Saturday, June 9, 2012

Summer Reading...Bring it on!




I have been walking around for several hours now writing blog posts in my head.  We ate on paper plates summer china, so I could start getting my thoughts down quickly before they disappeared.  As soon as I read Clutter-Free Classroom's Linky post my mind has been racing. Getting lost in a good book is my favorite summer time activity!  The link challenge:  Share the titles of books you will read this summer!


I was recently asked to teach literature to 7th and 8th graders two afternoons a week. Is that a dream job, or what?  First graders all morning and then reading young adult novels with teenagers in the afternoon...Life doesn't get any better! The young adult fiction category is one of my favorite groups of reads.  Before having a teenager I never would have wanted to spend very much time with a whole group of them.  I thought they were rather intimidating.  I've gradually gotten to know this special breed of humans and have found them to be humorous, imaginative, and hungry for adults to talk to.  The best thing about spending time with them is that I get to decide on the reading list of books that we read together and books that they get to choose from independently.  Here are three of my favorite young adult reads:
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The Giver
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Lizzy Bright and
the Buckminster Boy
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Life as
We Knew It
These are three books by authors who have won awards and have other books written in their own special style.  I hope that when My 7th and 8th graders read these books they'll want to read more by these same authors.

Here are some young adult books I plan to read at this beach....


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From my 80s Giveaway, I know most of you may remember being a teenager better than I!  Please leave me a comment about a book that you think I should read this summer and include in my curriculum next fall!

I'm also planning on participating with Heather of Heather's Heart in her summer book study of Conscious Discipline.  I'm waiting anxiously for my book to arrive in the mail, so I can get started.
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 My summer reading will include reading some material by some of my favorite authors...YOU!  I love reading your blog posts. They make me cry, laugh and cheer!  If you have read this far, thank you for being an inspiration to me and following along in this journey of joy! 



8 comments:

  1. The school system here did an entire workshop on the Conscious Discipline. It was a big hit.

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  2. I cannot wait for Heather's in depth look at the book. I can't wait for her posts and have learned so much already :)

    Heidi
    My (Not So) Elementary Life

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  3. My favorite book that I read as a 6th grade was The Outsiders. I don't know if that one is too easy for 7th-8th graders but it was my favorite book for a long time! I also enjoyed reading How to Kill a Mockingbird in high school. I am deff not up to date on more current literature for young adults but for what it's worth those were two books I really enjoyed that were assigned readings when I was a teen.

    ❤- Stephanie

    Falling Into First

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  4. I don't know if it would be considered young adult reading, but I think "The Restoration Series" by Terri Blackstock would be great discussion starters. The author is a Christian author, and I've devoured her books.

    I, for one, loved "The Hunger Games" trilogy. Yes, a bit gruesome at times, but it's an imagined post apocalyptic world. Suzanne Collins also wrote another series of books (5 in the series) before The Hunger Games, and I liked them as well (those are more on the side of fantasy w/ talking animals and insects; a LOT of imagery and facing moral dilemmas). Those were called the Underland Chronicles. James Patterson's "Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life" was funny, but don't know if 7th or 8th graders would appreciate it. "Middle school: get me out of here!" is on my list for this summer.

    JEMinEYE

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  5. I DITTO and LOVED LOVED the Underland Chronicles! So clever. My favorite Margaret Peterson Haddix book is Running Out of Time.

    Laurie
    Chickadee Jubilee

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    1. That's by the Hunger Games author...I'm going to read that for sure! My daughter is in the class so we can't read it together....or maybe we can!
      Jenny

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  6. A great book to read this summer would be anything by Caroline Funke. My kids really loved Dragon Rider. I would highly recommend it.

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    1. I'm so glad you reminded me of her! I have read many books by Funke, but not Dragon Rider. I have been fascinated by dragons lately. I just got a book called The Dragon in the Sock Drawer to read to my first graders next year. I also just bought some gorgeous fabric covered in dragons. I think it's time for some new classroom curtains!!
      Jenny

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