I love hanging out with educators. Just being around them makes me feel smarter, like I'm accidentally learning things with no effort. I asked a handful of my educator friends what their number one priority for summer reading is this year. Warning: if you keep reading you're going to spend your entire summer with your nose in a book.
Ashlee M.: How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. It's all about the resurgence of research into psilocybin and LSD as medicines to treat a range of mental health disorders. FUNGI are the origin of both compounds. Need I say more?
Laura K.: I think Where the Red Fern Grows is an absolute must-read for children and adults alike. It showcases the love between a boy and his dogs and the hardships of a particular era in American history. Just remember to have a box of Kleenex ready for the end. I bawled like a baby!!!
Nola N.: My number one for the summer is Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi. I just bought it and can’t wait to dive in. It’s a west African inspired story of reclaiming magic from a leader hell-bent on destroying it forever. With a strong female main character and who fights for hope for her people, it’s a YA epic that would make a great summer read!
Another one would be Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Another great story of struggle, hope, and survival of a young Lithuanian girl in a Siberian work camp. It’s been out a while, but will be a movie soon titled Ashes in the Snow. Children of Blood and Bone is also in the works for becoming a film. Read the book first. Always read the book first.
Mary H.: Varina by Charles Frazier! Its historical fiction set in the civil war era. Its about the wife of the confederate president. I'm a double major, theatre and history. Its my nerd heaven.
Amanda M.: I was recently reading a list of the greatest literary villains and I was intrigued by the book, Kindred by Octavia Butler. The story line seems to combine science and history with a strong female protagonist. I usually read more mystery novels so I want to broaden my horizons more. Plus I want to read more from African American authors.
Sue F.: Lots of books on my list, but very much looking forward to The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck. A novel about 3 German women and their children, the families of German officers involved in attempt to assassinate Hitler. Set at end of WWII.
Sue W.: I am looking forward to reading 2 novels by Tatiana de Rosnay: A Secret Kept and A Paris Affair. Over the school year, I read her novels Sarah’s Key and The House I Loved.
Laura Ellen S.: I'm so excited to read Paul Tremblay's The Cabin at the End of the World, that I'm violating my rule of never paying more than $9.99 for an ebook, so I can start reading it on its release day, June 26. Straight up horror fiction never really scares me, but Tremblay's stories terrify me. He writes a mystery/horror fusion, with lots of layers for the careful reader.
Matt C.: I have two books I am personally looking forward to reading this summer: an early summer release and a late summer release. In late May, Julie Mulhern started a new series with Fields Guide to Abduction. Julie has mastered walking the tight rope between cozy mystery and thriller, and I just can’t think of a better summer read than a cozy thriller. In August, David Joy releases a third novel, The Line That Held Us. David is a friend and one of my favorite writers working right now. He is, in my opinion, the best in the business at telling the stories of rural America. He is telling stories that need to be told, and he does it as well as anyone.