May 21

st, 2012

Dear Parents of Prep Freshmen,

On behalf of the SJP English Department, welcome to the Prep!

I am excited for your son’s next four years of reading, writing and speaking up in the first-floor

halls at 17th & Girard, home of the English Department and the epicenter of enlightening discussions

about the world’s best poetry and prose. We in the St. Joseph’s Prep English Department also hope this

letter finds you in the middle of a good book.

Speaking of good books, we are excited to inform you of the English Department’s Summer

Reading Program for 2012. This year we are issuing all students yet another New York Times Bestseller.

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion continues to garner much acclaim since its

publication in 2010. Inside this series of essays, Jesuit author Gregory Boyle takes us on a walk through

an L.A. neighborhood considered by many a gang capital of the world. In meeting those he serves through

his work at Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program of his making, we learn about the nature of

human kinship and agape, that selfless, unconditional kind of love. Fr. Boyle’s urban reportage is

poignant and powerful, his characters true and real. Indeed Tattoos on the Heart is a must-read.

Included in this mailing you will find a copy of Fr. Boyle’s book. Your son needs to read this

book this summer. When your son arrives to the Prep in September, he will discuss this book in his

English class. His English teacher will assess him on his reading. There are no assignments that your son

needs to complete this summer in addition to his reading of the book; he doesn’t have to type an essay of

the book, for instance, or do a book report of any kind, etc. The only thing he needs to bring with him on

the first day of school for his English class is Fr. Boyle’s book. That said, perhaps as an active reader

your son will decide to take notes on the attached reflection questions that you will find on the enclosed

green sheet. I encourage him, too, to make notes in his book to deepen his reading and to aid him in his

discussion participation in September. What passages stuck out to your son? What stories did he find

most moving? What parts of Fr. Boyle’s writing moved your son the most? Highlighting, underlining

and/or notating sections of the book will help your son a good deal when he is asked to share his thoughts

about the book in discussions in his English class in the first week of class. Again, I want to repeat that

there are no required assignments for your son that he will hand in to his English teacher. I also want to

make clear that there no extra-credit opportunities available either.

In addition to our required summer reading, the teachers in the English Department are—as

always—providing the Prep community with our highly-touted list of recommended books. You will find

this list attached to this letter. It is also available at www.sjprep.org (when you arrive at the Prep’s

homepage, head over to the “Summer Reading” tab on the left and you’ll be all set with the books each

English teacher has loved reading this year). Please note that we do not require our students to read these

books, and we do NOT offer any extra-credit assignments for reading these books. We only hope that our

students and you read more than one of our recommendations this summer. Pour yourself a glass of

lemonade while you’re at it!

I hope we find ourselves on the same page about the English Department’s Summer Reading

Program for 2012. If you have any questions, please contact me at scook@sjprep.org.

On behalf of the English Department, I once again welcome you and your family to the Prep!

Sincerely,

Ms. Susie Cook

English Chairperson

scook@sjprep.org