I am really glad I’m not a kid this summer. I have just amassed all the summer reading lists for the schools in our area. Why do so many schools feel compelled to force classics and only classics on kids during the summer? Why not mix it up, with some classics and some more current books? I understand wanting to expose to the classics because of the wrting and big themes, but these things exist in lots of Young Adult literature. I’d get creative if I were planning an entire summer reading list — such as, if you want to read Twilight you must also read Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
I am very curious what you Shelftalker readers would put on a summer reading list for kids in the 7th to 12th grades. Next week I’ll tally the results and we’ll have our own Shelftalker list.
I’ll get the ball rolling with four of my choices:
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan
Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
So, let’s make a great list!
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch Catcher in the Rye by Salinger Speak by L.H. Anderson Feed by M.T. Anderson Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Don Quixote by Cervantes The Women’s Room by Marilyn French Life of Pi by Martel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
I couldn’t agree with you more. My 7th grade students make their own summer reading lists to take to the bookstore & library, based on recommendations from me and their classmates. Here are some more titles that would be on my suggested reading list for grades 7-12. PAPER TOWNS by John Green WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson THE CHOSEN ONE by Carol Lynch Williams LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL by Jo Knowles BUG BOY by Eric Luper (out in July) MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork IMPOSSIBLE by Nancy Werlin EVERY SOUL A STAR by Wendy Mass WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED by Judy Blundell LUNA by Julie Anne Peters SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr A CURSE DARK AS GOLD by Elizabeth Bunce IF I STAY by Gayle Forman NEED by Carrie Jones LIFE AS WE KNEW IT by Susan Beth Pfeffer THE DEAD AND THE GONE by Susan Beth Pfeffer THE PATRON SAINT OF BUTTERFLIES by Cecilia Galante LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES by John Green ALL THE BROKEN PIECES by Ann Burg And because every summer ought to include a few great beach books… THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY by Jenny Han 20 BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler
Every May, I do an online search. Classics rule but more contemporary titles are making the cut. I did an entry about this at HarperAcademic.com with links to lists from around the country.
As the mother of a rising sophomore in a metropolitan school system, I was dismayed that with few exceptions (IN THE TIME OF BUTTERFLIES by Julia Alvarez was the exception)her summer reading list could have been the same one I was issued in 1969! I would second the selection of IN THE TIME OF BUTTERFLIES and Anderson’s SPEAK, and Forman’s IF I STAY and the collected Welty stories and Alexie’s MEMOIRS OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, Williams, THE CHOSEN ONE plus A STEP FROM HEAVEN by An Na Anything from Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books ON MY HONOR by Marion Dane Bauer LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY by Garry Schmidt OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse WHEN SHE WAS GOOD by Norma Fox Mazer MAKE LEMONADE by Virginia Euwer Wolff WARRIORS DON’T CRY by Melba Beals Patillo And so many more…
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins & Lord of the Flies (pair together) Nation by Terry Pratchett The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson My Name is Jason. Mine too. by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin.
Hunger Games The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time To Kill A Mockingbird
EVERMORE, Alyson Noel WAKE and FADE, Lisa McMann FREEZE FRAME, Heidi Ayarbe GRACELING, Kristin Cashore WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED, Judy Blundell IMPOSSIBLE, Nancy Werlin And yes: A SEPARATE PEACE, John Knowles
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
How I Live Now (especially paired with The Red Badge of Courage or another classic about war) Jellicoe Road!!!! And because not everyone loves fiction, some good David Sedaris should always be an option.
For grades 7-12: GONE by Michael Grant ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie LITTLE BROTHER by Cory Doctorow PEAK by Roland Smith FEED by MT Anderson and my current favorite, the PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS series by Rick Riordan
I would add: Ranger’s Apprentice Series Beastly Pretties Maximum Ride
Life of Pi – Martel A Separate Peace – Knowles Something Wicked This Way Comes – Bradbury Education of Little Tree – Carter
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Guardian by Julius Lester Somebody by Nancy Springer Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
I’m reading The Book Thief now and I am enjoying it a great deal. Very well written. I recommend it.
