Don’t Lose the Pleasure of Summertime Reading
cannot trace the origin but love the sentiment
It seems that reading for pleasure is a lost art these days. Several years ago, I began sending out “Ms. Little’s absolutely NOT mandatory summertime reading list.” This was not a list of difficult AP books to be annotated before the next school term. Instead, it was a list of books to read for fun.
Wait, people actually read for fun? Yes, they do!
One person who puts out a summertime reading list is Bill Gates. His titles are on the mature end but are often great recommendations for your faculty, parents, and older high school students. This summer he recommends 5 books that seem to help him experience empathy for “what it’s like to grow up outside the mainstream.”
Your summer 2017 reading list, provided by Bill Gates
The Not Mandatory Summertime Lists
The Association for Library Service to Children provides summertime lists for different age groups from pre-school to 8th grade. The site provides colorful tri-folds you can hand to students in these final days of school. For the older kids, I always keep the Teen Reads site handy. The “Coming Soon” section will have reviews for all the upcoming YA book releases. Teen Reads also has an Ultimate Reading List, and many of the reviews on the site are written by teens.
What I Am Reading This Summer
First on my summertime list, re-reading the books for our school’s “One Book” program. We have chosen “All The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr for the high school and “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio for the middle school. If you want to start a “One Book” program there are some great resources available in the program guide – Ideas from ALA for Bringing the whole community together.
Some other books on my summertime list include:
For Professional Development
- UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World by Dr. Michele Borba
- Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World by Devorah Heitner
For Pleasure
- Children of Exile by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Refugee by Alan Gratz [available July 25, 2017]
- The Gender Game by Bella Forrest
- And many more…
Author: Hannah Byrd Little
Hello, I am the Library Director at The Webb School of Bell Buckle. I use my past experience in college and university libraries to help my current students in school libraries transition into college, career, and life. I am currently the lead Senior Class Adviser for the Capstone Project. I also served at the state level with the Tennessee Association of School Librarians executive board from 2009-2013 and was the TASL president in 2012. I am certified as a Library Information Specialist for PreK-12th grade, have a BS in Communications with a concentration in Advertising and Public Relations, a BS in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Education and Information Systems and a Masters in Library and Information Science.
Categories: Blog Topics, Collection Development, Student Engagement/ Teaching Models
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