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Mary G
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I've been asked to create "a very Catholic summer reading list by grade level for students in high school English Literature"
Suggestions please....
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MaryG
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momwise
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I have to go try and find my Book Club list Mary. There are 6 yrs. of fabulous suggestions there....
Story of a Soul for 9th gr.
Death Comes for the Archbishop and Shadows on the Rock (might not be the exact title) by Cather (10th or 11th?)
Fr. Brown!
Check out Kolbe or Laura Berquist for suggestions too.
What a dream job!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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CKwasniewski
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Mary,
I'd definitely include some Shakespeare (all grades). Even if its just one play or a couple of sonnets.
John Donne and George Herbert's sacred Sonnets too... if you're including poetry.
Also, the books listed by CHC with study guides from Guadalupe press, including the Betrothed, The Ballad of the White Horse and Murder in the Cathedral are very good options.
Waugh's bio of Edmund Campion.
Sigrid Undset's bio of Catherine of Siena. Available used or through library.
Anything and everything by Robert Hugh Benson, including Come Rack, Come Rope, The King's Achievment, and By What Authority? (10th and up)
These are his books on the Reformation in England, but all of his other ones are great too!
Be sure you get the un-edited versions, which are in print again (Amazon has them). Unfortunatey, the Neumann ones are edited.
God bless,
CK
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guitarnan
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We used Hillside Curriculum's guide for Shakespeare's Julius Caesar...it was great!
I picked Julius Caesar for our first Shakespeare experience because ds knows the historical background and because there are few (for Shakespeare) scatological references, innuendoes, etc. Just a plain old assassination. 
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Mary G
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I just finished a blog post about some great references/resources I found when researching Catholic literature for the reading list. One resource in particular, Encyclopedia of Catholic Literature is a great (but expensive) resource for anyone interested. The editor does a great job of giving background information and synthesizing the works mentioned. The funny thing, I got this thru ILL from CU-Boulder (one of the most liberal places in the country! I was so surprised they were the closest library that had both volumes!)
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nicole marie
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As a former homeschooler (now out of college for a few years and a stay at home mommy), I thought I might throw out a few suggestions. In the summer of my junior year my Mom had me reading G.K. Chesterton and I fell in love with him! His writing is so bold and truly helps to fan that flame of passion for the Church and her teachings. His style is wonderful and I think it helps to teach a highschool student the incredible weight of words. His writing challenges a student's imaginiation, because only by using your vivid imagination will you be able to follow and understand what Chesterton is trying to show you. My personal favorites are: The Man Who Was Thursday, Manalive, The Napoleaon of Notting Hill, and The Ball and the Cross.
A few of my other summer favorites were: anything Shakespeare, Song at the Scaffold, A Man for All Seasons, Come Rack Come Rope, Tyborne.
I am sorry this is so long. Reading is something that I love and when I saw this thread, I really wanted to share. I loved the reading my Mom gave to me in the summers. I so enjoyed sitting outside with my lemonade and maybe some cookies and reading away the afternoon. I hope my children can be inspired to love reading in the same way.
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Mary G
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Nicole,
Your post wasn't long -- it was wonderful! Thanks for sharing your "first hand" experience. I think summer reading should be for things like Chesterton -- when you can savor every phrase and thought -- with no worries about a quiz at the end of each chapter. If I were in charge of the list I would just have the kids read and enjoy ... but I'm tending toward unschooling as I age 
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momwise
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Thank you! This is the title I've been trying to think of for the last 3 days. I was going to come back here and post "that book about the nuns at Compiegne," but as you can see I may not even know how to spell it!
