The English Department and Hassenfeld librarians share summer reading lists for rising grades K-12 and AP courses at usn.org/reading.
By Freya Sachs, English Department Chair
What’s the best book you’ve read this year? What books might our students enjoy? What book would you recommend and why? Why do we ask students to read in the summer at all? What will we ask of them when we return to school in August?
These are some of the questions we ask each year as we compile, edit, revise, examine, and finalize our summer reading lists. We want students to find books they enjoy, discover stories they otherwise might not see, and find pieces of themselves and others in the worlds these books can offer. We hope reading becomes not just practical, but joyful.
To do this, we ask our community for recommendations — faculty across the school, alumni, students — and the English Department and Hassenfeld Library work together to finalize the lists and to make sure our library has copies accessible for students to borrow for the summer.
We hope you enjoy exploring the lists — one for each grade K-12 and for AP courses — discovering new authors or finding an old favorite waiting for you. If you need recommendations, we’ll be happy to help.
USN Peabody Players present "The Addams Family: School Edition" on Thursday, November 19 through Sunday, November 22 in Durnan Auditorium. Click here for tickets. This musical is appropriate for K-12 audiences.
Join USNA on Saturday, January 30, for all the nostalgia, none of the teenage drama. This adult-only concert will feature USN's faculty house band, The K-12 Situation, with proceeds benefiting the school. Click here for tickets.
High School students traveled to Murfreesboro last weekend for the Model UN conference last weekend, which provided opportunities for leadership and collaboration across grade levels. They had the highest number of resolutions per capita in the General Assembly, had the highest-ranking resolution presented to any committee, and earned awards for Outstanding Statesperson & Outstanding Resolution.
The boys cross country team has added another trophy to the shelf, winning the TSSAA DII-A State Championship, while the girls team found success as well, placing third in the state.
With trail names like Megawatt, Electric Avenue, High Voltage and Livewire, the mountain bike team knew it was time to pedal out some extra watts for their NICA/TICL State Championships at Raccoon Mountain, and survive the technical trails above Chattanooga full of boulder gardens, rock drops and sandy rubble.
Winged Deer Park and trails in Johnson City hosted our 4th race on Sunday October 11th, and despite a bit of hurricane outwash winds and showers - and reduced team numbers due to fall break and distance from Nashville - our racers utilized all available skills and speed which helped “wing" Sophomore Claire Dehner to a 4th place podium spot, our first podium appearance and medal for the season.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.