Sunday Funnies – Required Summer Reading Lists Need YA Titles July 12, 2009
Posted by karinlibrarian in young adult.Tags: NaBloPoMo09
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I love the Zits comic strip. Jeremy is such a typical teenager. I was looking through the archives and saw a series where Jeremy is behind on his Summer Reading List. It got me thinking, how many schools require their students to read a certain list of books during the summer? If you read this post and you’ve had an experience with school mandated Summer Reading Lists leave a comment.
From what little experience I have with required Summer Reading Lists, I think they are mostly filled with, what we’d typically call, the”classics.” Is that right? Maybe if English Departments would begin to incorporate a few of the amazing young adult literature titles we have available, students might have a better attitude about the task of reading all those books during their summer break.
I have had to read a lot of different books for these summer reading assignments. Some of the books I have had to read are pretty bad, but in ninth grade I read The Outsiders which I think is a good book. But mostly it is a hassle. Right now there are some books I have to read that I am not looking forward to. Sometimes they let you choose. This year I have to read White Noise, Nickel and Dimed (which I already read for a class and I do not think that it is good). I think that I will also read Travels with Charley. My brother in Middle School is lucky because he can pick the books he wants to read himself this year.
I am only forced to read books over the summer for English class. Last year I had to read one, Mythology by Edith Hamilton, and this year I’m reading The Grass Dancer and The Scarlet Letter for Honors English. And then we get tested at the beginning of the year.
It’s not too bad. We don’t have a required number or anything, but what we do read it mostly to prepare us for the class. I know some AP classes have required reading at my school, but I try to avoid those.