Summer Read 2010

Bishop Fenwick High School believes in engaging all of its students and faculty in reading. Our goal is to encourage reading for pleasure because students who read succeed!  We are asking our students to read two books this summer.

The FIRST BOOK is required reading for both students and faculty. This year’s choice is Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco Stork. We are very excited that Mr. Stork has agreed to come and speak at Fenwick this fall.  The following is a starred review of the book from Publishers Weekly.

Marcelo Sandoval is a 17-year-old with an Asperger's-like condition. He is forced to exit his comfort zone when his high-powered father steers him to work in his law firm's mailroom (in return, Marcelo can decide whether to stay in special-ed., as he prefers, or be mainstreamed for his senior year.) Marcelo manifests his anomalies: he harbors an obsession with religion (he regularly meets with a plainspoken female rabbi, though he's not Jewish); hears internal music; and sleeps in a tree house. Stork introduces ethical dilemmas, the possibility of love, and other real world conflicts, all the while preserving the integrity of his characterizations and intensifying the novel's psychological and emotional stakes. 

We think you will enjoy seeing life through an entirely different perspective.

Students will read this FIRST BOOK and then they will take a quiz the first ½ day back to school in September.

Students are also required to read a SECOND BOOK from their grade list. Your English teachers will assess this book the first quarter and apply this grade to English.