Kids all over the United States are complaining right now about having to read books for school. The dreaded summer reading is upon us! Oh no! For parents it’s a flurry of trying to find all of the right books, at the right price, in the right versions… And that can be frustrating. And then to top it off the students don’t even want to read the book. So why do we keep doing it to our kids? Why do we keep pushing “Summer Reading” and “These are the Classics” and “This is the Canon”?
The fact is that summer reading is changing. The things they pushed on us in school – A Separate Peace, Frankenstein, Call of the Wild, Count of Monte Cristo – at the stores we see these on reading lists less and less. There are a few out there, but so many teachers and schools are refocusing their effort on just getting kids to read good books. From sports biographies to Stephen King to contemporary Young Adult books – summer reading is changing! The kids get a choice of what to read a lot of times.
There is always a lingering feeling though – I HAVE to read it, so it must suck. How do we get rid of that? Well, the problem is that we can’t – educators and librarians and booksellers alike have all been fighting that for a long time – making the best suggestions and comments they are able and being encouraging by letting them know that a lot of these books are great books. But there will always be a begrudged feeling of having to read something and so not liking it. As a bookseller I hear all the time “Oh I had to read that for school; it was really good!” — but how do we get this across to the young readers who are initially so hesitant? The answer is that we have to be optimistic, and if we are optimistic, they may be too.
Another strategy is to offer to read the books with your kids. Sure, it might be tedious, but they have to read it and they could definitely use someone to discuss it with. Their understanding will be a lot better if they have another person to check in with and ask questions. Pick up a Cliff’s Notes guide just to have on hand for questions you’re not sure about. Most importantly, don’t act superior to them – let them know when you’re referencing the Cliff’s Notes. Don’t hide in the closet while you look up what Shakespeare meant in that confusing monologue in Macbeth. If they’re a quick reader, read with them. If not, set daily goals you will both try to achieve, even if you’re on vacation. Keeping on track yourself will keep them on track. If you don’t keep up with it, why would they?
Another thing to look at is the fact that Young adult literature is making a huge splash right now. Titles like The Hunger Games, Twilight, Harry Potter, the Warriors series, and more are all driving kids to the book store shelves, and making them eager to pick up the next installation of their favorite series. By getting them started on reading early on, we can curb a lot of the problems that come from students who don’t ever read and think they don’t want to. For summer reading lists, the truth is that the teachers are doing their best to encourage students to read, even if it’s popular fiction like Stephen King and not Alexandre Dumas. As a student myself I hated a lot of the books I was forced to read, but at least I gave them a try (let’s not confuse that with finishing them). On the other hand, I have extremely fond memories of some required reading: Antigone, A Separate Peace, Animal Dreams, The Great Gatsby, Dracula and others were all books I loved. And I feel I am more knowledgeable because of all of that reading.
For the literary classics, it’s hard to get across to a 15 year old that they are reading this book so that at college they have a foundation to start from. That their American and World Literature classics will be a lot easier in the future if they read these classics now. That Keats will be a lot less confusing if they read Homer first. If you’re reading a book from the Literary Canon with your kid or teen, choose a future poem or work that references the one they are reading, and help them put it into perspective that millions of people have read and found something valuable in the book. Perhaps they don’t like it, but did they take something away from it? Was there something valuable that the author was saying? In a way, if you can make them appreciate the summer reading, they might not even have to like it.
And always remember: If you dread it, so will they. Keep a positive attitude about summer reading and reinforce its worth. Because it is worth it, and that’s what we, as adults looking in from the outside, have to remember.
