Required Summer Reading
Over the summer, all students are asked to read two books to support community connections and encourage a love of reading for pleasure. The first book for our Summer Reading Book Group must be selected from the following 20 titles chosen from our Summer Reading Committee composed of interested students, our Director of Library Nancy Florio, and English Teacher Mollie Kervick. At the start of the school year, each student will join a student-led discussion group based on their book choice. The second book is a free-choice book for independent reading. We will send information before the end of school for returning students and early summer for new students on a number of interactive ways to keep track of both of your books as you read and upon completion.
To get started, first fill out the form linked in the 2025 Summer Reading guide, or use this link to submit the Book Discussion Group title you want. Once you submit the form, we’ll send information on some fun, interactive ways to keep track of both of your books giving you a choice on how you will demonstrate your reading of and engagement with your book. This work is to be submitted prior to the start of school in the fall.
If you're looking for suggestions for your independent reading book, check out the Book Menu and Genre pages on the guide. You'll find a variety of activities to choose from listed in our 2025 Summer Reading guide.
● While you're reading, choose one activity from the “While you’re reading” list on the Book Activities page.
● Once you've finished your book, choose one activity from the “When you’re finished” list on the Book Activities page.
● Be prepared to take part in a discussion group with others who have read the same book.
Please share the link to your finished activities with the Summer Reading Committee later in the summer. If you have created artwork or kept a journal, please bring it in at the start of school.
For more information on the books listed below, please visit our 2025 Summer Reading guide.
● A Thousand Splendid Suns (Adult & YA / Contemporary Fiction)
● Black Boy, White School (Adult & YA / Contemporary Fiction)
● Jane Eyre (Classic)
● The Metamorphosis (Classic)
● Handmaid's Tale (Fantasy / Dystopian)
● Hunger Games (Fantasy / Dystopian)
● Skip (Graphic Novel)
● Your Letter (Graphic Novel)
● The Bluest Eye (Historical Fiction)
‘● The Things We Cannot Say (Historical Fiction)
● I Must Betray You (Historical Fiction)
‘● No One Gets to Fall Apart (Memoir)
● Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed (Memoir / True Story)
● We Were Liars (Mystery / Thriller)
● A Family of Liars (Mystery / Thriller)
● A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Mystery / Thriller)
● The Sun is Also a Star (Romance / YA)
● It Ends with Us (Romance / Adult - recommended for upper grades)
● This Dog Will Change Your Life (Non-Fiction)
● Think Again (Self-Help)
Be Boldly You
Westover School admits students of any race, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, or disability to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. As a gender-diverse girls school, Westover welcomes applicants and students who are assigned female at birth and/or identify as girls. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions and financial aid policies, and athletic or other school-administered programs.