Gibson/Science/Survival of the Sickest/Want to understand how the amount of sunlight to which you are exposed can determine the strength of your immune system? Want to learn how diabetics are better suited for extremely cold climates? Want to learn how carrying a particular deleterious gene can save you from a deadly disease? This book has the answers to these and other questions; this text is not just for science nerds.
9. ​Lynn Robinson/Counseling Department/Crocodile on the Sandbank/ Peters/If you love a good mystery, here's one for you! Amelia Peabody is a wealthy Victorian spinster who decides to take a quiet holiday in Egypt, but things don't go exactly as planned. Instead she finds herself in the middle of an adventure that changes her life forever. Oh, and there are an English lord, a cranky Egyptologist, a damsel in distress, a tomb, and a mummy involved.
10. Jim Hampton/Language/Running with Scissors/Burroughs/The true story of a boy whose mother gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor’s bizarre family. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year-round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull, an electroshock therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.
11. Roger Sloan/Academic Dean/ Lords of DisciplineIConroy/This tale of young college students caught in the discipline and cruelty of a military college during desegregation and the Vietnam war is well written and hard to put down.
12. Rachael Rack/ English/ The Forgotten Garden/ Inspired by the children's classic The Secret Garden, this novel by Kate Morton combines elements of mystery with fairy tale influences. Spanning different continents and multiple generations, this fast-paced book will have you turning the pages to find out the truth behind the main character's past.
13. Jonathan Merrill/History/ Same Kind of Different as Me/ Hall and Moore/ A wealthy white art dealer and an African-American former sharecropper become best friends after the art dealer is roped into volunteering at a homeless shelter by his saintly wife. Sound like a great fictional novel? It is actually the true story co-authored by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. See how a man hardened by years of living on the streets and a man once judgemental of the homeless are truly transformed by their faith.
14. Stuart Gulley/Academy President and Angela Stephenson/ Study Support/ ConroyThe Water is Wide/ Fictional superwriter turns to memoir in this piece as he remembers the time he spent as a teacher among underserved students on Daufuskee Island off Carolina's coast. A story of humor and pathos.
15. Hayley Simmons/English/ The Scarlet Pimpernel/Orczy/ This swashbuckler is a page turner! Set during the Reign of Terror at the beginning of the French Revolution, this tale by Baroness Orczy offers romance, adventure, suspense, and a plot twist that will make you gasp. It’s a quick summer read and a great introduction to historical literature.
16. Jeannie Hixon/Carlos Library/ The Book Thief/ by Zusak. Death is the narrator trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II. Death here is actually "compassionate, wry, darkly humorous, and as afraid of humans as they are of him." Death meets the book thief, Liesel, when he comes to take her little brother. Liesel is comforted by books even when she can't read. An original fantasy that will make you think about the power of words, friendship, and man's inhumanity to man.
17. Ronda Zents/ English/ Say You Are One of Them/Ackpan/ This work is a collection of short stories about Africa. "Each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays tribute to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the fact of the most agonizing circumstances." (from the book jacket itself).
18. Ron McCollum/Headmaster/A Thousand Splendid SunsIHosseini/Set against the background of 30 years of war and repression in Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the heart-rending story of two women, born a generation apart, whose lives become inextricably entwined in the struggle to survive and to preserve within themselves a measure of human dignity. Evoking tears rather than laughter, this novel is, nevertheless, a powerful tribute to the strength of the human spirit and the redeeming power of love.
19. Brent Hilpert / Science / Outliers / Malcolm Gladwell/ Why are most pro hockey players born in January? Would Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have been so successful if they were born 10 years later? Why are 10,000 hours of practice so essential to success? Learn these and many other fascinating stories of how and why people succeed in this book that has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 70 weeks.
20. Mark Carrington / Science / A Short History of Nearly Everything / Bill Bryson / Taking as his territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. This book takes you around the world, and through the history of the world, by visiting with the most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, paleontologists, physicists, astronomers, anthropologists, and mathematicians. I found this an easy read that offered answers to the most basic questions inquisitive minds (like mine) want to know. For example, how heavy is the earth, and more importantly how did we figure that out?
