Summer break is a time for students to calm down after a stressful school year. However, for some this recreational period can still feel like an assignment when given required reading. Summer reading can be beneficial for many, as it keeps students’ minds engaged and isn’t that hard of a task, but the assigned portion of it can drain a lot of the fun out of the book. For example, a student who enjoys fiction would be much more inclined to pick up a fictitious book in their free time rather than an assigned non-fiction book. Students should be able to choose from a list or get a book approved by the teacher so that they can get the feeling of recreational reading that they choose to do and will enjoy. 

If the summer book is required to be read for a unit at the beginning of the year, the book should be introduced during that time as a unit. If it is used for a lesson, it would also make more sense to read it when there is a teacher present for questions so students can get the full comprehension of the book. Summer break is a time that many students who enjoy reading use to read books they cannot during the school year due to busy schedules or other books they are assigned. Over the summer I read a total of 15 books, yet couldn’t bring myself to pick up and read my assigned novel. I ended up having to cram it in the last few weeks of the break. 

Motivation to read goes beyond the literature. There has to be genuine interest and a desire to spend time reading the given book, which adds to the argument that school reading should be chosen by the student. If the student chooses the book, in theory, there should be no reason as to why they couldn’t find the interest to pick it up and finish it. Reading can be much more productive when there is true interest in the book you are reading. Even if it is selected off of a list provided by the teacher, there will still be interest provided by the students as they had to have some enthusiasm for what they chose in order to choose it. Junior Riley McGahren believes that “…the whole idea of summer reading can really take that fun out of the activity, not only because the content of the books doesn’t fit many teenagers’ interest, but also because it makes something that should be for joy more like a chore.” 

Summer reading would be far more beneficial for the students if they held an interest in the book they were reading. Students tend to work harder and have more motivation to complete assignments when they enjoy what they are doing.