How to Succeed at High School Summer Reading Without Really Trying

I know, I know. You just finished this school year. But it's unavoidable. You have to get it done before going back to school, so you might as well at least think about your required summer reading!

Hey, why not even do it right away (or at least get on a couple of hold lists for the titles you choose) so that it’s less painful at the last minute.

Last year, I posted a few hints for high school students looking to find their summer reading titles. A lot of the tips and hints are the same, with some new-this-summer exceptions… and they’re pretty important!

So here's a few things to know that will make your Summer Reading requirements go a little easier:

First, if you've already somehow managed to lose your list, we have them available on our website by grade. 

Do it early! Seriously. At least come in early and get your name on the request list. Not joking. In another week or two, every [popular] book on the lists will be checked out and with a request list so long you wouldn't get the book until a month into school. If it's still [by some miracle] in the library, it's probably one that no one wants to read. [Maybe that 1,000+ page doorstop one?] Besides, if you do it early, you don't have to worry about it at the end of the summer AND you'll still be fine once you get to school because the teachers let you take your hand-written notes into class. (Hint: take notes!)

An important hint for searching for your title through us: Don't forget to check to see if we have it in non-print formats... you might get lucky that way! We have many of the classics [and some non-classics] in audio format, but new this year: eBook! 25-30 of the titles from the complete list for all 4 grades are available through the Carbon Lehigh Downloadable Library! Almost 2/3 of those are “Always Available” titles [Books that have no checkout limit and can always be downloaded, no matter how many people have it checked out].

This means if you wait until the beginning of August to do your reading, a classic title is an option on your reading list and you have some type of eReader, smartphone or iPod touch, you are saved from the scavenger hunt across the Lehigh Valley looking for a book!

If it's checked out here and it's not a classic [one that might be on every other school district's reading list], check at Parkland, Allentown, Southern Lehigh  or any other library you're willing to drive to (but since it's also in East Penn, you probably won't find it at Emmaus.). The libraries in those school districts probably won't have the same titles on their required reading lists and you're more likely to get lucky and find it on the shelves there.

Make it a little more worthwhile... it's required reading, but why not enter our Teen Read Raffle and possibly win a gift card to Rita's or free tickets to Rave for your efforts?

Also, this summer, we’re doing a Summer Reading blog series on our Teen Blog. Search the blog for the keyword of “Summer Reading is Killing Me” to find all posts in the series and comment on the “Call for Titles” post to let us know the title you’re reading OR come into the library and write your chosen titles on the list we’re keeping in the Teen area. However you let us know, we’ll create a blog post for that individual title [which can be searched for by Title or Author keyword on the blog] with some basic information about the book, where you can find some information online that might be helpful as well as in the library. Plus, it would be a perfect place for you to comment or ask a question about your book if you had one! We’ll try to answer any questions or maybe one of your classmates might even try! We want you, the teens, to own this series and help each other out!

Parents, you’re probably the ones finding this, so help us out by sending your teen this link… email it, share it on Facebook, whatever’s a good way to get ahold of your student. We love to help people find books, but in another month, there’s going to be little we can do to get a physical book from the list in your student’s hands!

Good luck this summer!