21. David Alvord/Science/The Hot Zone/Richard Preston/This book is an excellent thriller that discusses the many aspects of a viral disease outbreak and its implications in this new world where people can travel all over the world in a matter of hours. It also discusses the possible origins of HIV and some other interesting topics including how we were on the verge of a massive outbreak from the presence of a very deadly virus called Ebola in our own country in Reston, VA. It is written for the layperson, but it has the potential to turn the layperson into a well-informed, disease-hunting epidemiologist, or an obsessive reader at the least.
22. Jessica Echols/Science/The Monkey Wrench Gang/Edward Abbey/A fictional account of four "environmental warriors" liberating parts of Utah and Arizona from evil road-builders and miners. Abbey is often compared to Thoreau, and one of his mottoes was taken from Emerson: "resist much, obey little." While Abbey has much in common with the forefathers of environmental conservation, he certainly took it a few giant steps further. After reading this book, I read every other book that Abbey ever wrote. The Monkey Wrench Gang is being made into a movie that is set to come out in 2013.
23. Alexis Horder/ English/ Boy's Life by Robert McCammon / I read this book for the first time as a sophomore. I couldn't put it down! Set in the small fictional town of Zephyr, Alabama in 1964, it tells the tale of twelve-year-old Cory Mackenson. Cory is helping his father deliver milk one morning when they see a car plunge into the lake on the outskirts of town. The rescue reveals a corpse handcuffed to the steering wheel of the car. Corey's search for the killer turns this rite of passage novel into an exciting summer read!
24. Angela Stephenson/Study Supportand Stuart Gulley/ President/ The Water is Wide/Conroy/Pat Conroy was hired in 1970 to teach a group of poor black children on Daufuskie Island, and he decided to use some unconventional methods in the classroom. Hilalrious, opinionated, and frank. It is a fantastic book for anyone who enjoys Conroy’s storytelling, or just a great involving yarn in general.
25. Margaret Lee/English/Me Talk Pretty One Day/David Sedaris/ A collection of memoirs by American humorist David Sedaris. These essays, ranging in subject matter from growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina, to speaking French in Normandy, are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.
26. Emily Washburn/English/The Alchemist/Paulo Coelho/ In The Alchemist, an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago dreams one night of treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. So he sets out for Egypt to pursue that dream. Although Santiago struggles mightily during his journey, he realizes that "no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."
27. Kristin Namenye/Science/NEXT/Michael Crichton: This science fiction thriller will keep you on your toes while exploring public policy and bioethics concerning biotechnology. Crichton proposes several possible technologies and creatively explores their possible effects on science and society. The author follows several stories including theft of a person’s cells and an illegal inter-species mating. According to Crichton (author of Jurassic Park), “Everything in this book is fiction, except the parts that aren’t.”
28. Jennifer Green/English/The Help/Stockett/ A recent graduate returns home from college in 1962 only to find herself ostracized from the world in which she grew up: a suffocating world of southern superficiality. Seeking a meaningful life, Skeeter dares to challenge the bigotry of a community as she begins giving a voice to those whose voices had been stifled. Blending the unique stories of three women, Stockett explores the connections that transcend race, culture, and age. Simultaneously hilarious and sad, The Help is a fast-paced read that will keep you constantly engaged.(And it is not just for girls!!!). Enjoy.
29. Carolyn Haldeman/English/Caucasia/Senna/The 70’s in Boston are a radical time. The female narrator Birdie/Jessie tells the story of a family’s disintegration and a white mother’s attempt to hide from police by telling her multi-racial daughter to pretend to be Italian rather than African-American.
