Ethel Walker SchoolWalker’s encourages you to read as much as possible this summer — get lost in a book, meet inspiring characters, marvel in the wonders of language, find solace in a story, and find new ways to look at the world.
In addition to one of the all-school read texts, students will choose two additional books from the lists below. They represent a wide range of content and genres and we urge you to try something new and challenging. As always, consult with a trusted adult if you are unsure about a particular text. Returning students may also choose to read a text that was distributed to them by an English teacher, but that they were not able to read during the course of the school year.
If you are unsure which English class you may be taking, please note that academic schedules and placements are forthcoming, and will be confirmed shortly after completing your academic placement tests. Please feel free to email English Department Chair Megan Mulhern with any questions at mmulhern@ethelwalker.org.
All summer reading books may be purchased through our Online Bookstore or from your preferred vendor. Textbooks and other books required for the school year will be listed on and available for purchase on August 8.
For Summer 2022, the all-school theme is “Forging the Way.” In addition to the required and additional texts for each grade level, students in grades 6-12 will choose one of the following 10 books that highlights girls or women who have been pathfinders and have forged the way for others. These reads will be followed up by discussion groups during orientation in the fall, and is expected of the entire Walker’s community. Please consider the theme of “forging the way” as you read one of these inspiring texts:
Books may be purchased through our Online Bookstore or from your preferred vendor.
Required Read: A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park (Fiction)
Choose Two:
Required Read: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds (Non-Fiction)
Choose Two:
Required Read: Brown Girl Dreaming, Jaqueline Woodson (Novel in Verse)
Choose Two:
Required Read: Tomboy, Liz Prince (Graphic Memoir)
Choose Two:
Required Read: Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Historical Fiction)
Choose Two:
Required Read: Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (Historical Fiction)
Required Read for Advanced English: My Ántonia, Willa Cather (Historical Fiction)
Choose Two:
Required Read: Know My Name, Chanel Miller (Memoir)
Required Read for Advanced English: Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (Fiction)
Choose Two:
