Summer Reading: Student Version
Part Four of a Weeklong Series
The Short Version: See the entire list on Bookshop.
Like me, my kids read a lot. Many times they will be so engrossed in a book they don’t hear me ask them to do anything else. I have no doubt that they will read many books over the summer. But, I give them Summer Reading assignments so that I know their stack includes a few books they wouldn’t choose themselves.
This year, I decided to pick five categories for both girls: Nonfiction Adventure1, Ancient History2, Classic Literature, a book mom wants you to read, and Reader’s Choice3.
For the Rising Seventh Grader:
My 7th grader will read the Dictionary for fun. It’s hard to find a book that she won’t love. When I asked her to bring me her choices for Summer Reading, she brought me this stack:
There are so many that I’m not going to list them all here - but I did add them all to the Bookshop List. Not pictured is the entire Emma M Lion series that she devoured between Memorial Day and now. (Yes, all EIGHT of them!) Between the time she brought me this stack and the time you read this email, she will have finished at least two - maybe three.
Here’s what I decided to “assign” her:
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage - she started this before our school year ended, so she’s finishing it up over summer. So far she is really enjoying it, “even though at first I thought it would be boring.” Ha! I love when they end up loving the books they think they’ll hate.
Pride & Prejudice - This counts as her classic, even though she chose it herself. My older daughter finished it a few months ago and I’ve promised them we could watch the BBC Miniseries as soon as they’ve both read it. Maybe I should re-read it too…
The Golden Goblet - Her choice for Ancient History.
The Number Devil - At the end of every year, I ask each girl what they want to learn more about in the coming year. She almost always says “Math.” So this summer, I decided to give her a book about Math!
For the Rising Ninth Grader:
First of all, I can’t believe I have a rising ninth grader. I’d say something like “it seemed like only yesterday she was going off to Kindergarten,” but that’s not true at all. It seems like ages ago that she was little, but when you put a grade level next to her name … that’s when I start to feel all weepy inside. I assigned her a few more books than the younger to read this summer, because I want her to begin taking more responsibility for Bible study and time management as she enters high school.
My Choices:
The Brendan Voyage - she did Geography of Europe as well as a research project on Ireland last year, so this was perfect for her Nonfiction Adventure selection. I read this a few months ago and loved every bit of it. I hope she does too.
Adara - The book she chose for Ancient History. She read it in a day - she said it was “okay, but not great.” Not high praise, but hey - she read it.
Transformed by Truth - Last year she told me she “hated Bible study” and didn’t see the point “since we read it all together anyway.” This book is written by a teen for teens and has some really great tidbits about why Bible study can be transformative for us, and how to do it. I’m hoping by reading it this summer she’ll be excited to read the Bible alone next year.
Ivanhoe - She likes it even less than I do. We’ll see if she finishes it this summer - ha!
The Lazy Genius Way - I gave her this so she can start thinking about how to manage her time well as she begins this new stage of dance and school.
I’m not sure I should have bothered with a “classic” for her, considering all three of her choices were solidly in the “old books” category. She’s been reading English Literature for Boys and Girls as part of our Literature studies, and it is making her want to read allllllll the books. I’m not complaining.
Here’s what she chose:
Emma, Jane Austen
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Utopia, Sir Thomas More
Emma M Lion - Are you seeing a trend? This series has been so fun for all of us to read. The literary references, the British culture, and the characters just make the entire series delightful. As a bonus, both girls have now decided to “write like Emma” and are documenting their days in story form.
This email includes affiliate links, which means if you buy something I get a very small commission. Use your library if you can. If you can’t, Bookshop is my favorite way to buy new books online, Barnes & Noble is my favorite book and mortar, BookFinder is my favorite way to find used books (no affiliate link there), and I’ve been known to buy books on Amazon when the price is significantly lower. Hey, don’t judge.
For Contemporary Fiction:
For the Classics:
For Nonfiction:
We learned about explorers at our co-op this past school year, but we didn’t have time for the books I wanted the girls to read that went along with it.
This is another area that I feel like we never have enough time for. They got to choose between three books.
They had to choose at least three. Both chose many more than three.