Summer Reading Lists

[ShannonH]

My son "friended" me on Facebook, and his blurb for the day was "Summer Reading.......I'll leave out the last word, but it rhymes with duck. My son is 15, and he's an avid reader so I decided to take a closer look at what the school had assigned him for the summer.

1. The Secret Life of Bees - I've read this book myself and enjoyed it, but I can't see it doing much to interest a 15 year-old male.

2. Lord of the Flies - A classic to be sure, but published a looong time ago.

3. Tales From the Thousand and One Nights

I believe there are wiser choices out there to turn kids on to reading.

[dave r]

Shannon,
  I have to disagree with you on this one. I think the books are terrific for teens.
  And I question whether "turning kids on to reading" is the purpose of the assignments. I suspect this is your interpretation of what summer reading should be rather than what the teachers' purposes are. They may be looking at theme, plot, character development, or a myriad of other things they wish to introduce to the kids when they arrive back at school. These books provide them with a base to work from.
  Granted The Secret Life of Bees is pretty much a chick book, so it may not interest a 15 year old boy, but I'm betting the girls in his class are loving it. It's beautifully written and actually quite a good read.
  The Lord of the Flies was published a "looong time ago."? Careful there. Many of the people on this board were born just as looong ago. 1954 is not ancient. And it is a classic for a reason. My students (male and female) loved it when they read it. Age of a book really isn't an issue is it? I mean, you don't seriously believe Romeo and Juliet shouldn't be taught because it's over 400 years old, do you?
  And 1001 Nights? Most of these kids grew up on Disney's Aladdin. Isn't it time they new the real source of the story? (Besides, what teenage boy isn't going to like the tale of "The Historic Fart"?

   My guess is that your son is dealing with the same issue my daughter has dealt with (she's an avid reader), and that is with choosing to read versus having to read. None of the books she's had to read for summer are bad books, but she is used to making her own choices. So forcing herself to read these books when there are so many on her pile that she wants to read has been difficult. But she is doing it. And it's a good lesson because she'll have lots of things in her life that she'll have to do, even if it "rhymes with duck" or she doesn't want to do it.

  Good luck with the reading.

keep writing,
dave r

   

[ShannonH]

I read The Secret Life of Bees and enjoyed it, but I can see why my son doesn't care for it. Maybe if there had been a choice so that the guys could read something other than this one.

They read one of the Harry Potter books last year, and that fit the bill. The kids enjoyed it, and the teacher used it to teach about story arc, character development etc.

It's a fine line to find something they enjoy, and that still has literary merit.

[lydap]

It's hard to imagine living a full, rich life without having read Lord of the Flies. And 15 is the perfect age. Harry Potter is fun and has literary merit but it doesn't expose human nature's dark side so brilliantly as LOTF. Plus it's a survival tale like Robinson Crusoe or Hatchet. What's not to like? My son also "had" to read The Great Gatsby, Shakespeare,  A Catcher in the Rye, and lots of other stuff all written even looonger ago than LOTF. All fabulous books.

[dinalapomy101]

I tend to agree that offering teens choices for summer reading increases their enjoyment of reading and shows them that there is something for everyone out there.  It is such a hard age to get on board with loving books if they are already resistant to reading, and I'd hate for them to have that reinforced through school reading assignments instead of being taught that there are great books for all in the world.  And yes, the 3 books listed in the original post probably do each have a reason for being on the list, but there are SO MANY FABULOUS books out there with other stories that might appeal to some teens that offering a CHOICE over a few books to read really does seem the way to go. 

[Marissa Doyle]

i have to agree with you, ShannonH...especially about LOTF.  My son (17, and better read than some of his teachers) loathed it and commented that there are so many other books out there that have been published since then that there MUST be something that explores similar themes, and maybe it's time to retire it from the canon in favor of something better.  I'm rephrasing this politely, of course.    And he's not a kid who resents being told what to read...he's loved all his lit courses in high school because he WANTS to have read the classics and be able to judge for himself...his view is that just because a book has been on school reading lists forever, it doesn't mean that it should stay.  You should hear his diatribe on Wuthering Heights. 

It reminded me of an essay I read recently somewhere about the Newberys, in which the opinion was expressed that it's become an award for books that adults think kids SHOULD love. 

[Hannah]

I haven't read Lord of the Flies, unfortunately. But that did remind me to add it to my GoodReads reading list. But given what I know about it, and seeing that my prep school did it during the year for seventh grade English, I think it seems appropriate. I've read the other two, and while they don't seem like the best choices, necessarily, they seem appropriate. Frankly, I can't tell you much about any of the books I had to do for summer reading before ninth grade (The Chosen, Bless Me, Ultima, and Animal Farm), so chances are, he won't remember them as much as he'll remember books he reads more thoroughly during the year. So in that case, summer reading should be good books that make students want to read and books that are good candidates for critical analysis, but they shouldn't necessarily be the absolute cream of the English teacher's crop.

I definitely think there should be choices, though. My high school generally had one or two required books and then the second/third book could be chosen from a list of four. Is your son going into ninth or tenth grade, I'm guessing? Before tenth grade, I read Crow Lake and chose Life of Pi from a list of three books. I didn't like Crow Lake much, but many people did, and the choice for the second book was nice, because then we got to have small group discussions and projects about those books. I think contemporary fiction is better for summer reading than classics.

[ShannonH]

I've been away on vacation, but enjoyed reading everyone's responses when I got back.

Marissa, I would love to hear your son's diatribe on Wuthering Heights. I'm sure I would get a big belly laugh from it!

I certainly am not advocating that the kids shouldn't read the classics, but maybe the summer is not the time for it. Last year, my son read Romeo and Juliet during the school year. The teacher showed them the Leonardo DiCaprio version of the movie, and led lively discussions that spiced up this assignment. Sometimes the classics need a little bit of sugar to help the medicine go down.

With such an explosion of YA books, it shouldn't be that hard for the teachers to find books for the summer that have some literary merit, but that the kids won't perceive as torture.