The Red Kayak The Center of Everything Final Salute Lone Survivor Mr Pip (to lead into the inevitable reading of Great Expectations) Friday Night Lights (we’re from Texas!) We finally got both Red Kayak and the Book Thief on the list! What I wouldn’t put on there but is on the summer reading table right now: Confederacy of Dunces-Please wait untill they have had some more mind altering experiences. Animal Dreams-I loved it but I’m a middle aged woman. What does a 17 year old male know about leaving home and coming back?
For one thing, the summer reading list should have a mix of genres. You’d think from the way these lists are put together that science fiction is a video-only medium (and it is a complate of the older fen that the younger generation knows the movies and TV shows, but not the books). A list divided into Classic/Contemporary Works of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Suspense, and Realism would provide a truly comprehensive literary overview; expecially if the compilers knew enough to show off the variety within a genre; to include poetry and graphic novels; to imply, in short, that if you don’t like to read, it’s because you haven’t found what you like to read yet. Foundation The True Meaning of Smek Day LOTR Skin Hunger At the Mountains of Madness Frankenstein American-Born Chinese Castle Waiting Everlost The Haunting of Hill House The Perfect Shot The Hound of the Baskervilles And on and on and on…
the glass castle the book thief fahrenheit 451 percy jackson series
Two beautiful books of historical fiction: A NORTHERN LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly HIDDEN VOICES, The Orphan Musicians of Venice by Pat Lowery Collins
How about: The Boy Who Dared-Bartoletti Sold-McCormick Double Helix-Werlin Shabanu Daughter of the Wind-Suzanne Fischer Staples Inventing Elliott-Gardner Mango Shaped Space-Mass
I like Moonstone’s adventure anthologies for boys 7 -12. The collection of stories give readers a feeling of accomplishment: The Phantom Zorro More Zorro Tales The Avenger The Night Stalker http://www.MoonstoneBooks.com
I love this, and concur with many of the suggestions. As a contemporary writer of YA fiction, summer reading lists filled with turgid fiction works against creating lifelong pleasure readers. Summer reading should introduce the classics but allow some freedom of choice. How many adults would choose to read the titles on many current lists?
Nick of Time by Ted Bell Savvy by Ingrid Law Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
I would add: BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS by Shannon Hale WILDWOOD DANCING, by Juliet Marillier
I just posted my 2 annotated summer reading lists,grades PreK-4 and 5-8, each with 100+ titles, on the James Patterson website, www,ReadKiddoRead.com. Scroll down the home page and click on New Arrivals, where you’ll see the box, “Summer Reading Doesn’t Have to Be Punishment. Click on that, and you’ll see you can download both PDF files. You have permission to make as many copies as you like–you could give it out to all the kids at school, to parents, etc. I hope you find a few goodies there. Judy Freeman ReadKiddoRead Reviewer http://www.ReadKiddoRead.com http://www.JudyReadsBooks.com
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier Looking for Alaska by John Green Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn
I like related reading and paired titles as a way of helping students define themes and develop in-depth understanding as an earlier poster mentioned in pairing Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight How about – Zusak’s The Book Thief with Giblin’s Hitler or Bartoletti’s Hitler Youth Collins’s The Hunger Games with Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath Zevin’s Elsewhere or Shusterman’s Everlost with Morrison’s Beloved
1) “Midnight Never Come” Marie Brennan 2) “The Thirteenth Child” Patricia Wrede 3) “Fool on the Hill” Matt Ruff 4) Worldweavers series (“Gift of the Unmage”, “Spellspam”, “Cybermage”) Alma Alexander
Great topic and great suggested reading lists! In addition to having a variety of themes, linking fiction and non-fiction, and having contemporary titles, I would add a couple thoughts as a public librarian. Please have more that a few titles on the reading list: otherwise you have unhappy patrons all waiting for the same few books. Don’t make a list all of bestsellers, or you have the same problem of most people having to wait for the book. Consider allowing every title in a series to be acceptible, or even recommending several books by a popular author. This will make summer reading lists less feared and less problematic for librarians, parents and readers. I would chime in with The Book Thief, Ranger’s Apprentice series and LOTR.