What is the norm for high school summer reading?

So, I go to a small Catholic school, and up until this year, summer reading was nonexistent (yeah, I know). Now, in general I think summer reading *is* a good thing, and I was actually slightly upset that my school didn't have it. This year, our principal told our new English teacher that we must have summer reading, but my class thinks (using information from friends in other schools who've had summer reading in previous years) that ours is a bit much. I admit this is partially from never having done summer reading before, but could you just let me know how it works in your school, so I get a general idea of what it normally is like? Thanks in advance :)