It’s been a month since school began. I wonder… how many teachers actually discussed, collected and graded the book reports done for the Summer reading assignments?In the end doesn’t matter whether the teachers glanced at the work; there is nothing better than being able to read without distraction. It shouldn’t be looked at like a chore; haven’t kids noticed that adults make a point of reading over the Summer, too?
Perhaps adults were reading the latest of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Series,
now continued by Eric Van Lustbader in The Bourne Deception,
or maybe they go the obvious route and read Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn: A Novel.
I’d really be impressed to hear if anyone read the posthumously–published The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
by J.R.R. Tolkien. I may pick that one up; Tolkien created such great characters and worlds. Any teen ready to tackle Tolkien should start with The Hobbit.
That’s the real beginning of The Lord of the Rings
Trilogy. Must read The Hobbit first.So, adults do assign themselves Summer Reading. I once assigned myself to read all of Edward Albee
, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill’s plays.What’s very telling are the books that new students entering new schools are required to read. Those schools are definitely trying to send a message, set a tone and a level of expectation. They also may be trying to impress the new parents — and the parents certainly did throw the titles around at barbecues in attempts to impress those attending other schools. I’ve been asking around, and here are some titles assigned for incoming students in the summer of 2009:
Bard High School: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
and Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama
Beacon HS: Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
and Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, Oliver Sacks
Bishop Kearney HS: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
and a choice of:
and Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, Oliver SacksBishop Kearney HS: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain and a choice of:
Brooklyn Friends Upper School: Annie John: A Novel, Jamaica Kincaid
and The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
and The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. SalingerBrooklyn Technical High School: one fiction and one non–fiction from the following:
Frederick Douglas Academy MS: Escape From Slavery, Frederick Douglas
and Boy: Tales of Childhood, Roald Dahl
and Boy: Tales of Childhood, Roald Dahl
Millenium HS: two of the following:
MS 51: includes
plus either:
While children would prefer to play (and sleep) during the summer, there is nothing more luxurious and satisfying than reading a good book that changes your life forever. Some of the titles listed above are certainly worth taking the time — teens and adults–alike.
Thusly, just suggesting we read these books is A Great Idea!
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