J.P. Peralta ’15
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, EdD
Teacher: Dr. Good
This is the official IB book of the 2013-2014 school year. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish may appear to be a children’s book, but in actuality it is a smartly written story about acceptance, diversity, and servant leadership. Dr. Good stated, “I have chosen this book with pride because I know the diversity in the St. Edward community is unmatched. I know that our community has the ability to integrate and mix. We can all relate to diversity, so this should be an easy read.”
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Teacher: Mr. Urban
Mr. Urban chose this book for his AP English and Composition class because, as Mr. Urban says it, “Roald Dahl expresses a true creative freedom and unparalleled narrative delivery.” This piece is a timeless postmodern work that instituted many common colloquialisms like “frobscottle”.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Teacher: Brother Dennis
This particular book looks at world hunger and poverty from a new perspective: that of the gluttons of the world. This book criticizes the more fortunate in the world for abusing their abundance of food. Not a single page goes without some sort of allegorical anecdote, which is why Brother Dennis chose it for his AP US History class.
Ohio Code of Law by Various Authors
Teacher: Mr. Nalepa
Mr. Nalepa will not be teaching next year, but submitted a book anyway. Next year’s Honors Geometry class will be punished by the former-teacher by having to read the entirety of the Ohio Code of Law. Mr. Nalepa told The Edsman, “Students should expect to annotate nearly every clause, and write a 12 page, 6000 word paper about their favorite law.
The First Half of the First Line of the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
Teacher: Mr. Bosley
The famous Gettysburg Address, read by Abraham Lincoln after the battles in Gettysburg concluded, is Mr. Bosley’s choice for his A/B Calculus classes’ summer reading. It makes total sense as well, because the opening lines of the Address are “Four Score and Seven years ago…” which is clearly Math. The depth of arithmetic knowledge sufficient to decipher this intricate expression given to us by Lincoln, is immense. Even the A/B calc students themselves will struggle on this one.
Star Wars Holiday Special Shooting Script by George Lucas (HL) / Troll 2 Shooting Script by Claudio Fragasso (SL)
Teacher: Mr. Stepnowsky
The head of the film department decided that it was important to have a rudimentary knowledge of film coming into HL Film Analysis and Production, and what better way to deliver that than George Lucas’s piece de resistance, The Star Wars Holiday Special. This masterpiece gives every student the knowledge they need to succeed in film. Every line of dialogue, cinematography technique, and cheesy puppet character that a student needs to know is included in this comprehensive opus. The SL class gets everything in the script that the HL class gets, but the book is half as long.
Merriam Webster College Dictionary 9th edition by Merriam and Webster (duh)
Teacher: Mrs. Heddleson
Mrs. Heddleson thought it was important to know the vocabulary of the English language before you knew the vocabulary of Italian, French, or Spanish. Therefore she assigned the book that teaches every student, every English word. How hard can it be? You speak English everyday!
Latin for the Third Millenium by Daniel Cavoli
Teacher: Mr. Kuhar
As Mr. Cavoli himself authored the book, you would think he would also assign it, but instead Creative Writing teacher, Mr. Kuhar, must have made a massive mistake when reading the title. “Latin for the Third Millenium is quite obviously a sci-fi book about the Romans travelling into the future and conquering the Pan-Galactic empire, and reinstating the undead language of Latin as it’s Cosmic language.” Unfortunately, it is just a Latin textbook, so the Creative Writing students should be prepared for an action packed adventure of Double Dative’s and Ablative’s of Absolute.
Against all Odds by Chuck Norris
Teacher: Coach Flannery
Health teacher and Basketball coach, Coach Flannery, decided it was high time that Health have no homework, no longer. Therefore, he is assigning a summer reading book. Chuck Norris’ Against All Odds, focuses on the pressures of being Chuck Norris. Coach told the Edsman, “Students should particularly enjoy ‘Chapter 10: The pains of being able to lift more than any human, living or dead’ and ‘Chapter 86: Am I the only one that gets annoyed by the pinching sensation from bullets?’”