Mallard Creek High School
Mallard Creek High School
AP English Literature and Composition
Summer Reading Opportunities – Summer 2026
Mrs. Vanessa M. Halling
E-mail address: v.halling@cms.k12.nc.us
Congratulations, Mavericks, on your decision to enroll in Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition. You will be expected to do a great deal of reading and writing in AP English, and this collection of summer reading assignments is tailored to prepare you for this rigorous college-level course. These assignments have been designed to introduce college-level interpretive strategies we will develop during the coming school year in a manner that emphasizes depth and breadth.
The following texts are presented to you as an opportunity to expose yourself to the diversity, complexity, and rigor that a college-level English course provides. Mallard Creek High School, like many CMS schools, has chosen to present AP summer reading as an optional assignment that will not impact students’ grades as they begin school in August. However, I hope you will view the following as an opportunity to read meaningful literature that will undoubtedly benefit you on your AP exam in May 2027.
While this assignment is presented now as optional, please note that all AP students will complete a novel project during the first quarter. The novel you choose to read over the summer may be the text you choose for your first project. Again, I encourage you to read now.
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I. Choose one of the following texts to read in its entirety.
§ Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
§ Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (or any work by this author)
§ Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
§ Kindred – Octavia E. Butler
§ All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
§ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter - Kim Edwards
§ Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
§ A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
§ Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
§ Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
§ Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
§ Theo of Golden - Allen Levi
§ Behold the Dreamers – Imbolo Mbue
§ All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
§ Atonement – Ian McEwan
§ Song of Soloman - Toni Morrison
§ Sula - Toni Morrison
§ I’ll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
§ Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng
§ There There - Tommy Orange
§ 1984 – George Orwell
§ God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
§ Ceremony - Leslie Marmon Silko
§ Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
§ The Bonesetter’s Daughter – Amy Tan
§ The Goldfinch - Donna Tart
§ Big Fish - Daniel Wallace
§ Salvage the Bones – Jesmyn Ward
§ Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward
§ The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
§ American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson
§ The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – David Wroblewski
This list is not complete; it is suggested. Any title from an online college-level suggested reading list is acceptable. If you are not sure, just email me.
While you are encouraged to purchase copies to make personal notes and annotations, you are welcome to check out hard or digital copies from the library. Before selecting the novel you will read, check out book descriptions and summaries on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as free book reviews from the New York Times archive. College-level literature may contain mature content. Many of these texts appear year after year as suggested titles for the open-ended essay question on our course’s AP exam.
So what makes for a good novel to read on your own? Great question. What do you love to read? Start there, but know that the reading I will ask of you in this course is intentionally chosen to academically challenge you. If you have questions about your choice or need some advice in choosing a text, I will be more than happy to offer advice. You may contact me via email at any time!
II. As you read, I encourage you to annotate the text with sticky notes or any method you prefer. After reading, complete the following questions in a Google Doc.
Again, this can count as your first quarter novel project assignment, and you can earn credit for it by submitting THIS work within the first two weeks of school. If you choose NOT to complete this summer reading opportunity assignment, you will be asked to complete a slightly different project later during the first quarter.
In essence, you will save time later by taking the time to read now.
Complete the following questions in a Google Doc. Please note that all responses will be scanned for plagiarism and AI. Any work that results in plagiarism will receive no credit. Any work that scans at 50% or higher AI-generated will receive no credit.
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1. What is the setting and context of the story? How are the main characters affected by this setting and their situation? Complete this response in one thorough paragraph. Be specific.
2. Consider the main characters’ roles as protagonists or antagonists. Many great novels present readers with complex characters who show characteristics of both. Explain in one to two paragraphs how you feel the main character is “complex.” Be sure to cite the text at least once in this response.
3. Conflicts are rarely simple in great works of literature. Consider the different conflicts within your novel and the degree to which they are ultimately resolved. Describe one main conflict in the story and in one to two paragraphs, explain what this conflict contributes to the story (suspense, theme, etc.). Be sure to cite the text at least once in your response.
4. As a senior, you have been taught many literary devices. Which device or devices seem to drive this novel? Cite three examples of literary devices you notice in this novel and explain what they add to the book in general.
5. All roads lead to themes in AP Lit and Comp. No matter how the third essay prompt on your AP exam is phrased, the last part of the prompt will include the theme. What do you feel is the author’s message in this text? Explain your answer in one thorough paragraph.