Mary G Johnson's List: Summer Reading

One key difference between a book that's—how shall we put it?—sort of a one-night stand (nightstand, get it?), and a book that you really want to settle down with is that the latter is eternally transportive, no matter how times you return to the well. With a truly great book, spoilers don't matter. You know exactly how things are going to end, and still, allowing yourself to delve back into that world is exciting and somehow new, or comfortable and exactly what you needed for that particular time. Some books gets better with re-reading, even: The characters become old friends, the plot and pacing unfolds each time in its familiar way yet carries a surprise you didn't notice the initial 10 reads. There are some books like this; not many, but certainly not few, either. It depends on what you're looking for in your re-read, and it's probably different for everyone. Here, from The Atlantic Wire's writers and a few close book-loving friends, are the titles we started reading as kids and haven't put down since.

New York Public Library's Summer Reading Program page with information, video, statistics, questions and answers for parents, teachers, librarians, community members

Learning or reading skill losses during the summer months are cumulative. By the time a struggling reader reaches middle school, summer reading loss has accumulated to a two-year lag in reading achievement.

The Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) is a consortium of states working together to provide high-quality summer reading program materials for children at the lowest cost possible for their public libraries.

All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research spanning 100 years shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer (White, 1906; Heyns, 1978; Entwisle & Alexander 1992; Cooper, 1996; Downey et al, 2004).

Examination of long-term educational consequences of summer learning differences by family socioeconomical level...

Research conducted by Johns Hopkins sociology Professor Karl Alexander and his colleagues shows that low-income youth suffer significantly from a loss of academic skills over the summertime. And the losses pile up, contributing to an achievement gap that
can make the difference between whether students set out on a path for college or decide to drop out of high school.

Summer learning loss is very real and has
important repercussions in the lives of students, especially those with fewer financial resources.

Reading instruction does not need to stop when the bell rings. Using out-of-school time (OST) can be an effective way to boost academic skills while engaging students outside of the classroom. Education research lab McREL reviews effective afterschool and summer programs that focus on reading, and identifies the components that make them successful.

voluntary summer reading programs can work—but they work best when adults and teachers get involved by helping students to choose appropriate books and employ simple techniques to improve skill and understanding.oluntary summer reading programs can work—but they work best when adults and teachers get involved by helping students to choose appropriate books and employ simple techniques to improve skill and understanding.

“Summer learning, and especially the loss in learning that can occur if children are not involved in quality summer activities, is a much more important part of education than most people think. Of course there are other areas of focus that are vital to student achievement, but this research certainly makes the point that we need to re-think how we are educating our kids.”