Perhaps I am in a minority or am mis-interpreting the purpose of the summer reading course, but I would (if it were me, granted) focus on authors that would touch the soul and stir the imagination much more than any that would seek to fire my students' angst or rankle their sensitivities.
For this reason, I almost nominated Barbara Kingsolver's novel "Prodigal Summer," before I noticed that it was mentioned in the original post. It makes its environmental points, but it's a good novel, too. I suppose it would still rankle some sensibilities. It's hard not to do that when some people are determined to be offended by the best available scientific models of reality (evolution, for example, or the concept that the earth is finite and that human activities can make it a less suitable habitat for humans; every theory is provisional, but some are much less likely than others to be overturned by new data).
Given that people have posted to second others' nominations, I guess it's fair for me to voice my support for "Prodigal Summer."
Jim
