As an English teacher, I think, isn’t the whole point of
summer to relax and read as many books as you can? My students, may not feel the same way. Still, we know what all the studies say about
reading…we just have to, and we have to continue to find books that are
interesting, inspirational, and just plain good. Sophomores read Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken. It is one of my favorite books in the past 5 years. I have recommended this book to so many people. It is always an English teacher’s hope that his or her students enjoy the books that they read, but I hope they got more out of this one. I hope this book taught them to really try to put things into perspective. All those things we want to complain about: being so busy, not having this or that, being hot, being cold, etc. I hope everything that Louie Zamperini had to endure made my students pause and feel blessed at the lives they are living. And I hope in meeting Louie that they thought a little bit more about forgiveness. Louie Zamperini’s story is just incredible and Hillenbrand’s writing is impeccable.
Juniors read Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. I fell in
love with this book. For me, it stood
out amongst the same old –same old books I feel I am continually reading. Taking place in Anglo Saxon England and full
of dragons, knights, and mysteriously dangerous situations, this book is a very
challenging read. A dragon’s mist makes
all in this book have very limited memories and killing the dragon will make
those memories come back. Would we, if
we could, want to forget some of the bad memories in our lives, in the history
of the world? This is the kind of book
that stays with you for a while. So I know that students would rather not have their summer reading book chosen for them. I felt this way when I had to read The Pine Barrens before my freshman year of college. And even though I can say that I really hated that book, I am glad that I read it. It is okay not to like or love every book you read, just keep reading!
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