I also recommend the John Farrow biography Damien the Leper (for seniors; there's a little innuendo about what goes on among the lepers who don't accept Christ), and maybe some other modern books that might not be in those excellent anthologies.....like:
The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai. You wouldn't know it from this editorial review snippet:
"As he lay dying of leukemia, Dr. Nagai wrote The Bells of Nagasaki, vividly recounting what he had seen with his own eyes and heard from his associates. It is a deeply moving and human story. He tells how it dawned on him that this awful havoc was indeed the work of an atomic bomb, how he speculated about the American scientists who had put it together, how he picked up a leaflet dropped by American planes warning the Japanese to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, how he and his companions shed tears over the defeat of their country. " but Nagai was a devout Catholic with a unique perspective about the suffering of the Japanese. This is on my dd's reading list as well. I might be back with more
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Cay Gibson
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Mary,
When I was a teenager the book "I Heard the Owl Call my Name" moved me deeply.
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Maryan
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Not sure if they qualify as literature, but definitely Catholic: Louis de Wohl books?
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Maryan
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guitarnan
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I'm reading A Man for All Seasons and trying to figure out exactly how a playwright in 1960, admittedly barely even religious, was inspied to write this play. The foreword he wrote was fascinating, all about individual integrity and how he tried to use the image of water in the play (river, sea, etc.) to symbolize that part of man's experience that's beyond his control. Hmmm.
I think it's really amazing that the playwright, Bolt, who wasn't religious, seized upon St. Thomas More as a hero who was true to that core of "self" that no one could take from him.
Just one more reason to be thankful for the really catholic aspect of the Catholic Church. Our heroes and heroines cross time and space with their deeds, prayers and examples. Even a non-believer would be tempted to label Mother Teresa a saint.
I'm digressing, for sure...but not too much.
One other thought...if your high schoolers have never read anything about the WWII internment camps (e. g. Farewell to Manzanar), now might be a good time. We don't, as Americans, have the racism market cornered, by any means, but we do bear a burden for the injustices we've imposed.
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nicole-amdg
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I always tell people to read Jane Eyre. I read it first when I was in the 11th or 12th grade. I'm always struck by how Jane holds out against her heart's desire and passions to maintain her integrity, but it's a temptation couched as a religious duty that almost gets her to enter a situation that is not her true vocation. I sometimes wonder whether that's not the greater danger for teens who are raised to be faithful...
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Leonie
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Rumer Godden's 'An Episode of Sparrows' was a book I read in tenth grade and it had a lasting impression on me. I wasn't even Catholic then but the child character's experiences with the statue of Our Lady were deeply moving for me.
It'd have to be on any summer reading list that I would compile - easy reading, too!
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momwise
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guitarnan wrote:
I think it's really amazing that the playwright, Bolt, who wasn't religious, seized upon St. Thomas More as a hero who was true to that core of "self" that no one could take from him. |
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It is amazing. Although I haven't read this play, Sigrid Undset's writings (before her conversion) about Catholic culture, the soul, the effects of sin, etc. were really remarkable. I was going to add Kristin Lavransdatter to this list but it would have to be senior year or maybe wait for college. THe Tinna Nunnely (sp?) translation is by far the best!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
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jugglingpaynes
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We were working on 20th century history this year and I had my 14 yo dd read The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Trapp. It gives a unique perspective of Austrian life on the verge of invasion, WWII and American immigration.
Peace and Laughter,
Cristina
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Kelly
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I'd definitely second "Death Comes for the Archbishop" and "Shadows on the Rock" by Cather. Great books.
I read Rumer Godden's "In This House of Brede" when I was 15 and was deeply moved by it. Also on the subject of nun stories, I'd include Mother Mary Frances' book, "The Right to Be Merry"...I loved this book and it is well-written. And the Maria von Trapp book mentioned above, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" is another one I'd second, for sure.
Sobering, but a worthy Catholic read would be "Left to Tell" by Immaculee....can't remember her last name . Anyway, it's a story similar to Cory Ten Boom's "The Hiding Place", but set in Rwanda in the 90's. Both my teens were impressed by this work of non-fiction, and the author's faith permeates her writing. Another fabulous Catholic book about Africa is "The White Fathers" by Glenn Kittler, also very interesting and inspiring.
If they're not already on your list (but it probably is), I'd be sure to include Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Kelly in FL
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: High School Lit
