NEHS Common Reader
The Common Reader for the 2011-2012 school year will be Old School by Tobias Wolfe. Set in the 1960s in a New England prep school, the novel highlights the significance literature plays in the lives of all people, focuses on the power and challenge of writing, addresses literary merit of authors and texts, deals with truths and lies and the consequences of both, and moves readers to ponder loss as well as redemption. This novel will serve as the basis of the NEHS scholarship process for the upcoming year; all students who plan to submit scholarship essays must read the text as all prompts (available November 1) will be based on this reading.
Additionally, many schools now adopt summer reading lists and have expectations that students return to school in the fall having studied a variety of texts. We would encourage consideration of adding Old School to such lists. The novel might also serve as a common reader for NEHS chapters or as a “book club” selection for a community common reading project.
Chapters can Purchase Old School from Better World Books (BWB). NEHS will receive a rebate from BWB for copies sold.
Review:
Gioia, Ted, "Review of Old School, by Tobias Wolff." The New Canon, Best Works of Fiction Since 1985, P,n.d. Web. 03 May 2011.
Preface, Reader's Guide, and Teacher's Guide:
"Old School by Tobias Wolff." The Big Read, National Endowment of the Arts, n.d. Web 03 May 2011.
March 30 - The Museletter submission deadline
May 1 - Project Grant applications due