All-School Read

The All-School Read (ASR) is an opportunity for the entire Berkshire community, from students to alumni, to engage in a body of work from a traditional literary perspective as well as a scientific, economic, philosophical, or historical one.

It’s a chance for students to interact with talented authors and thinkers, while considering a given topic in a real-world context. This examination promotes critical thinking and provides an opportunity for a collective conversation on campus. The program launches in the fall with a kick-off event, and the book's theme is studied within the curriculum and revisited during special events throughout the year.

2021 ASR

The year’s All-School Read selection is E. Lockhart’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller We Were Liars, a novel about family, betrayal, privilege, and one young person’s reckoning with a terrible mistake. Lockhart’s protagonist, Cadence, loves vacationing on her family’s private island until the fateful events of “Summer 15.”

The trials and tribulations of the Sinclair family will provide the Berkshire community with an opportunity to engage with one of its core values: Integrity. Ms. Lockhart will visit campus at the start of the 2021-22 school year and initiate a yearlong campus dialogue about accountability, trust, and responsibility beneath the Mountain.

WE WERE LIARS ON TUMBLR

About The Author

E. Lockhart is the beloved author of fiercely intelligent novels that explore issues of morality, feminism, and heroism. We Were Liars was a break-out success, translated into 41 languages and named to numerous best-of-the-year lists including the Goodreads Choice Award and Amazon’s #1 YA novel of 2014.

Also among her 11 novels are the National Book Award finalist The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and the New York Times bestseller and LA Times Book Prize finalist Genuine Fraud.

Lockhart went to Vassar College and has a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University in the field of the 19th-century British novel. She has taught writing and literature at Columbia, Barnard, NYU, and Hamline University’s MFA Program in Writing for Children. In 2013 she chaired the committee on Young People's Literature for the National Book Awards.

author’s website

Author E. Lockhart (Credit: Heather Weston)

VIDEO: 2021 ASR ANNOUNCEMENT

Past All-School Read Programs

ASR 2020

For the first time since its inception in 2013, the ASR features six books. We invite you to join us as we explore multiple themes -- immigration, race, love, justice, poverty, class, and more -- through the lens of identity. The selections are: The Book of Unknown Americans, about a family from Mexico who has come to America searching for healing and hope; Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, the Pulitzer Prize-winning account of eight families in Milwaukee struggling to keep a roof over their heads; The Fortunes, a multigenerational novel about a Chinese American family that spans over a century of history; The Hate U Give, a novel about a 16-year-old who moves between the two worlds of the poor neighborhood where she lives and her fancy suburban prep school; The Other Americans, a murder mystery, family saga and love story whose characters are deeply divided by race, religion, and class; and Where the Crawdads Sing, a mystery surrounding a woman who was abandoned at age 10 to live alone in the wild coastal marsh of North Carolina.

ASR 2019

We Should All Be Feminists, an essay by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, explores the term “feminist” and how important it is, in our modern lives, that we all embrace ideals of gender equality. The book was chosen as Berkshire School celebrated the 50th anniversary of coeducation at the School.

To support the 2019 ASR, author and educator Regina Barreca visited Berkshire to share her insight on the evolution of feminism in America.

MORE: 2019 ALL-SCHOOl READ

ASR 2018

Station Eleven, a novel by Emily St. John Mandel, was chosen as 2018's All-School Read. At once a gripping, post-apocalyptic page-turner and an elegy for a lost civilization, Station Eleven's themes explore the resilience of the human spirit and the power of the relationships that bind us together.

MORE: 2018 ALL-SCHOOL READ

ASR 2017

Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time by Andrew Forsthoefel is the story of the young author's journey walking across the United States and the many people he met along the way. It's part adventure story and part portrait of our nation in the 21^st century.

MORE: 2017 All-School Read

ASR 2016

Emmy-nominated political comedian W. Kamau Bell visited Berkshire to present his show, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in about an Hour. The show was part of the School's 2016 All-School Read program, which focused on Between The World and Me by award-winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

MORE: 2016 ALL-SCHOOL READ

ASR 2015

ASR 2014

berkshire private college prep schools all-read program

Shiza Shahid, CEO and co-founder of the Malala Fund, addressed the Berkshire community during 2014's All-School Read program. A graduate of Stanford University, Shiza is the co-founder and CEO of the Malala Fund, an organization that works to empower girls through education.

MORE: 2014 All-School Read

ASR 2013

Author Tracy Kidder's Strength in What Remains explores the journey of Deogratias "Deo" Niyizonkiza through the horrors of civil war and genocide in his native Burundi, to medical school and a life of healing. Niyizonkiza, founder of Village Health Works, visited the school for the inaugural All-School Read program in 2013.

MORE: 2013 All-School Read

So did we! Thank you for coming! https://t.co/bcN2s64rJl
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) October 2, 2021

So excited to welcome E. Lockhart to campus for tonight’s All-School Read event. Come with your good questions for the Q&A and your copy of #WeWereLiars for the book signing afterward! #allschoolread #ASR #perkstobeingabear @elockhart pic.twitter.com/kes89JMz8I
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) September 30, 2021

Classes start in 11 days! Plenty of time to pick up one of the 6 choices for the All-School Read. Here’s Ms. Carew-Miller with a refresher! 📚 #ASR20 https://t.co/lmK2v2gfyd
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) August 28, 2020

Six books to choose from for this year’s All-School read! Join us this summer as we explore themes of immigration, race, love, justice, poverty, class, and more through the lens of identity. Read more here: https://t.co/Uf3nEjVS9U 📚 #ASR #ASR2020 pic.twitter.com/sPWOcSATOe
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) June 22, 2020

All-School ReadS announced today! https://t.co/6PFvwBKMkw
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) May 18, 2020

“We Should All Be Feminists” written by @ChimamandaReal was announced as next year’s All-School Read selection by Ms. Carew-Miller. Click the link to read about the ASR program and #ASR2019 Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: https://t.co/Of12sqdXE4 #summerreading pic.twitter.com/Vt9t4zO74M
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) May 17, 2019

Station Eleven, a novel by @EmilyMandel, is this year's All-School Read! Check out our reading guide for more about this post-apocalyptic page-turner. https://t.co/h1lvUkQvJu #ASR2018 #stationeleven #summerreading pic.twitter.com/PTmFOSHKSD
— Berkshire School (@BerkshireSchool) July 7, 2018

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