Summer Reading

BLOOMFIELD READS! Welcome to a summer of great reads! We’re so excited for you to join us. Use this web page to glean ideas for quality summer reading! WHY READ? Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift. -Kate DiCamillo

Bloomfield Hills Schools Reading Without Walls Challenge

1. Read a book about a character who doesn’t look like you or live like you.

2. Read a book about a topic you don’t know much about.

3. Read a book in a format that you don’t normally read for fun. This might be a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, a picture book, or a hybrid book.

If you really want to go for the gold star, read a book that fits all three criteria!

When you finish, take a photo of you and the book (or just the book if you’re shy) and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #BHSReadingWithoutWalls. You’ll inspire others to do the same!

Create your own Reading Project

Below are a list of questions you might ask your children to set their own summer reading and writing goals...

What is your reading or writing goal?
What materials will you need?
How will you share this work with others?
How much time will you make each day to read or write?
How will you know when you’re finished with this project?
What other projects do you want to do?

Bloomfield Hills Schools Reads!

Elementary Reads

Elementary Reads

Way 1st Recommends:

Mouse and Mole by Wong Herbert Yee
Zelda and Ivy by Laura McGee Kvasnosky
Iris and Walter by Elissa Haden Guest
Cork & Fuzz by Dori Chaconas & Lisa McCue

Way 2nd Recommends:

Heidi Hecklebeck by Wanda Coven
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
Ready Freddy by Abby Klein
Owl Diaries by Rebecca Elliot

Way 3rd/4th Recommends:

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold
Bob by Wendy Mass
The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

WHMS 4th/5th Recommends:

Ida B.
Night of the Twisters
National Geographic Kids- This Book Stinks!
I Survived...(Series)
The Luck Uglies
Captain Nobody
The Sisters Grimm
Running Out of Time
Among the Hidden
Rules
Space Case

Pernille Ripp, published teacher and speaker shares her students’ favorite picture books:

High School Reads
English Summer Reading

High School Reads

Recommendations from your ELA Teachers:

Mrs. Allan Recommends…

The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
11/22/63, Stephen King
Just Kids, Patti Smith
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alice Saenz
Looking for Alaska, John Green

Mrs. Conklin Recommends…

Watership Down by Richard Adams
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri
Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Adichie
The Confessor by Daniel Silva

Mrs. Griesbeck Recommends…

Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Payton
Small Great Things, Jodi Picoult
A Cure for Dreams, Kaye Gibbons
Garlic and Sapphires (memoir), Ruth Reichl
Merle's Door (memoir), Ted Kerasote
The Sixteen Pleasures, Robert Hellenga

Mrs. Laliberte Recommends…

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Educated by Tara Westover
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Mrs. Lauter Recommends…

Internment by Samira Ahmed
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
There, There by Tommy Orange
Beach Music by Pat Conroy (especially if you’re in AP Lit!)

And many more! Follow lizasugar@comcast.net on Goodreads!

Mrs. Lowry Recommends…

The Breakbeat Poets
The Stand
Me Talk Pretty One Day

Mrs. Lyon Recommends…

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Nightingale & The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Mrs. Rose Recommends…

The Alchemist
Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Wisdom for Daily Living
The Little Prince

Mrs. Tier Recommends…

Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen
The Art of Racing in the Rain--Garth Stein
The Red Tent--Anita Diamant
Never Let Me Go--Kazuo Ishiguro
1984--George Orwell

Mrs. Weaver Recommends…

Great Small Things or The Storyteller or 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult
The Great Alone or The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Night by Elie Wiesel
A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Hosseini
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Find Recommendations Online:

Goodreads
Barnes & Noble Teen Blog
Books & Authors (login with your public library card number on your student ID)
Novelist
Teen Book Finder and the Teen Book Finder app
LitPick Under "All Books," search using the drop down menus
Riveted
WhatShouldIReadNext?
Reading Rants
Young Adult Books Central
Amazon's Teen Book Section browse with the menu on the left
OurStory Teen books about various diversities
Epic Reads
Booklist Reader
AllReaders.com
100 Best-Ever Teen Novels

Ideas for Titles and Authors to Check Out:

Click on a title for reviews from Goodreads!

