Summertime Reads

It’s not officially summer yet but it feels like it this afternoon at the Bookworm house. It’s officially the last week of school—Mini Me turned in all the last minute assignments that she needed to (and didn’t realize she needed to) yesterday. Little Lion and her both had relaxed days of school, still via distance learning. If we weren’t in quarantine, we’d be having the end of school party tomorrow and Mini Me would be at Knott’s Berry Farm then grad night party as she graduates eighth grade.

We are already in summer mode. After I came home from work, I gathered all the books that I want to read right now, pictured above. As usual, my stack is high and doesn’t include the books I’m reading on cloud library.

HP—this is the summer that I’m going to read the whole Harry Potter series. :D Two summers ago we had a HP read-along so I finally read the first book. Now I’m re-reading the last half before starting the second one.

Stamped—this book is flying off the shelves the last few weeks and it warms my heart to hear that so many books about racism and anti-racism are sold out. I purchased my copy several months ago and Mini Me has been reading it but I’m only at the beginning. We are ready to do our work and learn more about the history of racism in our country.

The First Rule of Punk—I’ve read parts of this novel and also Perez’s Strange Birds.

The Poet X—I’m halfway through this one (see our First Pages series from last week), and 1/3 of the way through With the Fire on High, and at the beginning of Clap When You Land. I’m determine to return this book to its owner soon.

Speaking of its owner, who happens to be our school librarian and my friend, I have to talk about the amazing Summer Reading challenge that she and our assistant librarian put together for our kids. This summer Mrs. M and Mrs. B are challenging our kids to read more books by diverse writers and their list is phenomenal. I’m printing one to challenge me over the summer too. :D

What I’m Looking Forward to this Summer:

• reading

• getting my writing ju-ju back

• meaningful time with my girls, including writing sessions, sewing projects, arts and crafts, and make-up youTube tutorials with Mini Me

• No (home) school (this should be #1 for all the parents right now)

• pineapple dole whips and shaved ice

• beach time

  What are you looking forward to the most this summer? Which book are you looking to dive into first?

The bookstacks above were illustrated by Jane Mount. I’ve read ten books on the first slide. My goal is to read all of them.

There was a Kid Lit for Black Lives Matter rally last week. If you missed it, you can still watch it here. So far I’ve watched the first half. If you’re short on time, please watch at least Jacqueline Woodson at the 19 minute mark. All of these authors were amazing, but her words stuck with me the most. Though Jason Reynolds has a fantastic example with school bullying that makes you stop and think, especially for those of us who have not gone through systemic racism in the same way as Black Americans have. And if you’ve read The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo immediately follows Woodson with some powerful spoken word poetry. The rally was hosted by The Brown Bookshelf and they have some great resources here.