Some Ideas Concerning Your Summer Reading

Summer break is coming up shortly. Each year at this time, Young Saint Louis.com has an article about some ways your webzine can help with your planning. Most of you already know that four books - usually paperbacks - are reviewed in each issue of YSL. Since YSL has been on line since 2000, that means there are well over 400 books that have been reviewed, with most of the reviews still available under the Past Stories tab.

The reviews are written for you with two main purposes. One is to tell you enough about each book to help you decide whether you would like to read it or not. A second purpose is to provide just enough about the book's characters, its plot, and its organization to help you tackle it, even if it may seem a little beyond your usual reading level.

How are the books picked in the first place? Honestly, the reviewer just roams through Border's youth books section looking for books that look interesting to him and varied enough in subject matter and difficulty level to appeal to a wide range of young readers. This reviewer tries not to use lists published by various groups. Of course, many of those titles reviewed are Newbery Award winners or appear on the Mark Twin list, but that is not the reason they were chosen in the first place.

Why are books selected from Borders? One reason is that Borders Bookstores market their books on line through Amazon.com. On the For Adults section of the website, short reviews of each of that month's books are presented for parents, teachers, and tutors. These reviews are linked directly to Amazon.com. Interestingly, many of these relatively inexpensive paperbacks are available as used books for only a few cents, much below their cost if purchased new. If you would like your parents to purchase some of the books for you to read, you need to make them aware of how they can do it easily and save money at the same time. As you well know, most parents are thrilled to buy books for their kids, if their kids will just read them!

There is something else you kids need to be aware of also. Amazon.com will happily publish on the website reviews that kids write and submit for books they have read. If you would like to see your writing on the internet, you can submit your ideas about any book you've read to Amazon.com. Try it. You might get hooked.

Now, for just a few suggestions of books you might consider for summer reading. For openers, don't overlook "The Cryptid Hunters" by Roland Smith, reviewed in this May issue. As is noted in the review, this book is pretty long and has an involved plot. If you are intrigued by the review, summer vacation might be just the time to read it.

A few other titles reviewed fairly recently are worth mentioning. "The Water Horse" by Dick King-Smith (February 2008) is a little book that was turned into a movie that just recently played in theaters. The DVD is likely to be available soon if not already available. It's always fun to see what movie makers do when they turn a good book into a movie extravaganza! Of course, "Nim's Island" by Wendy Orr, reviewed in this issue, is another kids' book turned into a popular movie.

If your tastes run to ghost stories, consider "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn (December 2007). It's plenty spooky. Another that's kind of weird is "The Tiger Rising" by Kate DiCamillo (October 2007). It's not a ghost story, but comes close when two kids deal with a Bengal tiger - in Florida! If you like to read about timely issues, don't overlook "Crossing the Wire" by Will Hobbs (March 2008). You will emerge from reading this one with a different way of looking at the illegal immigrant issue. Another title, a good dog story that provides some insights into the Vietnam War, is "Letters from Wolfie" by Patti Sherlock (August 2007).

We could keep on mentioning titles, but, as pointed out earlier, you can find over 400 book reviews by clicking on Past Stories at the top of the YSL homepage. You will surely find several that you just can't pass up. This could be your greatest reading summer yet.