Independent Summer Reading Assignment

Required summer reading: The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck (1902 -1968) is an American writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 for Grapes of Wrath, a novel he wrote in 1939. The novel tells the story of the Joads, who are forced to leave their farm in Oklahoma because of the dust bowl, and their struggle to survive during the Great Depression. It celebrates their spirit and strength.

"Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed….the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love.” From Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech.