Summer Break–Read, READ, and read some more!

I’m a reader.

At least I’ve always considered myself as a reader. I was the kid who read during lunch while holding a conversation with her friends, the kid in trouble for hiding a novel inside her history book, the adult who found a job in a bookstore and thought she’d found heaven, and the adult (a very young and dumb adult) who even tried to read and drive just one time–don’t try that, dumb move.

But lately, I’ve found myself envious as my friends discuss books they’ve finished reading. I always have at least one book I’m working on (usually more than one–one in the bedroom, one on the vanity, one on my iPad, one in my purse, one on my desk), but I don’t find myself making time to read like I did before I started teaching; consequently,  it takes me forever to finish a book when it usually only took me a couple of days in the past. Between grading Intro to College English essays and senior project research papers, and preparing for novel discussions with my literature classes while working on my graduate degree coursework, I allowed myself to drift away from the thing I’ve loved since I discovered stories while sitting on my mother’s lap as a very young child.

As I finished my new degree, I looked back on my behavior as a reader and realized I had become a bad example to my students. To remedy this, I decided to set a summer reading goal. A shoot-for-the-moon reading goal. Goal: read 50 books over the summer break.

Reading 50 books over the summer. That’s a lot of books!

The kids thought I was crazy–well, they already knew I was crazy, this just gave them additional proof–how can someone read 50 books in just 84 days? I knew that if all I had to do over the summer was sit around and read, then reading 50 books in 84 days would be easy.

As every teacher knows, there’s always lots to do over a summer break, so I knew it would take a great deal of dedication to accomplish the goal! But, sometimes accomplishing the goal isn’t the only good outcome, and if the goal isn’t a bit out of reach, it isn’t an opportunity to grow.

To be a good reading mentor to my students, I decided I needed to be better acquainted with the books my students loved, so I am focusing this summer reading goal on YA literature. That way I will be able to discuss books with the kids with concrete knowledge. Each year I lose a little bit of credibility with some of my students when I have to admit I might own Harry Potter, but I hadn’t read it.

This summer was an opportunity to fix that. Including some of my students’ suggestions would not only give me some reading ideas but also show me which books the kids believe are important.

Their suggestions:    

• Louis Lamour
• The Reckoner Series by Brandon Sanderson
• Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
• The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and Tiernan O’Connor
• The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
• Fablehaven  by Brandon Mull
• Ruined by Paula Morris
• Autobiography of Tyler (we will read it after he writes it–smart-alec senior boy!)
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Divided We Fall Series by Trent Reedy
• Red Queen  by Victoria Avenyard
• The Island  by Elin Hilderbrand
• Sweet Venom  by Tera Lynn Childs
• Dragonfly by Julia Golding
• The Silver Sea  by Julia Golding
• Extreme: Why Some People Thrive at the Limits  by Emma Barrett and Paul Martin
• Jim Button by Michael Ende
• I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
• Skinny by Donna Coones
• The Cellar  by Natasha Preston
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• All Sarah Dressen Books    
• Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Pierce
• Junie B. Jones  by Barbara Park and Denise Brunkus
• Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
• The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Book of Mormon
• My Sister’s Keeper  by Jodi Picoult
• A-Z Metrics
• If I Stay  by Gayle Forman
• Where She Went  by Gayle Forman
• Artemis Fowl by Colfer    
• Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine
• The Martian  by Andy Weir
• Matilda by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake
• The Magic in Manhattan Series by Sarah Mlynowski
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
• The Wedding Letters by Jason F. Wright
• The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis
• Pillage by Obert Skye
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
• Enders Shadow by Orson Scott Card
• Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card

Because I’m weaving their suggestions in with my own To-Read and Need-to-Read lists, I have a long way to go before I complete all their recommendations (thankfully, I had already read some of their suggestions–Little House On the Prairie was my favorite in the third grade–I hyperlinked the suggestions I’ve already read), but I will finish their list. I’ve been surprised how much I’ve enjoyed some of the books they recommended.

I tried to read Orson Scott Card’s Seventh Son when it was new back in the late 1980s while I was working in the book department of a large department store. I hadn’t had a great deal of experience with fantasy literature (beyond fairy tales), and Card’s book didn’t hold my attention beyond the first few chapters. Truthfully, I was probably lured away by a new Kathleen Woodiwiss or Janet Dailey romance novel which was my genre of choice at that time. Last year, based on the ravings of several students, I gave another of Card’s books, Enders Game, a chance  and found it engaging, enjoyable, and easy to fall into.

When Brooklyn (one of my Intro to Literary Genres students) raved about Seventh Son and added it to my book suggestions, I decided it was time to give Card’s book another try.

I’m glad I tried again, but I didn’t remember Seventh Son being a historical fantasy novel. Since I preferred historical romance novels over all others during the late 1980s, it is a bit surprising that I didn’t stick with Card’s book and make the small jump from historical romance to historical fantasy. I guess I wasn’t able to put aside believability and tie into the interesting elements of the story. There are many interesting things in this book.

Card has set Seventh Son in Colonial America and includes cameos from historical figures like Benjamin Franklin. It is based around the large Maker family and specifically the life of Alvin Maker Jr., the seventh son of a seventh son. The Maker family members all have strong religious feelings but are also influenced by things we now refer to as old wives tales or magic. The hijinx of Alvin and the battle between good and evil made this book one I’m glad I read. I will recommend this book to kids who like books with magic as part of a storyline. Kids who enjoyed Harry Potter in grade school might find Seventh Son an intriguing read in high school.  

Books can be a little bit like vegetables are to small children–just not palatable at the time. Books we hated as children or young adults might just hit the spot if we give them a second try once we have had a chance to broadened our reading palate. Often, a vegetable I hated as a child will cross my path as an adult, and I’ve learned to give them a try–usually, I really like them. Apparently, this is true of books too. 

Just like Seventh Son, I tried to read Harry Potter when it was new and just couldn’t get through it–I blamed age and adulthood. It crossed my path again, I tried it and just like Card’s book, I liked it–a lot! I hope this fact will increase my credibility with my students next year. 

Now that I’ve finally read Harry Potter and Seventh Son, and unexpectedly enjoyed both, what other books of magic should I add to my increasingly lengthy To-Read list?  

 

P.S. I’ve only read 30 of my 50 books. Yikes! Twenty more books in just three weeks. Maybe I’d better see which of their suggestions are the shortest (wait–now I’m thinking like my students, oh dear).