Back to Blog

Hey High Schoolers!

Congrats on making it through another year of school… and what a year of school it was!  We are SO proud of all the hard work that you have put into shifting from traditional school to a digital classroom. And we want you to know that we are here to support you in your academic journey!  

With summer fast approaching (and no homework or school to worry about), it’s the perfect time to relax and crack open a good book or a few (who’s counting?🤷).  We love beach reads as much as the next person, but they can be more about style than substance. Summer is a great time to read those books that make you think deeply, with compelling stories and unforgettable characters, and have time to reflect on what you’ve read.

Check out the CCPS High Schools’ Summer 2020 Reading List and get some ideas… and maybe a head start on the 2020-2021 school year. 

And yes, yes… we know that this might seem like a shameless plug for the high schools.  But we know the value of reading throughout the summer to prevent that dreaded “summer slump” and if that gets you ready for next year, that’s a win in our books! (Just a little library humor there 😁)

Below you will find links to every book we have available in our digital collections that are on the high school lists, along with a copy of the CCPS High Schools’ Summer Reading List pdf for reference (or if the dog eats it!) 

We have so many online resource offerings, we just know you will find something that you’ll love!Need a library card? Please visit Get a Library Card to sign up for one today!

PDF Document

CHARLES COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER READING LISTS 2020-2021 

The Charles County Honors/AP/Dual Enrollment English program requires students to complete summer reading to prepare them for the upcoming school year and to give teachers a common ground with which to begin instruction.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey 

Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 1)
Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 2)
Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 3)
Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 4)
Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 5)
Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 6)
Audiobook Available on Hoopla (Habit 7)

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Fever 1793 by Laurie H. Anderson 

Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff 

Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson 

Ebook Available on Overdrive 

Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson 

Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Slam by Walter Dean Myers 

Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 

Audiolibro Disponible en Overdrive 

Ebook Available on Overdrive 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins  

Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Audibook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive (Trilogy)
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd* 

Ebook Available on Overdrive 

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Audiobook Available on Overdrive 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Audiobooks Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas 

Ebook Available in RBdigital

Monster by Walter Dean Myers 

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie* 

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper 

Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 

Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive (Trilogy)
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

Game by Walter Dean Myers 

Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference by Warren St. John

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt 

Ebook Available on RBdigital

Street Love by Walter Dean Myers 

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis  

Audiobook Available on Overdrive

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown 

Audiobooks Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

The Distance Between Us: A Memoir by Reyna Grande 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive (Trilogy)
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller 

Ebook Available on RBdigital

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver 

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Ebook Available on Overdrive 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

Native Son by Richard Wright 

Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobooks Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobooks Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive 

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive 

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini* 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

The Stranger by Albert Camus 

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Audiolibro Disponible en Hoopla

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham 

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive

AP Summer Reading Lists 

Henry E. Lackey High School

La Plata High School

Maurice J. McDonough High School

1. How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Revised Edition – copyright 2014) by Thomas C. Foster

2. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobooks Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

1. 1984 by George Orwell

Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

2. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman 

Audiobook Available on Hoopla

North Point High School

1. 1984 by George Orwell

Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

2. AND choose one from the required list below: 

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital
Ebook Available on RBdigital

Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Ebook Available on Hoopla
Ebook Available on Overdrive

1. Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell

Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive 

2. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

St. Charles High School

1. How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Revised Edition – copyright 2014) by Thomas C. Foster

2. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Ebooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobooks Available on Hoopla
Audiobooks Available on Overdrive
Ebooks Available on Overdrive
Audiobook Available on RBdigital

1. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Ebook Available on Overdrive 

2. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

Audiobook Available on Overdrive

Thomas Stone High School

1. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

Audiobook Available on Hoopla
Ebooks Available on Hoopla

2. Fences by August Wilson

Ebook Available on RBdigital

1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Audiobook Available on Overdrive
Ebook Available on Overdrive 

2. Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation by Jonathan Kozol

Ebook Available on RBdigital

Westlake High School

* This work has been approved by the CCPS Review Committee for its literary merit and its appropriate alignment with theme and course objectives. It may include, within its historical and/or cultural context, material or language such as violence, profanity, or sexual content that is intended for the mature reader. CCPS honors requests for alternative titles.