2015 WBHS Summer Reading

Students in grades 9 and 10 will read:

“I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban”   by Malala Yousafzai

Or

“I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World”  (Young Readers Edition)  by Malala Yousafzai    (Critics state this edition is more in the voice of Malala)

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

Students in grades 11 and 12 will read:

The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can create Extraordinary Change by Adam Braun                                                   

Adam Braun began working summers at hedge funds when he was just sixteen years old, sprinting down the path to a successful Wall Street career. But while traveling he met a young boy begging on the streets of India, who after being asked what he wanted most in the world, simply answered, “a pencil.” This small request led to a staggering series of events that took Braun backpacking through dozens of countries before eventually leaving one of the world’s most prestigious jobs to found Pencils of Promise, the organization he started with just $25 that has since built more than 200 schools around the world.

The Promise of a Pencil chronicles Braun’s journey to find his calling, as each chapter explains one clear step that every person can take to turn your biggest ambitions into reality, even if you start with as little as $25.