30. Jeanne Ann Ratliff/English/In Cold Blood/Capote/It is a bright, sunny Sunday morning in November, 1959. Unable to reach her friend Nancy Clutter by phone, Sue Kidd enters Nancy’s house—and discovers a quadruple homicide that continues to fascinate readers today. In a book that married serious literature with the true-crime genre, author Truman Capote explored the brutal crime that sparked the manhunt for the two killers—one an amoral psychopath but the other oddly sympathetic. In Cold Blood vividly brings to life all the players in this story—the murderers as well as their victims, the upstanding and admired Clutter family of small-town Holcomb, Kansas—and reminds us that evil in human form can enter anyone’s life suddenly and cruelly.
31. Linda Gravitt/English/Life of Pi/Martel/Son of a zookeeper who decides to relocate to America, Pi faces great dangers as he is shipwrecked in a small boat with only one companion, a most dangerous feline. This is an imaginative and thought-provoking novel. (moderator, Linda Gravitt, English Department)
32. Helen Shean/English/Shane/Schaefer/The archetypal wester with a mysterious hero coming to champion the cause of the small farmer in opposition to the rich cattleman. Think Clint Eastwood!
33. Jane Graham/English/ The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons/ Colquitt and Walter Kennedy are living the American dream in the suburbs of Atlanta until construction begins on the new home in the empty lot next to their home. What is wrong with the house next door, and why do such strange events happen to those who live there?
34. Bill Lineberry/Principal/Orwell, Animal Farm
    Written as the author became disillusioned with the Communist Party, the tale makes flaws within the socialist system clear through using animals and memorable slogans. This classic has humor and irony and allegory to reveal one man's view of the Russian Revolution. (moderator, Bill Lineberry, US Principal)
35. Sandra Slider/Publications/ Sams, Run with the Horsemen
    Sams, a former Fayetteville physician and Woodward parent, writes a witty and irreverent coming of age story for a boy in the years soon after the Depression in rural Georgia. (moderator, Sandra Slider, Publications)
36. Jennifer Gallegos/Foreign Language/White Oleander/Janet Fitch. After Astrid's mother is arrested for having murdered her boyfriend, Astrid comes of age in the US foster care system. Over the course novel she meets women from all walks of life in modern day Los Angeles. Astrid is hungry to find her herself and a family of her very own. This is a book that you will not be able to put down.
37. Tim Hamling/English/Outcasts United/Warren St. John. From School Library Journal--"St. John, a New York Times reporter, brought Clarkston, GA, to national attention in 2007 with a series of articles about the changes in the small Southern town brought about by an influx of refugees from all over the world. This book comes out of those articles. It gives more detail about the town and, most particularly, the three soccer teams composed of refugee boys (the Fugees) who were coached by Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman. The book is a sports story, a sociological study, a tale of global and local politics, and the story of a determined woman who became involved in the lives of her young charges. Keeping the boys in school and out of gangs, finding a place for them to practice, and helping their families survive in a new world all became part of her daily life."
38. Charles Bryant / History / Helter Skelter / Bugliosi. Charles Manson. The Beatles. Hippie Culture. Roman Polanski. And, oh yeah, murder! The #1 best selling true crime book of all time.
39. Scott Freed/ History/ All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror/ Kinzer. This is a real life spy story about the CIA mission that overthrew the government of Iran in 1953. It reads like a spy thriller with real life CIA agents, back room deals, oil companies running 3rd world countries, and a heavy dose of America's foreign policy realism. At 258 pages it serves as a short but brutal lesson on the origins of America's troubles in Iran and the Middle East at large.
40. Stacey Sandifer/ Math/ The Lost Symbol/ Dan Brown. A sequel to Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. Symbologist Robert Langdon is once again drawn into a mystery involving secret societies and murder centered around our Nation's capital.
41. Erica Pendleton/ Counseling/ Snow Flower and the Secret Fan/ Lisa Lee. A story of two friends, Lily and her laotong, "old same" Snow Flower, in nineteenth century China. "The novel is really the story of their friendship, its depths, its deceits, its strengths--and it is a fascinating read about a society so different from our own."