Realistic Fiction

Classics

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Anne of Green Gables
The Awakening
The Bell Jar
Brave New World
The Call of the Wild
The Color Purple
Death of a Salesman
A Doll's House
East of Eden
The Grapes of Wrath
Hiroshima
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Invisible Man
Jane Eyre
Little Women
Moby Dick
Native Son
The Old Man and the Sea
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Persepolis
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Robinson Crusoe
Slaughterhouse 5
The Sound and the Fury
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Tale of Two Cities
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Things Fall Apart
Walden
Wuthering Heights

Dystopian Adventure

Fantasy

Mystery / Suspense / Adventure

Romance

Historical

Horror

Science Fiction

Sports

Losers Take All
anything by author Mike Lupica
anything by author Carl Deuker
anything by author Chris Crutcher

Middle School Reads

EHMS Recommends:

WHMS Recommends:

A Dog's Purpose
Rain Reign
The Book Thief
The Dog Master
The Book Thief
Tuesdays with Morrie
And Then There Were None
The Outsiders

Pernille Ripp, published teacher and speaker shares her students’ favorite books:

Middle School Titles and Authors to Check Out:

Click on a title for reviews from Goodreads!

Realistic Fiction

Humorous

Fantasy

Magical Worlds

Action / Adventure

Mystery / Suspense

Sports

Booked
The Distance to Home
Soar
Anything by author Mike Lupica
Anything by author Tim Green
Anything by author Matt Christopher

Just Girls

Science Fiction

Fairy Tale Re-Writes

Historical

Classics

A Wrinkle in Time
Anne of Green Gables
Diary of a Young Girl
Lord of the Rings
The Little Prince
Holes
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The War of the Worlds

Bloomfield Hills Schools Writes!

Writing Resources

Writing Resources

Resources and Ideas:

NewPages Young Writers Guide Lists of print and online literary magazines, links to publish your writing, and writing contests.
Go Teen Writers
Writers Notebooks From the website Always Write, scroll down to find unique ideas for writing with samples.
Summer Writer's Notebooks Entries and Creative Students' Writers Notebook Pages Samples of student writing notebooks.
Writer's Digest Full of resources for the serious writer.
Poets and Writers Another location of resources for serious writers starting out.
National Novel Writing Month In November, would-be novelists attempt to write a 50,000-word book in thirty days.

About Publishing Your Work:

Places to Publish Your Own Writing:
(and read writing submitted by others)

Canvas For teens, by teens. Read others' work and submit your own.
Teen Ink Submit an original writing for publication in their online magazine.
Cicada Publishes original writing by ages 14 and up.
Underlined An online community where students self-publish. Contributors earn badges by reading and reviewing others' work and submitting their own.
Rare Byrd Review For middle and high school students.
One Teen Story Ages 13-19 can submit original fiction.
PolyphonyHS Print magazine; submit original writing online.
The Claremont Review Publishes writers and artists ages 13-19; publishes only in print.
Stone Soup Publishes stories, poems, and art by kids under 13.
Launch Pad Publishes original writing and art by ages 6-14.
The Telling Room Stories

Writing Prompts:

The Daily Writing Prompt Generator
WriteShop: Creative writing prompts for teens
Writers Digest Creative Writing Prompts
Storybird create your own online books with pre-built illustrations to guide you. See others' stories for inspiration.
High School Journal Topics
180 Journal Writing Prompts
Creative Writing Prompts for Teens Pinterest collection
Favorite 15 Prompts another Pinterest collection

Writer's Workshops:

sponsored by Oakland University

sponsored by Michigan State University

Red Cedar Writing Project

For Parents/Guardians:

Ten Ideas That Get Kids Writing From the National Writing Project. Read more about how young writers need to do real writing, how they write best about what concerns them most, and how writing can connect kids to their communities.
Six Ways to Encourage Young Writers
Ten Suggestions for Encouraging Kids to Write at Home Includes ideas such as notice reading and writing that is going on in the world, and leave notes for your child in his/her lunchbox, schoolbag or around the house, and ask your child to leave notes for you.
Letters to Kids: 8 Words Every Child Needs to Hear Model how powerful writing can be by writing your child a letter with these ideas.

Creativity Ideas:

Maker Idea Lab Read about projects and challenges to inspire you to create great things.
Celebrating Art Holds three contests per year and publishes the winning pieces in a hardcover book. Accepts any art that can be captured in a still digital image.

Note to Parents/Guardians: While this webpage provides some reading suggestions for our students, parents and guardians should determine if the books listed are appropriate for their families.

