Student Summer Reading Letter

To read or not to read?  That is a silly question.

Dear Students,

Greetings from the library! Under the suggested summer reading list post you will find a list of books selected for your reading pleasure. Yes, pleasure. This is not a required reading list; this list is for your personal enjoyment. These books have been chosen because they are well-told tales, enjoyable and navigable without a teacher’s guidance. Hopefully, there is something for everyone—sports, adventure, mystery, fantasy, history, and biography. All the books are entertaining; some are heart-wrenching. For more book suggestions, please keep visiting the library blog at http://bishopmclibrary.blogspot.com/.  

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to talk with some Mac students about the importance of reading and to share some favorite books. One student asked, “What is the point?” Since a good question deserves a thoughtful answer, I made a list-- reading speed and fluency; expanding one’s general knowledge base; finding and applying information; building vocabulary; honing writing skills; earning better grades and higher standardized test scores.  All important for college and for life.  My husband pronounced the list “too cerebral.”

So I went searching for authors’ thoughts on reading.  Here’s a nice quote from Lynn Schwarz. “So what has been the point? Not to amass knowledge or pass the time. Reading teaches, first and foremost, how to sit still for long periods and confront time head-on. . . . Reading gives a context for experience. It teaches receptivity so that we may grow to receive the world. It gains us nothing but the enchantment of the heart.” (paraphrased from Ruined by reading / Lynn S. Schwarz, 1996).

Still pretty philosophical. So here is my take.  I hope you will find the pleasure of being lost in a good story, of finding the “reading zone,” if you will. Hearing a narrator’s voice in your head has all the qualities of a good movie, only better. It is more like a good day dream. Your imagination brings the author’s words to life, supplies all the scenery and paints the characters. The action takes place inside you.  And not just in your mind. When you are captured by a story, your heart races. Your spine tingles or crawls. Hair stands up on your arms; you glance over your shoulder to see if, like the characters in the story, you are being watched. You feel fear or dread or suspense in the pit of your stomach. You grip the book tighter and tighter even as you turn the pages faster and faster, because you have to know. . .  You HAVE TO KNOW what happens next. 

Here’s hoping you find a little “enchantment of the heart” this summer. See you in the Fall.

Ms. Jones
The Librarian