book list: the game

In a previous post, must reads, I wrote about how I was challenged to read more books to better my reading score on the "1001 books to read before you die" list. I was bitten by the competitive bug, and it reminded me of the single-minded determination I see on the faces of teens as they struggle to beat a level of a video game. I suggested that we create a list of books recommended by high schoolers, and set it up in a spreadsheet so that they can keep their own score of how many books they've read, competing with themselves, against the list.

Voila: the completed reading list: High School Recommended Reads. It's been compiled into a Google spreadsheet that contains the tracking formulas. For your own use, make a copy of the spreadsheet and give it a whirl. Enter in an "R" for the books you've read and watch the yellow row formulate your total and the percentage of books you've read. Here's a picture of what the spreadsheet looks like:
Once you've played around with it a bit, you can delete these books, and enter the books and authors that your students recommend. Better yet, you can let your students make the entries themselves using a Google form:

It might be too late to use for this semester, but perhaps you could suggest a summer reading list?

sports reads for teens

While the Olympics have got your students all fired up, there's no better time to list some book titles geared towards their age and interests.

Here are a few recommendations from Suite 101-Teen Fiction:

1. Summerland - Michael Chabon. Both baseball and fantasy, one terrible baseball player is recruited by a 100-year old who wants him to play to help fairies beat an ancient enemy.
2. The Outside Shot - Walter Dean Myers. This book follows a boy from Harlem who was recruited by a small midwestern school to play basketball, but also helps out handicapped kids.
3. Head Above Water - S.L. Rottman. Skye has a lot on her plate in this book, as she is trying to compete in competitive swim, care for her Downs Syndrome brother and enjoy her relationship with her first boyfriend.

Read the whole list here, and post the link on your class website so students will have a handy reference. Maybe you can get your school librarian to display these books for a time.

Related posts:
diablogging: reading tools
reading room
teen literary trends
must reads

past and future books

Of all the children's books I've read, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, is the one I remember most fondly. I checked it out several times from my grade school library, and never tired of it. I can easily recall many of the books I loved as a child, and I know those experiences made me into the voracious life-long reader I am today.

I'm always interested to hear about books people enjoyed reading as children and teens, so when ReadWriteWeb provided a link to a forum where college-age 'kids' discuss their favorites, I rushed over. It's fascinating: L'Engle's book is mentioned, as well as Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein, two more of my favorites authors.

One of the responders wrote that she still picks up her favorite children's books when she's feeling blue. Everything old is new again. Or, it never went out of style in the first place.

Leave a comment telling us about your favorite children's books.

Related post
book list: the game