All new students entering MU in the Fall Semester 2009 with under 30 credit hours are required to participate in a Summer Reading Experience.

In addition to many opportunities you will have to connect with your new classmates during Orientation, you'll also have chances to interact with faculty, staff and administration. The Common Reading Program held during Orientation is one such opportunity. Faculty, staff and administration from all areas of campus volunteer to lead group discussions focusing on the common reading that all incoming students are expected to complete before their arrival to campus in August. Consider the Common Reading Program as an introduction to academic life at Millersville University. It's your chance not only to meet new people but also to talk with members of the faculty, staff and administration in a meaningful discussion. It is also a chance to realize that a true education involves informal discussions as well as classroom lectures.

Common Reading Program Aims:

• In the spirit of liberal learning, a common reading provides a shared intellectual experience for all members of the Millersville University Community.
• To provide an opportunity for students to meet and interact with a member of the Millersville University faculty in an informal discussion, outside the boundaries of the classroom and formal academic requirements.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

Narrated by a 15-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions.

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As Christopher tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, the narrative draws readers into the workings of Christopher’s mind.

--Amazon.com