When you were a child, did summer reading feel like a chore, or was it fun?
Research shows that many children don’t read enough and are behind when they return to school. Summer learning loss — also known as the summer slide — is common in reading and math.
One way to encourage more reading, experts say, is to let them read what they want. (Remember, the important part is they’re reading.) It’s why some schools have done away with summer book lists and structured assignments.
The New Orleans Public Library helps children find books they like — by wandering the shelves or with a librarian’s guidance — and offers programs that help fight the slide by keeping them reading.
The library’s reading challenge — read 800 minutes and complete four activities — is open until Aug. 14. More than 2,000 children and adults have completed it so far. It also hosts events, including book clubs.
Middle schoolers discuss what they're reading
A half dozen middle schoolers, ages 10 to 14, sit in a sunny corner of the Cita Dennis Hubbell Library in Algiers Point.
Simon Hand, a children’s librarian, leads this book club once a week. For this week’s meeting, he’s printed worksheets on colored paper titled “How to Talk About a Book.”
“If you don’t get the whole sheet done, it’s fine,” Hand reassured the group. “That’s just a guide.”
The children get to read whatever they want, and they’re all reading different books: The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall, the first book of the Mistborn trilogy, and a biography of Pelé, to name a few.
The sheets they’ve filled out ask them to think deeper about what they’re reading, like identifying the conflict.
Jeanette, 11, was reading The Taken by Inbali Iserles.
“The problem is Isla’s brother went missing, and their family. Well, technically, Isla went missing,” Jeanette told the group.
“Oh, by the way, they’re foxes,” she added, laughing.
Mr. Simon — that’s what the group calls him — asked her for the theme of the book. It wasn’t on the sheet, but they’d been over the question before.
“Kind of like what’s the point of it? What’s the book about?” he clarifies.
He threw out some examples: Revenge, freedom, family. In that case, it was the last one.
Ada’s book is one you’ve probably heard of: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings.
“ I chose this book because my dad started reading it to me when I was really little,” the 12-year-old said. “But I only remembered a little bit, so I wanted to read it to find out how it actually went.”
Ada named the protagonist — Bilbo Baggins — and ran through the plot, her older brother jumping in to correct her, since he’d also read the book.
“The conflict is that the dragon Smaug stole the dwarfs’ treasure and their cave,” she said.
“Ancestral home,” Charlie, 14, corrected.
The dwarfs need Bilbo’s help, Ada explained, because on their own they’re a group of 13, an unlucky number. Bilbo is reluctant to join a group of strangers.
“Another problem for him is that he’ll be late for dinner,” she said, which the whole group laughed at.
Mr. Simon asked Ada for the book’s theme.
“Probably like getting out of your comfort zone, and then also teamwork,” she said.
The children took one another's book recommendations, as well as Mr. Simon's. That week, he’d brought Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson — author of the beloved children’s novel, Bridge to Terabithia.
It’s a coming-of-age novel about a painful sibling rivalry set during World War II. The title comes from the Bible and refers to twin brothers Jacob and Esau.
Mr. Simon showed the group the book’s cover with its shiny Newbery Medal from 1981.
“This is the award for the best book of the year,” he explained.
“Only one book?” the children asked, impressed. “Yep, one children’s book,” Mr. Simon said.
Josephine, 11, just finished another one of Mr. Simon’s picks: No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman. It follows a middle schooler’s misadventures.
“His name is Wallace Wallace, and he only tells the truth,” she said. “So he's in that school play for detention until he writes the book report, but someone's trying to sabotage the play.”
For Eden, 13, the book she shared — the final in the Heartstopper series (it’s also a Netflix show) — was bittersweet.
“It was happy because it was a thick book, also sad because I didn’t want it to end,” she said.
The books follow two teen boys who become more than just friends.
She’d recommend the books “to people that like romance novels, especially young people who like LGBTQ+ romance novels.”
Eden’s favorite part of book club is spending time with others who love to read.
“It’s cool because a lot of people aren’t reading books. They’re playing Roblox,” she said.
When it comes to games, Josephine says the club prefers something that doesn’t involve a screen.
“Like Banangrams.”
Book recommendations for middle schoolers — by middle schoolers
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
" I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys playing D&D, or likes adventure stories, or C.S. Lewis's works, or anything else like that." — Ada, 12
The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall
" It's about this family. Their older sister is getting married. You'll have to read the first book to understand this, but they went on a vacation to a place called Arendelle, and now they're going back for their wedding... It's a really good book. I recommend it to 9 to 12-year-olds." — Josephine, 11
Pele: a biography by James S. Haskins
"He wasn't just great as a soccer player. He was kind. He built a house in Brazil that was basically a fortress. It had a 10-foot wall made out of stone around it." — Jack, 10
Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman
"I recently read the last book of the series. I was really sad and really happy. But now I can watch the show because I promised myself I'm not gonna watch the show until all the books come out." — Eden, 13
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
"The Harry Potter series is a big reread series for me. If a book's written good enough, people keep reading it again and again." — Charlie, 14
Some of Mr. Simon's middle school picks
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman
Wallace Wallace gets detention for writing a negative review of a book about a dying dog. Forced to sit through rehearsals for a play of the book, he starts offering revisions.
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
It’s a coming-of-age novel about a painful sibling rivalry set during World War II. The title comes from the Bible and refers to twin brothers Jacob and Esau. On a made-up island in the Chesapeake Bay, Sara Louise lives in the shadow of her sister Caroline.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Set in the 1830s, a 13-year-old girl is caught in the middle of a captain and his mutinous crew while sailing from England to Rhode Island. It won the Newbery Medal in 1991.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