Resources

Research on the Importance of Summer Reading
Things You Might Do to Engage in Summer Reading Activities

Research on the Importance of Summer Reading

Summer reading is the single summer activity that is most strongly and consistently related to summer learning (Heyns, 1978).
Since motivation is the key to voluntary reading, the two critical features of book selection are individual students' interests and reading levels (Smith and Brewer, 2007).
According to Stephen Krashen in The Power of Reading, people who read more write better.
Reading as a leisure activity is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary, and reading speed.
Outstanding high school writers reported extensive summer reading.
The relationship between free voluntary reading and literacy is extremely consistent, even when different tests, different methods of reading habits, and different definitions of free reading are used.
If children read one million words a year, at least one thousand words will be added to their vocabulary.
A study led by James Kim of the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that regardless of family income, the effect of reading four to five books over the summer was large enough to prevent a decline in reading-achievement scores from the spring to the fall. Kim’s other finding: children who said they had easy access to books over the summer ended up reading more. So seasonal alarm bells aside, the best way to push back against the summer slide is with your library card (Paul, 2013).
Richard Allington, a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and his colleagues found that giving kids 12 books to read over the summer was as effective as summer school in raising the students’ reading scores (Paul, 2013).

Things You Might Do to Engage in Summer Reading Activities

Join Goodreads- find reviews, create a bookshelf, and share your favorites with other readers!
Take a look at the High School Reads and Middle School Reads pages to get ideas for your next book.
Complete our reading Survey
Check out what’s happening at the Bloomfield Township Public Library or West Bloomfield Public Library
Join a Newsela Summer Reading Club to read about current events and social issues important to you.

The Importance of Reading

Effects of Independent Reading on Learners

The amount of free reading done outside of school has consistently been found to relate to growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information. Students who read independently become better readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have greater content knowledge than those who do not.

- From Independent Reading and School Achievement

Set Aside Time to Read Together

Read aloud regularly, even to older kids. If your child is a reluctant reader, reading aloud will expose her to the structure and vocabulary of good literature and get her interested in reading more.

“Reading the first two chapters of a book together can help, because these are often the toughest in terms of plot,” notes Susan Becker, M. Ed. “Also try alternating: you read one chapter aloud, she reads another to herself. And let kids pick the books they like. Book series are great for reluctant readers. It’s OK to read easy, interesting books instead of harder novels.”

-From The Role of Parents

Encourage Your Child to Read

How to Help a Teen Choose a Book

Ask a librarian or teacher
Librarians and teachers know what books appeal to and are appropriate for teen readers. Visit the library with your teen so that you can talk with the librarian together to find some great (and perhaps unexpected) titles for your teen to try. Many libraries also sponsor books clubs where teens can connect over books. Librarians can point you to lists of suggested titles published online. Some schools also publish suggested and/or required lists of books for summer reading.
Go to the blogs
Teens want to read what their peers are reading. There are many wonderful blogs where teens can teens can read and chat about the books they and their peers. This is a great way to learn about new titles and to help teens broaden their reading interests, as well as integrate reading and social activities.
Peruse the aisles of your library or bookstores
Bookstores organize stock by level of age-appropriateness, as well as by subject matter and type of book. Encourage your teen to sit down with a read a bit of while you're still at the library or bookstore. Encourage your teen to check out several different titles, rather than just one or two.
Find out what books your teen has enjoyed in the past
One way to help out is by choosing other titles by the same author. A teen who enjoyed Walter Dean Myers' Monster might also like Sunrise Over Fallujah. A teen who liked Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak might want to read Prom. Teens also like to read novels that occur in a series, like the Twilight and Harry Potter books. Once you know what the subjects and genres that your teen enjoys, consult librarians and even amazon,com to find other titles you might not have known about.
Check out graphic novels
There are many great, high quality graphic novels appealing to a wide range of readers. If your teen read Maus, a graphic novel account of the Holocaust, check out Persepolis, a graphic autobiography of a young girl growing up during the Iranian revolution.
Address problems with book
Teens who are exploring and perhaps struggling with their identities or personal problems might like help choosing books related to those issues.

- From How to Help a Teen Choose a Book ReadWriteThink" Readwritethink.org
International Literacy Association/National Council of Teachers of English, 2017.

Quotes on the Importance of Reading

"Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift." - Kate DiCamillo
"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his needs, is good for him." - Maya Angelou
"It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations—something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own." - Katherine Patterson
Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, a professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, reported in studies published in 2006 and 2009 that individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and view the world from their perspective.
Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. “If you want your children to be intelligent,” he said, “read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand.

Summer Reading

BLOOMFIELD READS!

Welcome to a summer of great reads! We’re so excited for you to join us. Use this web page to glean ideas for quality summer reading!

WHY READ?

Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift. -Kate DiCamillo