Summer 2014
Belmont High School English Department
The following list was complied from the recommendations of the Belmont High School English department and contains some of the best-known works of
American literature. Each book addresses the American Dream and/or American identities. All entering 11th graders must read at least one book from the list below over the summer. Students entering English 11 Honors must read at least one contemporary AND one classic work from the list. The American Literature
Summer Reading page on your Edline account provides summaries of the works listed below; it will be available until July 15th. We encourage all students to preview a book before making a choice in order to determine that the writing style and narrative voice will be a good fit. Please consult your 10th grade teacher if you need help finding a book that is a good match for you.
Author
Book
Joan Didion
Joan Didion
W.E.B. Du Bois
Booker T. Washington
The White Album: Essays
Slouching Toward Bethlehem: Essays
The Souls of Black Folk
Up from Slavery
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American
Dream
The Dharma Bums
On the Road
Hunter S. Thompson
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Malcolm X and Alex
Haley
Tom Wolfe
Alex Haley
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Bernard Malamud
E.L. Doctorow
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Herman Melville
James Baldwin
James Weldon Johnson
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Roots
The Fountainhead
Atlas Shrugged
The Natural
Ragtime
The Age of Innocence
The House of Mirth
Tender is the Night
This Side of Paradise
Moby-Dick
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Genre
Essays
Essays
Essays
Memoir
Era
Classic
Classic
Classic
Classic
Memoir
Memoir
Memoir
Classic
Classic
Classic
Memoir
Memoir
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Novel
Classic
Classic
Classic
Classic
Classic