Over-booked

The burden of summer reading lists

October 9, 2008

Articles, Nu Magazine - October 9, 2008

With another school year in the works, I want to discuss something that happened to me over the summer — something involving two words that teachers and administrators use that should never be put together: “summer” and “reading.”

Yes, every middle school and high school student — and every parent — knows just what I’m talking about: that dreaded compilation of teachers’ “recommended summer reading” or even worse, the “required summer reading” lists. Upon receiving these lists and tallying up the number of books that I’m required to read over the summer (usually three or so), I can’t help but wonder why we never seem to catch a break.

Now, don’t get me wrong — reading is entirely necessary when we’re talking about school…and it can often be rather enjoyable. However, after a long nine and a half months spent reading textbooks, plays, novels, and short stories, the last thing I want to do is start reading more books that don’t particularly interest me.

There are some schools that have the right idea — students are able to pick a couple of books of their choice and essentially read for the sake of reading. Other schools assign particular books, asking their students to complete dull summer assignments or prepare to take a quiz on the first day of school — always a great welcome-back gift.

Approaching my senior year at Newark Academy, I haven’t yet had the chance to choose my own summer reading. Each year, I went off to camp with all of my required books, setting a goal for myself to finish at least one or two by the time camp was over.

Needless to say, that NEVER happened.

I would return home after seven weeks summer-reading-free to spend the next two and a half weeks constantly with my nose stuck in a book. I can only recount the hours that I have spent on the beach slaving over books that never seemed to end, while the rest of my family enjoyed the sun and the ocean. Though some books were particularly scarring and altogether impossible to get through, I have read several books that I did end up appreciating.

Now, I don’t mean to complain about summer reading. I guess it’s just something we have to do in order to keep our minds working. If not for the required reading, I can only imagine what returning to school would be like in September.

Though it may be difficult to separate ourselves from the festivities of summer, we learn a lot from our summer reading that helps to prepare us for lessons to be learned in school upon our return — class discussions to be had, papers to be written, and tests to be taken.

Of course, we try not to think about these types of assignments during the summer, and just try to get through the work that has to be completed for the first day. At the same time, though, I like to think that we absorb a lot of information without the added pressure of looming essays and tests.

In this sense, reading over the summer is one of the best things we can do to grow as students and as people. We can even learn from the experiences that come from procrastinating and leaving three books untouched until mid-August.

Personally, though, these experiences have yet to really change my summer reading style. So, here I am, just returned from the beach — I actually did finish my first book today — with two more books, each over 500 pages, to complete.

It may be my last year having summer reading hanging over my head, but after all these years, I still haven’t been able to start mine any earlier than August. I have been home from camp for exactly two days, and have been reading ever since I stepped off the bus.

That said, I have only two weeks to breeze through a book about the history of philosophy in addition to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

Do-able? We’ll see, I guess.

Lauren Kaplan, 17, attends Newark Academy and is a member of Nu’s teen board.