I’ve tried many different summer reading challenges and programs in my library in the past, but the results have been mixed. Many of the children of my patron families sign up for a summer reading challenge with great enthusiasm, or their parents sign up for them, but few complete the program or bring back a completed record of their reading. Perhaps for them, as it is for me to some extent, the thought of someone monitoring and rewarding their reading feels intrusive and takes the fun out of it. So, this year I pointed my patrons to a couple of online reading challenges for the summer and left it at that.
However, near the end of May, I received an email from one of my library patrons, a mother of two daughters.
“I would very much appreciate if you would curate a couple of reading lists for my daughters. They are in a reading rut. I’ve tried to remember what I read at their age, but a lot has escaped me, or they don’t seem interested.
Emily just turned 13 in May, she will be in 8th grade when school starts. She enjoys Nancy Drew and historical fiction (America Girls) and books like Rabbit Hill. (She didn’t really enjoy Island of the Blue Dolphins)I think Emily reads at her level or slightly above.
Anne will be 15 in August and will be in 10th grade when school starts. She enjoys Nancy Drew, historical fiction, she loves nature. She has read Swiss Family Robinson and really enjoyed it.”
What librarian could resist such a request? So, I made a list of ten books each for Emily and Anne:
For Emily:
The Cottage at Bantry By by Hilda van Stockum
A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon
Gentle’s Holler by Kerry Madden
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
The Tough Winter by Robert Lawson (sequel to Rabbit Hill)
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
Along Came a Dog by Meindert DeJong
Hannah of Kentucky by James Otis.
For Anne:
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome.
The Silver Sword by Ian Serrailier
Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
Urchin of the Riding Stars by M.I. McAllister
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott.
Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs
John James Audubon by Margaret and John Kieran
These are all books that are available from my library and books that I have read and enjoyed myself. No one is expecting these young ladies to read every book on the list, nor am I giving out prizes if they do. It’s just a gift of a reading list from one reader to another.
Then, a few days later, another mother whose family patronizes my library said that she was having trouble coming up with a summer reading list for her three children. She had been accustomed to recommending a list of books for them to try out at the beginning of every summer. The young ones were clamoring for this year’s list, but the mom was running out of time and ideas. Well, . . .
I had her send me a few notes about their likes and dislikes, favorites and preferences, and then I came up with these lists for her to edit and add to as desired:
For Liam, age 15, who likes to draw maps and who requested war stories, not love stories, and books about real people (not animals or fantasy) in faraway places or in historical times:
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
The Black Buccaneer by Stephen Meader
They Put Out to Sea: The Story of the Map by Roger Duvoisin
From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa: The War in the Pacific, 1941-1945 by Bruce Bliven Jr.
Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christian Soontornvat
Shane by Jack Schaefer
Courage to Command: A Story of the Capture of Louisburg by Zillah K. MacDonald
Over There: Stories of World War I by Phyllis Fenner
For Caroline, age 13, who requested love, not war, fantasy, and historical fiction:
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
The Bridge by Jerri Massi
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller by Sarah Miller
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
The LIght Princess by George MacDonald
Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott.
Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott
Joanna’s Miracle by William Armstrong
For Timothy, age 10, who likes mysteries and page turners, and has read, indeed devoured, all of the Adventures in Odyssey time travel books:
Danny Dunn, Time Traveler by Jay Williams
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer by Augusta Stevenson (or any of the Childhood of Famous Americans books)
Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner
Mystery in the Pirate Oak by Helen Fuller Orton.
Five Go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton
Eddie’s Green Thumb by Carolyn Haywood
The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West
The Chalk Box Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla
Again, all of these books are in my library, and I have read most of them. If I have not read the particular book I recommended, I have had it recommended to me by those I trust, or I have read other books by the same author. Links are to reviews of each particular book at Semicolon (blog) or Plumfield Moms or to BIblioguides.
As I was making these lists for my patrons, I suddenly remembered the summer reading lists that I made long ago for my own children. These list are posted at Semicolon, my long-time blog, and you can peruse them there.
Betsy-Bee’s Fifth Grade Summer Reading List
Karate Kid’s Sixth Grade Summer Reading List
Brown Bear Daughter’s Eighth Grade Summer Reading List
Red Rover Daughter’s Summer Reading List, Age 16
A Summer Reading List for Dancer Daughter, Age 23
Engineer Husband’s Summer Reading List
Maybe your library patrons would like to have a personalized summer reading recommendation list for this summer. Feel free to take one of mine and edit and tweak to suit your library and your patrons, or come up with your own. And if you would like to have a list of summer (or winter) reading suggestions for yourself, you can email me, Sherry Early, at thecardcataloglibrarians@gmail.com , and I’ll see what I can do for you. I love suggesting books to willing victims readers.