AP Euro Summer Extra Credit Opportunity
Overview of POSSIBLE SUMMER READING and EXTRA CREDIT:
One of the best ways to get excited about European history is to read a book about it. These books are not required but they can help you prepare and get excited for the history we will be studying throughout the year. Pick one that most interests you and enjoy it as you relax this summer.
As a bonus, you can get extra credit for printing off and completing this Double-Entry Journal for one of the novels listed below. If you will return this journal to me by Monday, August 31 you will be awarded extra credit based on what you have accomplished.
I know that this is your summer vacation, so do not force yourself to suffer through a hard or tedious read. There are many enjoyable books on this list, both fiction and non-fiction, and even some that may be characterized as “popcorn” or “beach” reads, but will still provide you with valuable information. That said, it might be easier to get through some of the longer texts in the summer than during the school year
Note: Many of these books are college-level and some may deal with adult content. Please be sure to clear all readings with your parents beforehand. If you find a book on a topic in early European history (approx. 1400-1600 AD) that is not on the list below, email me to see if it would be acceptable for credit.
One of the best ways to get excited about European history is to read a book about it. These books are not required but they can help you prepare and get excited for the history we will be studying throughout the year. Pick one that most interests you and enjoy it as you relax this summer.
As a bonus, you can get extra credit for printing off and completing this Double-Entry Journal for one of the novels listed below. If you will return this journal to me by Monday, August 31 you will be awarded extra credit based on what you have accomplished.
I know that this is your summer vacation, so do not force yourself to suffer through a hard or tedious read. There are many enjoyable books on this list, both fiction and non-fiction, and even some that may be characterized as “popcorn” or “beach” reads, but will still provide you with valuable information. That said, it might be easier to get through some of the longer texts in the summer than during the school year
Note: Many of these books are college-level and some may deal with adult content. Please be sure to clear all readings with your parents beforehand. If you find a book on a topic in early European history (approx. 1400-1600 AD) that is not on the list below, email me to see if it would be acceptable for credit.
- Mrs. Odd, Ridgeline’s librarian, has created a list of possible books that are available in the library as well (https://sites.google.com/a/ccsdut.org/ridgelinelibrary/). If you would like to check out a book from the library during the summer, you can email her to set up a time to pick one up ([email protected]). The lists can also be found on my webpage (https://mrslofland.weebly.com/ap-euro-projects.html).
- Standage Tom. A History of the World in Six Glasses. The book explores the significant role that six beverages have played in the world's history. Focus on the chapters about spirits, coffee, and tea, since they relate to our class; however, the whole book is fascinating!
- Tey, Josephine. Daughter of Time. Mystery novel about Richard III and the deaths of his two nephews. An excellent look at how history is written. The first chapter is slow, but if you give it a chance you will enjoy this novel!
- Gregory, Philippa. Changeling. A historical fantasy set in fifteenth-century Italy about a young man cast out of his religious order but recruited into a secret sect that investigates uncanny events, and the young nun accused of witchcraft he is sent to investigate; #1 in the Order of Darkness series.
- Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning―but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
- Konigsburg, E. L. A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. Eleanor of Aquitaine has every reason to be upset. For centuries she's been patiently waiting for her husband, King Henry II, to meet her in Heaven. Luckily, she's sharing a cloud with some old friends who knew her when she and Henry ruled supreme. As long as they're together, they might as well gossip about old times--and soon all of Eleanor's adventures in the Middle Ages spring to life again.
- King, Ross. Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. A novel about Filippo Brunelleschi a narrative about the twenty-eight-year-long construction of the dome over the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy.
- Willis, Connie. Doomsday Book. A time travel story, about a history student in 2048 who is transported to an English village in the 14th century. The student arrives mistakenly on the eve of the onset of the Black Plague. Her dealings with a family of "contemps" in 1348 and with her historian cohorts lead to complications as the book unfolds into a surprisingly dark, deep conclusion. My past students have really enjoyed this book.
- Jones, Dan. Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Plantagenets, a lively, action-packed history of how the Magna Carta came to be—by the author of Crusaders. The Magna Carta is revered around the world as the founding document of Western liberty. Its principles—even its language—can be found in our Bill of Rights and in the Constitution. But what was this strange document and how did it gain such legendary status? (available on Audible)
- Sobel, Dava. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward.
- King, Ross. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling. In 1508, despite strong advice to the contrary, the powerful Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the newly restored Sistine Chapel. With little experience as a painter (though famed for his sculpture David), Michelangelo was reluctant to begin the massive project.
- Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. A novel about the life of Luther using the historical events which led up to the reformation and events that helped to shape Luther's thinking during and following the Reformation.
- Heuston, Kimberley Burton. Dante's Daughter. The setting is early fourteenth-century Italy and France, and the narrator is Antonia Alighieri, the daughter of the great writer Dante.
- Maalouf, Amin. Leo Africanus. Adventures of real-life Hassan al-Wazzan from his birth in Spain, to North Africa, Timbuktu, Cairo and finally to Rome of Pope Leo X.
- Beaufrand, Mary Jane. Primavera. A novel about the last daughter of a family competing for power with the Medici family in Renaissance Florence
- Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. Homer called salt a divine substance. Today, we take it for granted. Without it, we would not be alive. Drilling for salt led to drilling for oil, and the money made from salt funded the building of the Great Wall of China as well as the Erie Canal!
- Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. 1492: The Year the World Began. A examination of the world-wide events leading up to and beyond Columbus' voyage to the Americas.
- Leon-Portillo, Miguel. Broken Spears. Short and plainly written account of the Aztec view of the conquest.
- Manchester, William. A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance. A popular history humanizes the tumultuous span from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance.
- Goldstone, Lawrence and Nancy. Out of the Flames: a biography of Michael Servetus. The novel offers a look at the turbulent 1500s and Michael Servetus, a Spanish lay theologian and physician of convictions and brilliance who was executed for his polemical writings.
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