42. Fritz Hutchinson/History/An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power/Gordon/How did the United States become the economic colossus of the 20th and 21st centuries? According to The New York Times, John Steele Gordon's An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power is "fascinating, colorful . . . and entertaining." With numerous anecdotes and stories, Gordon's prose comes alive. It is highly readable and enlightening. If you choose this book, you will not be disappointed.
43. Vicki Greenberg/Math/How to Lie with Statistics/Darrell Huff. How can you lie with statistics? Actually, the purpose of this book is NOT to teach you how to lie and cheat with statistics. Rather, I hope you will learn how it is possible to be misled and how to spot "statistical abuse." You can find poor use of statistics everywhere... magazines, newspapers, polls, TV, even research papers. This book, written in 1954, presents an introduction to statistics for the general reader. It is a brief, breezy, illustrated volume outlining common errors, both intentional and unintentional, associated with the interpretation of statistics, and how these errors can lead to inaccurate conclusions. It has become one of the most widely read statistics books in history (even though Huff was not a statistician), with over one and a half million copies sold in the English-language edition.
44. Ethan Greenberg/Science / The Control of Nature / John McPhee / "The Control of Nature is John McPhee's bestselling account of places in the world where people have been engaged in all-out battles with nature. In Louisiana, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has declared war on the lower Mississippi River, which threatens to follow a new route to the sea and cut off New Orleans and Baton Rouge from the rest of the United States. Icelanders confront flowing red lava in an attempt to save a crucial harbor. In Los Angeles, basins are built to catch devastating debris flows from the San Gabriel Mountains.Taking us deep into these contested territories, McPhee details the strategies and tactics through which people attempt to control nature. Most striking is his depiction of the main contestants: nature in complex and awesome guises, and those attempting to wrest control from her stubborn, sometimes foolhardy, more often ingenious, and always arresting characters." http://www.johnmcphee.com/controlofnature.htm
45. Paula Nettles/Science / Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis / Lisa Sanders, M.D./ This book, which was recently on the NYT Best Seller List, is "a riveting exploration of the most difficult and important part of what doctors do", by Yale School of Medicine physician, Dr. Lisa Sanders, who is also the author of the monthly NYT Magazine column "Diagnosis," the inspiriation for the Fox TV series House, M.D." Lisa also serves as a technical adviser to the TV series. She has been described as "a paragon of the modern medical detective storyteller. The tales crackle with suspense. But what sets her apart is her Holmes-like eye for clues --and her un-Holmes-like compassion for those who suffer."
46. Kingsolver, The Bean Trees Crossing the country with no particular goal, Taylor has changed her name and her focus by novel's end. She adopts a Cherokee child abandoned to her care and gathers a new type of family in her home in Arizona. (moderator, Jenifer Baro, English Department)
47. Jane Webster / Spanish / Caramelo / Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street author's fictionalized memoir of a Mexican-American family's struggle to adapt to two cultures. “It’s a crazy, funny and remarkable folk-saga of Mexican migrants told by a curious little girl who has the wisdom of an old grandma. Beginning on Highway 66, it’s a salsified variant on the Joad family's odyssey, zigzagging from Chicago to Mexico City and back. It’s all about la vida, the life of ‘honorable labor.’ It’s a beautiful tale of all migrants caught between here and there.” —Studs Terkel, author of Will the Circle be Unbroken. Fluency in Spanish is not required to enjoy this funny, revealing glimpse into the immigrant experience.
48. Card, Ender's Game
    Ender Wiggin is outrageously talented in his video game where he kills aliens and saves the earth. But it that all he is doing during these hours, these days of play? Or have the future planners of the world found themselves a savior against the forces of evil in the galaxy? Find these answers within the book as well as the struggles within Ender
    as his soul starts to change. (moderator, Carri Carver, Math Department)
49. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights Friday
    Before the movie or the hit TV show, H.G. Bissinger’s 1990 award-winning non-fiction book told it all … racism, socio-economic disparity, misplaced priorities, and football. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream is the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team from Odessa, TX as they made a run towards the Texas state championship. In this small West Texas town, everything revolves around football. Bissinger beautifully illustrates how the football team represents, for better or worse, the hopes, dreams, and frightening realities of an entire community. (moderated by Chris Freer, Vice President of Student Life)
50. Marianne Lescene/Math/Standing Next to History: An Agent's Life Inside the Secret Service / Joseph Petro and Jeffrey Robinson/The book is a fast read and a fascinating read: Petro tells of his life as a secret service agent during the Reagan years. The logistics of his job and his survey of the man make a great non-fiction work.
