Community Reading

Summer is a time for both rest and curiosity. Mercersburg’s Community Reading Program invites students to engage with thought-provoking texts while enjoying the pleasure of reading for its own sake. Whether you're reading on the beach, on a plane, or in your own backyard, we hope these books inspire reflection, connection, and discovery.

This schoolwide initiative brings our community together through a shared text and shared inquiry. All students are required to read the Community Read and a grade-level English book. Families are encouraged to read along.

If you are traveling internationally this summer, we suggest carrying non-physical copies of the Community Reading. Ebooks and audiobooks are permissible reading formats for the Community Reading book. English Grade Level Summer Reading books must be physical copies and brought to school in the fall.

All School Read
Grade-level Reads

All School Read

This year’s Community Read gives students the opportunity to explore Mercersburg’s 2026–2027 theme, "In Conversation, We Change: The Transformative Power of Dialogue," in a meaningful way across disciplines and experiences.

We encourage students to reflect on what it means to listen deeply—to themselves, to others, and to voices that have been overlooked. As they engage with this year’s selection, we hope students will consider how understanding can lead to empathy and how storytelling can be a form of empowerment. Programs and conversations in the fall will continue this exploration, inviting our community to think critically about identity, agency, and voice—within the Mercersburg community and beyond.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

At age 36, just as he was completing nearly a decade of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying; the next, he was a patient fighting to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles his journey from a thoughtful medical student searching for meaning, to a Stanford neurosurgeon working in the brain—the center of human identity—and finally to a husband and new father confronting his own mortality.

As Kalanithi wrestles with questions about life, death, purpose, and parenthood, he offers a deeply moving reflection on what makes life worth living, even in the face of death. This book explores how the humanities and science do not have to be mutually exclusive. Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a powerful and life-affirming exploration of the relationship between doctor and patient, and of what it means to live fully.

Purchase

Grade-level Reads

Students will discuss their grade-level book during the first few weeks of English class, so they should bring their own annotated copy or a set of notes to campus in the fall.
Books may contain descriptions that some may find difficult. Students should refrain from reading passages they find too intense or triggering

We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart

9th Grade

Our Missing Hearts

by Celeste Ng

10th Grade

Educated

by Tara Westover

11th Grade

Sweat

by Lynn Nottage

12th Grade

Popular Links

In This Section

Community Reading

All School Read

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Grade-level Reads