Academics » Summer Reading Program

Summer Reading Program

Summer Reading 2024

Saint Mary’s is pleased to announce our grade-level selections for the 2024 Summer Reading Program. 

For Freshmen: Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World  (2015) 320 pages

For Sophomores: Tim Marshall, The Age of Walls: How Barriers Between Nations Are Changing Our World (2018) 288 pages

For Juniors: Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States (Only  Part 1, “The Idea, 1492-1799) (2018)

For Seniors:  The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World by Tim Marshall (2021) 305 pages - New in 2022!

Course Credit Option

Students can earn 2.5 course credits for reading--and understanding-- the Summer Reading book.  Students will earn course credit by doing the following: 

  1. Keep a written journal while they read, responding to the sets of guiding questions and prompts offered in the Chapter Reading Guides. The journal can be word-processed or hand-written (as long as it is legible), and that journal can be used by students as a resource in various classes over the next four years wherever applicable. 
  2. Pass two exams based on the book. The tests are comprised of multiple-choice items and some brief free-response analysis questions. Prior to the tests in September there will be review-session opportunities.  


While all students must read their Summer Reading book, participation in earning course credit is voluntary. That said, selective colleges and universities look for indications on transcripts that applicants are academically ambitious, and this course is such an indicator. The 2.5 credits will be recorded in the students’ transcripts in the Fall 2023 term. 

Please see the the grade-level books selections for more information, including which classes will assess and discuss the books.