51. De Rosnay, Sarah's Key
    Secrets from the Jewish deportation from Paris surface years later, secrets which can change a marriage, a person, a future. As the protagonist searches for the truth about Sarah, she learns even more about herself and her life. (moderator, Sherry Boynton, Counseling Office)
52. Lorri Hewett/English/Kindred/Octavia Butler. This unusual novel by America's most prominent African American science fiction author imagines a woman from modern times inexplicably pulled back in time to the pre-Civil War South. Any time a young white man, who grows up to inherit his family's slave-holding plantation and who is also the narrator's own ancestor, faces great danger in his life, the narrator is pulled back in time to save him. She spends longer and longer periods back in this time, learning how to survive, and realizing how truly complex human relationships can be.
53. Peter Morgan/College Counseling/I Am One of You Forever/ Fred Chappell. "Wonderfully funny and also deeply touching, I Am One of You Forever is the story of a young boy's coming of age. Set in the hills and hollows of western North Carolina in the years around World War II, it tells of ten-year-old Jess and his family—father, mother, grandmother, foster brother, and an odd assortment of other relatives—who usher Jess into the adult world, with all its attendant joys and sorrows, knowledge and mystery." Description taken from http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/bookPages/9780807114100.html.
54. Peggy McNash/English/The Dragonbone Chair/Williams/ Book 1 of a fantasy triology by a famed young adult author, The Dragonbone Chair tells the story of a young kitchen worker who becomes apprenticed to a magician during a time of civil unrest in his kingdom. Read of Simon's growth along the heroic path, of treacherous men and women he meets, and, as in all fantasies, enter a new world where new creatures abound and anything is possible.
55. Erica Pendleton/Counseling/ Junger/The Perfect Storm An exciting and suspenseful read! The story of six fishermen who are up against terrible odds when their boat is caught in a “perfect storm” of 120 mile an hour winds and ten story tall waves. The story of the Andrea Gail and her crew will definitely keep your interest!
56. Walls, The Glass Castle
    Jeannette Walls' memoir is a poignant story of a dysfunctional family whose parents' downward spiral does not keep their children from finding success. Set in the western desert and the hills of West Virginia, the memoir has a memorable theme (of overcoming and empowerment) that is not soon forgotten. (moderator Bob Hawks, Vice President Advancement; or Missy Sanchez, College Counseling)
57. Stein,The Art of Racing in the Rain
    This book, a New York Times best seller, is told from the perspective of Enzo, a dog whose owner is a struggling race car driver that suffers through several personal and professional tribulations. The dog’s philosophy toward life and how it should be lived is complex, insightful, and leaves an unforgettable impression upon the reader. (moderator, Jonathan Lee, English Department)
58. Hewett, Lives of Our Own
    High school juniors Kari Lang and Shawna Riley find themselves on opposite sides of a controversy that erupts at their school over a long-held tradition: the Old South Ball. Following her parents' divorce, Shawna has recently moved with her father to his home town in north Georgia, while Kari has lived in Dessina all her life. They accidently discover a secret from their parents' past, something that could bind the girls' lives together forever. In the group discussion, Ms Hewett will share how this novel progressed from an idea to a finished book, as well as the process of developing characters and letting the characters tell their own story.
59. he Perfect Storm Sebastian Junger
    An exciting and suspenseful read! The story of six fishermen who are up against terrible odds when their boat is caught in a “perfect storm” of 120 mile an hour winds and ten story tall waves. The story of the Andrea Gail and her crew will definitely keep your interest! Moderator, Erica Pendleeont,