Build Your Summer Reading List (Part 1)
Getting recommendations from others is one of the best ways we find great books. We've read so many of our favorite books because someone we trusted told us that it was a great read. This is about the time that we start building our own summer reading list. If we follow our usual pattern, we often spend those first few days of summer reading like crazy. Knowing that we have a whole summer ahead with extra time for reading always feels like a gift.
This year, as you begin to think about your own summer reading, we asked some of our favorite literacy experts which books they are recommending to friends. Who better to ask about great books? We asked them to choose one book that they would recommend for summer reading. The request was met with excitement, because don't we all love to share our favorite new reads with the world? There is something on the list for everyone. We think some of them will be just what you are looking for. The problem will be "Which book first?" This list includes suggestions you might want to print off and carry with you to the bookstore or library. We'll be running this series all month, with recommendations from over 20 of your favorite authors.
Kelly Gallagher, author of Readicide and Teaching Adolescent Writers , recommends two books:
"Personally, the best book I've read this year is Junot Diaz's The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao . A shot of adrenaline! Professionally, I am now reading Barry Lane's new book, But How Do You Teach Writing? Excellent."
Shelley Harwayne, author of Look Who's Learning to Read :
"I would recommend Tom Newkirk's new book, Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones . It's true Newkirk - brilliant, honest and inspirational, reminding teachers to be true to themselves and their profession.
I just finished reading Zoe Heller's The Believers . It's an engaging novel, sure to make most readers think that their own family is not as dysfunctional as they thought. Very New York and beautifully crafted as well."
Carol Jago, author of Classics in the Classroom and President-Elect of the National Council of Teaches of English recommends Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson:
"A New York Times and Amazon "best book" of 2007, Out Stealing Horses is the story of a man who moves away from society only to find himself caught up in memories of the summer when his life turned round. Going out stealing horses was only the beginning. This is a luminous tale, beautifully wrought by an award-winning Norwegian writer. The setting is so powerfully depicted that it almost becomes a character in the novel. The New Yorker review said, 'Petterson's spare and deliberate prose has astonishing force, and the narrative gains further power from the artful interplay of Trond's childhood and adult perspectives. Loss is conveyed with all the intensity of a boy's perception, but acquires new resonance in the brooding consciousness of the older man.'"
Sharon Taberski, author of On Solid Ground :
"The book I HIGHLY recommend is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It's a real winner! I love the book because of how it gets inside Olive's psyche to reveal her complexity and our own. While I was repelled by many of Olive's actions, I identified with many others. My love for "Olive' led me to read two others by this author--Abide with Me and Amy and Isabelle . Both wonderful as well."
Bud Hunt, author of the popular blog, Bud the Teacher, recommends Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. He says, "It's 1984 for the digital generation. Powerful story and excellent thinking about rights in a scary time."
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Jennifer Allen
